Squiz Today – Wednesday, 29 November

SQUIZ SAYINGS

“Prince Harry's future mother-in-law is a black woman with dreadlocks. There are no words for this kind of joy.”

Tweeted US journalist @Samara_Linton. And this from Meghan Markle’s Suits onscreen love interest Patrick Adams; “She said she was just going out to get some milk...”

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NYE TERROR PLOT FOILED

THE SQUIZ
Melbourne man Ali Ali yesterday faced court on charges of preparing to commit a terrorist attack. He is accused of planning a shooting attack on New Year’s Eve partygoers at Melbourne’s Federation Square. Authorities emphasised that despite trying, he had not yet acquired a gun. The 20yo Muslim who was born in Australia to Somalian parents was arrested on Monday after a combined surveillance effort by Victoria Police, Australian Federal Police and the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation.

WHAT IS KNOWN ABOUT HIM?
Authorities said they have known about Ali for a while and started monitoring him at the start of the year. They said he was “energised” by terror attacks committed by Islamic State members overseas. Reports say he had never been in police custody before. Ali’s father said he was shocked by the allegations and he believed his son is “very innocent”. And Ali’s boss at a Footscray computer repair shop said he was surprised by the news. “He was a quiet guy. He was just a casual. He just came in to learn something,” he said.

SHOULD WE BE WORRIED ABOUT TERROR INCIDENTS THIS CHRISTMAS?
Authorities don’t believe Ali was part of a larger cell. “We’re quite confident that there is no risk or no threat to the Victorian community now that we have removed him from society,” said Victorian Police deputy commissioner Shane Patton. And Premier Daniel Andrews encouraged people to go about their Christmas and New Year’s plans as per usual. We don't want to be alarmist, but the current national terrorism threat level is ‘probable', and we've been encouraged by the government to be cautious. It's a timely reminder to keep your wits about you.

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SQUIZ THE REST

POPE VISITS MYANMAR
Pope Francis said in a speech overnight that Myanmar should show "respect for each ethnic group" but didn’t refer specifically to Rohingya Muslims. Reports say he had been advised that using the term would be troublesome. The Pope is on a tour of Asia and has spent the last couple of days in the troubled nation. All eyes have been on his interaction with de-facto leader Aung San Suu Kyi and military leaders. The Vatican has tried to pass the visit off as just routine, but the condemnation by the US and UN over what they say is Myanmar’s program of ethnic cleansing of the stateless minority has given it more meaning. Pope Francis heads to Bangladesh next, where 620,000 Rohingya have recently fled.

BALI UPDATE
Thousands of Bali holiday-makers’ ‘volcation’ has been extended again with the airport remaining closed. More than 120,000 transfers have now been affected by the airport shutdown with 900+ flights to and from the island cancelled since the start of the week. Mount Agung continues to throw ash into the atmosphere and authorities have expanded the exclusion zone to 10km around the mountain.

SHOP TIL YOUR FINGERS CRAMP
Did you pick up any online deals over the last few days? A pair of shoes you’re not sure will fit but were sooo cheap? You weren’t alone. Most of the big American retailers' stock prices went up on the back of record Black Friday sales. The dark side of Black Friday was news that the FBI had its biggest day on record for background checks with shoppers looking to buy a lot of guns… Sheesh. And there are predictions that Cyber Monday sales will be the largest online shopping day in US history. That’s a lot of parcels your work mailroom will have to process…

ADVICE ON MANAGING SEASONAL SNIFFLES
Fingers crossed this story has no relevance for you… But if you're one of the unfortunate 18% who suffer from hay fever, researchers have some good and bad news for you. The bad news is the antihistamine tables you’ve been taking aren’t doing anything for you. The good news is that nasal sprays are the business. The key piece of advice is to get your doctor to recommend what intranasal corticosteroids will work best for you.

TRIPLE J’S HOTTEST 100 DECISION IN HOT WATER
Federal Communications Minister Mitch Fifield will ask the ABC’s board to reconsider triple j’s decision to move the broadcast of its Hottest 100 from Australia Day. Critics say it’s part of a broader push against celebrating our national day on 26 January because of the date’s negative connotations for Indigenous Australians. But the broadcaster said it was never meant to be an Australia Day thing, and would be moved to a date when it would "benefit everyone". We're officially old, but we’ve started listening to the station again. We’ll be in our slippers with a cup of tea for the countdown, but we're looking forward to it.

AUSSIE MUSIC’S NIGHT OF NIGHTS
Australian music’s big night out is known for some weird stuff going down onstage and an interesting assortment on the red carpet. The onstage stuff was pretty tame this year: Gang of Youths won best group and album of the year; Sia won best female artist; Paul Kelly won best male artist; and Peking Duk won song of the year for Stranger feat. Elliphant. And the red carpet from didn’t disappoint. The highlights: Sophie Monk’s spray tan, Guy Sebastian’s ankles and Harry Styles' purple paisley suit/gold shoes combo. And this “social media influencer” - what is that about? Sorry but that felt so good to get out of our system…

SQUIZ THE DAY

12.30pm (AEDT) - Magda Szubanski addresses the National Press Club on 'What it feels like to be an unwilling human guinea pig in a political experiment' - Canberra

ABS Data Release - Disability, Ageing and Carers, 2015

70th anniversary of the United Nations General Assembly approval of a plan for the partition of Palestine