11 October 2025 - Saturday Squiz

How good are 4-day weeks… This weekend, if you have a local library legend, a brilliant bargain or anything else you’d like to share, hit reply.

⏱️ Reading time: 8 minutes

🎧 Listen to the Weekly Wrap with Claire Kimball and Jodie Speers

This week’s top 5 news stories

The week’s most mentioned news stories in Australia across TV, radio and print, according to media analytics firm Streem…

1. A historic chance at peace - After a tense week/2 years of waiting, on Thursday, Israel and Hamas agreed on the first phase of US President Donald Trump's proposed plan to end the war in Gaza. There are 48 hostages taken from Israel and nearly 2,000 Palestinian prisoners set to be released early next week - after that, there are a lot of moving parts for how the next phases will unfold. But it’s a start…

2. The Broncos bring it home - They took home the trophies in both the NRLW grand final with the Sydney Roosters and in the NRL against Melbourne Storm. It’s a double triumph for Brisbane, and also one for rugby league - it’s topped the AFL to pull the largest grand final audience in a decade. And with the State of Origin and the AFL premiership under their belt, it’s been a great year for BrisVegas. 

3. Taylor puts on a big, big show - Unless you’ve been living under a rock, you’ve probably heard about Taylor Swift’s new album The Life of a Showgirl, which dropped last Friday. While it’s garnered mixed reviews, one thing is for sure: it’s a success. With nearly half a billion streams in the US alone, she’s broken Adele’s decade-long record for first-week numbers. That’s showbiz…

4. A terror attack at a Manchester Synagogue - This happened last Friday our time, on the Jewish holy day of Yom Kippur, when Jihad Al-Shamie attempted to storm the Heaton Park Hebrew Congregation with a knife before he was shot dead by police. The fallout continued this week with pressure mounting on UK PM Keir Starmer as tensions intensified in the lead-up to pro-Palestinian protests on the 7 October anniversary this week.

5. Hanging on the telephone with Optus - With the House of Reps sitting and Estimates hearings where senators could grill the communications regulator and department, more details came to light about the triple-0 outage that left 600 emergency calls unanswered a couple of weeks ago. Communications Minister Anika Wells was in the spotlight as the government introduced new legislation for a custodian to oversee the system - that’s seen as important as we come bushfire season.

It’s you against the news…

Reckon you know which ice cream flavour was the subject of a Choice report this week? Test your knowledge with this week’s Squiz Quiz.

And if you aced that, try this…

We’ve got a new/extra serving of quiz goodness for you in our new Weekly Squiz Quiz podcast and video, hosted by the quizalicious Andrew Williams. This week, Team Squiz OG Larissa Moore and Nicoletta Hay are taking on the 8-question challenge - if you can beat their scores, we’re all ears (and you can listen with yours here).

The Weekly Squiz Quiz will be out each Wednesday - hit follow on News Club so you don't miss the podcast as it's released, or subscribe to our YouTube channel. There'll be some celebrity guest star appearances in the coming weeks, so stay tuned...

Tribute of the Week

There’s nothing like a massive moon to bring people together to stop and look up. Monday’s Harvest Moon was the first in what’s going to be a season of supermoons, so what better way to welcome that than with this gallery that showcases the big cheese in all its glory.

Bulk gift cards without the admin headache

If wrangling gift cards for team birthdays or customer thank-yous falls to you, GroupTogether just launched bulk eGift cards. Upload a spreadsheet with the names and amounts, and send up to 1,000 digital gift cards in one go. Recipients get an AnyCard with access to 100+ big-name retailers. Check out GroupTogether's bulk eGift cards solution because, let’s be honest, it’s probably easier than your current process...

In the Kitchen

Fish-in-a-can is having a bit of a moment on socials, so to jump on the trend/clear out the pantry, we tried this tasty recipe for sardines on toast (yep, a recipe for toast…) with chermoula and pickled sumac onions. We might just be converted…

What we Shortcut for you this week

Unpacking the peace plan for Gaza - This Tuesday marked 2 years since the terror group Hamas launched the 7 October attacks on Israel, triggering the war in Gaza that has taken a devastating toll on both Israelis and Palestinians. We look at what’s in the Trump-proposed peace plan and what could be next…. Read here or listen here.

The rare flooding of Kati Thanda-Lake Eyre - You might’ve seen it around in the news a bit this week, and that’s because the largest salt lake in the country - which has only reached capacity 3 times in the past 160 years - is full of water and bursting with life. We look at what’s caused this temporary oasis and how climate change might impact its future… Read that here or listen up.

Squiz the Week

Saturday - The Sveriges Riksbank Prize for Economic Sciences will be announced at 7.45pm our time at The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences in Stockholm, Sweden. And if there’s a polar opposite to that, this is it… Wrestling superstars John Cena and Aussie Rhea Ripper will take to the ring at the WWE Crown Jewel event in Perth, live on Netflix from 9.30pm. And the Narromine Dolly Parton Festival gets underway with costume contests galore.

Sunday - From 10.45am, marches for Palestine are planned nationwide. In netball, the third and final match between Australia and South Africa kicks off in Adelaide, free on Kayo Freebies. And Australia play India in the Women's ODI Cricket World Cup at 8.30pm, watch free on Prime Video. 

Monday - Late Monday night, annual meetings for the World Bank and IMF begin in Washington DC. Ebony Bell will be sentenced for an assault on Senator Lidia Thorpe at last year’s AFL Dreamtime game. And SXSW, the festival of creativity and innovation, is back in Sydney. 

Tuesday - The final round of voting for The Guardian’s Australian Bird of the Year starts at midnight and is open til 6am Wednesday. And AGM season begins with Telstra’s meeting at 9.30am in Melbourne…

Wednesday - …and it continues with Origin and CommBank’s AGMs in Brisbane and Sydney, respectively. Sanae Takaich is set to be confirmed as Japan’s first female leader when its parliament meets today. The ABS will release its 2024 report on births in Australia.

Thursday - Minister for Home Affairs Tony Burke will be at the National Press Club to outline Labor’s approach to the key portfolio. Australia’s women’s cricket team take on Bangladesh at 8.30pm. And the Bird of the Year will be announced - justice for the tawny frogmouth…

Friday - Jonathan Rinderknecht, the man accused of lighting the devastating Pacific Palisades fire in California at the start of this year, will appear in an Orlando court after his arrest this week. And the A-League season kicks off with Adelaide United v Sydney FC at 7pm in Adelaide, watch on Paramount+.