11 June 2024 - Keeping up with the clashes...

The place to go for conversations about the news

G’day Squizer. Long weekends are great (apologies to those in Queensland and Western Australia or anyone who works in jobs which mean long weekends aren’t a thing…). 

For us at The Squiz, it means more time to get across the news - what a gift. To that end, News Club this week is a collection of long reads on conflicts around the world. 

Before I get into those though, let me recap on last week. We talked about Donald Trump given he had just been convicted of falsifying business documents in New York, and we asked you: “Are you interested in the upcoming US election?

Short story: Yes, you are. 

Long story: It was our largest poll result yet - nearly 1,000 if you voted. And 82% of you said you’re “absolutely following every twist and turn” or “interested in the main points”. We’d say that’s emphatic and it was like Christmas came early for Claire (our resident US politics tragic). 

From the hundreds of comments, the sentiment seemed to be that many of you are interested in the broader global implications of a second Trump presidency. And on the current state of affairs, the phrases “car crash” and “train wreck” came up a lot. Wherever you land on it, you can be sure we will keep you abreast of what’s going on as we head towards Trump’s sentencing and November’s election. 

Moving on to News Club this week and as promised, it’s some long-ish reads on global conflicts. As I read the news over the weekend, I was reminded of big stuff going on that just hasn’t made it to the top of the news pile. So, like I did, I thought you might appreciate it being brought to the surface. Our Clubs Picks are as follows:

1. This interactive article in the New York Times called What Ukraine Has Lost. It seeks to show the true extent of the Russian invasion of Ukraine and just how destructive it has been. 

2. From there, we go to Myanmar. It was back in 2021 when a military coup ousted the civilian government of Aung San Suu Kyi. Amanda Hodge is The Australian’s South East Asia correspondent, and this piece is an update on where things are at. 

3. Last week (4 June) was 35 years since the Tiananmen Square massacre - a date usually marked by vigils in Hong Kong. This article from the ABC reminds us why that is no longer the case.  

NB: You might’ve noticed that our Club Picks are often behind a paywall. We have made that call as a lot of media outlets are moving towards paywalls, and if we just point to materials that are free to access, we’d be missing some of the best journalism. If you don’t want to pay, no worries, there’s plenty to read otherwise. 

As always, hit reply if you want to get in touch. And our news poll for the week is below - happy voting. 

Your friend in news
Kate Watson

Wrapping up the news…

Claire and I release the Weekly Wrap on our News Club podcast feed each Saturday. As the name suggests, it’s a look at the week in news and what’s coming up. Big thanks to the Squizer who left this review below…

Listen here or on your fave podcast app (Apple and Spotify).

Got questions?

Hit reply with everything you’re dying to know. You can also DM us on Insta @thesquiznewsclub - we’re all ears.

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