
Trump Turns Up the Heat: Australia Pressured to Boost Defence Spending or Face Trade Penalties
The Trump administration is putting mounting pressure on Australia to drastically increase its defence spending, aligning with NATO’s new benchmark of 5% of GDP. While NATO allies recently accepted this demand, Australia is resisting calls

Record Drownings at Australian Beaches
Australia has seen a significant rise in drownings at its beaches, with new data revealing a record 150 coastal deaths for the 2023/2024 period. This alarming increase coincides with a growing number of Australians flocking

Positive response to proposed changes on children’s online privacy
In a bid to bolster privacy protections, Australia’s Minister for Justice, Mark Dreyfus, has introduced a proposal for a children’s online privacy code. This initiative aims to impose strict regulations on how personal data of

Government and opposition reach landmark agreement on aged care reforms
Australia’s aged care system is set to undergo major reforms, following a historic agreement between the federal government and the opposition. After months of negotiations, a consensus was finally reached, ensuring the sustainability and quality

69-year-old man died after waiting 4 hours for an ambulance
A 69-year-old man in Melbourne’s east has died after waiting four hours for an ambulance due to severe shortages at Ambulance Victoria. The delays were caused by 50 ambulances being out of service due to

Top engineers call for data and solutions for unsafe water in remote Indigenous communities
An explainer released today on the 17th anniversary of the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples by the Australian Academy of Technological Sciences and Engineering (ATSE) outlines the ongoing challenges to providing

Australia to set a minimum age for social media use
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese yesterday announced a landmark move to establish minimum age requirements for social media use, with the aim of protecting children from the mental and physical health risks associated with these platforms.

Mitsotakis pushes for EU action on Libya migration route and defence funding
Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis, speaking after the conclusion of the EU Summit, called for urgent action to address a new irregular migration route emerging from Eastern Libya to Crete. “We will use every means available—carrot and stick—to ensure this route is not consolidated,” he stressed. Mitsotakis announced that the

Albanian Police kill Greek who raised Greece’s flag in Northern Epirus
A 35-year-old Greek, named Konstantinos Katsifas, was shot dead by the Albanian special forces near the village Bularat (Vouliarates) in Albania’s northern Epirus region, 6 kilometers (4 miles) from the Greek-Albanian border. According to Albania’s

Trump Turns Up the Heat: Australia Pressured to Boost Defence Spending or Face Trade Penalties
The Trump administration is putting mounting pressure on Australia to drastically increase its defence spending, aligning with NATO’s new benchmark of 5% of GDP. While NATO allies recently accepted this demand, Australia is resisting calls to push its military budget beyond its current trajectory of 2.3% of GDP—well short of

Baltimore: Francis Scott Key Bridge collapses – 6 presumed dead
via the Associated Press A cargo ship lost power and rammed into a major bridge in Baltimore early Tuesday, destroying the span in a matter of seconds and plunging it into the river in a

Moscow terror attack a blow to Putin, who promised Russia security
Barely a week since Vladimir Putin secured his fifth presidential term, Russia has been plunged into carnage and disarray. The appalling attack on the vast Crocus City Hall concert venue and shopping complex near Moscow,

Shock and dismay from the UN and EU over terrorist attacks in Moscow, but who was behind it?
The EU is shocked and dismayed by the reports of a terrorist attack in the Crocus City Hall in Moscow. The EU condemns any attacks against civilians. Our thoughts are with all those Russian citizens

World Happiness Report 2024
While the top ten countries remain largely unchanged, there has been much more action in the top twenty Finland has retained its position as the happiest country in the world for the seventh consecutive year,

Putin: Is he now more powerful than ever?
Vladimir Putin wins fifth term as President of Russia with a record percentage Vladimir Putin has secured his fifth term as president of Russia with a record-breaking percentage, amid protests and allegations. What does this

War in Ukraine: from caution to panic, what Macron’s change of heart hides
This is an exceedingly rare and fascinating article in the French magazine Marianne, who got access to “several confidential defense reports” from the French army on the situation in Ukraine: https://marianne.net/monde/europe/guerre-en-ukraine-endurance-russe-echec-de-la-contre-offensive-ce-que-cache-le-virage-de-macron . This explains the