
Australia to mandate cash payments for essential purchases from 2026
Australia will introduce a nationwide cash mandate requiring major grocery and fuel retailers to accept cash payments from January 1, 2026, in a move aimed at protecting consumers who rely on physical currency for everyday

Coalition support crashes to historic low as One Nation surges
Australia’s conservative Coalition has recorded its worst polling results in nearly four decades, as One Nation reaches unprecedented popularity and Opposition Leader Sussan Ley faces mounting internal pressure to maintain her leadership. According to the

Prime Minister Albanese confirms direct line to President Trump
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has confirmed that he now has a direct line of communication with United States President Donald Trump, putting to rest months of speculation and political criticism over his alleged lack of

Nationals vote to scrap 2050 Net Zero target, calling for “alternative” climate path
Australia’s National Party has voted to abandon its commitment to achieving net zero emissions by 2050 — a landmark decision that reignites internal Coalition tensions and challenges the nation’s long-term climate goals. The move, confirmed

Immigration concerns surge as One Nation’s support doubles amid public backlash
Public anxiety over immigration has surged dramatically in Australia, with new polling showing it has overtaken the economy and climate change as one of the nation’s top political issues. A Freshwater Strategy survey released this

$7.9 billion bulk billing overhaul aims to make GP visits free for more Australians
A major transformation of Australia’s Medicare system came into effect today, with a $7.9 billion bulk billing overhaul designed to expand access to free GP consultations across the country. The federal government’s reform, introduced from

Hamas seeks to overturn Australian terror designation through Federal Court
The Palestinian militant group Hamas has taken the unprecedented step of intervening in an Australian Federal Court case, seeking to overturn its designation as a terrorist organisation. The move forms part of a case launched

Mitsotakis unveils major housing, loan and farming measures during Budget speech
Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis used his address to Parliament during the debate on the State Budget to announce a series of significant policy initiatives targeting housing affordability, Swiss franc loan holders, and farmers. The announcements were described as some of the most substantial interventions of the current parliamentary term.

Tears at the Mati victims memorial service one year after deadly fires
Citizen Protection Minister Michalis Chrysochoidis attended the memorial service held on Sunday in memory of the 102 victims of the deadly fire in Mati a year ago. “I can assure you that such a tragedy

PM Mitsotakis announces generous tax cuts incl. properties ENFIA
Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis has set as his top priority to implement his pre-election program and proceed with taxation cuts as soon as possible. In his policy statement late on Saturday, he announced several tax

PIPES: Kastelorizo: Mediterranean flash point
That Athens controls this wisp of land implies it could (but does not yet) claim an exclusive economic zone (EEZ) in the Mediterranean Sea extending 200 nautical miles to Kastelorizo. This would reduce the Turkish

EU agrees to sanction turkey for drilling in Cypriot water
A surprisingly muscular response beyond mere threatening rhetoric out of the European Union over Turkey’s violations of Cypriot territorial waters related to offshore drilling operations: the EU has agreed to bring financial and political sanctions

Archaeology Piece of skull found in Greece ‘is oldest human fossil outside Africa’
A broken skull chiselled from a lump of rock in a cave in Greece is the oldest modern human fossil ever found outside Africa, researchers claim. The partial skull was discovered in the Apidima cave

Athens-Piraeus again in ‘top 10’ in terms of global shipping hubs
The Athens-Piraeus area has returned to the world’s top 10 shipping hubs, according to a recent study by Baltic Exchange. The Greek capital bumped Korea’s Pusan from the “top 10” list, while Singapore remained first,

Libya parliament speaker declares Turkey–Libya memorandum invalid, opens door to talks with Greece, Egypt and Turkey
Libya’s House of Representatives Speaker, Aqila Saleh, has publicly declared the 2019 Turkey–Libya maritime memorandum “invalid,” marking the first such statement in six years and signalling a potential shift in Libya’s approach to maritime disputes in the Eastern Mediterranean. Speaking to the Libyan News Agency, just days after an official

FYROM’s name change deal may be an achievement for the E.U., but undemocratic
After the disintegration of Yugoslavia in 1991, Greece’s northern neighbor stole the Greek name “Macedonia”—but Athens refused to recognize it, saying it gave legitimacy to territorial, historical, and ethnic claims over the millenial old northern

Ancient Greek and Roman artifacts found in Alexandria
An announcement from the Archaeological Mission of Alexandria has revealed that an array of Greek and Roman artefacts has been found in Alexandria, Egypt. That date back to the 1st and 2nd centuries BC. The

