
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

Albanese defends ‘magnificent’ Kevin Rudd after tense encounter with Donald Trump
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has offered his full backing to Australia’s ambassador to the United States, Kevin Rudd, following a tense but ultimately productive meeting between the former Australian prime minister and Donald Trump in

China defends ‘provocative’ jet move after Australia’s protest over South China Sea incident
China has accused Australia of “provocative acts” and “illegal intrusion” after a Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) surveillance plane was targeted by flares from a Chinese fighter jet over the South China Sea on Sunday,

Albanese government moves to curb supermarket price gouging with new laws
The Albanese Government has unveiled draft legislation aimed at cracking down on excessive pricing by Australia’s largest supermarket chains, delivering on a key election promise to protect consumers from what the Prime Minister has described

Ley promises tax cuts as Coalition seeks political revival
Opposition Leader Sussan Ley has unveiled the Coalition’s first major economic policy since its election defeat, pledging tax cuts for low and middle-income Australians in an attempt to reassert the party as a credible alternative

Albanese walks diplomatic tightrope in Trump White House – Canberra seeks ‘no fireworks’ in Oval Office test
Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese embarks on one of the most delicate missions of his tenure — a high-stakes meeting with US President Donald Trump in Washington, where experts say the key goal is simple:

Major blow for Optus as millions consider leaving after deadly triple zero outage
Optus is facing a major customer backlash after a catastrophic triple zero outage left emergency calls unanswered and was linked to three deaths. A Resolve Political Monitor poll for The Sydney Morning Herald and The

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.

Greece’s early loan repayment brings unexpected benefit to France, says Le Monde
Greece’s decision to repay early a €1.1 billion loan to France has been described as an “unexpected benefit” for French public finances, according to the French newspaper Le Monde. The loan, originally contracted in the

Zelensky signals new energy agreement ahead of today’s Athens visit
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has announced that Kyiv and Athens are preparing a new bilateral agreement in the energy sector, ahead of his official visit to the Greek capital today, Sunday, 16 November. In a

Kimberly Guilfoyle: Greece to become energy hub to counter Russian and Chinese interests
Kimberly Guilfoyle, the new U.S. ambassador to Greece, gave her first Greek television interview on ANT1, highlighting Greece’s emerging role as a regional energy hub and its strategic importance in countering Russian and Chinese influence.

Mitsotakis on UNESCO’s Recognition of World Greek Language Day
On behalf of the millions of Greeks around the world, but also on behalf of thousands of foreign scholars and admirers of the Greek language, I would like to thank UNESCO for declaring 9 February

Violence in Vorizia, Crete: Police make key arrests as investigation unfolds
The investigation into the deadly armed incident in Vorizia, Heraklion, Crete, continues in full force as local and regional authorities work to piece together the sequence of events. The Subdivision for Crime Investigation and Resolution

Tragedy in Western Achaia – Three-year-old boy dies after falling from wall
A three-year-old boy has tragically died in the municipality of Western Achaia after falling from a two-metre-high wall in the Spata area. The child was rushed to the Karamandaneio Children’s Hospital in Patras, where doctors

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

Japan’s Nikkei is down 12%, the largest drop ever
Japan’s Nikkei is down 12%, the largest point ever, as fears of a US recession shook global markets. The Topix index erased its yearly gains, experiencing its steepest sell-off since “Black Monday” in October 1987.

Will Turkey attack NATO with American ships?
President Joe Biden pushed through his sale of F-16s and upgrade kits to Turkey on the logic that the deal was necessary to get Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan to drop his objection to Sweden

Australia’s preeminent strategic thinkers: The era of Anglo-Saxon dominance in the Pacific is ending
This might be the most compelling and influential argument against AUKUS, particularly because it comes from one of Australia’s foremost strategic thinkers: Hugh White, the inaugural Director of the Australian Strategic Policy Institute (ASPI) and

The impending conflict between NATO allies: Greece and Turkey
The relations between Turkey and Greece have never been normal. The legacy of Mongol Turkish conquest of Greece in the fifteenth-century poisons all connections between Turks and Greeks. The Greeks remember their Turkish oppressors like

Arab Coalition with Iran in response to Israel: The crucial meeting in Tehran
In the wake of the assassination of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh, Iran is mobilising what it calls the “axis of resistance” against Israel. High-ranking officials have been summoned to Tehran for consultations, raising fears of

East-West prisoner swap: Largest since the Cold War
US President Joe Biden has celebrated the return of three Americans who were imprisoned in Russian penal colonies after secret “sham” trials. They were freed as part of a significant East-West prisoner swap. Biden and

