
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

Teenage volunteer firefighter charged with arson in Western Sydney – faces multiple serious offences
A shocking case has emerged in New South Wales, where a 17-year-old volunteer firefighter has been charged with deliberately lighting bushfires across western Sydney. The teenager was arrested early Wednesday in the Lower Blue Mountains

ATO 2024/25 Tax Deadline: What Australians must do before October 31 to avoid penalties
The Australian Taxation Office (ATO) is reminding taxpayers that the deadline for filing 2024-2025 tax returns is Friday, October 31, 2025. Australians who miss the date could face penalties and fines, officials have warned. When

Lord William Hague praises Australia’s social media ban for under-16s, criticises Albanese government over Palestinian recognition
Oxford University Chancellor Lord William Hague has praised Australia’s “bold and responsible” move to ban social media for children under 16, calling it a landmark step in protecting young people’s mental health and civic integrity.

RBA warns of rising global risks: Overvalued markets, cyber threats, and China’s slowdown
The Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA), in its semi-annual Financial Stability Review, has warned that global financial risks are not easing — in fact, they are rising — as uncertainty continues to cloud the economic

Australia’s opposition demands strong support for BHP in China dispute
Australia’s opposition is urging the Albanese government to actively intervene as BHP faces a reported freeze on iron ore shipments to China following stalled price negotiations. Opposition finance spokesman James Paterson criticized the government’s “hands-off”

‘Mushroom Murderer’ Erin Patterson to lodge appeal against convictions
Erin Patterson, infamously known as the “mushroom murderer,” is preparing to appeal her convictions for three counts of murder and one count of attempted murder. The Victorian Supreme Court has granted her an additional 28

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.
Thessaloniki mayor vows to protect city’s Jewish heritage
Thessaloniki Mayor Yiannis Boutaris said Friday that Jewish monuments will be repaired, no matter how many times they are vandalized. “Even if they vandalize the monuments 100 times we will repair them 110 times,” said

Greece is the third largest investor in the FYROM
Greek companies have invested 473 million euros over two decades in the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (FYROM), according to data released by Skopje’s National Bank. This makes Greece the third largest investor in FYROM

Who owns the Acropolis of Athens? An “unknown owner”…
The Acropolis of Athens narrowly escaped the risk to be target of property hunters after the Culture Ministry failed to claim the ownership on time. In the Hellenic Cadastre it was regi-stered to have an

A blackmailed Prime Minister is not a Prime Minister!
For days now and since the confidence vote and the ratification of the Prespa Agreement, the government, the political system, and, by extension, the entire country, are faced with a “pending institutional issue” and have

Greece warns Turkey ahead of Imia crisis anniversary
In what was seen as a thinly disguised warning against Turkey, newly appointed Defense Minister and former chief of the Hellenic National Defence General Staff Evangelos Apostolakis said Greece will staunchly defend its national sovereignty

Mitsotakis says greece should Veto skopje’s accession to EU
As the Greek Parliament voted in favor to ratify the Prespa agreement on Friday, main opposition leader Kyriakos Mitsotakis released a statement saying that he is prepared to “fight” what might happen as a result

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

Tim Walz: Veteran military man chosen by Kamala Harris as Vice Presidential candidate
Kamala Harris, the Democratic presidential nominee, has selected Tim Walz as her vice-presidential running mate, a decision that surprised some observers. At 60, Walz has held various roles as a former teacher, coach, and military

“Drums of war” in the Middle East: Awaiting Iran’s retaliation – Israel on high alert
The Middle East appears ready to explode as the war atmosphere intensifies just hours after the U.S. declared that Tehran might attack Israel within the next 24 hours. All eyes are on Iran and the

Stock markets around the world are crashing right now, but why?
The answer to this question is the Yen carry trade, a term you’ll probably hear many times this week. So what exactly is the Yen carry trade and why did it cause a market downturn?

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

