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
Australia’s Digital ID Bill was swiftly passed through the Senate, sparking an outcry over the lack of debate
The government-backed digital identity scheme, known as the ‘Digital ID Bill 2023’, was rushed through the Senate without thorough discussion, prompting criticism over its hurried implementation. This legislation lays the groundwork for a comprehensive digital
Airports brace for busiest day of the year as Easter travel kicks off
Hundreds of thousands of people are expected to jam airport queues and crowd roads today ahead of the long Easter weekend. More than 200,000 people are expected to pass through Sydney and Melbourne airports in
Sally Capp to step down as Lord Mayor of Melbourne
Sally Capp has announced she will step down as Lord Mayor of Melbourne after six years in the role. Capp, who was elected in 2018, announced this morning “with mixed emotions” that she would not
Melbourne and Sydney record surge in population
Both Melbourne and Sydney have seen a surge in population growth, according to new data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS). The biggest increase was seen in Melbourne, which jumped by 167,500 people in
Inflation holds steady at 3.4 per cent
Inflation has held stable at 3.4 per cent for the third month in a row, according to figures from the Australian Bureau of Statistics. Inflation in the 12 months to February was driven by increases
One in 20 mortgage holders spend more than they earn, says new RBA report
A new Reserve Bank report reveals a worrying trend in Australia, with one in 20 mortgage holders spending more money than they earn. What’s more, tens of thousands of households are at risk of running
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
Ruling ND still in ‘honeymoon period’, latest poll shows; 13.5%-point lead over main opposition SYRIZA
Ruling New Democracy (ND) continues what is apparently a “honeymoon period” after the July 7 election, with one of the first opinion polls of the new autumn season showing the center-right party with a 13.5-percentage
Chemotherapy treatment “postponed” in big Athens hospital due to lack of funds
Cancer patients undergoing chemotherapy in Attiko Hospital in Athens were shocked to be informed that their treatment is postponed on indefinite time. The patients were informed by phone last Thursday. Hospital workers’ President and doctor
Parthenon Marbles: Tough words by the Greek President to British Museum
Tough words by the Greek President, Prokopis Pavlopoulos, towards the British Museum on the thorny issue of the Parthenon Marbles. “The British Museum’s obsession is tantamount to supporting Elgin’s cultural grave robbing and theft. And,
Police cracks down gang bringing weapons, ammunition from Albania to Crete
Greek police as cracked down a criminal gang that was bringing Kalasnikov weapons and ammunition from Albania to the island of Crete. A big scale operation conducted by the Police Departments of Chania, Crete, and
Large percentage of Greek High School students graduate lacking essential life skills
Many Greek high schools students graduate practically illiterate in regards to basic life skills, much less skills that would place them in the job market, according to a new report by the Authority for Quality Assurance
Tsipras: “We made mistakes but we took the country forwards”
“We are still here, after four-and-a-half years of struggle, the struggle to keep Greece standing upright,” is how main opposition party SYRIZA leader Alexis Tsipras started his speech at the 84th Thessaloniki International Fair on
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
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
USA: We are working to ensure that North Macedonia respects the Prespa agreement
The assurance that the US is working to ensure that the new government of North Macedonia respects the Prespa Agreement was underlined by Assistant Secretary of State for European and Eurasian Affairs James O’Brien. During
