
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 brushes off concerns before Trump meeting – White House summit set for October 20
Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has confirmed he will meet US President Donald Trump at the White House on October 20, brushing aside questions about the deep political differences between the two leaders. Speaking to

Australia wipes student debt for millions – major HECS and HELP reforms begin
Starting today, millions of Australians with student loans will see thousands of dollars wiped from their debt as new HECS and HELP repayment rules take effect. The federal government has honoured one of its key

Australia, UK and Canada recognise Palestinian statehood in historic shift – Netanyahu furious
Australia has taken a historic step, joining Britain and Canada in formally recognising an independent and sovereign Palestinian state. The move, announced late Sunday (Sept 22), marks a major break from decades of Western policy

Australia to recognise Palestine: Albanese calls for peace and security
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has confirmed Australia will formally recognise a Palestinian state during this week’s United Nations General Assembly in New York, joining the UK, Canada and several European nations in a move he

Australians selling burial plots online – Graves become lucrative investments
A striking and somewhat macabre trend is emerging across Australia: burial plots are being listed online as valuable assets, with some fetching more than $150,000. A nationwide shortage of cemetery space, especially in major cities,

Triple tragedy sparks outrage – Optus blamed for fatal emergency network failure
Australia is reeling after a catastrophic Optus outage cut hundreds of Triple Zero (000) emergency calls, resulting in three deaths—including an eight-week-old baby—across South Australia, Western Australia, and the Northern Territory. Optus CEO Stephen Rue

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.

How the “Aegean Prespes” will be served
The signs that a full-scale Greek-Turkish negotiation is being launched – with the blessing and behind-the-scenes mediation of the Americans – are too many to ignore. In an article a few days ago, I referred

The Pan-Macedonian Association demands Channel 9’s misleading advertisement must be withdrawn
“Historic Macedonia is in Greece” The Pan-Macedonian Association of Melbourne and Victoria is demanding the withdrawal of the misleading advertisement of Tripadeal, aired by Channel 9 and which refers to Skopje as “Historic Macedonia”, in

Cyprus: Mass migration leads to demographic replacement
The Republic of Cyprus, whose population is approximately 1.2 million, is struggling with a significant mass migration crisis that is gradually leading to the demographic replacement of the island’s native population. Since at least 2016,

Drilling rigs go to work on the deposits of Crete
Indications of the existence of the largest natural gas deposit in the Mediterranean, with a size of 30 trillion cubic feet – Interest from energy giant Chevron to get involved in the project – Countdown

Allegations of coverup, evidence overlooked in Tembi train tragedy probe
ATHENS – A year after a head-on train collision killed 57 people, an investigation into the causes has lagged and seen relatives of victims complaining about evidence being overlooked and media reports of a cover-up.

Has PM Mitsotakis’s same-sex marriage decision backfired?
If gay marriage and the adoption of children by such couples was a political gambit by Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis to entertain the country’s forthcoming first-ever condemnation by the European Parliament for the rule of

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

NATO: All member countries to meet 2% of GDP defense spending target this year – Expansion plan up to 2035
All 32 NATO member countries are set to meet the long-standing target of allocating at least 2% of their GDP to defense this year, according to new figures released in Brussels. This goal was established

Ukraine thriller continues – Trump: “In two weeks we’ll know if peace is possible”
The war in Ukraine, now over three and a half years ongoing, remains at a critical juncture. Former U.S. President Donald Trump continues diplomatic efforts to arrange a summit between Russian President Vladimir Putin and

Niger Army Reports Killing of Boko Haram Leader
The Nigerien army announced on Thursday that during an operation in the Lake Chad basin, it had successfully eliminated the notorious leader of the jihadist group Boko Haram, known by the alias Bakura, whose real name

Covid-19 linked to accelerated blood vessel ageing, Australian patients included in major global study
A major international study involving Australian participants has revealed that Covid-19 may accelerate the ageing of blood vessels, particularly in women, raising fresh concerns about the long-term cardiovascular risks of the virus. The research, published

August 15: Melbourne honours the “Easter of Summer” with splendor and devotion
August 15, the Feast of the Dormition of the Theotokos, is one of the most important celebrations of Orthodoxy and is observed with deep emotion both in Greece and in Greek communities around the world.

Turkey’s population reaches 85.8 million amid aging trend
Turkey’s population reached 85,824,854 in the first half of 2025, increasing by 159,910 people, according to data released today by the Turkish Statistical Institute (TUIK). Annual demographic changes indicate a clear trend of population aging.

