
No panic at the pump: Fuel prices hold steady despite Iran-Israel ceasefire
Despite recent tensions in the Middle East and fears of a global oil shock, fuel prices across Australia have remained surprisingly steady. The ceasefire between Iran and Israel — announced after a series of intense

Lending for new homes remains at 20 year lows
“Despite a rise in the number of loans for the construction and purchase of new homes in September, they remain around their lowest levels for the past two decades,” stated Tom Devitt, Housing Industry Association

Extreme weather is leading to more injury hospitalisations, with heat being the main cause
The number of hospital admissions for injuries associated with extreme weather – such as heatwaves, bushfires and storms – has increased over the past decade, according to a new report by the Australian Institute of

Victorian Premier Dan Andrews resigns
Premier Andrews has resigned abruptly, stepping down from his role effective 5 pm Wednesday. Having recently surpassed John Cain Jr. as the longest-serving Labor Premier in Victoria’s history in April 2023, Andrews’ decision was celebrated

America’s “unique” relationship with Australia?
The enthusiasm of the members of Albanese’s staff seems to have run away with them. They declared that ‘the Australian-United States relationship is unique in scale, scope and significance reflecting more than 100 years of

A rethink of Australia’s national security
Sam Roggeveen’s basic storyline in The Echidna Strategy – that the China threat is grossly exaggerated, and that Australia should not, and need not, rely on America for our security protection – is causing predictable

Are earthquakes becoming more common in Melbourne?
Approximately 7,000 Victorians were alarmed by tremors at about 1:32am this morning as a magnitude 4.6 earthquake hit 127km east of Melbourne, near Rawson. Victoria has been hit by several quakes recently, including three in

Karamanlis Inquiry: Fast-tracked parliamentary probe sparks political backlash
The Hellenic Parliament’s special inquiry committee into former Transport Minister Kostas Karamanlis opened its first session today under accusations of political orchestration, as the government appears determined to fast-track the process surrounding the deadly Tempi train disaster of February 28, 2023. The committee, formally tasked with investigating whether Karamanlis committed

Mitsotakis govt announces measures to prevent another 2015-like migrant/refugee crisis
A recent spike in the number of landings of vessels carrying irregular migrants and would-be asylum seekers to a handful of eastern Aegean islands generated a Greek government reaction on Saturday, with a top defense

Greek FM summons Turkey’s Ambassador over mass migrants’ arrivals
Foreign Minister Nikos Dendias summoned the Turkish ambassador to Athens in order to express Greece’s deep dissatisfaction over the increased influx of migrants from Turkey, that culminated with the unprecedented mass arrivals of more than

Major spike in number of illegal migrants, would-be asylum seekers landing in Lesvos last week
A significant spike in the number of small craft carrying third country nationals, mostly Afghans, to the eastern Aegean island of Lesvos (Mytilene) was recorded on Thursday, with no less than 13 flimsy inflatable vessels

Cosco-led Piraeus Port Authority submits revised master plan; worth 800 mln€
A revised master plan by the Cosco-managed Piraeus Port Authority was tabled on Friday for review by a shipping ministry ports committee in the coming period. The revised master plan, which according to the port

Mitsotakis to Observer: Athens will ask for loaning of Parthenon Marbles amid 2021 series of events
Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis referred to the “loaning” of the Parthenon Marbles – 14 friezes or metopes – from the British Museum in London to Greece on the occasion of the 200th anniversary of

Greek state collects 1.138 bln€ with 26-week T-bills issue; yield at 0.15%
Demand for a new tranche of 26-week T-bills was slightly down on Wednesday, compared to similar issues over the past few months, with an auction of 875 million euros of paper attracting bids of 1.536

NATO Leaders gather in the Hague: 5% defence target, summit diplomacy, and speculation over a Mitsotakis-Erdogan chat
Today marks the beginning of a pivotal NATO summit in The Hague, with 32 leaders in attendance and a critical agenda ahead. At the heart of the discussions is a push led by US President Donald Trump to raise defence spending commitments to 5% of GDP by 2035, a sharp

Analysis of the European Parliamentary elections
Already, one day after the elections, each party is proposing an interpretation of the results which is in their favour. Any objective reading would be bound to annoy one or the other. And yet the

Turkey: Erdogan describes Armenian Genocide as ‘Reasonable Relocation’
What Erdogan refers to as ‘relocation’ was actually the genocidal deportation of civilian populations — mainly women, children and the elderly — to the very interior of Asia Minor. These populations were not simply relocated

Populists shatter EU status Quo with strong showing
The preliminary results from the European Parliamentary elections are in. And just like the polls anticipated, the pro-European status quo has suffered a serious blow.

The hard truths about Turkey’s continued denial and lies
The participation of the hundreds and thousands of people in the memorial events organized in Greece and abroad on the occasion of the 100th anniversary of the Genocide of the Greeks of Pontus, and the

‘Clash of civilizations’ or crisis of civilization?
The outlook of current Western leaders suggests that humanity will be hard pressed to survive the 21st century Talk about a graphic display of soft power: Beijing this week hosted the Conference on Dialogue of

Are you ready for a worse dystopia than 1984?
It has been a lonely concern with the dire economic implications of robotics, but now Clarity Press has provided us with some company by publishing The Artificial Intelligence Contagion by David Barnhizer and Daniel Barnhizer.