
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

Travellers warned to expect more disruptions in coming months
Source: ABCnews Australian air travellers have been warned to expect more disruptions over the next 12 months, as the industry scrambles to fill critical worker shortages ahead of the July school holidays. It’s been a

Australia’s ski resorts celebrate snowfall by opening early
Source: 9news Ski resorts in Australia’s alpine regions are kicking off the winter season early after a polar front brought heavy snow and icy temperatures to the country’s south-east. It’s been a lean couple years

Why does this iceberg lettuce cost $11.99 and how long will Australia’s high vegetable prices last?
Source: The Guardian A Queensland shopper this week spotted iceberg lettuce selling at a supermarket for $11.99. The photo quickly went viral as evidence of the cost-of-living pressures Australians are facing. Iceberg lettuce previously cost

Dangerous Precedents And Hypothetical Threats: The Deportation Of Novak Djokovic
Australia’s treatment of Novak Djokovic, the tennis world number one, has been revelatory. Unintentionally, this has exposed the seedier, arbitrary and inconsistent nature of Australia’s border policies. The approval by the Australian Federal Court of

Government commits to expanding electric vehicle charging stations but no subsidies to increase uptake
Source: ABCnews The federal government will partner with the private sector to fund 50,000 charging stations in Australian homes, in a bid to encourage more people to buy electric vehicles. The long-awaited Future Fuels strategy does

18,000 overseas Aussies could have their tickets home torn up, thanks to new caps on returning travelers
Source: Business Insider Australia • The federal government’s decision to halve the number of incoming travellers from 6,070 to 3,035 a week could see 18,000 overseas Australians lose their seats by the end of August.

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

Turkey’s vessels south of Crete? “We’ll consider all scenarios,” warns Greek Ministry of Defense
“If Turkey violates our sovereignty, we will consider all scenarios”, Greek Defense Minister Nikos Panagiotopoulos said on Friday. “We are not warmongers but we will react if deemed necessary,” he added. The threats come just

Cyber-attacks against handful of Greek govt websites
A handful of Greek government and state websites were targets of hackers on Friday evening, with Turkish media reports claiming the cyber-attacks emanated from Turkey. A Facebook page, claiming to represent Turkish “hackers”, said the

The strong symbolism of the Sakellaropoulou nomination
The Prime Minister’s decision to nominate Ekaterini Sakellaropoulou to serve as President of the Hellenic Republic did not startle those in the know. For months most had known that Mr. Mitsotakis had singled out the

Man jailed for 11 months after Greek police mistake baking flour for drugs
A Scopian citizen spent 11 months in a Greek jail suspected of drug trafficking after Greek police mistook a bag of baking flour he was carrying for heroin. The incredible story of the 38-year-old resident

Hundreds of Santas take part in Athens run 2019
Hundreds of people dressed in Santa Claus costumes took part on Sunday in a special 3-kilometer charity run in the center of Athens. This merry tradition returned to the streets of Athens for the sixth

Greek Christmas Question: Melomakarona or Kourabiedes?
This is the eternal Christmas question Greeks are challenged with every year: the traditional to-die-for Greek sweets during the festive days: Melomakarona or Kourabiedes? Melomakarona are egg-shaped calorie-bombs. They are soft and soaked in syrup

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

Greece’s Island of Flames – Evia – Symbol of Europe’s Summer of Hell
ATHENS — While it seemed like all the fires were in Greece, 2021 has been hellish all across Europe where blazes destroyed huge swathes of forests but nowhere more so than Greece’s second-biggest island of

Olympics, Return them to Greece
Holding the games in a different country every four years invites chaos, corruption, and redundant infrastructure. The great Australian journalist Murray Sayle famously said there were only two newspaper stories: “we name the guilty man”

Microsoft President Warns Orwell’s ‘1984’ Reality ‘Could Come to Pass’ in 2024 Without AI Controls
Since its release in 1949, George Orwell’s famous “1984” novel has become a classic literary example of political and dystopian science fiction, even going so far as coining the terms “thought police” and “doublethink,” among

Turkey, a global problem
Turkey has once again escaped the consequences of its actions, this time in Nagorno-Karabakh. It is probably today in the crosshairs of the Pentagon, which wishes to destroy it like all the other states in

British holidaymakers ‘to be given free coronavirus tests to take abroad’
UK travellers will reportedly be issued free coronavirus tests to take abroad under plans to make foreign holidays safer. Fast-turnaround tests will be made available for free to cut the hassle and expense of getting

‘Signal to the world’: Singapore ready and waiting for Australian travel bubble
Singapore’s so-called “Cruises to Nowhere” have been a big hit since being given the green light last November, with more than 120,000 passengers. “They’ve made something that sounds tacky actually quite fun and enjoyable,” said