
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

Qantas sticks to international travel plan despite COVID vaccine delay
Despite the majority of Australians unlikely to be vaccinated against COVID-19 until next year, Qantas is holding firm on their plan to fly overseas by October 31. Australia had been aiming to open its international

Wild winds to smash popular camp spots in final days of school holidays
The final days of school holidays will be wild and windswept, with these popular tourist spots set to cop a battering. Popular holiday spots are among the locations bracing for wild wind, with the Bureau

Greg Hunt plays down impact of NZ case on travel bubble
The Health Minister has responded to a COVID-19 case in New Zealand and its potential impact on the trans-Tasman travel bubble. The trans-Tasman travel bubble will not be derailed despite New Zealand suffering a COVID-19

The coming Greater Depression of the 2020s
While there is never a good time for a pandemic, the COVID-19 crisis has arrived at a particularly bad moment for the global economy. The world has long been drifting into a perfect storm of

Australia’s post-war recovery program provides a direction as to how to get out of this
As the Covid-19 pandemic spreads around the world, wartime metaphors abound. And, with what amounts to a war economy now in place, attention has inevitably turned to post-war reconstruction. It is self-evident that, without any

CORONOAVIRUS CLOSURES: Everything that will shut from midnight tonight
Australians will face even tighter restrictions on daily life as the country grapples with the an upturn (that will peak sometime inn April or May) in coronavirus cases. An expanded list of businesses will be

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

Was Prigozhin’s Rebellion Live or Memorex?
After this weekend’s whirlwind events in Russia, we’re left with a lot more questions than answers about what happened with Wagner Group’s Yevgeny Prigozhin’s abortive rebellion against Moscow. I’m not here to answer any of

The sinking of the Libyan migrant boat in international waters
Hundreds missing and possibly drowned. A devastating tragedy and a loss of life caused by people trafficking. A concerning and dangerous trend has been making its presence in Greece and political systems from some known

Kyiv’s Long-Term “Last Resort” Plan to Blow up The Kakhova Dam Exposed
A day after Ukraine’s much-heralded counter-offensive appears to have failed, almost before it had even begun, a major dam in the Russian-occupied region of Kherson is suddenly bombed, prompting mass evacuations as floods spread across

Italian Parliament signals support for EastMed pipeline
The Lower House’s Foreign Affairs Committee called on the government to work with the countries involved in the project to assess its development prospects. As the League’s Formentini notes, the pipeline would enable Rome to

A map showing Mycenaean Greek samples to modern populations
Map showing the genetic distance from the average Mycenaean Greek samples to modern populations. The Neolithic and Bronze Ages were highly transformative periods for the genetic history of Europe but for the Aegean—a region fundamental

‘Could be your city’: a Hiroshima atomic bomb survivor’s warning
On August 6, 1945, four-year-old Masao Ito was riding a tricycle near his home in Hiroshima when a bomb fell from the sky and changed his life forever. He survived the US nuclear attack on