
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

Statement from the Premier
This week I had another round of scans and a meeting with my care team at the Alfred and got some good news. The broken vertebra has almost fully healed and they’re letting me take

What is the Novavax COVID-19 vaccine? Will it be available in Australia soon? And does it use mRNA?
Source: abcnews The Novavax COVID-19 vaccine has been found to have more than 90 per cent efficacy, paving the way for it to be available later this year in Australia. The successful results from the phase 3

‘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

Flights between India and Australia suspended until May 15
Flights to and from India into Australia have now been suspended, amid increasing concerns over the nation’s escalating COVID-19 situation. Flights to and from India into Australia have now been suspended, Scott Morrison has announced,

Trans-Tasman travel bubble: The big difference between Australia and New Zealand
Stepping foot on-board one of the trans-Tasman bubble flights was a cause for celebration. But the surprise came on the journey home. A year in the making, it was the flight Australia was itching for.

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

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

Greece suspends services in worship places of all religions
Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis announced late on Monday that services in all areas of religious worship of any religion or dogma are suspended. The conservative leader announced the decision on a tweet just an

Coronavirus Greece: 21 new confirmed cases, total 352
Greece’s health autho-rities announced on Monday 21 new confirmed cases of coronavirus, cases that increase the total number of inflections to 352. 65 patients are hospitalized, 9 of them are intubated hospitals ICU in Athens,

Greece shuts down Museums, Archaeological sites due to Coronavirus
The Greek Ministry of Culture announced on Friday that it is closing down the country’s museums and archaeological sites — at least until March 30 — to help control the spread of coronavirus. In a

Coronavirus: Greece holds its breath as tens of millions of Italians put in quarantine
As the number of coronavirus cases in the country rose to 84 on Monday with 11 new infections identified, health authorities called on people with symptoms of the virus to stay at home and avoid

The Hellenic Initiative Australia, renews grant for SOS family support program in Patras
The Hellenic Initiative Australia has renewed its support for SOS Children’s Villages Greece, providing children from disadvantaged families in the regional city of Patras with critical educational and nutritional support. The €20,000 grant renewal will

Greece’s Civil Aviation has suspended flights to/from North Italy
Greece’s Civil Aviation Authority has decided to suspend flights from all Greek airports to and from North Italy on Monday. “All flights to and from Northern Italy are suspended from all Greek airports and for

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

A Most Convenient Virus
I prefer to write on things I know about, but once in a while an opportunity presents itself for me to comment on some aspect of widespread mistrust and confusion while resting on a solid

The Terrorists Migrating into Europe
“Most migrant terrorists involved in thwarted or completed attacks were purposefully deployed to the migration flows by an organized terrorist group to conduct or support attacks in destination countries.” — Todd Bensman, “What Terrorist Migration

Gas Wars in the Mediterranean
The unexpected alliance between Turkey and Libya is a geopolitical earthquake that changes the balance of power in the eastern Mediterranean and across the Middle East. Turkey’s audacious move has enraged its rivals in the

A Global Catastrophe: “260 Million Christians Experience High Levels of Persecution”
Dictatorial paranoia continues to make North Korea (#1) the worst nation. “If North Korean Christians are discovered, they are deported to labor camps as political criminals or even killed on the spot.” — World Watch

Battle of the ages to stop Eurasian integration
The coming decade could see the US take on Russia, China and Iran over the New Silk Road connection. The Raging Twenties started with a bang with the targeted assassination of Iran’s General Qasem Soleimani.

Greece responds to Erdogan’s aggressive remarks ahead of Berlin meeting
Greece and Turkey have traded barbs a few hours ahead of the meeting on the situation in Libya in Berlin. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan again indulged in aggressive remarks early Sunday, before departing for