
Australian meth, cocaine, MDMA, and heroin use jumps 34% in one year
Australians consumed 34 per cent more methamphetamine, cocaine, heroin, and MDMA in 2024 compared to the previous year, according to the latest National Wastewater Drug Monitoring Program. The survey found that 22.2 tonnes of these

Airports brace for busiest day of the year as Easter travel kicks off
Hundreds of thousands of people are expected to jam airport queues and crowd roads today ahead of the long Easter weekend. More than 200,000 people are expected to pass through Sydney and Melbourne airports in

Sally Capp to step down as Lord Mayor of Melbourne
Sally Capp has announced she will step down as Lord Mayor of Melbourne after six years in the role. Capp, who was elected in 2018, announced this morning “with mixed emotions” that she would not

Melbourne and Sydney record surge in population
Both Melbourne and Sydney have seen a surge in population growth, according to new data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS). The biggest increase was seen in Melbourne, which jumped by 167,500 people in

Inflation holds steady at 3.4 per cent
Inflation has held stable at 3.4 per cent for the third month in a row, according to figures from the Australian Bureau of Statistics. Inflation in the 12 months to February was driven by increases

One in 20 mortgage holders spend more than they earn, says new RBA report
A new Reserve Bank report reveals a worrying trend in Australia, with one in 20 mortgage holders spending more money than they earn. What’s more, tens of thousands of households are at risk of running

Easter trading hours 2024: What major stores will be opened on Good Friday and Easter Saturday, Sunday and Monday?
Easter is upon us again and that means a whole heap of confusion with stores across the country either open, shut or operating at different hours. To make things easier for you around the busy

Wildfires rage across western Greece and the islands, devastating homes and forests
In the past 24 hours, 48 new fires broke out, bringing the total to 109 incidents since the outbreak began. For a second consecutive day, firefighters battled relentless wildfires across Western Greece and several Aegean islands, as authorities reported a record number of fires sweeping through the country. The most

Sitia under water after torrential rains strike East Crete
Homes and businesses flooded, agricultural land was covered by water and mud and the city of Sitia in Lasithi Prefecture on the island of Crete turned into a huge lake following huge volume of rainwater

Doctor in Mani wins WONCA 2019 Europe Award of Excellence in health care
Dr Anargiros Mariolis, director of the Areopoli Health Center in Mani, is the winner of the WONCA Europe Award of Excellence in Health Care for 2019. The 5-Star Doctor is an award to doctors, who,

Repatriating two rare ancient vessels
Standing at just under 60 centimeters in height, two 4th century BC marble vessels – a funerary lekythos and a loutrophoros – that the Greek state is in negotiations to repatriate from Switzerland have traveled

Turkish researchers: No Sultan’s edict allowing Lord Elgin to loot the Acropolis
Two Turkish researchers have de-bunked the British claim that the Parthenon Marbles were a gift by the Ottoman Sultan Selim III to Lord Elgin. The Sultan did not issue an edict (ferman) allowing Elgin to

Rights of ethnic Greeks in Albania abused, again
Albania on Saturday reportedly withdrew a decision published in the online version of its government gazette calling for the seizure of properties belonging to members of the ethnic Greek minority in the town of Himara.

Greece furious over north neighbor’s “Wines of Macedonia”
It came as expected and feared. Companies in North Macedonia omit the geographic term and sell their products with state labeling as simple “Macedonian.” And this despite the Prespes Agreement or because of it that

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. In Melbourne, celebrations began early in the morning, with the faithful filling churches to honor

Tim Walz: Veteran military man chosen by Kamala Harris as Vice Presidential candidate
Kamala Harris, the Democratic presidential nominee, has selected Tim Walz as her vice-presidential running mate, a decision that surprised some observers. At 60, Walz has held various roles as a former teacher, coach, and military

“Drums of war” in the Middle East: Awaiting Iran’s retaliation – Israel on high alert
The Middle East appears ready to explode as the war atmosphere intensifies just hours after the U.S. declared that Tehran might attack Israel within the next 24 hours. All eyes are on Iran and the

Stock markets around the world are crashing right now, but why?
The answer to this question is the Yen carry trade, a term you’ll probably hear many times this week. So what exactly is the Yen carry trade and why did it cause a market downturn?

Japan’s Nikkei is down 12%, the largest drop ever
Japan’s Nikkei is down 12%, the largest point ever, as fears of a US recession shook global markets. The Topix index erased its yearly gains, experiencing its steepest sell-off since “Black Monday” in October 1987.

Will Turkey attack NATO with American ships?
President Joe Biden pushed through his sale of F-16s and upgrade kits to Turkey on the logic that the deal was necessary to get Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan to drop his objection to Sweden

Australia’s preeminent strategic thinkers: The era of Anglo-Saxon dominance in the Pacific is ending
This might be the most compelling and influential argument against AUKUS, particularly because it comes from one of Australia’s foremost strategic thinkers: Hugh White, the inaugural Director of the Australian Strategic Policy Institute (ASPI) and