
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

Better Managing Australia’s future population growth
Key elements of the Morrison Government’s plan to better manage Australia’s future population have come into effect today. Launched in March this year, the Population Plan has four broad components: Easing the population pressures

60,000 tons of donation waste going to landfill
Australian charities are contributing to a large chunk of landfill pollution in the country because of donations that can’t be used. Things like soiled clothing, mattresses and old electrical appliances are being donated to stores

Killer flu season sees record numbers of cases and deaths – and it’s only just beginning
A killer flu season has seen almost as many people diagnosed with the virus so far this year as there were in the whole of 2018. Health bosses today issued renewed calls for people to

Election campaign: Morrison, Shorten pledge transport funds
Prime Minister Scott Morrison is promising to spend $4 billion on Melbourne’s shelved East West Link road project, even though the state Labor Government has ruled out its construction. • A Coalition government would fund a

Man charged after ‘Mother of Satan’ found in Adelaide home
A court has heard a highly volatile substance known as “Mother of Satan” was found at a home in Adelaide’s northern suburbs, where a man was arrested for allegedly manufacturing explosives. Officers made the discovery

Coles customers call for compensation after major website outage
Coles has suffered a major outage of its online shopping website, prompting customers to publicly vent their frustration. The supermarket giant has named a software issue for the site being offline. It has left customers

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

Athens marks liberation from the Nazis with ceremony on the Acropolis
In a ceremony marking the 75th anniversary since Athens was liberated from German occupation on October 12, 1944, the Greek flag was raised on the Acropolis on Saturday. The event was addressed by the government’s

Archives, possible throne room discovered in ancient Palace on Crete
The Greek Ministry of Culture announced on Thursday that a new storage room for valuables in Zominthos Palace, on the plateau of Mount Psiloritis on Crete, was discovered at the sprawling site during this year’s excavation season.

Greek gov’t measures for workers, businesses affected by Thomas Cook collapse
The Greek government announced on Saturday a series of measures for tourist businesses and workers affected by the collapse of British Thomas Cook. The measures were announced after a meeting of representatives from the Finance,

Turkey furious as Greece, Cyprus and Egypt “condemn its unlawful actions”
Turkey fumes over a joint statement issued by Greece, Cyprus and Egypt. In an angry statement, the Turkish Foreign Ministry described as “baseless claims” the trilateral statement that, among others, condemned “Turkey’s unlawful actions in

Greek teen’s art installation spotlights our addiction to plastic
Young people around the world are joining forces and making an effort to combat the climate crisis and biodiversity loss. The international movement Fridays for future climate strikes have inspired students around the globe to

Moody’s: Thomas Cook liquidation is “credit negative” for Greek, Cypriot banks
The collapse of British tour operator Thomas Cook is “credit negative” for Greek and Cypriot banks, because it reduces the cash flow of businesses in the tourism sectors of these countries, ratings agency Moody’s said

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