News in Review 2025 — Australia
The year that was 2025 in Australia was marked by significant social and political developments relating to security, public order, federal elections, human rights and international alliances. The country faced challenges ranging from mass demonstrations
Retailers call for national crackdown on crime as abuse surges
Retailers across Australia are calling for urgent government action in response to a sharp increase in retail crime and abuse against staff, revealed at the 2025 Retail Crime Symposium in Melbourne. The latest figures show
Over 500 Working With Children check failures uncovered by tech firm Oho
A leading tech company specialising in child safety has discovered more than 500 workers and volunteers across Australia with invalid or revoked Working With Children Checks (WWCC), sparking fresh concern about flaws in the nation’s
Australia lifts restrictions on US beef in move toward tariff negotiations
Australia has officially lifted its long-standing biosecurity restrictions on American beef imports, in what is widely seen as a strategic move to gain leverage in ongoing tariff negotiations with the United States. Prime Minister Anthony
Nearly 3,000 Range Rovers recalled in Australia over dangerous airbag defect
Canberra, July 23, 2025 — Almost 3,000 Range Rover Evoque vehicles are being urgently recalled across Australia amid safety concerns that the front passenger airbag may tear during deployment, potentially exposing occupants to hot gases
All STD tests so far negative in childcare abuse investigation, Victorian Government confirms
Melbourne, July 23, 2025 — All sexually transmitted disease (STD) test results returned so far in the police investigation into accused childcare sex offender Joshua Dale Brown have come back negative, according to Victorian Deputy
Online shopping booms as Aussies anticipate rate cuts and feel inflation easing
Australians have turned to their screens in record numbers, spending a staggering $69 billion online over the past financial year, with $19.2 billion of that spent in just the final quarter, new data reveals. According
History responds: 145,000 Greeks fill the cinemas
In just four days, 145,000 tickets were sold in Greek cinemas — an achievement that goes well beyond commercial success and firmly into the realm of a cultural moment. History responds: 145,000 Greeks fill the cinemas. Public interest in the film about Ioannis Kapodistrias cannot be explained in box-office terms
Albanian journalist says Albania’s PM Rama gave the go-ahead to kill Katsifas
The Albanian Prime Minister’s office gave the go-ahead to kill 35-year-old Greek man Konstantinos Katsifas, with the approval of Turkey, said Albanian journalist Kastriot Miftairi on mainstream television. The execution of Katsifas has cast a
Albanian Police kill Greek who raised Greece’s flag in Northern Epirus
A 35-year-old Greek, named Konstantinos Katsifas, was shot dead by the Albanian special forces near the village Bularat (Vouliarates) in Albania’s northern Epirus region, 6 kilometers (4 miles) from the Greek-Albanian border. According to Albania’s
Why the EU drifted into irrelevance and how anti-democratic governance accelerated the decline
The European Union’s slide into geopolitical and economic irrelevance has nothing to do with Donald Trump. Here’s Why the EU drifted into irrelevance and how anti-democratic governance accelerated the decline. It is structural, self-inflicted, and rooted in an increasingly anti-democratic system of governance that prioritises regulation over innovation, symbolism over
From Somaliland to Cyprus: Why occupation is not self-rule
Jerusalem’s decision reflects a principle, not an exception. Somaliland was sovereign before union and has governed itself since that union collapsed. The analogies invoked against its recognition fail on both law and fact. From Somaliland
Bittersweet Christmas in Bethlehem as the city celebrates for the first time in two years
Bethlehem, the birthplace of Jesus, marked a deeply symbolic and emotionally charged Christmas on Thursday, celebrating the holy season for the first time in two years amid a backdrop of conflict, loss and fragile hope.
Australian father stranded in Iraq issues urgent Christmas plea amid legal limbo
An Australian father, Dr. Robert Pether, who spent more than four years in an Iraqi prison under what he calls “bogus charges,” has issued a desperate Christmas plea, urging Australians to push the government to
British man accused of drugging and raping wife over 13 years alongside five accomplices
A 49-year-old British man has been charged with systematically drugging and raping his former wife over more than a decade, alongside five other men, according to Wiltshire Police. The six men face over 60 charges
Libyan military chief killed in Falcon 50 jet crash in Ankara
A private Falcon 50 jet crashed near Ankara on Tuesday evening, killing all five people on board, including Libya’s Chief of the General Staff, General Mohamed Ali Ahmed Al-Haddad. The aircraft had departed from Ankara
Mitsotakis meets Abbas in Ramallah: Greece supports peace in Gaza
Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis met with Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas on Monday in Ramallah, ahead of his visit to Jerusalem and participation in the Greece–Cyprus–Israel trilateral summit. Support for the Palestinian Authority and
