
Australia to mandate cash payments for essential purchases from 2026
Australia will introduce a nationwide cash mandate requiring major grocery and fuel retailers to accept cash payments from January 1, 2026, in a move aimed at protecting consumers who rely on physical currency for everyday

Regular cannabis use now more accepted by Australians than smoking tobacco, study finds
Source: The Guardian Regular cannabis use has become more accepted than smoking tobacco, the latest National Drug Strategy Household Survey (NDSHS) has found. The 2019 data, compiled by the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare

Telstra moves call centres back to Australia after customers made their preference ‘loud and clear’
Source: 9news Telstra has moved all its call centres that service Australian customers and small businesses back to Australian shores to appease its customers. Telstra CEO Andy Penn has announced the move today, saying it

Cybersafety expert’s alarm over Snapchat’s new precise location feature: ‘Literally shows where you sleep at night’
Source: 9news Sometimes it feels like a full-time job keeping our children safe from online predators. So the last thing we need is technology making the job even harder. But a new feature on the

NASA successfully launches its first rocket from newly created Arnhem Space Centre
Source: ABCnews NASA has successfully launched its first rocket from Australian soil in more than a quarter of a century. After rain and wind delayed the launch by more than an hour, the suborbital sounding rocket took

16 hours from Australia to Greece may become a reality with Qantas
Source: Greekcitytimes Qantas has launched direct flights between Australia and Europe with non-stop routes becoming available between Perth to Rome. The new route will be the only direct flight between Australia and continental Europe offered

Australia’s bulk billing clinics are not covered by Medicare subsidies, doctors say
Doctors warn that regional areas will soon be left with few bulk-billing practices if Medicare subsidies for general practitioners are not increased. An increasing number of practices in Australia have stopped using bulk billing in

Mitsotakis unveils major housing, loan and farming measures during Budget speech
Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis used his address to Parliament during the debate on the State Budget to announce a series of significant policy initiatives targeting housing affordability, Swiss franc loan holders, and farmers. The announcements were described as some of the most substantial interventions of the current parliamentary term.

Cretan Mafia: Suspects hurled insults and sarcasm as they appeared before prosecutor
48-hour extension granted for testimonies. Tense scenes unfolded yesterday afternoon at the Chania Courthouse, as the first defendants in the major criminal case that has shaken Crete were brought before the authorities. According to police,

Mitsotakis attends signing for new chair on Alexander the Great at Aristotle University of Thessaloniki
In the presence of Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis, a memorandum of cooperation was signed for the establishment of a new academic chair at the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki (AUTH), dedicated to Alexander the Great. The

Zoe Konstantopoulou attacks Alexis Tsipras: “What he misses is the money of power”
Zoe Konstantopoulou, president of the Freedom Movement (Plevsi Eleftherias), launched a sharp attack on former Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras, criticizing his political and personal ambitions. Speaking on Open TV, Konstantopoulou claimed that Tsipras’ desire to return to the political

Chatzivasileiou: “Europe must be ready to defend its common values”
A strong message on the future of European security was delivered in Copenhagen by Tasos Chatzivasileiou, MP for Serres and Secretary for International Relations of New Democracy, who headed the Greek parliamentary delegation at the

Sokratis Famellos calls for joint action of progressive parties on Gaza
In a move to coordinate and strengthen Greece’s diplomatic stance amid the crisis in Gaza, Sokratis Famellos, leader of SYRIZA–Progressive Alliance, reached out today to the heads of progressive opposition parties. His goal is to promote

Apostolos Vesyropoulos Dies – Tragic irony of missing defibrillator
The sudden death of Apostolos Vesyropoulos, Secretary of the Parliamentary Group of New Democracy and Member of Parliament for Imathia, at the age of 59, has shocked Greece’s political community. A tragic irony surrounds his passing, as Vesyropoulos had

Libya parliament speaker declares Turkey–Libya memorandum invalid, opens door to talks with Greece, Egypt and Turkey
Libya’s House of Representatives Speaker, Aqila Saleh, has publicly declared the 2019 Turkey–Libya maritime memorandum “invalid,” marking the first such statement in six years and signalling a potential shift in Libya’s approach to maritime disputes in the Eastern Mediterranean. Speaking to the Libyan News Agency, just days after an official

“Surveillance Capitalism”: Google sister company to package and sell location data from millions of cellphones
A subsidiary of Google’s parent company Alphabet, Sidewalk Labs, is using real-time mobile location data from millions of cellphone users collected over long periods of time in order to help urban planners make critical decision

Skopje responds to Bulgarian Deputy PM’s threat over Zaev’s “Macedonian language”
The VMRO leader accused the representatives of the former Yugoslav republic of wanting to “validate a false version of history” The Foreign Ministry in Skopje has responded to Bulgarian Deputy Prime Minister and VMRO party

FYROM’s name change deal may be an achievement for the E.U., but undemocratic
After the disintegration of Yugoslavia in 1991, Greece’s northern neighbor stole the Greek name “Macedonia”—but Athens refused to recognize it, saying it gave legitimacy to territorial, historical, and ethnic claims over the millenial old northern

Ancient Greek and Roman artifacts found in Alexandria
An announcement from the Archaeological Mission of Alexandria has revealed that an array of Greek and Roman artefacts has been found in Alexandria, Egypt. That date back to the 1st and 2nd centuries BC. The

