
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

Travellers warned to expect more disruptions in coming months
Source: ABCnews Australian air travellers have been warned to expect more disruptions over the next 12 months, as the industry scrambles to fill critical worker shortages ahead of the July school holidays. It’s been a

Australia’s ski resorts celebrate snowfall by opening early
Source: 9news Ski resorts in Australia’s alpine regions are kicking off the winter season early after a polar front brought heavy snow and icy temperatures to the country’s south-east. It’s been a lean couple years

Why does this iceberg lettuce cost $11.99 and how long will Australia’s high vegetable prices last?
Source: The Guardian A Queensland shopper this week spotted iceberg lettuce selling at a supermarket for $11.99. The photo quickly went viral as evidence of the cost-of-living pressures Australians are facing. Iceberg lettuce previously cost

Dangerous Precedents And Hypothetical Threats: The Deportation Of Novak Djokovic
Australia’s treatment of Novak Djokovic, the tennis world number one, has been revelatory. Unintentionally, this has exposed the seedier, arbitrary and inconsistent nature of Australia’s border policies. The approval by the Australian Federal Court of

Government commits to expanding electric vehicle charging stations but no subsidies to increase uptake
Source: ABCnews The federal government will partner with the private sector to fund 50,000 charging stations in Australian homes, in a bid to encourage more people to buy electric vehicles. The long-awaited Future Fuels strategy does

18,000 overseas Aussies could have their tickets home torn up, thanks to new caps on returning travelers
Source: Business Insider Australia • The federal government’s decision to halve the number of incoming travellers from 6,070 to 3,035 a week could see 18,000 overseas Australians lose their seats by the end of August.

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.

Lesvos: Locals mob against migrants boat, attack reporters
Things got out of control in the port of Thermi in the island of Lesvos on Sunday, with locals to block migrants and refugees to disembark from dinghy with a broken engine. Not only did

Greece upgrades border security to maximum, suspends Asylum, calls Turkey “a trafficker”
Greece has decided to suspend asylum for a month and to activate a series of EU and Frontext mechanisms to protect her land and sea borders, while thousands of migrants are pushing their way to

Evros: Greek Army conducted exercise with live ammunition on March 2
Real ammunition were used on Monday, March 2, 2020, across the Evros river, an announcement by the Greek Army said. The 4th Army Corps announced military exercises with live ammunition at all border outposts at

Personal responsibility
The state appears to be making every effort to limit the spread of the coronavirus, the first cases of which were detected in Greece over the last few days. State services are mobilising, the country’s

Coronavirus: Greece on High Alert at Gates from Italy
Greek authorities have put portals from Italy on high alert. More than 100 people are confirmed to have coronavirus in Italy and in the past two days SIX people have died. Greece is taking emergency mea-sures at

Staramaki: Straws made of wheat, innovation made in Greece
One hundred thousands unique straws made of wheat. The first large quantity of eco-friendly straws, “staramaki” has been produced in the last few days by a Social Cooperative Enterprise (Koinsep) in Kilkis, northern Greece. Producers

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

Australia at centre of AUKUS push as UK and US call for faster delivery and greater burden sharing
Australia has been thrust firmly into the spotlight of the AUKUS security pact, with both the United Kingdom and United States urging Canberra to accelerate its commitments and take on a greater share of the

Germany: Record number of bankruptcies for businesses and individuals
Germany is experiencing its highest number of bankruptcies since 2014, with experts warning that the peak of the crisis “has not yet been reached.” According to the credit rating agency Creditreform, approximately 23,900 companies will

Hamas signals openness to “freezing or storing” weapons as talks enter difficult second phase
Hamas has indicated it is willing to discuss the “freezing or storing” of its weapons arsenal as part of the emerging ceasefire framework with Israel, according to senior official Bassem Naim, who spoke to the

Modi welcomes Putin with full honours in New Delhi
Russian President Vladimir Putin received a ceremonial welcome in India on Friday, with Prime Minister Narendra Modi hosting him in a display designed to highlight the deep and enduring ties between the two nations. Putin

Deported neo-Nazi protester arrives in South Africa after visa cancellation
A South African national who took part in a widely condemned neo-Nazi demonstration in Sydney has arrived back in Johannesburg after being deported by Australian authorities. Matthew Gruter, 35, was removed from the country following

Europe’s fear isn’t of Russia, it’s of itself
Europe’s fear isn’t of Russia, it’s of itself. The Guardian splashed its front page with the usual hysteria, hoping readers wouldn’t notice the one line that undercut the entire narrative: “We are not planning to

