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
ANZ and NAB chiefs face parliamentary scrutiny after record fines and misconduct
Australia’s largest banks are facing intense parliamentary scrutiny as the government examines past misconduct, employment practices, and customer protections. ANZ’s new chief executive, Nuno Matos, publicly apologised to a parliamentary committee for the bank’s historic
Australians hold 209 million days of unused annual leave as employment landscape shifts
Australian workers are heading into the summer break with a massive stockpile of unused annual leave, collectively sitting on 209 million days of accrued holidays, new data from research firm Roy Morgan shows. The near-record
Surge in social media use replaces sport, reading and arts among Australian children
A dramatic rise in social media use among children and adolescents is reshaping daily routines and pushing aside key developmental activities such as sport, reading and music, according to a major new study by the
Optus fined $826,320 after major verification flaw allows scammers to steal customer identities and tens of thousands of dollars
Optus has been hit with a substantial $826,320 penalty after a serious security lapse allowed scammers to bypass customer verification processes and steal as much as $39,000 from individual victims. The Australian Communications and Media
Albanese issues ultimatum to Turkey over hosting COP31 Climate Talks
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has drawn a firm line in ongoing negotiations with Turkey over the hosting of next year’s United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP31), ruling out any possibility of co-hosting the event. Speaking
Australian families face rising private health insurance premiums in 2026
Australian families may be set to pay significantly more for private health insurance in 2026, as premiums are projected to rise between 3.9 and 4.4 per cent. According to analysis by Money.com.au, this increase could
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.
Why I joined the demonstrations spurred by the rail disaster
Because although taking to the streets to express your grief, your anger and your questions may not bring back the young faces you saw in the photos that were published when devastated relatives were seeking
Evagoras Pallikarides a young Cypriot freedom fighter
This week 65 Years ago the English Queen awarded a belated posthumous medal to a young British soldier killed in Cyprus in 1956. He was just 19 and died when a bomb exploded the news
Sir George William Rendel (British Diplomat). A memorandum detailing atrocities committed during the Greek Genocide by the Turks
Sir George William Rendel (1889-1979) was a British diplomat who wrote a 7-page memorandum detailing atrocities committed during the Greek Genocide. Rendel was educated at Queen’s College, Oxford and in 1913 joined the British Diplomatic Service.
Biden is half right on Eastern Mediterranean arms sales
The Biden administration reportedly will ask Congress to approve a $20 billion sale of F-16s to Turkey , coupled with a separate sale of F-35 fighters to Greece . The White House is half right:
An Honest Broker No Longer: The United States Between Turkey and Greece
Over the course of 2022, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has maintained a steady drumbeat of provocations targeting Greece. The year began with his foreign ministry issuing a statement threatening to declare Greece’s sovereignty as
Greek police find 92 naked migrants sent from Turkey to Greece
Greek police have rescued a group of 92 illegal migrants who were discovered naked, and some with injuries, close to its northern border with Turkey, police say. The migrants, all men, were discovered close to
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
Yahya Sinwar: New leader of Hamas – Hardliner and fluent in Hebrew
Hamas announced on Tuesday night that Yahya Sinwar is the new leader of the Islamist movement, following the assassination of Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran on July 31. Earlier today, the Saudi news television network Al
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
