
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

Liberal MP breaks ranks to call for increase to Newstart
Liberal senator Dean Smith has broken ranks with the federal government to call for an increase to the Newstart payment. WA Senator Dean Smith has become the first Liberal MP to publicly back an increase

Aged care homes spending as little as $7 a day on residents food
Some aged care homes spend as little as $7 a day on food for each resident, a royal commission has been told. Celebrity chef Maggie Beer says that sort of budget is inadequate to prepare

Vic wants federal funds to remove cladding
The Commonwealth is being asked to stump up $300 million to help remove dangerous cladding from hundreds of buildings across Victoria. The state Labor government is establishing a $600 million fund, to be overseen by

Asylum seeker tries to set himself on fire at Melbourne detention facility
Another incident of self-harm has occurred in an Australian detention centre. An asylum seeker detained in the Melbourne Immigration Transit Accommodation facility has been taken to hospital after trying to set himself on fire, according

No paperwork, increasing rent: Sydney landlords exploiting international students
International students are being exploited by landlords in Sydney’s tight housing market, a new report has found. International students in Sydney are falling victim to financial exploitation by dodgy landlords, who are overcharging on bonds,

Record number of Aussies rush to file tax returns
A record number of Australians have lodged their tax returns in the hope of getting their hands on a hefty refund. About 650,000 people have already filed their tax returns, with this year’s early rush

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.

The importance of the Greek Exclusive Economic Zone
In 1967, Malta’s Ambassador to the United Nations, Arvid Pardo, called for an international conference to devise a new law of the seas. In this call, he referred to the oceans as “the common heritage

Lamda Development warns against last-minute ministerial decisions regarding delay-plagued Helleniko project
A nascent “feud” between the international consortium that’s won a concession for the massive Helleniko property development in southeast Athens and the outgoing Tsipras government, given that the privatization remains mired in Greece’s ubiquitous “red

Greece sees its future as the Florida of Europe
Tourists in hats, cameras slung around their necks, crane them for a view. In the heart of old Athens, it is a reminder that the holiday season has begun. Last week as parties from cruise

More than one in four young Greeks are not working or studying
More than one in four young Greeks aged 20-34 do not work or study, according to the latest Eurostat figures for 2018. Greece is in the second-worst position among the members of the European Union,

Heat wave with temperatures up to 41°C to strike Greece July 1-5
A heat wave with temperatures reaching up to 41 degrees Celsius is forecast to strike Greece in the upcoming weak. Temperature have risen as of this Monday, July 1st, and will remain high until at

Greek Trump: Mayor wants to build a wall to segregate Roma settlement
An elected mayor in Northern Greece wants to build a wall around a Roma settlement even if it is illegal and against the Constitution and no public servant, no matter how racist one is, could

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

Sicily shipwreck: Tech tycoon Mike Lynch among the missing
At least one person has died and six others are missing after a luxury yacht was struck by a severe storm and sank off the coast of Palermo, Sicily’s capital. Among the missing is British

159 countries poised to adopt BRICS new payment system
Amid ongoing efforts to create a SWIFT alternative, the BRICS alliance is developing its payment system. This system will play a crucial role in the bloc’s trade, enabling transactions without relying on the US dollar.

German Police to raid homes over sharing non-mainstream content online
The German government has proposed a plan that could allow German Police to raid homes over sharing non-mainstream content online and on social media. According to reports from Der Spiegel and RND, the German Federal

Russian Zaporizhzhya nuclear power plant was attacked
It seems the worst has been averted despite a fire in the cooling system of the Zaporizhzhya nuclear power plant, caused by another Ukrainian artillery strike. Fortunately, no serious damage or radiation leakage has been

World Anti-Doping Agency accuses US of major doping scandal
The recent accusations by the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) against the U.S. are nothing short of shocking and could potentially mark one of the largest doping scandals in history. According to reports, the U.S. Anti-Doping

Japan did not invite Israel to the U.S. nuclear bombing commemoration
The mayor of Nagasaki, not only dismissed the invitation of the ambassador of Israel but invited the ambassador of Palestine instead. The well-known professional democrats from the G7 and EU threatened him and in the

