
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.

50 years since the fall of the dictatorship and the restoration of Democracy in Greece
It was July 24, 1974, when the military handed over power to the politicians, after the collapse of the seven-year dictatorship, under the weight of the Turkish invasion of Cyprus… On 23 July 1974, the

Ankara provokes tension in Kassos with five Turkish warships
Ankara is causing tension near Greek territorial waters in Kassos with the presence of five Turkish warships, due to investigations by the Italian ship “Ievoli Relume” for the installation of submarine cables connecting Crete to

Greek commandos, guardians of the Aegean, are now in Poland
The Mitsotakis government has made the fateful decision to withdraw elite amphibious commandos from the Greek islands and redeploy them to the Ukrainian border. Greek commandos, guardians of the Aegean, are now in Poland. The

Greek mercenary ‘Zeus,’ who murdered Russian prisoners, was eliminated
“Shocking news from the Russian media about the extermination of the Greek mercenary ‘Zeus,’ who murdered Russian prisoners, was eliminated. Tasos Antonakos, known by the nickname ‘Zeus’. Antonakos, who was allegedly involved in massacres of

Tax evasion and money laundering linked to estate of famous Greek singer
“I have not evaded taxes, I have never been asked to explain myself,” he says Popular Greek singer Antonis Remos has found himself at the centre of a 1.5 million euro tax evasion and money

The Guardian on Greece’s 6-day week – “Already the longest working week in Europe”
It means the traditional 40-hour working week could be extended to 48 hours for some companies. Under the telling headline “Greece introduces six-day working week with ‘growth orientation’”, the UK’s Guardian reports on the implementation

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

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

Australia’s preeminent strategic thinkers: The era of Anglo-Saxon dominance in the Pacific is ending
This might be the most compelling and influential argument against AUKUS, particularly because it comes from one of Australia’s foremost strategic thinkers: Hugh White, the inaugural Director of the Australian Strategic Policy Institute (ASPI) and

The impending conflict between NATO allies: Greece and Turkey
The relations between Turkey and Greece have never been normal. The legacy of Mongol Turkish conquest of Greece in the fifteenth-century poisons all connections between Turks and Greeks. The Greeks remember their Turkish oppressors like

Arab Coalition with Iran in response to Israel: The crucial meeting in Tehran
In the wake of the assassination of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh, Iran is mobilising what it calls the “axis of resistance” against Israel. High-ranking officials have been summoned to Tehran for consultations, raising fears of

East-West prisoner swap: Largest since the Cold War
US President Joe Biden has celebrated the return of three Americans who were imprisoned in Russian penal colonies after secret “sham” trials. They were freed as part of a significant East-West prisoner swap. Biden and

USA: We are working to ensure that North Macedonia respects the Prespa agreement
The assurance that the US is working to ensure that the new government of North Macedonia respects the Prespa Agreement was underlined by Assistant Secretary of State for European and Eurasian Affairs James O’Brien. During

