
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

Black Saturday fires commemoration highlights kindness and recovery
The Black Saturday bushfires, which claimed the lives of 173 people on February 7, 2009 brought out the very best in people, giving victims the strength they needed to begin the process of recovery, a

Police investigation underway after toddler found dead in car on sweltering day
A 22-month-old boy, who could not be revived, was found inside a car in Sydney’s west on a sweltering day after family noticed he wasn’t in their house. Police are investigating whether a toddler died

Greek Community executive members meet Minister Mikakos
In a spirit of cooperation and noting historical support from minister Mikakos and the Andrews Labor Government, President Bill Papastergiadis, together with the Secretary of the Greek Community of Melbourne (GCM), Costas Markos, met with

Small business asset tax break extended
The instant asset write-off for small businesses will be extended to June 30, 2020 and lifted to cover purchases of up to $25,000. Small businesses will get an extra tax break with the Morrison government

Ministers leaving for personal reasons: PM
Scott Morrison says characterising ministerial resignations as rats leaving a sinking ship is offensive, despite the coalition struggling in opinion polls. Prime Minister Scott Morrison has bristled at suggestions an exodus of coalition frontbenchers ahead

‘Absolute waste’: NSW residents shocked over scale of second wave of fish deaths
Residents in the NSW town of Menindee have expressed shock at the scale of the latest mass fish death, calling it “an absolute waste”. Locals have woken up to a thick blanket of dead fish

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.

Fotis Kontoglou
In 330 AD the Roman Emperor Constantine the Great, also known as Constantine I, moved the seat of the Roman Empire to Constantinople, a city known previously as Byzantium, strategically located on main trade route

Greek gov’t to end flight delays with urgent measures
The Greek government has issued several urgent measures in an attempt to reduce a growing problem in Greece. On the surface, all is well as the country’s tourism sector continues to grow. According to the

Two Greek beaches on another global ‘Top 50 list’
Two Greek beaches are included in the “Top 50” issued by the Big 7 Travel website, namely, Elafonissos on Crete, where rare and protected “pink sands” are found, and jet-setting Mykonos’ more secluded Psarou. The

“Apodixi please”: Greece’s campaign to inform tourists about tax evasion
The Greek authorities launched recently the campaign dubbed ”Apodixi, Please”, meaning ”Receipt, Please”, in order to inform tourists on how to ask for a receipt from business owners, in order to reduce tax evasion in

Solidarity
From the first moment the government requested European assistance with the dispatch of eight Canadair aircraft. The manner in which the Greek government handled the great fire in Evia demonstrated the significance of coordination, preparedness,

Mystery as rare Ancient Greek chamber tombs unearthed with 14 skeletons inside
ARCHAEOLOGISTS have discovered two large chamber tombs dated to around 1300 BC in an important Mycenaean Greece-era burial ground. The discovery is so rare because the tombs are completely intact and offer new insights into

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

