
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

Criticism mounts over First Nations Ambassador Justin Mohamed’s $400,000 role
Controversy has erupted over the role and funding of Australia’s First Nations People Ambassador, Justin Mohamed, after his contract was extended and his annual salary increased to $400,000. Aboriginal academic and human rights lawyer Hannah

Speedway horror in Walcha: Car ploughs into crowd, nine injured, one critical
A speedway event in regional New South Wales descended into chaos on Saturday evening when a racing vehicle broke through a barrier and slammed into spectators, leaving nine people injured—one of them fighting for his

HACCI honours excellence across the Hellenic-Australian community at the 2025 Gala Awards
The Hellenic Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (HACCI) celebrated its 39th consecutive year of honouring excellence, leadership, and service within the Hellenic-Australian community, hosting the 2025 HACCI Excellence Awards Gala Ball at Melbourne’s iconic

Aged care bed numbers collapse as national capacity crisis deepens
Australia’s aged care system is facing a severe capacity collapse, with a new industry report revealing that just 578 new residential aged care beds were added nationwide in the last financial year — even fewer

Julia Gillard warns Australia’s under-16 Social Media Ban “does not go far enough”
Former Australian prime minister Julia Gillard has called for far tougher regulation of social media platforms, arguing that the nation’s world-first ban on under-16s accessing social media is only “a start” and falls short of

China pushes back after ASIO chief warns of cyber-espionage threat
China has sharply rejected Australia’s latest security warning, after ASIO Director-General Mike Burgess revealed that two foreign hacking groups are capable of infiltrating Australia’s critical infrastructure and potentially causing major disruption. Speaking yesterday, Burgess did

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.

Wildfires rage across western Greece and the islands, devastating homes and forests
In the past 24 hours, 48 new fires broke out, bringing the total to 109 incidents since the outbreak began. For a second consecutive day, firefighters battled relentless wildfires across Western Greece and several Aegean

Thessaloniki International Fair (TIF): Up to €2 Billion Package to Support the Middle Class
The government’s economic team is expected to present the final plan for the benefits package immediately after the August 15 holiday, to be announced at the Thessaloniki International Fair (TIF). The total cost of the

Turkish blocks research vessel from conducting surveys on behalf of Cyprus
Turkey is reported to have blocked the research vessel Fugro Gauss, sailing under the flag of Gibraltar, from conducting geophysical surveys on behalf of the Republic of Cyprus in a maritime area that Ankara considers

Albanian Foreign Ministry issues provocative map encompassing Greek territory
“Good neighbourly relations are not just rhetorical niceties. They are practices based on the principles of reciprocity, mutual respect, and a shared understanding of international law. Albanian Foreign Ministry issues provocative map encompassing Greek territory.

Outcry over bribery allegation in public hospital
Immediate Intervention by the Ministry of Health and Minister Adonis Georgiadis A particularly serious allegation regarding a demand for a bribe by a doctor at a Regional Hospital in the country has sparked a strong

Taxi driver arrested in Athens – He demanded €310 for Airport to Syntagma trip
A 20-year-old taxi driver was arrested Friday afternoon by officers of the Syntagma Police Department in central Athens after charging a customer €310 for a ride from Athens International Airport to Syntagma Square—an amount nearly

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

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

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

