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Pocock says Australia is ‘sleepwalking’ into AI impacts – as it happened

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Albanese says Australia still impacted by Middle East conflict ‘each and every day’

The prime minister, Anthony Albanese, is now on the ABC News Breakfast couch. He said Australia remains concerned about the economic impact of the turmoil in the Middle East.

Our job now is to demonstrate that we are a genuine and credible alternative to this terrible Labor government.

He’s a great supporter of the party, he’s a great supporter of Angus Taylor, I think this is a great opportunity. The Liberal party has always been what John Howard called the broad church: we like having different opinions.

We listen to everybody’s views, and we represent them.

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© Photograph: Lukas Coch/AAP

© Photograph: Lukas Coch/AAP

© Photograph: Lukas Coch/AAP

Algarve researchers help uncover clues to cancer resistance in African spiny mouse

9 June 2026 at 15:10
Algarve researchers help uncover clues to cancer resistance in African spiny mouse

Researchers from the Algarve Biomedical Center Research Institute (ABC-Ri) at the University of the Algarve and Spain’s Institute for Biomedical Research Sols-Morreale have published a study that could help advance

The post Algarve researchers help uncover clues to cancer resistance in African spiny mouse appeared first on Portugal Resident.

‘Woefully unprepared’: extreme heat will double US hospitalizations by 2040, study finds

9 June 2026 at 14:00

Sharp rise in hospital visits will in turn drive up annual healthcare costs for heat-related conditions to over $1bn

People in the US are poised to endure another summer of unusually ferocious heat and there will be little respite in the years ahead, with a new study finding that the coming 15 years could see a doubling in hospitalizations due to heat-related illnesses.

The number of annual heat-related emergency department visits or hospitalizations across the US are set to rise from about 109,000 cases a year to as many as 237,000 cases by 2040, the new research has estimated.

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© Photograph: Caitlin O'Hara/Bloomberg via Getty Images

© Photograph: Caitlin O'Hara/Bloomberg via Getty Images

© Photograph: Caitlin O'Hara/Bloomberg via Getty Images

Greece’s Ombudsman Reports Increased Complaints as Public Service Failures Mount

9 June 2026 at 13:19
Hellenic Parliament, Greece
Hellenic Parliament in Athens. Greece’s Ombudsman reported record complaints over failures across public services. Credit: Wikimedia Commons/ Jebulon / Public Domain

Greece’s Ombudsman, the country’s independent administrative watchdog, received more than 20,000 complaints in a single year for the first time in its history, according to its latest quarterly bulletin, highlighting persistent failures across the country’s public administration.

The Ombudsman reported that the upward trend recorded in 2025 continued during the first four months of 2026 with no sign of slowing down. The figure underscores the strained relationship between citizens, residents, legal entities, and public services in Greece, where bureaucracy remains one of the most persistent sources of public frustration.

The bulletin, which covers January to April 2026, details cases involving social insurance, labor rights, disability certification, digital access to public services, and environmental protection.

Greece’s ombudsman acts on complaints over large family exemption

One notable case involved a large family that lost its exemption from municipal fees after some of its children reached adulthood.

The competent authority had apparently treated the exemption as temporary, although Greek law provides lifetime protection for families with four or more children, a category that carries a specific legal status in Greece. Following the Ombudsman’s intervention, the authority restored the family’s lifetime exemption.

Low-income pensioners asked to repay state errors

The bulletin also refers to the pension agency operating under the legacy structure of the former Agricultural Insurance Organization (OGA), which Greece later absorbed into the unified social security body e-EFKA. The agency attempted to recover money from low-income pensioners in order to correct errors that its own employees had made over several years.

In a separate case, a disabled citizen was expected to go through a prolonged bureaucratic process simply to have a disability assessment issued by the Army’s Supreme Health Committee converted into digital form. The conversion was necessary to obtain Greece’s Digital Disability Card.

Greece’s ombudsman intervenes in labor rights cases

Labor rights also featured prominently in the Ombudsman’s findings. The authority recommended heavy sanctions against a company that unlawfully dismissed a pregnant employee.

It also secured recognition of a 22-day special leave entitlement for two mothers of children with developmental disorders after their public-sector employers had repeatedly refused to grant the leave.

Disabled citizens report conduct of physicians

The bulletin also highlighted a pattern of complaints from disabled citizens regarding the behavior of certain doctors at KEPA, Greece’s disability certification centers, which operate under e-EFKA.

Following the Ombudsman’s intervention, the agency issued instructions for behavioral training and the adoption of a professional code of conduct.

Environmental complaints include noise, flooding, and illegal construction

Environmental issues formed another major area of concern. The Ombudsman criticized the ministries of Health and Development as well as the police over a legislative gap in noise regulation. According to the authority, the gap leaves residents living near open-air concert venues without adequate protection from noise pollution.

In two separate cases, the Ombudsman referred local government inaction to prosecutors. The cases concerned delays in flood prevention projects and the failure to demolish illegal structures in Oropos, in East Attica, and Ikaria, an island in the Eastern Aegean.

In the northwestern region of Thesprotia, the Ombudsman’s intervention also halted the illegal infilling of a stream.

Free Algarve event explains Portugal’s healthcare system to foreigners

9 June 2026 at 10:05
Free Algarve event explains Portugal’s healthcare system to foreigners

The Algarve municipality of Lagos will host a free information session this week aimed at helping foreign residents better understand how Portugal’s healthcare system works. Entitled “Health in Portugal: Information

The post Free Algarve event explains Portugal’s healthcare system to foreigners appeared first on Portugal Resident.

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