The Albanese government’s 5% deposit scheme for first home buyers, effective from 1 October, appears to have significantly boosted home prices. Cotality’s house price results for October reported the strongest increase in values since June 2023, up 1.1% over the month and 2.9% over the quarter at the combined capital city level. Over the past

Pentagon chief Pete Hegseth claimed a new US strike on a vessel that, according to him, was used for drug trafficking in the Caribbean Sea and belonged to a "terrorist organization."
"Today, at the direction of President Trump, the Department of War carried out a lethal kinetic strike on another narco-trafficking vessel operated by a Designated Terrorist Organization (DTO) in the Caribbean," Hegseth said on X.

The Finnish region of South Karelia has been losing an estimated €1 million ($1.2 million) in tourist income every day since the country closed its border with Russia, Bloomberg reported on Saturday.

Opponents of Ukrainian leader Vladimir Zelensky have accused his administration of using lawfare to sideline political opposition, Politico reported on Friday, citing lawmakers and anti-graft activists.
The outlet cited last week’s indictment of the former chairman of Ukraine’s national energy operator, Ukrenergo, Vladimir Kudritsky, as being seen as part of the pattern.
Last week’s shocking inflation result, which saw Australia’s trimmed mean inflation surge by 1.0% in Q3 2025 and the annual rate of inflation rise to 3.0%, has all but eliminated chances of another interest rate cut over the foreseeable future. As illustrated below by CBA, financial markets now ascribe a near-zero chance of another rate
By Lucinda Jerogin, Associate Economist at CBA: The September quarter headline CPI materially surprised to the upside, jumping 1.3%/qtr to be 3.2% higher annually. The policy-relevant trimmed mean measure accelerated to 1.0%/qtr and 3.0%/yr. Offshore this week the FOMC and BoC cut rates by 25bp, as was widely expected. However, a more hawkish tone curtailed
The post The economic week ahead appeared first on MacroBusiness.

US intelligence chief Tulsi Gabbard has acknowledged Washington’s history of regime change but said it ended under President Donald Trump – despite his recent remarks on Iran and accusations about Venezuela.

Do you notice how nobody’s losing their jobs or getting deported for criticising the genocidal atrocities in Sudan?

Volodymyr Zelensky and his Commander-in-Chief Oleksandr Syrsky are infamous for sacrificing Ukrainian lives to prolong fighting, Mikael Valtersson, former officer of the Swedish Armed Forces and Air Defense, tells Sputnik, commenting on the Krasnoarmeysk (Pokrovsk) and Kupyansk encirclements.

Ukraine’s European backers will secretly meet in Madrid next week to coordinate efforts to increase support, Spanish newspaper El Mundo reported on Friday.
The Boyer Lectures are a series of talks by prominent Australians, presenting ideas on major social, scientific or cultural issues, and broadcast on the Australian Broadcasting Corporation’s (ABC) Radio National. The lectures began in 1959 and a couple of years later were named after Richard Boyer, the ABC board chairman who suggested them. The lectures are delivered between September and December by prominent Australians selected by the ABC board and are intended to stimulate discussion and debate on a wide range of topics1.


