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Ben Roberts-Smith has been granted bail pending his war crime trial, despite claims by the prosecution that the former soldier had been “on the cusp of moving overseas” and that he might try to interfere with witnesses. The decision by Judge Greg Grogin at a bail hearing in Sydney on Friday means Mr Roberts-Smith is likely to be freed from Silverwater Correctional Complex later this afternoon. Judge Greg Grogin said the court needed to be satisfied before bail could be granted, that there were exceptional circumstances which exist to justify bail. “There is a presumption of innocence in, in place...

Ben Roberts-Smith was taking his teenage daughters on a shopping day trip to Sydney when he was arrested getting off a Qantas flight and charged with war crimes. The Victoria Cross recipient had flown from Queensland to NSW with his 15-year-old twins and partner Sarah Matulin on the morning of April 7 and all four were holding return tickets to Brisbane. Roberts-Smith, who will apply for bail today in Downing Centre Local Court, had treated his girls to an Easter school holidays expedition and none of the group had checked any luggage. Federal authorities knew the 47-year-old was making the...

When Australian Army private Robert Poate was gunned down in 2012 by a rogue Afghan soldier inside what should have been a safe patrol base, within 20 minutes Ben Roberts-Smith was on the scene with his small SAS team. Too late to save Poate and the two other Australians murdered by Hekmatullah, the war hero was sent out to hunt the Afghan down. Elevated to the top of the Joint Priorities Effects List, this terrorist could be killed whether armed or not. If the war in Afghanistan taught our soldiers anything it was that the line between friend and foe...

In UN Watch's press release, the NGO cited the UN's Economic and Social Council's (ECOSOC) recent nomination of Iran to the UN’s Committee for Program and Coordination. UN Watch demanded an explanation on Saturday from democratic countries for why they'd allowed "serial abusers of human rights" to be elected to key positions in the United Nations. In UN Watch's press release, the NGO cited the UN's Economic and Social Council's (ECOSOC) recent nomination of Iran to the UN’s Committee for Program and Coordination, which would include an active role in shaping policy on women's rights, disarmament, and terrorism prevention, as...

Victoria Cross recipient Ben Roberts-Smith had written to Australian Federal Police and the Office of the Special Investigator multiple times offering to hand himself in before his high-profile arrest in front of his teenage daughters at Sydney Airport this week. Veterans have reacted ­furiously to what they see as an orchestrated and deliberate attempt to humiliate Australia’s most decorated soldier to justify only the second arrest after the Office of the Special Investigator’s (OSI) six-year, $300m investigation into ­alleged war crimes. Roberts-Smith was arrested in front of media cameras on Tuesday as he arrived at Sydney Airport on a Qantas...

Former SAS soldiers warn the prolonged war crimes investigation into Ben Roberts-Smith threatens to create life or death hesitation for troops in combat situations.The father of an Australian soldier killed in Afghanistan has questioned why a dedicated team of investigators has spent six years building a case against Victoria Cross recipient Ben Roberts-Smith while his son’s killer remains free.It comes as former SAS soldiers warn the Office of the Special Investigator’s (OSI) prolonged investigation into alleged war crimes is causing mental health issues to military families and creating life or death issues for soldiers in combat.Hugh Poate’s son Robert was...

Australia’s most decorated soldier Ben Roberts-Smith faces five war crimes murder charges, but a retired army Colonel and ADF legal expert claims prosecutors will struggle to secure a conviction.Prosecutors squaring up against the nation’s most decorated soldier will struggle to get a successful war crimes conviction regardless of the quality of the evidence, according to a retired colonel of the Australian Army Legal Corps.Bruce Levet, who served the Australian Army Legal Corps until 2022, told The Daily Telegraph he did not believe Victoria Cross recipient and former Special Air Service corporal Ben Roberts-Smith would be convicted of five counts of...

A retired US Navy SEAL has interrupted a live television interview about Donald Trump and the war in Iran to call for the release of Australia's most decorated soldier, who was arrested over alleged war crimes. Ben Roberts-Smith, 47, will face court on Wednesday after being charged with two counts of the war crime of murder and three counts of aiding or abetting the same charge. The maximum penalty for the charges is life imprisonment. The Victoria Cross recipient, who spent the night in custody, is accused of murdering unarmed civilians while deployed in Afghanistan between 2009 and 2012, as...

War crime murder charges carry potential sentence of life in prisonAustralia's most decorated living veteran, Ben Roberts-Smith, faces war crime charges on allegations he killed five unarmed Afghans while serving in Afghanistan from 2009 and 2012, police and media reported on Tuesday. Police have not confirmed the name of the 47-year-old former soldier who was arrested on Tuesday. But he has been widely reported in the media to be Roberts-Smith, a former Special Air Service (SAS) Regiment corporal who was awarded both the Victoria Cross and Medal of Gallantry for his service in Afghanistan. Police charged him on Tuesday with...

One of Australia's most decorated soldiers, Ben Roberts-Smith, has been arrested and is expected to be charged with five counts of the war crime of murder.The Victoria Cross recipient was arrested at Sydney Airport's domestic terminal after a flight from Brisbane this morning.The former special forces soldier's arrest comes after a mammoth defamation trial against Nine Newspapers that in 2023 ended in a court finding that on the balance of probabilities, allegations he was responsible for, or complicit in the deaths of four detainees in Afghanistan were substantially true.There have been no findings of guilt against Mr Roberts-Smith to a...

A secretive contingent of elite soldiers have been quietly deployed to the Middle East amid fears the conflict in the region could escalate.Exclusive: Australia has sent SAS troops to the Middle East to be on standby in case the Iran war escalates.A small contingent of around 90 Special Air Services members were sent to the region two weeks ago, sources have revealed.The elite soldiers were likely to have travelled to the Al Minhad Air Base in the United Arab Emirates, 15km south of Dubai.Defence Minister Richard Marles declined to comment on the Australian deployment when his office was sent questions...

Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese was chased out of the country's largest mosque Friday as Muslims in attendance voiced anger over his stance on the Israeli war against Hamas. Albanese was called several names, including a "putrid dog" and a genocide supporter," referencing the deaths of Palestinian in the Gaza Strip following Hamas' Oct. 7, 2023 attack in Israel, The Telegraph reported. Video footage showed the prime minister standing alongside Tony Burke, the home affairs minister, at the Lakemba Mosque in Sydney as the community marked Eid, the end of the holy month of Ramadan. "Why is he in here?...

After the horrific Hanukkah terror attack at Australia's Bondi Beach, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese admitted the terrorists were inspired by Islamism and ISIS. Despite this revelation, Albanese also decried Islamophobia and vowed to crack down on firearms and "hate speech" directed at Muslims. Now Albanese, for all his bending the knee to Islamists, is going to learn that appeasement doesn't work with Muslims. He went to a mosque to talk about Islamophobia, only to be heckled and threatened by the worshippers.

President Donald Trump sent his clearest warning yet to the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) on Sunday: Stand with the U.S. for defense of the Strait of Hormuz or face a "very bad" future. "It's only appropriate that people who are the beneficiaries of the strait will help to make sure that nothing bad happens there," Trump told The Financial Times in an interview Sunday. "If there’s no response, or if it’s a negative response, I think it will be very bad for the future of NATO." Trump echoed those remarks in a press gaggle aboard Air Force One on...

U.S. President Donald Trump's demands for a coalition to help reopen the Strait of Hormuz appeared to fall on deaf ears on Monday as allies Japan and Australia said they were not planning to send navy vessels to the Middle East to escort ships through the vital waterway.

The bodies were found inside a car in Queensland’s flood-hit Gympie region.Australian police have recovered two bodies during a search for two Chinese backpackers who went missing in a flood-hit region in the country's east, local media reported on Thursday (Mar 12). The bodies, believed to be those of the missing Chinese tourists, were found inside a car, national broadcaster Australian Broadcasting Corp reported, citing police. Police divers and emergency personnel were expected to be at the scene in the Gympie region of Queensland state on Thursday to confirm the identities of the bodies, ABC News said.

The Trump Organization signed a deal to construct a skyscraper in Australia that will immediately become the tallest building Down Under. The 91-story tower, which will cost just over $1 billion to build, will loom over the Gold Coast in the state of Queensland, per a Feb. 23 report from NBC News. “Australia’s tallest building will be a Trump Tower, right in the middle of Surfers Paradise — it’s great for Queensland tourism, and fantastic for Australia,” Altus Property Group, the company developing the property, said in a statement. The Trump Organization, in partnership with Altus Property Group, is proud...

What we knowIRAN REJECTS NEGOTIATIONS: Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi told “NBC Nightly News” anchor Tom Llamas that Iran has not asked for a ceasefire, rejecting negotiations with the U.S.SUB ATTACK REVENGE VOW: Tehran has warned that the U.S. will "bitterly regret" the torpedo attack on an Iranian naval ship in the Indian Ocean. Iran, still being hammered by American and Israeli strikes, launched expanding drone attacks in retaliation that led to blasts across the region.SENATE PUSH TO STOP WAR FAILS: A war powers resolution to restrict President Donald Trump’s ability to carry out further military action against Iran, which...

Mark Carney has backtracked on his support for the US military campaign against Iran.In an initial statement on Sunday, the Canadian prime minister expressed “support” for the attacks and said they were necessary to “prevent Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon”.But speaking in Sydney on Wednesday, he told reporters that the strikes appeared “to be inconsistent with international law”.Mr Carney joined a chorus of world leaders speaking out against the joint US-Israeli operation, which entered its fifth day on Wednesday.Emmanuel Macron, the French president, said on Tuesday that while Iran bore responsibility for the war, the attacks by the US...

America’s war on Iran has revealed much about its allies. Israel is as steadfast as ever, as secretary of war Pete Hegseth pointed out on Monday. Australia and Canada have also made clear their unequivocal support for the military action. In Europe, however, the response has been lackluster. Hegseth regretted the faintheartedness of “traditional partners who wring their hands and clutch their pearls, humming and hawing about the use of force.” ... The timidity of Europeans towards regime change in Iran is in stark contrast to their aggressive attitude towards regime change in Russia. Last year Von der Leyen called...