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China is deepening its spat with Australia, refusing to apologize after a government official posted an altered image of an Australian soldier holding a knife to a young Afghan boy's throat. Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison had asked for an apology; instead, a Chinese government representative excoriated Australia for its troops' alleged brutality in Afghanistan. "The Australian side has been reacting so strongly to my colleague's tweet," Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying said during a briefing Monday. "Why is that? Do they think that their merciless killing of Afghan civilians is justified but the condemnation of such ruthless brutality...

Senior Australian special forces soldiers drank beer out of the prosthetic leg of a dead Taliban soldier at an unauthorised bar in Afghanistan – with a photograph of the act being revealed for the first time by Guardian Australia. A number of photographs obtained by the Guardian show one senior soldier – who is still serving – sculling from the leg in an unofficial bar known as the Fat Lady’s Arms, which was set up inside Australia’s special forces base in Tarin Kowt, the capital of Uruzgan province, in 2009. Another appears to show two soldiers performing a dance with...

Defence Chief Angus Campbell has backed away from a pledge to strip meritorious service awards from 3000 Afghanistan veterans to mark their “collective responsibility” for alleged war crimes, after he was publicly rolled by Scott Morrison. General Campbell said more than a week ago when he released the Brereton war crimes report that he would write to the Governor-General asking him to revoke the Meritorious Unit Citation for special forces soldiers who served in Afghanistan from 2007 to 2013. But, after the Prime Minister overruled the edict, the Chief of the Defence Force fell into line.

"It was pretty grim. There was a lot of sadness in people's eyes. A lot of fear of the unknown." Matt Lanigan is describing life on Melbourne's Chapel St during the city's recent four-month lockdown. "The streets were completely deserted. It was like something out of [post-apocalyptic film] Mad Max," says Mr Lanigan, who owns cafe Lucky Penny on the iconic shopping strip. Melbourne first went into lockdown in March, but its second, which began in July after a fresh Covid outbreak, was a bigger blow. That lockdown went on to become one of the longest and strictest in the...

China on Friday added wine to the growing list of Australian goods barred from its markets in a trade war against Australia over disputes including its support for a probe into the origin of the coronavirus. The Ministry of Commerce imposed import taxes of up to 212.1%, effective Saturday, which Australia’s trade minister said make Australian wine unsellable in China, his country’s biggest export market. China increasingly is using its populous market as leverage to extract political concessions and increase its strategic influence. Earlier, China stopped or reduced imports of beef, coal, barley, seafood, sugar and timber from Australia after...

Australia's defence forces have sent notices of likely dismissal to 10 special forces soldiers following last week's damning report on the murder of 39 Afghan civilians and prisoners. They are suspected of being accessories or witnesses to the killings, or of being dishonest in testifying. They are separate from the 19 Special Air Service troops who could face prosecution for the murders. Australia's prime minister and top military commander have apologised. Afghanistan called the murders unforgiveable but welcomed last week's report as a step towards justice.

Google is bringing its political ad reporting to Australia — and for the first time, we will see how much money parties and other groups spend to target us with ads on its search engine, YouTube, and elsewhere in its network. This change will bring more transparency to how parties run their online campaigns, including how much is spent on ads targeting certain groups of voters. A Google spokesman has confirmed the system, which the US has had since 2018, will be running in Australia "early next year". Political communication experts have welcomed the news, saying they expect the system...

International air travellers will in future need to prove they have been vaccinated against Covid-19 in order to board Qantas flights, the airline says.The Australian flag carrier's boss, Alan Joyce, said the move would be "a necessity" when vaccines are available."I think that's going to be a common thing talking to my colleagues in other airlines around the globe," he said.Australia shut down its international borders early in the pandemic and required those returning to quarantine.The country has more recently relied on lockdowns, widespread testing and aggressive contact tracing to push daily infections nationwide close to zero.In an interview with...

South Australia will come out of hard lockdown on Saturday night — three days early — and outdoor exercise with family or housemates will be allowed "effective immediately". It comes as the state records three new coronavirus cases, all of which were already in quarantine and were close contacts of staff at a medi-hotel and the Brompton aged care home. Premier Steven Marshall thanked South Australians for "their spirit" during the state's tough lockdown, which only allowed people to leave their homes once a day to obtain essential goods. But he said authorities decided to end the lockdown after discovering...

The world has reacted with disgust and anger after a damning inquiry into Australian soldiers in Afghanistan exposed a disturbing litany of alleged war crimes. The atrocities allegedly committed by Australian Special Air Service members were so vile that more than 50 pages in Thursday's report had to be redacted. The Australian Defence Force report uncovered a staggering 39 unlawful killings, along with deceit and cover-ups, by 25 current or former SAS personnel. The soldiers are accused of engaging in body count competitions and torturing civilians, as well as allegations of drug and alcohol abuse. Major General Paul Brereton's investigation...

The Special Air Service’s troubled 2 Squadron — in which Australia’s most decorated soldier, Ben Roberts-Smith, served — will be disbanded after being singled out amid the damning findings of the Afghanistan war crimes inquiry. The heavily redacted Brereton report does not detail offences by soldiers from the squadron, known as the Bushrangers, but at least two of its Afghanistan veterans are likely to face prosecution as alleged war criminals. Chief of Army Rick Burr told SASR members in Perth on Thursday that 2 Squadron — one of four in the regiment — would be “struck off” the Australian Army’s...

A culture of secrecy, fabrication and deceit has cast a heavy shadow over the legacy of the Australian special forces deployment in Afghanistan, with a landmark inquiry recommending 19 soldiers be investigated by police for the "murder" of 39 prisoners and civilians, and the cruel treatment of two others. ... The inquiry said junior soldiers were often required by their patrol commanders to shoot prisoners to get their first kill. This was a practice known as "blooding".

New Zealand Police have introduced a hijab into their official uniform to encourage more Muslim women to join. New recruit Constable Zeena Ali will become the first officer to wear the official hijab. A spokesperson said they aimed to create an "inclusive" service reflecting the country's "diverse community". Other forces such as the Metropolitan Police in London and Police Scotland offer the option of a uniform hijab. In the UK, the Metropolitan Police in London approved a uniform hijab in 2006 with Police Scotland following in 2016. In Australia, Maha Sukkar of Victoria Police wore a hijab in 2004.

An internal assessment of India’s bilateral free trade agreements with nine countries, including five signatories of the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP), played a pivotal role in the government firming its position against joining the mega trade pact. The assessment showed a “moderate utilisation rate” of Free Trade Agreements (FTAs) over a five-year period, and a trade deficit for India in most cases, save in regard to SAARC nations, The Indian Express has learnt. While the remaining RCEP members went ahead and inked a deal on Sunday — a little over a year after Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced India...

Nothing less than a major milestone in global economic history and a huge victory for China over increasing US regional hegemony has been realized on Sunday with the signing of the biggest free trade deal ever among fifteen Asia Pacific Nations.Called the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership, or RCEP, the agreement was signed virtually during the annual summit of the 10-nation Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), and effectively establishes the world's largest trading block that is expected to encompass almost one-third of all global economic activity, crucially without the United States.Via Grain.orgIt's being further seen as a massive blow to...

Today, we are releasing the second lecture in our six-part series. These lectures are taken from Dr. Peterson's 12 Rules for Life Tour in Australia. Please do not forget to subscribe to each channel so you can enjoy weekly videos. We would like to thank all of you for the outpouring of kindness that Dr. Peterson has received after his Return Home video was released last week. .....

A special investigator will be appointed to prosecute allegations of Australian war crimes in Afghanistan as the Government prepares to release a long-awaited report into the conduct of special forces during the conflict. Prime Minister Scott Morrison said there were a "significant number" of incidents and issues to look into, and the investigation would be "inherently complex". And he warned the process would "[require] us to deal with honest and brutal truths where expectations and standards may not have been met". "Given the likely allegations of serious and possibly criminal misconduct, the matters raised in the inquiry must be assessed,...

Donald Trump can still win the US presidential election as there are still "question marks" remaining and a number of states which have not as yet been called says Sky News contributor Cory Bernardi. "Yes, he can still win," Mr Bernardi said. "There are question marks over Pennsylvania, Michigan ... Arizona and Georgia and Alaska and North Carolina haven't been called. "So let's wait until the 14th of December and and see how it plays out," he said. Joe Biden was declared the winner of the crucial swing state of Pennsylvania on Saturday (local time) winning the state's 20 Electoral...

Rugby fans hailed an African singer's version of the Australian national anthem at the Bledisloe Cup the 'best ever'. David Nduwimana sang Advance Australia Fair before the third match of the rugby series between the Australian Wallabies and New Zealand All Blacks at ANZ Stadium on Saturday night. His passionate rendition of the anthem had the Wallabies up in arms and roaring the lyrics before their clash with their arch rivals. 'Can this man always sing the anthem please?' one tweet reads. 'How awesome to see ALL our Wallabies singing their National Anthem!' another wrote. 'Took an African to correctly...

A majority of New Zealand voters have agreed to the End of Life Choice Act coming into force, which will usher in euthanasia and assisted suicide. Passed by Parliament in November 2019, the End of Life Choice Act will be enacted after citizens voted in favor of it through a binding referendum that took place during the general election on October 17. Although the final tally will not be available until November 6, preliminary referendum results reveal that 65.2 percent of voters are in favor of the Act. It is unlikely that the remaining special votes will significantly change the...