Crimes

Users of share cars will need to pay for fuel themselves before seeking reimbursement, leaving them temporarily out of pocketGet our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcastAustralia’s two biggest car-share companies, GoGet and Flexicar, have removed fuel cards from their Melbourne vehicles after a spate of break-ins and thefts that a senior GoGet executive described as “one of the dumbest crimes ever”.The change will force users of share cars to pay for fuel themselves before seeking reimbursement, leaving them temporarily out of pocket amid record-high fuel prices caused by the US-Israel war on Iran. Continue reading...

Accusations refer to attack on Iran without congressional authorization and strikes on alleged drug smuggling boatsHouse Democrats filed six articles of impeachment against Pete Hegseth on Wednesday, accusing the defense security of “high crimes and misdemeanors”, in reference to the attack on Iran without congressional authorization and deadly strikes on suspected drug smuggling boats, among other official acts.The move comes as the Trump administration faces mounting scrutiny over recent foreign action, particularly the war with Iran. Continue reading...

Text on plaque in Hall of Valour updated to include references to war crime – murder charges and the ongoing legal processThe Australian War Memorial has updated the display dedicated to Ben Roberts-Smith after the former Special Air Service (SAS) corporal was officially charged with five counts of the war crime of murder.The changes, implemented on Friday, mean nearly half of the descriptive plaque in the museum’s Hall of Valour is now dedicated to events occurring after his military service, beginning with the initial reports of misconduct in 2016. Continue reading...

Australia’s richest person questions cost and time spent investigating former soldiers as pockets of support emerge for Victoria Cross recipientFollow our Australia news live blog for latest updatesGet our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcastAustralia’s richest person, Gina Rinehart, says “I don’t understand” the justification for prosecuting Ben Roberts-Smith for alleged war crimes, as pockets of high-profile support emerge for the Victoria Cross recipient.Roberts-Smith was arrested in Sydney on Tuesday and charged with five counts of “war crime – murder” in relation to alleged offences in Afghanistan between April 2009 and October 2012. He is yet to enter a plea but is expected to defend the charges. Continue reading...

Former SAS soldier and Victoria Cross-recipient, who has always denied wrongdoing, did not immediately apply for bail on WednesdayFollow our Australia news live blog for latest updatesGet our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcastAustralia’s most decorated soldier, Ben Roberts Smith, has not applied for bail and will remain in custody after being charged with war crimes.The former SAS soldier and Victoria Cross-recipient was expected to make his first court appearance on Wednesday after being charged with five counts of war crime – murder in relation to alleged offences in Afghanistan between April 2009 and October 2012. Continue reading...

Alarm among military observers after president says ‘whole civilization will die tonight’ if Iran ignores demandsUS politics live – latest updatesSign up for the Breaking News US newsletter emailDonald Trump’s Tuesday morning comments threatening that “a whole civilization will die tonight, never to be brought back again” in Iran have raised alarms among military observers and retired officers, who called them “likely war crimes”.“I have to hope that this is bluster, and a negotiating tactic on his part,” said retired admiral Michael Smith, who commanded a carrier strike group in the US navy. “He must understand that those types of threats themselves are likely war crimes.” Continue reading...

US demands Iran reopen the strait of Hormuz while Tehran rejects 45-day ceasefire proposal and insists it wants permanent end to conflictTalks to end Iran war appear to falter a day before Trump deadlineHello and welcome to our continuing live coverage of the US-Israel war on Iran and its consequences for the region, the world and the global economy.Donald Trump said he was “not at all” concerned about committing possible war crimes as he again threatened to destroy Iran’s bridges and power plants if Tehran does not meet his Tuesday 8pm ET deadline to reopen the strait of Hormuz.The UN security council is expected to vote on Tuesday on a resolution to protect commercial shipping in the strait of Hormuz but in significantly watered-down form after veto-wielding China opposed authorising force, Reuters is reporting, citing diplomats.The Israeli military said early on Tuesday it had completed an “air strike wave” aimed at damaging Iranian regime infrastructure in Tehran and additional areas across Iran. It said soon after that missiles were launched at Israel from Iran and defensive systems were operating to incept them.Israel’s military also said it carried out strikes on three airports in Tehran, targeting several Iranian planes and helicopters.The World Health Organisation suspended medical evacuations from Gaza to Egypt via the Rafah crossing after a contract worker for WHO was killed in Gaza on Monday. Separately, an Israeli airstrike killed at least 10 people outside a school housing displaced Palestinians in central Gaza, health officials said. Before the strikes some Palestinians had clashed with members of an Israeli-backed militia who they said attacked the school, Reuters cited medics and residents as saying.Oil prices extended their rises on Tuesday amid Trump’s heightened rhetoric against Iran. The head of the IMF, meanwhile, said the war would lead to “higher inflation and slower global growth”.The head of International Committee of the Red Cross said that “deliberate threats ... against essential civilian infrastructure and nuclear facilities must not become the new norm in warfare”. Mirjana Spoljaric said, without singling out any country or leader: “Any war fought without limits is incompatible with the law.”Israel said it struck Iran’s largest petrochemical complex on Monday. Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the facility had been “destroyed” and his country was “systematically eliminating the Revolutionary Guards’ money machine”.The intelligence chief of Iran’s Revolutionary Guards, Maj Gen Majid Khademi, was killed in US-Israeli strikes at dawn on Monday, the Guards said.Saudi Arabia intercepted seven ballistic missiles launched towards its eastern region and debris fell in the vicinity of energy facilities, the defence ministry of said on Tuesday.Two blasts were reportedly heard near the Erbil airport – which hosts advisers from the US-led anti-jihadist coalition – in Iraq’s northern Kurdistan region, an Agence France-Presse journalist said. Continue reading...