​ He’s Australia’s most decorated soldier. Now he’s at the centre of a historic war crimes case. 52 minutes ago. Tiffanie TurnbullSydney. Sam Mooy/The Sydney Morning Herald via Getty Images. One of the most significant moments in Australian military history unfolded without fanfare on a tarmac at Sydney airport, when Ben Roberts-Smith was calmly escorted off a plane and into a waiting police car.. The country’s most-decorated living soldier and the most famous of his generation, Roberts-Smith was on Tuesday charged with five counts of the war crime of murder.. It follows a high-profile civil defamation case, which three years ago found that the former Special Air Service (SAS) corporal and Victoria Cross recipient had unlawfully killed several unarmed Afghan detainees.. Roberts-Smith, who left the Australian Defence Force (ADF) in 2013, denies all wrongdoing and says the allegations are “egregious” and driven by spiteful and jealous peers.. His case – now set to be tested to a higher, criminal standard – has become the face of Australia’s reckoning over the country’s alleged conduct in Afghanistan, which has cast a pall over its much-mythologised military legacy.. “For Roberts-Smith to now be charged with war crimes – and not just one, but multiple war crimes – is a very significant cultural and social moment for a country that, for much of its history… has placed a lot of store in the exploits and contributions of the members of its defence forces,” Professor Donald Rothwell told the BBC.. But the prosecution of such a highly-decorated veteran is also an extraordinary moment for the globe.. “We’ve never seen this before,” says Deane-Peter Baker, a special forces ethics scholar.. ‘Unprecedented’ prosecution. When Roberts-Smith came home from Afghanistan in 2013, he was considered a national hero, having been awarded Australia’s highest military honour for single-handedly overpowering Taliban fighters attacking his SAS platoon.. Plum speaking engagements and board gigs, magazine covers and massive portraits, accolades and awards – like Father of the Year – followed.. Getty Images. But in 2018, Nine newspapers began publishing a series of articles alleging misconduct during his time with the SAS – claims of unlawful beatings and killings of prisoners, bullying of colleagues, and domestic violence against a mistress.. He said it was all untrue, and in a bid to clear his name, launched a high-profile legal battle. It spanned seven years, cost millions of dollars and was dubbed by some as Australia’s “trial of the century”.. He lost. While the claims of domestic violence and some of the bullying allegations were dismissed, a Federal Court judge in 2023 ruled the reports he committed four murders were substantially true, a judgement that was upheld on appeal.. Roberts-Smith, 47, now faces even higher stakes if convicted of the five charges against him: life in prison, and an unwelcome place in history.. Victorian Cross recipients from other C  

​ Artemis crew returning to Earth with ‘all the good stuff’ from Moon discoveries. 4 hours ago. Claire Keenan. The Artemis II crew said they have “many more pictures” and “many more stories” to share with the world as they prepare to return to Earth.. The four astronauts on board the Orion spacecraft have completed their mission around the Moon and are expected to splash down off the coast of San Diego on around 20:00 Friday US EST (00:00 GMT).. Speaking to media from space on their way home, the mission’s pilot, Victor Glover, said the crew was eager to share what they had seen with the world.. It was the first time hearing from the team since their historic lunar flyby that saw them travel further from Earth than any other humans.. When asked during Wednesday evening’s conference, about re-entry to Earth, Glover said: “We have to get back. There’s so much data that you’ve already seen, but all the good stuff is coming back with us.”. “There’s so many more pictures, so many more stories,” he said.. Glover added that the crew still had “two more days” before they could begin to process what they’d been through.. “I’m going to be thinking about and talking about all of these things for the rest of my life,” he said.. In pictures: Artemis II crew witness ‘Earthset’ and a solar eclipse. Artemis II: Inside Nasa’s mission to take humans back to the Moon. First stop, the Moon. Next stop, Mars? Why Nasa’s mission matters. The personal items the Artemis II crew are taking to the Moon. The Artemis II mission’s spacecraft, Orion, broke the record for human travel at about 13:56 EDT (18:56 BST) on Monday, beating a record of 248,655 miles (400,000km) held since 1970 by the Apollo 13 mission.. The spacecraft was not planning to land on the Moon but fly around its far side, the side which is never visible from Earth. Satellites have photographed the far side before, but the astronauts were the first human eyes to see some parts of the far side’s surface and its vast craters and lava plains.. Straight after the flyby, President Trump spoke with the Orion team and congratulated them: “Today, you’ve made history and made all America really proud, incredibly proud.”. During the most recent virtual news conference, at Nasa’s Johnson Space Center in Houston, the four astronauts once again beamed into a live stream as a microphone floated between them.. They each took turns answering questions from reporters with considerable delays.. The crew was asked by the Los Angeles Times about the 40 minutes of “profound solitude” when they lost contact with Earth.. Commander Reid Wiseman said the crew had a lot of scientific work to do and it was “probably the most critical lunar observations for our geology team”.. “But the four of us took a moment, we shared maple cookies that Jeremy had brought, and we took about three or four minutes, just as a crew to really reflect on where we were,” he said.. For Glover, the “greatest gift” of the mission was seeing the lunar eclipse fr  

​ Donald Trump has again attacked NATO for not supporting the US in the Iran war, following a private meeting with its Secretary General Mark Rutte at the White House. In a post shared to Truth Social after the meeting, the US President said: “NATO WASN’T THERE WHEN WE NEEDED THEM, AND THEY WON’T BE THERE IF WE NEED THEM AGAIN.” Meanwhile, Rutte described his meeting with Trump to CNN as “very frank” and “very open,” despite clear disagreements.

Ahead of the talks on Wednesday, Trump had toyed with the idea of quitting the trans-Atlantic military alliance after several NATO countries resisted his calls to help reopen the Strait of Hormuz to ease rising global oil prices. The White House did not disclose details of the talk. The Secretary General was at the White House for over two hours on Wednesday, although it is unknown how long the meeting with Trump was. The meeting was expected to cajole and convince Trump that it’s in his interest, and America’s, to stay in the NATO alliance. What is clear, however, is that Trump still has deep misgivings about the alliance and the member countries that he believes did not help the US enough before and during Operation Epic Fury. In recent weeks, Trump has threatened to withdraw from the 32-member transatlantic alliance.

Asked about NATO’s role in the ongoing conflict with Iran, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt on Wednesday said in a direct quote from the president that NATO was “tested and they failed.” Leavitt said NATO countries had “turned their backs on the American people,” who fund their nations’ defense, and that Trump would have a “very frank and candid conversation” with the NATO chief. Meanwhile, much of Rutte’s message to Trump appears to be that many European countries did not stand in the way. The Secretary General told CNN that he pointed out that “the large majority of European nations has been helpful with basing, with logistics, with overflights.” “It’s therefore a nuanced picture,” Rutte said. Whether or not that point—and the Secretary General’s own warm relationship with Trump—are enough for the US president remains to be seen. Asked if the world was safer now than it was before the war, Rutte said “absolutely” and credited that to Trump’s “leadership” in degrading Iran’s nuclear threats. He added NATO members do not see the war in Iran as illegal, and most agreed it was important to degrade Iran’s nuclear capabilities. At the end of 2023, the US Congress did vote to prohibit any US president from unilaterally withdrawing from NATO without the approval of a two-thirds Senate majority or an act of Congress. The relationship between the administration and the NATO alliance was already in a difficult place before the war with Iran, largely as a result of disagreements over Trump’s plans for Greenland if found.  

​ Pioneering wildlife cameraman Doug Allan dies in Nepal. 7 hours ago. James DelaneyBBC Scotland. Doug Allan. The acclaimed wildlife cameraman and photographer Doug Allan has died while trekking in Nepal.. Allan, 74, was principal cameraman on a number of BBC programmes including The Blue Planet, Blue Planet II, Planet Earth and Frozen Planet, and spent much of his career working alongside Sir David Attenborough.. He won eight Emmy Awards for his work and was made an OBE for services to broadcast media and environmental awareness in 2024.. Allan’s management company said he had died “immersed in nature and surrounded by friends”.. BBC Scotland. In a statement, Jo Sarsby Management described him as a “true pioneer of wildlife filmmaking” who had captured “some of the most breathtaking and intimate images” of the natural world.. They added: “Doug leaves behind a visual legacy that few could ever match. His work brought audiences closer to the wonders of our planet, inspiring awe, understanding and deep respect for the planet.. “When we think of Doug, we will always remember his unforgettable kindness and his extraordinary talent. He was a true gentleman and he will be profoundly missed.. “Our thoughts are with his family, friends, colleagues across the wildlife filmmaking industry and the many people around the world who admired his work.”. His ex-wife, Sue Flood OBE, paid tribute to the cameraman in a Facebook post, saying that it was “of comfort to know that he was doing something adventurous with a dear friend of ours, with whom he’d shared many adventures over several decades”.. A fellow wildlife photographer, she said his influence on her life had been “profound” and had “led to a lifetime working in the polar regions, a passion we shared”.. She added that her heart went out to his surviving family members, and she would remember him “with deep affection, respect and gratitude for a lifetime of memories”.. ‘There was a polar bear at the window’. Doug Allan: Wild Cameramen at Work. Born in 1951, in Dunfermline, Fife, Allan became interested in snorkelling and diving after watching Jacques Cousteau’s film, The Silent World, a 1956 documentary which was one of the first to use underwater filming.. After graduating with a degree in marine biology from the University of Stirling, he took on a number of diving jobs.. His big break came when he was taken on as a research diver with the British Antarctic Survey, stationed at Signy Island in the South Orkney Islands.. He was later awarded the Polar Medal, an honour he would win twice, for his work.. In 1981, a chance meeting with Attenborough led to Allan working on the documentary series Living Planet, part of which was filmed in the Antarctic.. He began specialising in filming in some of the planet’s most extreme environments.. PA Media. Doug Allan. In 2017, he told BBC Scotland he had spent about 620 days of his life searching for and recording polar bears.. He described how on one occasion a polar be  

​ Prosecutors seek Tiger Woods’ prescription drug records after Florida arrest. 7 hours ago. Sareen Habeshian. Prosecutors are seeking all the records connected to Tiger Woods’ prescription medications, including dosage and warnings about driving on pill bottles, court documents show.. Woods was arrested and charged with driving under the influence after a car crash in Florida last month. The golfer has pleaded not guilty to the charges.. A court filing on Tuesday shows a legal request, which could provide the evidence prosecutors need for their case against Woods, will be issued on 22 April.. The golfer’s lawyers did not immediately respond to the BBC’s request for comment.. Woods crash bodycam footage released by police. Woods’ lawyers can fight against the subpoena or legal order regarding prescription records by objecting to it within 10 days. If not, the subpoena will be issued on 22 April, according to filing in court.. Police earlier this month released body camera footage capturing the aftermath of the incident involving Woods, showing the golfer after his vehicle clipped a truck and rolled over.. In the full video, Woods appears calm, kneeling on one knee as he tells officers: “I looked down at my phone, and all of a sudden, boom.”. No one was injured in the crash, though Woods had to crawl out through the passenger door to free himself.. He passed a breathalyser test but declined to take a urinalysis screening for other drugs, according to Martin County Sheriff John Budensiek.. Woods told officers he had not consumed alcohol that day. When asked about any prescription medication, he responded, “I take a few”, adding he had done so earlier in the morning.. He then listed the medication, though that portion of the footage was redacted.. Officers told Woods they suspected his “normal faculties” were impaired by an “unknown substance”.. Authorities later reported finding two white pills in his pocket, identified as hydrocodone, an opioid commonly prescribed to treat pain.. Earlier, speaking about the incident, Woods wrote on X: “I know and understand the seriousness of the situation I find myself in today.. “I am stepping away for a period of time to seek treatment and focus on my health. This is necessary in order for me to prioritise my wellbeing and work toward lasting recovery.”. The incident marks Woods’ second arrest on suspicion of driving under the influence.. In 2017, he was discovered asleep in a haphazardly parked car 15 miles from his Florida home. A toxicology report at the time found that he had five drugs in his system, including prescription pain medications and sleep aids, at the time of his arrest.. In a 2009 crash, Woods was found to have sleeping pills in his system. He was not arrested for DUI in that incident.. Woods submits not guilty plea after car crash. What now for Woods after latest arrest?. Florida. United States