Australian Robert Pether released from Iraqi jail

SBS Australia

2 days ago

Australian Robert Pether released from Iraq prison
Indonesia and Australia announce joint military drills
NRL players agents under fire for accreditation breaches Listen to Australian and world news, and follow trending topics with SBS News Podcasts . An Australian man has been freed from prison in Iraq after more than four years behind bars. An anonymous source has told SBS News the man - identified as Robert Pether - has been released on bail. The engineer had been jailed in 2021 on fraud charges in a case that the United Nations later described as an arbitrary detention. His family said the charges were manufactured following a contract dispute.
Mr Pether had originally gone to Iraq to work on the construction of the country's new central bank headquarters.
Indonesia and Australia are to hold joint military exercises on a strategic eastern island in the archipelago as the two neighbours seek to strengthen defence cooperation. Morotai is an allied remnant from World War II that was an important location due to the United States' operations in the Philippines and Australia's in Borneo. Defence Minister Richard Marles and Indonesian counterpart Sjafrie Sjamsoeddin have announced the joint air force and naval drills following talks in Jakarta, where they met to discuss security issues. Mr Marles says there will also be training exercises in Australia under the Defence Cooperation Agreement they have signed.
"We are encouraging the TNI (Indonesian military) on that basis to unilaterally take advantage of Australia's training facilities. The first iteration of that will occur with the TNI conducting training at the Mount Bundey Training Facility in the Northern Territory. That will occur in October of this year.'
An Australian has been arrested in Bali on drugs charges. Head of Narcotics Eradication at the Bali Provincial Narcotics Agency, Sinar Subawa, says the Australian man has been taken into custody after suspicious items were found in the luggage of an Indian man at Ngurah Rai International Airport, who has also been arrested. "Furthermore, narcotics officers conducted further investigation and arrested a man - Australian - named PR. During a search of the house occupied by PR, officers found evidence in the form of hashish belonging to suspect PR, which was purchased through the Telegram application." Authorities say the Australian man has been visiting Bali since 1988.
They allege the hashish was shipped from Los Angeles and Philippines before arriving in Bali where officers seized 191 grams of the substance, along with some candies consisting of tetrahydrocannabinol and marijuana.
The operator of a jumping castle at the centre of a tragedy that killed six children in Tasmania has been cleared of workplace safety breaches. The Devonport Magistrates Court has ruled the Taz-Zorb company was not guilty of failing to comply with a workplace health and safety duty at Hillcrest Primary School in 2021, when a gust of wind carried children in the castle into the air. The Magistrate has ruled the charge was not proven.
It had previously been alleged pegs not compliant with national standards had been used at only four of the castle's eight anchor points, despite the manufacturer's instructions recommending eight.
A US group distributing aid in Gaza has reopened two sites after a deadly shooting earlier this week that killed an estimated 27 people. The Gaza Humanitarian Foundation's interim director, John Acree, says work is underway to open more sites - including in North Gaza - and to ensure safe and efficient delivery of lifesaving assistance. United Nations spokesperson, Stephane Dujurric, says the UN has continued to send supplies to Gaza through the Kerem Shalom crossing, despite what he has described as the constant blocking of humanitarian missions by Israeli authorities. He says the amount of aid arriving in Gaza is still not enough to properly feed the population.
"Today we sent just over 20 truckloads of supplies which were mostly food assistance, as well as some health supplies to the Israeli side of the crossing, and that number reflects a limit imposed by the Israeli authorities... This week, partners working on food security tell us that 14 of them delivered just over a quarter of a million meals daily. This is much less than the million meals that were being distributed daily at the end of April."
To sport, two NRL player agents been banned and fined a collective $35,000 after breaching the terms of their accreditation. Mario Tartak, who represents such players as Josh Addo-Carr, Damien Cook and Haumole Olakau'atu, is alleged to have communicated with an underage player without a parent or guardian present. The NRL also claims he "entered into a commercial arrangement with two NRL clubs", which is a breach of the league's accredited agent scheme rules.
A second agent, Matthew Desira, has been found to have failed disclose police charges and court proceedings brought against him.