AUSTRALIA: Australia’s most decorated living veteran, Ben Roberts-Smith, walked free on bail from a Sydney prison today, 10 days after he was charged with war crimes in the killings of five people while serving in Afghanistan.

Judge Greg Grogin granted Mr Roberts-Smith bail in a Sydney court, ruling the former Special Air Service Regiment corporal had established exceptional circumstances to justify his release from custody. 

SRI LANKA: Sri Lanka has sent home 238 Iranian sailors, including 32 who survived a US torpedo attack that sank their ship in the Indian Ocean, officials said today.

A US submarine illegally sank the Iris Dena on March 4 while the ship was returning home after taking part in a naval exercise on invitation from India.

A second Iranian ship was brought to a southern Sri Lankan port after experiencing technical problems.

CONGO: Around 15 people deported from the United States landed in Congo’s capital Kinshasa today, their lawyer said.

It was the latest example of the Trump administration using agreements with African countries to accelerate migrant removals.

The deportees are all from Latin America and the Congolese government plans to keep them in the country for a short period, said US attorney Alma David.

NIGERIA: Gunmen attacked a passenger bus in Nigeria’s Benue state on Thursday, abducting some students on their way to university examinations, officials said.

The students and other passengers were abducted along the Otukpo-Makurdi highway, Benue governor Hyacinth Alia said in a statement late on Thursday.

The governor did not specify how many were taken, but local media said 14 passengers were on board.