Nine

A lawyer for accused war criminal Ben Roberts-Smith has told a judge his ex-wife did not honestly disclose whether she had given her close friend access to her former husband's email account, and had misused his confidential and privileged information.

Trial in war veteran Ben Roberts-Smith's defamation case over articles accusing him of war crimes has been adjourned until November in light of the current COVID-19 lockdown in Sydney, which a judge noted could be extended beyond the month of August.

Former Attorney-General Christian Porter has succeeded in scrubbing from the court record the ABC's full defence in his now-settled defamation suit against the broadcaster, over the protests of media outlets, with a judge finding the principle of open justice was "not absolute".

Australian soldiers who raided a village in Afghanistan were “infidels” and the people they killed were “martyrs”, an Afghan villager related to a man allegedly murdered by veteran Ben Roberts-Smith has told a court.

Shock jock Ray Hadley and Radio 2GB have been hit with a defamation lawsuit by NSW greyhound racing chief commissioner Alan Brown over radio segments that accused him of lying about alleged workplace bullying of a senior employee.

A communications device was planted on an unarmed Afghan villager who was allegedly murdered by former SAS soldier Ben Roberts-Smith, a court overseeing the accused war criminal's defamation trial has heard.

Canberra has been floated as a potential new venue for the trial in former SAS soldier Ben Roberts-Smith’s defamation case as Sydney’s COVID-19 outbreak worsens, but a judge has said moving the hearing created “real difficulties”.

An appeals court  has thrown out an appeal by a Sydney man who sought greater damages for being incorrectly named in media reports as the driver in a fatal hit-and-run.

Media company Nine, which is facing defamation claims from Ben Roberts-Smith over articles accusing him of war crimes, has asked the court to set aside two subpoenas from the decorated veteran related to a woman who has accused him of domestic violence, arguing the subpoenas act as a substitute for discovery.

Four witnesses who allegedly saw Ben Roberts-Smith kick a handcuffed man off a cliff in Afghanistan will give evidence next week in the war veteran’s defamation trial, which has been disrupted by COVID-19 restrictions in NSW.