Australia gets its first female army chief, Susan Coyle
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Canberra (PTI): Australia will get its first female chief of army, with the appointment of Lieutenant General Susan Coyle to the post.
Coyle, currently chief of joint capabilities, is the first woman to be appointed head of any of the services in the Australian military.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese announced the appointments of new military chiefs on Monday, ahead the government unveiling its 2026 statement on defence strategy and investment later this week. The appointments commence in July.
The current navy chief, Vice Admiral Mark Hammond, will become the new chief of the Defence Force, replacing Admiral David Johnston.
Hammond has commanded submarines and the Australian fleet. He has been chief of navy since 2022. As the second naval officer in a row to serve as chief of the Australian Defence Force (ADF), his expertise is particularly relevant as Australia deals with the AUKUS agreement.
Coyle, who enlisted in the Army Reserves in 1987, has worked at the tactical, operational and strategic levels and in command roles. These include commander of the Task Group Afghanistan and commanding officer of the 17th Signal Regiment. She replaces Lieutenant General Stuart as army chief.
Rear Admiral Matthew Buckley was promoted to navy chief from deputy chief.
Defence Minister Richard Marles said Coyle’s appointment was deeply significant for women in the ADF, as well as for those considering serving in the future.
Appearing with Albanese and Marles, Hammond confirmed that Australia had the naval capability to respond to any United States request for help in the Strait of Hormuz – although no request had been made.
Hammond said: “We’ve got 10 surface combatants right now, eight of them are at sea today. The navy is ready as it ever has been.”
Speaking earlier, Albanese said Australia had not been asked to help with a Trump blockade of the strait.
He told the ABC: “I want to see the resumption of peace talks. We want to see an end to this conflict. It’s having a devastating impact on the global economy, and the longer it goes, the bigger the impact will be, and the longer the tail will be, as well.”
Albanese leaves on Tuesday on his fuel diplomacy trip to Brunei and Malaysia, following a similar visit to Singapore last week.
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Two arrested in K'taka for assaulting minors, uploading CSAM content
Bengaluru (PTI): Two men were arrested for allegedly sexually assaulting two minor girls, recording the acts on mobile phones and uploading the videos online as child sexual abuse material, police said on Thursday.
The accused have been identified as Kiran Kumar (29), hailing from Chitradurga district, and Aditya M K (20), hailing from Shivamogga district, they said.
A probe was initiated after information was received from the NCRP portal regarding a suspected instance of creation of Child Sexual Abuse Material (CSAM) for online dissemination, police said.
Accordingly, a case was registered at Kaggalipura Police Station under relevant sections of the IT Act on May 10, they added.
Investigation revealed that two minor girl victims were exploited and videos were created and uploaded to the internet. The child victims have subsequently recorded their statements as per procedure and further necessary legal steps have been taken, Pronab Mohanty Director General of Police, Cyber Command, said in a statement.
Based on the statements of the victims, the accused persons, who allegedly assaulted the minors, recorded the acts on mobile phones and uploaded the videos online, were arrested, he said.
Following the probe, sections 65(2) (rape) and 70 (gangrape) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, along with relevant sections of the POCSO Act, have been added to the FIR, police said.
Officials collected relevant information and on May 12, arrested the accused persons and seized three mobile phones belonging to them, in which the videos had allegedly been recorded, he said.
The accused were later produced before the court and taken into police custody for further investigation, he added.
According to him, in CSAM cases, police usually apprehend offenders who have downloaded such content or have kept them in their possession after obtaining them from elsewhere, usually the internet.
"The present case is one of the very few instances where content creators and uploaders have been apprehended," Mohanty added.
