"The Defenders" has won the Sydney Film Festival Audience Award for best Australian documentary.

Footballer Hakeem Al-Araibi is suing the federal government for negligence and breaching its duty of care after he was wrongfully detained in Thailand, the Australian SBS website reported.

Responding to the decision of US President Joe Biden's administration to temporarily suspend arms sales to Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates (UAE), a coalition of civil society groups called on the Australian Government to follow his lead.

Refugee footballer Hakeem Al-Araibi, who was locked up in Bangkok after Bahraini officials pursued him over vandalism charges, urged Australia's Foreign Minister Marise Payne to speak out against the sentences.

Sue Bolton, Moreland councilor and member of Socialist Alliance in Australia, supported the calls by Bahraini human rights organizations to release the political prisoners from the jails in Bahrain.

Australian MP Fiona Patten described keeping prisoners in Bahraini prisons as a human rights "travesty".

Former Socceroo Craig Foster launched his new book "Fighting for Hakeem" last Wednesday, revealing the inner workings of the campaign to free the young footballer, Hakeem Al-Araibi, who was detained for 76 days in a Thai prison thanks to the "systemic failure of Australian Government agencies", as Amnesty described.

Australian police's new chief has personally apologized to Bahrain-born refugee footballer Hakeem al-Araibi, who spent months behind bars in Thailand because of a series of bureaucratic bungles.

The United States officially launched its joint maritime security initiative in the Gulf, with the support of Australia, the United Kingdom and Bahrain, as tensions with Iran continue to escalate.

Australia has joined Britain and Bahrain in signing onto a U.S.-led maritime security mission to protect international shipping in the Strait of Hormuz amid tensions with Iran, the prime minister said Wednesday.

A sports website reported that the official from the United Arab Emirates, Mohammed Khalfan Al-Romaithi, was on the verge of pulling out on Sunday (March 17) after he withdrew funding for his bid following the decision by the 12 members of the ASEAN Football Federation, including Australia, to publicly back Sheikh Salman.

Dubai-based MBC Group has announced that it acquired the rights to broadcast the FIA Formula One races in the Middle East and North Africa region. The broadcaster will offer F1 racing free-to-air under the deal which gives MBC five-year exclusive rights to show all 21 races.

Australia's football body announced its support for the re-election of under-fire Asian soccer chief Sheikh Salman bin Ebrahim al Khalifa on Monday, drawing criticism from a prominent campaigner who called it "sickening".

On February 11, Bahrain's Foreign Minister Khalid bin Ahmed Al Khalifa met with the Australian Ambassador to the Kingdom of Bahrain, Ridwaan Jadwat, who resides in the Saudi capital Riyadh, hours after Hakeem Al-Araibi was released in Thailand and headed for Australia.

A refugee footballer who fled Bahrain and was held in a Thai prison for months during a tense extradition stand-off between Australia and the Gulf state was granted Australian citizenship on Tuesday.

The Australian authorities granted, on Monday (March 11, 2019), citizenship to the Bahraini refugee football player Hakeem Al-Araibi.

The Bahraini footballer Hakeem Al-Araibi was granted the Australian citizenship on Tuesday.

A refugee footballer who was detained in Thailand and threatened with extradition to Bahrain said he feels sure "no one can follow me now," after becoming an Australian citizen on Tuesday.

A refugee footballer who spent over two months in Bangkok detention under threat of extradition to his native Bahrain will soon become an Australian citizen, he told local media Thursday.

An Australian newspaper said that the Bahraini refugee Hakeem Al-Araibi has heaped praise on his coach and teammates for orchestrating the publicity campaign that led to his release from a Thai prison this month after 11 weeks behind bars.