‘ISIS Brides’ face arrest on return to Australia | Morning News Bulletin 7 May 2026

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TRANSCRIPT

• A group of so-called ‘ISIS brides’ returning to Australia today.
• The US fires on an Iranian oil tanker in the Gulf of Oman.
• Disappointment as Federation Square in Melbourne cancels World Cup screenings.

A group of women and children with connections to IS Group fighters will arrive back in Australia today after years in a Syrian refugee camp.

Some of the women are expected to be arrested on arrival in Sydney and Melbourne.

While some women travelled willingly to support their partners who wanted to fight for the Islamic State group, advocates for the group say others were trafficked, or only went to the Middle East to keep their family together.

Australian Federal Police Commission Krissy Barrett says the children in the group of 13 returning home will likely need help integrating into Australian society.

“Some individuals will be arrested and charged. Some will face continued investigations when they arrive in Australia. And children who return in the cohort will be asked to undergo community integration programs, therapeutic support, and countering violent extremism programs.”

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The United States has fired on an Iranian oil tanker as President Donald Trump continues to pressure Iran for a deal on ending the war.

US Central Command has said in a social media post a fighter jet shot out the rudder of the tanker in the Gulf of Oman because it was trying to breach the American blockade of Iran’s ports.

Meanwhile, President Trump says things in the Middle East are going “smoothly.”

He maintains he is confident Iran will agree to a deal soon.

“We’re in a – I call it a skirmish, because that’s what it is; it’s a skirmish. And we’re doing unbelievably well, as we did in Venezuela, where it was rapid over in one day. And we are doing pretty much equally as well, I would say, larger, but we’re doing very well in Iran. It’s going very smoothly, and we’ll see what happens. They want to make a deal. They want to negotiate.”

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Two patients infected with hantavirus and a third suspected case have been evacuated from a cruise ship and flown to the Netherlands for treatment.

The MV Hondius is continuing its journey to Spain’s Canary Islands after the deadly outbreak on board claimed the lives of three people.

There have been concerns raised the outbreak could be the beginning of a new global pandemic, similar to COVID 19.

But World Health Organisation epidemiologist Maria Van Kerkhove has sought to calm those fears.

“I think we need to contextualise this, because there’s a lot of attention. And it’s good that we’re seeing attention, but we do want to put in context to what we mean for for everyone saying, oh my gosh, is this the next one? … This is not the next Covid. But it is a serious infectious disease. You know, it’s an infectious disease that if people get infected, and infections are uncommon, they can die.”

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The Royal Commission on Antisemitism and Social Cohesion has heard many Jewish Australians feel forced to hide their identity in public.

Public hearings heard evidence of everyday abuse and intimidation, which escalated after the October 7 Hamas attack on Israel.

Sydney man Nir Golan has told the inquiry he was abused while wearing a kippah on Oxford Street, with the attacker using racial slurs and making Nazi salutes and only one person trying to intervene.

Businessman and Holocaust survivor Peter Halasz says he is now afraid to be recognised as Jewish in public.

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The development of an inland rail freight route intended to connect Melbourne and Brisbane, will be cut short in the central New South Wales town of Parkes after its cost nearly tripled in six years.

Transport Minister Catherine King says independent analysis shows the price tag for the project has blown out from $16.4 billion in 2020 to more than $45 billion.

Farmers and regional leaders say the decision to leave the project half‑built will leave communities carrying the cost for decades.

One Nation MP Barnaby Joyce says he’s disappointed by the decision.

“You gotta remember, we have, because of this, in a fuel crisis, in an energy crisis, decided to scrap a piece of infrastructure that mitigated that crisis. Because if diesel engines attached to prime movers pulling your groceries were to shut down, we actually, because they ran out of fuel, we actually have an alternative, but they decided to shut that.”

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To sport, Melbourne’s Federation Square has scrapped plans to screen Socceroos matches from this year’s FIFA World Cup.

The venue says the decision follows repeated crowd disorder in previous screenings, including flares being thrown and barricades damaged.

Victoria Police says more than 50 flares were discharged during the Matildas’ 2023 semi-final against England.

But football supporters have criticised the move, with the SEN Radio football podcast saying Fed Square’s World Cup crowds are famous around the world.

“I was there in Qatar and we were getting the images through from Fed Square, Darling Harbour, from all around the country of these amazing scenes. Yeah, there was a couple of smokies and a couple of flares thrown. But they were incredible scenes and it resonated with the team. They could not believe the amount of support that they were getting in a public sense. That people were getting up at 4 o’clock in the morning and going down to watch these games as the sun rose in Australia, and getting behind the Socceroos.”