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Australia news as it happened: Three ISIS brides arrested after arriving in Sydney, Melbourne; US strikes Iran near Strait of Hormuz

Daniel Lo Surdo and Jackson Graham
Updated ,first published
Pinned post from 5.54am on May 8, 2026
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What you need to know

By Jackson Graham

Thanks for following our rolling coverage of breaking news from Australia and around the world. Here are the main things we covered today:

  • Two of the Islamic State-linked women who arrived in Melbourne on Thursday night and were charged with slavery offences have been remanded in custody. Kawsar Abbas, 53, and her 31-year-old daughter Zeinab will next appear in court for a bail application scheduled for Monday. Meanwhile in Sydney, Janai Safar – who also arrived in Australia on Thursday night – has been charged with entering a prohibited area and being a member of a terrorist organisation. She was denied bail on Friday.
  • Federal Communications Minister Anika Wells was ordered to pay more than $10,000 back to taxpayers after the Parliamentary Expenses Authority found she broke travel rules, including for a trip for her husband to the 2025 AFL grand final. Wells apologised for the “honest mistakes” and said she accepted the decisions she made were not within the rules. She repaid the money with a penalty and loading.
  • The ABC was removed from a One Nation press conference in Albury. Reporters from ABC Goulburn Murray were escorted out of the event and an Australian Story crew was prevented from entering the party’s office.
  • Former foreign minister Julie Bishop resigned as chancellor of the Australian National University. On Friday, she said that the ANU Council “is no longer able to discharge its legal and ethical obligations” after the university regulator took the unprecedented step of intervening in the selection process for Bishop’s replacement.

That concludes our coverage for today. Thanks for joining us.

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Australian activists join Gaza-bound flotilla again despite DFAT warnings

By Bronte Gossling

Eight days after being intercepted by Israel in international waters, Australian civilians are again attempting to travel to Gaza and deliver aid against the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade’s warnings.

Ten Australians departed ports in the Mediterranean this afternoon with the Global Sumud Flotilla. The group includes Newcastle climate activist Zack Schofield and Neve Barwick O’Connor, both of whom were detained by Israel’s Defence Forces at sea, west of the Greek island of Crete, last week.

They, alongside 22-year-old law student Ethan Floyd, were taken to hospital for injuries sustained after the IDF boarded their vessels about 650 nautical miles from Gaza on April 30. They claim they were subjected to violence and mistreated on board the Israeli vessel that transported them to Crete.

DFAT officials provided consular assistance to the six Australians – including activist Surya McEwen and Melbourne GP Bianca Webb-Pullman – transferred to Crete, and warned them about their continued participation in the flotilla.

Measles alert for Sydney’s Sutherland Shire amid surge in NSW cases

By Emily Kaine

NSW Health is advising residents in Sydney’s Sutherland Shire to stay alert for signs and symptoms of measles after it received notification of a confirmed case.

The person was a returning traveller from South-East Asia, where measles outbreaks are surging.

They visited several locations in the Sutherland Shire, including health facilities, while infectious. The full list of those locations is available on the NSW Health website.

Measles risk is at its highest level in NSW since 2019. Since January this year, there have been 47 recorded cases.

Physician Dr Anthea Katelaris said people should monitor for symptoms, particularly if they had visited one of the listed exposure locations in recent days.

“Symptoms to watch out for include fever, sore eyes, runny nose and a cough, usually followed three or four days later by a red, blotchy rash that spreads from the head and face to the rest of the body,” she said.

UAE reports drone and missile strike as Iran and US trade blows

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The United Arab Emirates said it had responded to a missile and drone attack on Friday, hours after the US said it thwarted attacks on three navy ships in the Strait of Hormuz and retaliated against Iranian military facilities.

A bulk cargo ship sitting at anchor in the Strait of Hormuz.AP

Iran and the US are trading blows as their negotiators are seeking a deal to end the fighting. So far, they have avoided a return to all-out fighting.

The UAE said its air defences were engaging missile and drone threats from Iran early on Friday.

There were no immediate reports of damage in the UAE.

The UAE’s defence ministry advised residents not to approach, photograph or touch “any debris or fragments that have fallen as a result of successful air interceptions”.

Reuters, AP

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‘ISIS bride’ Janai Safar refused bail in Sydney

By Mostafa Rachwani and Amber Schultz

“ISIS bride” Janai Safar has been refused bail and will remain in Sydney’s Silverwater Correctional Complex following her return to Australia from Syria.

Wearing prison greens with a white hijab, the 32-year-old appeared in online bail court by video on Friday afternoon. She sat dispassionately, bowing her head when the court heard about the impact her incarceration would have on her family.

Janai Safar is escorted from Sydney airport to Mascot police station after returning to Australia from Syria on Thursday night.Sitthixay Ditthavong

Safar was arrested after arriving back in Australia on Thursday night, having spent close to a decade detained at a camp in Syria after the fall of Islamic State.

She was charged with entering a prohibited area and being a member of a terrorist organisation. Both offences carry a maximum penalty of 10 years’ imprisonment.

Rush to rescue 20 hikers after Indonesian volcano erupts

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Indonesian authorities are rushing to rescue 20 hikers after the eruption of a volcano on Halmahera island on Friday.

Mount Dukono, in North Maluku province, erupted on Friday at 7.41am (10.41am AEST), spewing volcanic ash as high as 10 kilometres into the sky, the country’s volcanology agency said.

The agency maintained the alert status at the mountain at its third-highest level.

Iwan Ramdani, the head of the local rescue agency, told Reuters it had deployed dozens of personnel, including police, to search for the 20 hikers trapped by the eruption.

Nine of the hikers were Singaporean and the rest were Indonesians, Iwan said.

Wells repays $10,000 of travel expenses

By Nick Newling and James Massola

Communications Minister Anika Wells has been ordered to pay more than $10,000 back to taxpayers after the parliamentary expenses watchdog found she broke travel rules four times, including a trip her husband took to the 2025 AFL grand final.

Wells was made to pay $10,116 back to the public purse – $8093 of inappropriate travel expenses and a $2023 penalty – according to audit documents published by the Independent Parliamentary Expenses Authority on Friday.

Communications Minister Anika Wells said in a statement she was “sorry for making these honest mistakes”.Alex Ellinghausen

But the expenses watchdog ruled the minister did not break the rules when she charged taxpayers thousands for a family reunion at the Thredbo ski resort and $1000 for making a Comcar limousine wait for her for seven hours outside the Australian Open.

A trip to Adelaide for a Saturday afternoon meeting with South Australian Health Minister Chris Picton, who is married to Wells’ friend Connie Blefari, and which coincided with Blefari’s birthday party, was also judged to be within the rules.

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Melbourne men charged with distributing IS-inspired footage

By Alexander Darling

The Australian Federal Police has charged four men after a years-long investigation into the sharing of footage inspired by the terrorist group Islamic State.

Three of the men are facing court today, and the other will appear in July, after a series of raids on Thursday.

A man who was among four in Melbourne to be charged after allegedly accessing and distributing IS-inspired footage online.AFP

The AFP said two of the four men arrested on Thursday first came on the radar of federal police when they each returned from Turkey in 2024 and 2025, and examinations of their phones uncovered “suspicious content”.

AFP counterterrorism commander Paula Hudson said the men allegedly shared and received images and videos of previous terrorist attacks and other IS propaganda.

Two passengers isolated from cruise ship hit with hantavirus outbreak

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Singapore has isolated two residents who were onboard a cruise ship linked to a deadly outbreak of hantavirus.

The men, aged 67 and 65, had been onboard the MV Hondius when it departed Argentina on April 1.

Cruise ship MV Hondius off the port of Praia, the capital of Cape Verde, on Wednesday.AFP

“One has a runny nose but is otherwise well, and the other is asymptomatic,” Singapore’s Communicable Diseases Agency said on Thursday.

The test results for hantavirus are pending.

The private schools caught up in ransom hack

By Christopher Harris

Numerous Sydney private schools have been caught up in a worldwide ransomware attack on the Canvas learning management system, which has also prevented university students from submitting assignments.

The criminals behind the hack say they have obtained sensitive student information and are demanding institutions pay a ransom by the end of the day on May 12.

The operators of Canvas say the hackers — who are calling themselves ShinyHunters — may be in possession of identifying information, including names, email addresses, and student ID numbers, as well as messages between teachers, students, and parents.

At UTS, the entire system was taken down as a precautionary measure, leaving students unable to submit assignments. All students have been granted an automatic extension until Monday.

UTS is among the institutions taking precautionary measures after the hack.Dion Georgopoulos

The University of Sydney said the platform was working correctly yesterday, but a message this morning said a global outage occurred about 6am.

A list of institutions that fell victim to the hack has been published online by the hackers but has not yet been verified.

The NSW Department of Education said 54 public schools were hit, though a spokesman estimated the risk of a breach of sensitive information to be “low”.

Other institutions, including The King’s School in Sydney, have also been impacted. The school believed the stolen data was limited to students’ names and assignments. A letter to parents yesterday said a “criminal threat actor” had access to parts of the Canvas system between April 25 and 29, according to an internal investigation.

“Instructure [Canvas’ owner company] has taken steps to secure its systems and has engaged law enforcement agencies, including the FBI,” the letter stated. “There is no indication that passwords, dates of birth, government identifiers or financial information were accessed.”

Barker College has also informed parents that external specialists have been called in to manage the fallout.

Reddam House wrote to parents stating there was no indication that passwords, dates of birth, government identifiers, or financial information were disclosed.

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One Nation removes ABC from press conference

By Rob Harris

The ABC has been removed from a One Nation press conference in Albury, in the latest example of the Queensland senator Pauline Hanson’s strained relationship with the national broadcaster.

Reporters from ABC Goulburn Murray were escorted out of the event today, while an Australian Story crew was also prevented from entering the party’s Dean Street office in Albury.

Pauline Hanson and One Nation candidate David Farley in Albury on Thursday.Janie Barrett

Witnesses to the incident said One Nation candidate David Farley appeared largely unaware of the decision.

Several local and national media crews were present at the press conference. Hanson has frequently criticised the ABC and denied the broadcaster access to several One Nation campaign events during the South Australia election.

Tensions have also risen this week on pre-poll stations, with Liberal senator James Paterson clashing with One Nation volunteer Allan Beale on Wednesday.

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