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Sweden Says Türkiye Asking Too Much over NATO Application 

Sweden's Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson speaks during the annual Society and Defense Conference in Salen, Sweden, 08 January 2023. (EPA)
Sweden's Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson speaks during the annual Society and Defense Conference in Salen, Sweden, 08 January 2023. (EPA)
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Sweden Says Türkiye Asking Too Much over NATO Application 

Sweden's Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson speaks during the annual Society and Defense Conference in Salen, Sweden, 08 January 2023. (EPA)
Sweden's Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson speaks during the annual Society and Defense Conference in Salen, Sweden, 08 January 2023. (EPA)

Sweden is confident that Türkiye will approve its application to join the NATO military alliance, but will not meet all the conditions Ankara has set for its support, Sweden's prime minister said on Sunday. 

"Türkiye both confirms that we have done what we said we would do, but they also say that they want things that we cannot or do not want to give them," Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson told a defense think-tank conference in Sweden. 

Finland and Sweden signed a three-way agreement with Türkiye in 2022 aimed at overcoming Ankara's objections to their membership of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. 

They applied in May to join NATO in response to Russia's invasion of Ukraine, but Türkiye objected and accused the countries of harboring militants, including from the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party 

At a news conference later on Sunday, Kristersson said the demands that Sweden could not or did not want to fulfil were outside the scope of the three-way memorandum. 

"From time to time, Türkiye mentions individuals that they want to see extradited from Sweden. To that I have said that those issues are handled within Swedish law," he said. 

Ankara expressed disappointment with a decision late last year from Sweden's top court to stop a request to extradite a journalist with alleged links to Islamic scholar Fetullah Gulen, blamed by Türkiye for an attempted coup. 

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World

2nd Group of Australian Women linked to ISIS Return from Syria

Australian Federal Police officers patrol Sydney International Airport, in Sydney, Australia, 26 May 2026. EPA/DEAN LEWINS
Australian Federal Police officers patrol Sydney International Airport, in Sydney, Australia, 26 May 2026. EPA/DEAN LEWINS
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2nd Group of Australian Women linked to ISIS Return from Syria

Australian Federal Police officers patrol Sydney International Airport, in Sydney, Australia, 26 May 2026. EPA/DEAN LEWINS
Australian Federal Police officers patrol Sydney International Airport, in Sydney, Australia, 26 May 2026. EPA/DEAN LEWINS

A cohort of Australian women and children linked to ISIS has returned home from a Syrian refugee camp, the second such group to arrive back in Australia this month.

Local media reported two women and seven children landed in Melbourne on Tuesday afternoon via Doha. Another flight carrying four women and six children arrived in Sydney in the evening.

According to Reuters, Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke said the government was not assisting their travel and that any who had committed crimes "can expect to face the full force of ⁠the law.”

"These are ⁠people who have made the horrific choice to join a dangerous terrorist organization and to place their children in an unspeakable situation," Burke said in a statement.

The latest arrivals come after four women and nine children returned to Australia earlier this month after more than seven years in a Syrian camp.

Two of the women were arrested at Melbourne Airport and charged with slavery offences, while one in Sydney ⁠was charged with terror-related offences, including allegedly joining ISIS.

New South Wales state police told media waiting at Sydney airport for the latest returnees that none would be arrested. It was unclear whether arrests would be made in Melbourne.

News of the women's return has drawn criticism from political opponents, who say the center-left government failed to stop their travel to Australia. The government has said there were "very serious limits" on preventing citizens from re-entering the country.

One woman from western Sydney was issued a temporary exclusion order by the government, preventing her from returning, public service broadcaster the Australian Broadcasting Corp reported. Her child was not covered by the order, but ⁠decided to stay, ⁠the report added.

Law enforcement and intelligence agencies have prepared for such returns for more than a decade and have plans to monitor those arriving, the government said.

"Any breaches of the law will mean that these people will face the full force of the law to the extent available upon the advice of the security agencies," Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said during parliamentary question time.

World

Khamenei: US Will No Longer Have a Safe Haven in the Region

Iranians walk past a picture of Iranian supreme leader Mojtaba Khamenei in a street in Tehran, Iran, 18 May 2026. EPA/ABEDIN TAHERKENAREH
Iranians walk past a picture of Iranian supreme leader Mojtaba Khamenei in a street in Tehran, Iran, 18 May 2026. EPA/ABEDIN TAHERKENAREH
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Khamenei: US Will No Longer Have a Safe Haven in the Region

Iranians walk past a picture of Iranian supreme leader Mojtaba Khamenei in a street in Tehran, Iran, 18 May 2026. EPA/ABEDIN TAHERKENAREH
Iranians walk past a picture of Iranian supreme leader Mojtaba Khamenei in a street in Tehran, Iran, 18 May 2026. EPA/ABEDIN TAHERKENAREH

Iranian Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei said on his Telegram channel on Tuesday that the US will no longer have a safe haven in the region.

Khamenei has not appeared in public since he took office in March.

In a message marking Eid al-Adha, he said the United States was losing influence in the region, "moving further and further away from its former status with each passing day.”

His comments came as Iran has sent its parliament speaker Mohammad Bagher Qalibaf to Qatar for negotiations over a possible deal with the US to end the war.

World

North Korea Launches Ballistic Missile, Other Weapons Over the Sea

People watch the news on a television screen at a station in Seoul, South Korea, 26 May 2026. EPA/JEON HEON-KYUN
People watch the news on a television screen at a station in Seoul, South Korea, 26 May 2026. EPA/JEON HEON-KYUN
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North Korea Launches Ballistic Missile, Other Weapons Over the Sea

People watch the news on a television screen at a station in Seoul, South Korea, 26 May 2026. EPA/JEON HEON-KYUN
People watch the news on a television screen at a station in Seoul, South Korea, 26 May 2026. EPA/JEON HEON-KYUN

North Korea launched a close-range ballistic missile and other weapons toward the sea on Tuesday, South Korea's military said, the latest in a series of weapons demonstrations by North Korea this year.

The missile fired from Jongju, a city near the North's west coast, flew about 80 kilometers (50 miles), South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff said. North Korea launched other kinds of projectiles, it said, but didn't elaborate.

South Korea's military, under a solid alliance with the US, maintains a readiness to repel any provocations by North Korea, the Joint Chiefs of Staff said. South Korea’s military has bolstered a surveillance posture, it said.

It was North Korea's first weapons launch event since April 19, when the country fired multiple short-range missiles in what state-media described as a demonstration of cluster bomb warheads, The Associated Press reported.

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has focused on expanding his nuclear and missile arsenals since his nuclear diplomacy with US President Donald Trump collapsed in 2019.

Trump has repeatedly expressed his desire to resume talks with Kim, but Pyongyang has so far ignored the overtures and urged Washington to drop demands for the North’s nuclear disarmament as a precondition for talks.

Kim has taken an increasingly hard-line stance toward South Korea, calling it his country’s permanent and most hostile enemy and taking steps to terminate all ties with its neighbor.

During a Cabinet meeting earlier Tuesday, South Korean President Lee Jae Myung called for stronger efforts to advance the country’s military. He emphasized artificial intelligence and drone capabilities, and the potential acquisition of a nuclear-powered submarine, an issue that has been part of his diplomacy with Washington.

Lee, a liberal who espouses improved ties with North Korea, didn't specifically comment on the threats posed by the North. But he stressed the importance of South Korea demonstrating the “resolve to take responsibility for and protect our own security ourselves,” saying such a posture would also strengthen the country’s alliance with the United States.