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Australia Prosecutes Woman Accused of Enslaving Yazidi Teen in Syria

Syrian government security forces in front of the al-Hol camp in Hasakeh province in January 2026 (EPA)
Syrian government security forces in front of the al-Hol camp in Hasakeh province in January 2026 (EPA)
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Australia Prosecutes Woman Accused of Enslaving Yazidi Teen in Syria

Syrian government security forces in front of the al-Hol camp in Hasakeh province in January 2026 (EPA)
Syrian government security forces in front of the al-Hol camp in Hasakeh province in January 2026 (EPA)

A woman accused of enslaving a Yazidi teenager in Syria would agree to wear an electronic monitoring ankle bracelet and undergo religious counseling if she were freed on bail, her lawyer told a court Friday.

Zeinab Ahmad, 31, continued an application for bail in the Melbourne Magistrates’ Court on two slavery charges. Her application was heard on Thursday and Friday.

It will continue on June 15 when her lawyer Grace Morgan has called a police witness to testify, according to The Associated Press.

The mother of three would live with her daughter in the Melbourne home of her uncle Abraham Abbas. The mechanic told the court he hated ISIS.

A Yazidi woman has alleged she was enslaved in the Ahmad family home in 2017 and 2018 in the then-ISIS stronghold of Raqqa, Syria.

She also alleged she was raped and beaten by the defendants’ husband and father Mohammed Ahmad, who in currently held in an Iraqi prison.

This came while a district court in The Hague on Friday convicted a 49-year-old Dutch woman of war crimes and sentenced her to seven years in prison for allowing her then 14-year-old son to become a fighter for ISIS, according to Reuters.

The woman, identified only as Ayada K, was convicted of the ⁠war crime of aiding and abetting the recruitment of a child soldier by allowing a minor to take up arms for ISIS, the court said in a press release.

She was also convicted of aiding and abetting a terrorist organization and endangering her minor children.

The woman took her teenage son and daughter from the ⁠Netherlands to live in ISIS-held territory in Syria in 2014. Judges say she then let her son join ISIS military police at 14.

He ⁠died two years later while serving in an ISIS military unit, according to the verdict.

During the trial K invoked ⁠her right to remain silent. After the fall of ISIS in 2019 she remained in ⁠Syria until she was repatriated in 2024 with her remaining children and arrested on arrival.

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Iran Says Latest US Response Is ‘Insufficient’

Iranian women hold their country's flags during a protest to condemn France's "violent crackdown on students demonstrations and human rights violations" in front of the French Embassy in Tehran, Iran, Saturday, Oct. 10, 2026. (AP)
Iranian women hold their country's flags during a protest to condemn France's "violent crackdown on students demonstrations and human rights violations" in front of the French Embassy in Tehran, Iran, Saturday, Oct. 10, 2026. (AP)
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Iran Says Latest US Response Is ‘Insufficient’

Iranian women hold their country's flags during a protest to condemn France's "violent crackdown on students demonstrations and human rights violations" in front of the French Embassy in Tehran, Iran, Saturday, Oct. 10, 2026. (AP)
Iranian women hold their country's flags during a protest to condemn France's "violent crackdown on students demonstrations and human rights violations" in front of the French Embassy in Tehran, Iran, Saturday, Oct. 10, 2026. (AP)

The head of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council said on Sunday Tehran found the latest response from the United States “insufficient” as efforts at negotiations to end the war and fully open the Strait of Hormuz limp along.

The comments by Mohsen Rezaei, a former Revolutionary Guard commander, were carried by Iran’s state-run IRNA news agency.

Rezaei added that Iran is no longer responding to the US and said Washington must clarify certain issues, without giving details. He said the US has accepted some of the seven conditions but others remain unclear.

Iran’s delegation to the annual UN gathering of world leaders last month proposed a sped-up agreement that echoed the memorandum of understanding that collapsed days after the US and Iran signed it in June. The new proposal was rejected, but the two sides have remained in contact via mediation.

Rezaei also threatened “cables, data centers, AI facilities and other sites in the region” if intense fighting breaks out again.

Meanwhile, the Guard's navy warned that any ship on the strait that turns off navigation and identification systems would be “identified as hostile," according to an IRNA report.

Attacks on ships transiting the strait have increased since Iran's proposal was rejected. One attack was reported Sunday.

World

UK Prime Minister Say It Is ‘Clear’ Russia Interfered in 2016 Brexit Referendum

British Prime Minister Andy Burnham gives a television interview following his meeting with German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, in Berlin, Germany, October 8, 2026. (Sean Gallup/Pool via Reuters)
British Prime Minister Andy Burnham gives a television interview following his meeting with German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, in Berlin, Germany, October 8, 2026. (Sean Gallup/Pool via Reuters)
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UK Prime Minister Say It Is ‘Clear’ Russia Interfered in 2016 Brexit Referendum

British Prime Minister Andy Burnham gives a television interview following his meeting with German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, in Berlin, Germany, October 8, 2026. (Sean Gallup/Pool via Reuters)
British Prime Minister Andy Burnham gives a television interview following his meeting with German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, in Berlin, Germany, October 8, 2026. (Sean Gallup/Pool via Reuters)

UK Prime Minister Andy Burnham says it is clear that Russia interfered with Britain’s vote to leave the European Union, adding it was important to put Moscow’s tampering on the record because countries across Europe are facing the same threat.

In excerpts from “The Rest is Politics” podcast released Sunday, Burnham said that when he became prime minister in July, he asked his advisers whether Russia had interfered with the 2016 referendum. The full podcast is scheduled to drop on Monday.

“I’ve had the clear answer that yes, there was,” Burnham said. “These things are important now to put clearly on the record and I believe help voters in Germany and France understand that some of this politics is instigated via our enemies, namely Russia.”

Russia has long said it does not meddle in other countries’ elections or referendums.

Burnham’s comments come as UK intelligence agencies warn about the increasing threat of Russian interference in Britain’s democratic institutions. The intervention is believed to be the first time a British prime minister has publicly acknowledged Russian interference in the Brexit vote.

Burnham said he spoke to German Chancellor Friedrich Merz about possible links between Russia and the far-right Alternative for Germany party when the two leaders met last week in Berlin.

“You know he was saying to me that the AfD are clearly linked to Russia, funded I believe,” Burnham said. “There is certainly misinformation, disinformation that is emanating from Russia into German politics,” he added.

Parliament’s Intelligence and Security Committee found in 2020 that the government failed to fully assess the impact Russian state-run media and “troll” accounts could have had on the EU referendum.

World

Pope to Be Operated on for Lump on Lung

A general view shows Gemelli Hospital, where Pope Leo is expected to undergo surgery this week to remove a small growth on his lung, in Rome, Italy, October 11, 2026. (Reuters)
A general view shows Gemelli Hospital, where Pope Leo is expected to undergo surgery this week to remove a small growth on his lung, in Rome, Italy, October 11, 2026. (Reuters)
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Pope to Be Operated on for Lump on Lung

A general view shows Gemelli Hospital, where Pope Leo is expected to undergo surgery this week to remove a small growth on his lung, in Rome, Italy, October 11, 2026. (Reuters)
A general view shows Gemelli Hospital, where Pope Leo is expected to undergo surgery this week to remove a small growth on his lung, in Rome, Italy, October 11, 2026. (Reuters)

Pope Leo XIV on Sunday announced he would have an operation "in the coming days" for a lump on his lung, saying it had been located "at a very early stage".

"During recent medical checks, a nodule on my lung was found. It has been detected at a very early stage and is very localized," the 71-year-old said in a weekly address in St Peter's Square.

"The doctors believe it would be right to intervene and so, following their advice, I have decided to have the operation to remove it. The operation is already planned in the coming days," he said.

Following the pope's statement during his Angelus prayers, the Vatican press office said the pontiff was expected to have surgery in the next few days, and the expected recovery time from the operation would be around one week.

The operation was to take place in the Gemelli hospital in Rome, which has frequently treated popes since John Paul II.

No information has been given as to whether the surgery and recovery would affect the pope's agenda for international trips. He is next due to go to Uruguay, Argentina and Peru between November 6 and 17.

- 'Calmness' -

Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni said in a statement that the "calmness with which he spoke during today's Angelus reassures us".

She expressed to the pope her "personal closeness, and that of the Italian government, as he confronts this ordeal of the coming days".

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky wished Leo a "successful surgery and a swift, full recovery" in a post on X.

"Our thoughts and prayers are with him, and we hope he will soon be back in good health and strength," he added.

Archbishop Daniel Sturla of Montevideo called on the faithful to pray for the pope's "speedy recovery" and to continue preparations for his upcoming visit to Uruguay "with even greater enthusiasm".

Argentina's bishops' conference also urged Catholics to join in a special prayer for Leo ahead of the surgery, asking that it "go well" with a "swift and full recovery".

Chicago-born Leo became the first US pope last year following the death of his Argentine predecessor Francis on April 21, 2025 at the age of 88.

Leo was elected leader of the world's 1.4 billion Catholics on May 8, 2025.

The former Robert Francis Prevost, while less ebullient than his predecessor, has gradually imprinted his style on the leadership of the Catholic Church, finding his voice as he takes on some of the world's most pressing issues, from bloody conflicts to artificial intelligence.

After the US and Israel launched a war against Iran in February, the pope became a high-profile critic of the conflict.

He condemned US President Donald Trump's threat to destroy Iran as "truly unacceptable" and urged Americans to demand that US lawmakers "work for peace".

Trump slammed the pontiff as "WEAK on Crime, and terrible for Foreign Policy" -- to which Leo replied that he had a "moral duty to speak out".