World Today: Two Women Linked to ISIS Returning to Australia Arrested

You are reading selected information from various countries in the last 24 hours, which we have summarised in World Today. The first news item opening Friday’s edition, 8 May 2026, comes from Australia. Woman linked to ISIS charged with slavery offence ABC can reveal new details about the alleged treatment of a Yazidi woman who says she was held captive in the home of an Australian ISIS-linked family in Syria, including two women who have just returned to Melbourne and have been charged with crimes against humanity. The Yazidi woman also confirmed to ABC that she has been interviewed by the Australian Federal Police and is willing to provide testimony in any legal proceedings. Four women and nine children linked to ISIS returned to Australia on Thursday (07/05) night, and upon arrival, two women were arrested on charges of crimes against humanity, while the third was detained on terrorism-related offences. On Friday (08/05) morning in Melbourne, the Australian Federal Police announced that a 53-year-old woman has been charged with four offences, including slavery and involvement in slave trading. Investigators said she ‘was involved in purchasing a female slave for $10,000 and intentionally holding the woman in the house’. In an ABC Foreign Correspondent programme in 2023, two Yazidi women claimed they were held captive in Syria in the home of a Melbourne-born man named Mohammed Ahmad, husband of Kawsar Abbas, 53, and father of Zeinab, 31, and Zahra, 33. US trade court rules against Trump’s 10 percent tariffs The United States trade court has ruled against President Donald Trump’s universal 10 percent tariffs, delivering another blow to his flagship economic policy. A panel of judges at the US International Trade Court voted two to one that the Trump administration lacked justification for imposing the tariffs based on 1970s legislation. Trump ordered tariffs on most imports to the US in February, after the Supreme Court deemed the broad ‘Liberation Day’ tariffs unlawful. A group of small businesses sued over the new tariffs, which were imposed for 150 days, or until July. Today’s decision only applies to the plaintiffs in this case, so the tariffs may remain in place for other importers until the end of the 150-day period. Death sentences for former Chinese defence ministers Former Chinese defence ministers Wei Fenghe and Li Shangfu have been given death sentences with a two-year reprieve on corruption charges. This was reported by the state news agency Xinhua yesterday (07/05), underscoring the severity of the purge in the military. The armed forces have been one of the main targets of the large-scale anti-corruption campaign ordered by President Xi Jinping since taking power in 2012. The purge reached the elite Rocket Force, which oversees nuclear weapons as well as conventional missiles, in 2023. Previous reports in Xinhua stated that Li was suspected of receiving ‘a large amount of money’ in bribes as well as bribing others, and an investigation found he ‘failed to fulfil political responsibilities’ and ‘sought personal gain for himself and others’.