Australia’s humanitarian visa programme grants permanent protection to refugees and people in humanitarian need. Visa holders can live, work and study in the country.

Speaking early on Tuesday, Burke said the five players were happy for their names to be confirmed as Fatemeh Pasandideh, Zahra Ghanbari, Zahra Sarbali, Atefeh Ramazanzadeh, and Mona Hamoudi.

“They want to be clear they are not political activists. They are athletes who want to be safe,” he said, adding that talks had been going on over several days.

He said that on Monday “it was made clear that there were five women who wanted to be able to stay in Australia”.

The group left their hotel the same day and were moved to a safe location by police.

Burke said he met the women at that location and then signed off for their applications to go onto humanitarian visas – a process completed at about 01:30 local time on Tuesday (15:30 GMT Monday).

“I say to the other members of the team, the same opportunity is there. Australia has taken the Iranian women’s soccer team into our hearts. These women are tremendously popular in Australia.

“But we realise they are in a terribly difficult situation with the decisions that they’re making,” the Australian minister said.

Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese later confirmed that the five players had been given humanitarian visas.

On Sunday evening, hundreds of supporters surrounded the Iranian Lionesses’ coach as it left the stadium on the Gold Coast, with chants of “save our girls”.

On Monday, the BBC witnessed dramatic scenes inside the team’s five- star hotel when several players left the lobby in a group after speaking to activists.

Shortly after they departed, a second group – including a translator and the head coach – burst in looking panicked, and rushed through the hotel before returning to their rooms.

A family member of one of the women – speaking on condition of anonymity – told Australian news site ABC they were being protected by police, and intended to claim asylum.

“I want to kiss the hands of everyone who helped,” the unnamed relative told ABC.

On Monday, US President Donald Trump took to his Truth Social platform to demand action.

Australia should “give asylum” to the women, Trump said in his initial post. “The US will take them if you won’t,” he added.

Around an hour later, Trump posted again to say he had spoken to Australia’s Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and “five have already been taken care of, and the rest are on their way”.

Trump’s post appeared to also suggest some of the team feared for the safety of their families back in Iran and so felt they must “go back”.

“In any event, the Prime Minister is doing a very good job having to do with this rather delicate situation. God bless Australia!” Trump said.

The Trump administration put all asylum decisions on hold at the end of last year, and has stopped issuing immigrant visas for citizens from dozens of countries including Iran. It has said the administration wants to bring “an end to the abuse” of the system.

Last year, two groups of Iranians – including people whose asylum applications had been unsuccessful – were deported from the US back to Iran. The groups reportedly included members of the LGBT community,who face severe legal and social repercussions in Iran.

[BBC]

The message, purportedly from the North Korea athletics association’s general secretary, thanked “all the Elite Marathoners and Amateur Runners of the world who are interested in Pyongyang International Marathon”.

The message gave no further explanation on what the reasons for the cancellation were.

Koryo Tours said it understood the decision was final and had been taken “at a level above the organisers of the event itself”.

It said it would be seeking clarification on the circumstances surrounding the decision.

The tour company added that neither organisers nor event partners were involved in making the decision, and said it recognised “this announcement will be disappointing to many runners who had already registered or were planning to participate”.

Koryo Tours, based in Beijing, China, offers several marathon packages to foreigners, departing from Beijing, Shanghai and Shenyang.

Packages start from €2,190 ($2,529; £1,894) for 2.5 nights in the North Korean capital, Pyongyang, including a marathon place and “highlights” of the capital and tickets were sold out this year, according to the agency’s website.

It said all deposits paid will be returned and runners have the option to retain their deposit for a future event or North Korea tour.

A date for the 2027 marathon has not yet been set.

The event had only returned last year after it was suspended for five consecutive years due to the Covid pandemic.

It is open to both amateur and some professional athletes and offers several race distances – 5km (3.1 miles), 10km (6.2 miles), half marathon (21.1km; 13.1 miles) or full marathon (42.2km; 26.2 miles).

[BBC]