Five members of the Iranian women’s football team have left the team’s training camp and successfully sought refuge in Australia, after fears they could “face dire consequences” on their return to the country.

The office of Iran’s exiled crown prince Reza Pahlavi said he has been told the players – Fatemeh Pasandideh, Zahra Ghanbari, Zahra Sarbali, Atefeh Ramazanzadeh, and Mona Hamoudi – are now in a “safe location”.

The Australian government had come under pressure to protect the team after they were knocked out of the Asian Cup.

The players were reportedly criticised in the Iranian media, with a commentator on Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting saying they had committed the “pinnacle of dishonour” for staying silent during the anthem before defeat in their match against South Korea a week ago.

“Traitors during wartime must be dealt with more severely,” presenter Mohammad Reza Shahbazi said, reported the Reuters news agency.

Some believed the team’s silence was an act of resistance, while others saw it as a show of mourning following the initial US-Israel joint attacks on their country.

The team has not made any specific comment on their stance – but then sang and saluted their national anthem ahead of their defeats to Australia on Thursday and the Philippines on Sunday, raising concerns they had been ordered to do so.

Uncertainty surrounds the team after they failed to progress beyond the group stages of the tournament, while global players’ union FIFPRO said it was “really concerned” about the team’s welfare and had so far been unable to contact the players.

Dozens of people were seen chanting “let them go” as they surrounded the team bus during its departure from the stadium on the Gold Coast, in Queensland, after Sunday’s match, according to the Australian Associated Press.

Police and security teams were also seen creating a safe passage for the bus to leave amid chants of “save our girls”.

Supporters also said they could see at least three of the players on the bus making the international hand signal for help, reported CNN.

Mr Pahlavi, an Iranian dissident in exile in the US, had earlier said the team faces an “ongoing threat” following their “brave act” not to sing the anthem before the game with South Korea.

On social media, he wrote: “As a result of their brave act of civil disobedience in refusing to sing the current regime’s national anthem, they face dire consequences should they return to Iran.

“I call on the Australian government to ensure their safety and give them any and all needed support.”

The Australian Iranian Council had previously contacted Australia’s government, urging it to protect the squad members during their time in the country.

It also launched an online petition urging the Australian authorities to “ensure that no member of Iran’s women’s national football team is to depart Australia while credible fears for their safety remain”.

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Foreign Minister Penny Wong declined to comment on whether the Australian government had made contact with individuals.

But she told the Australian Broadcasting Corp: “It has been really moving for Australians to see them in Australia, and (Australia’s women’s team) swapping jerseys with them was a very evocative moment.

“We know this regime has brutally oppressed many Iranian women.”

The killer claiming to be Welsh was looking for people from Wales to write to him in prison

For over 20 years Rhys Williams has been pen pals with a dangerous killer who sought out people from Wales to write to him whilst on death row. Rhys had never met his friend of over two decades, Roderick Michael Orme, until now.

In 1993, Orme was sentenced to death for beating, raping and strangling nurse Lisa Redd to death at a motel in Panama City, Florida. He is still waiting for a date of execution. Cameraman Rhys Williams is going on a journey to the US to learn more about the killer he calls a friend in a new S4C documentary, Fy Ffrind ar Death Row (My Friend on Death Row).

Rhys said: “I don’t want to be friends with a murderer, but I’ve found myself as a friend with a murderer. Maybe at the end of this journey, I’ll re-think that idea. The letters date back 20 years, and then they became emails after some years, then in the last year or two he’s been able to phone me.” Stay in the know by making sure you’re receiving our daily newsletter.

The two became friends after Rhys read an article with the headline “Welshman on death row” which mentioned that Orme was looking for pen pals in Wales to connect him to his roots with his distant relatives being from Llandudno.

Orme’s plea for a Welsh pen-pal read: “As a so-called free person, I was a slave to pleasures of the flesh. Whether it was for booze, drugs or sex. Now as a death row prisoner I am totally physically locked down, but find myself mentally freer than I’ve ever been.”

In the programme, Rhys and journalist Elen Wyn meet Carol, Lisa’s sister who says she will “never forgive” Orme for what he did.

Carol said: “She and I had gone out. He stopped us the whole time we were out because that Sunday, when he showed up at her house to see her, I told him, ‘Lose her number, she doesn’t want to see you’. He said, ‘If I can’t have her, no one can’ and I asked him, I said ‘What does that mean?’ He said, ‘Take it as you will’. She was dead two days later.”

Meeting his pen pal, Orme now aged 64 tells Rhys that he can’t remember killing Lisa as he was high on cocaine and on an alcohol binge.

After his arrest, Orme denied first degree murder, robbery and sexual battery, but was found guilty. He has since made two unsuccessful attempts to appeal his deaths sentence.

The documentary airs on S4C at 9pm on March 10 and will be available on S4C Clic and BBC iPlayer with Welsh and English subtitles.

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Tickets are now on sale for the immersive Christmas experience, which will run from November 27 to December 23.

Based on Chris Van Allsburg’s beloved children’s book and the 2004 animated film, The Polar Express Train Ride invites passengers to step into the story aboard a steam train bound for the North Pole.

Travellers are encouraged to wear pyjamas to fully immerse themselves in the experience, with many families choosing matching outfits to add to the festive fun.

The hour-long journey features appearances by the hobo, the conductor punching golden tickets, and a visit from Santa who, with the help of his elf, gifts each passenger a silver sleigh bell as the “first gift of Christmas.”

The Polar Express Train Ride is part of a global experience spanning 54 locations and welcoming more than 1.5 million riders each year.

All guests receive a keepsake golden ticket and a sleigh bell as part of the experience.

Ticket prices range from £35.95 to £57.95 depending on the date and time of travel, and early booking is advised as popular dates typically sell out quickly.

Tickets can be booked at yorkshiredalesthepolarexpressride.com.

It’s been more than a week since Iran launched revenge attacks on the Middle East

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New travel advice has been released for Brits stuck in the Middle East as the war in Iran rages on.

On February 28, US-Israeli missiles rained down on Tehran as part of ‘Operation Epic Fury’, killing supreme leader Ali Khamenei. In response, Iran hit back, firing missiles across Dubai, Kuwait and Bahrain in a bid to target US air bases.

Thousands of Brits have since been stranded in the Middle East as flights were ground to a halt amid the brewing conflict.

Now, the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) has issued an update in the escalating situation, revealing dozens of flights are due to start bringing people home.

In a post shared on X today (March 9), the FCDO said dozens of flights are due to depart from the region to bring back Brits who have remained stranded since the beginning of the US and Israeli joint operation.

The post reads: “On Sunday, 30 flights departed from across the region carrying more than 7,000 British nationals – the highest number of Brits arriving in the UK in a single day since the beginning of the crisis. More than 40 flights are scheduled to depart from the region today.”

The FCDO added that “more than 37,000 British nationals have returned to the UK since March 1”.

“Three charter flights have now left Oman and landed in the UK. The third flight landed in the UK earlier this morning (Monday),” the post continued.

“The UK government has chartered a flight out of Dubai which, subject to the situation on the ground, will leave later today.

“More than 40 flights are scheduled to depart from the region today (Monday). British nationals in Bahrain, Israel, Kuwait, Lebanon, Palestine, Qatar and the UAE should ‘Register Your Presence’ with the FCDO.

“British nationals should continue to follow FCDO Travel Advice and local instructions, as the situation is volatile and could escalate.”

Some 172,000 British nationals have registered their presence in the region. The Prime Minister’s official spokesman said: “The Foreign Secretary will continue to speak to airlines, travel companies and regional governments to find safe routes home.”

Meanwhile, thousands of UK families face disruption to Easter holiday plans because of the conflict, reports The Express. Dozens of flights to Cyprus were cancelled last week, amid airlines’ concerns about its proximity to the region and the presence of a UK air base, which was hit by a drone.

On Monday, 16 out of the 18 scheduled flights from the UK to Qatar were cancelled because of continued airspace closures, aviation analytics company Cirium said. Eleven out of 33 flights from the UK to the UAE, which includes both Dubai and Abu Dhabi, were also axed.

About half a million passengers per day normally use airports in Dubai, Doha or Abu Dhabi. It is expected to take weeks to clear the backlog of stranded passengers caused by the conflict, which started on February 28.

Airspace closures are not just affecting holidaymakers who plan to visit the Middle East, as its airports are a vital hub for travel between Europe and the continents of Asia and Australia.

There has been a surge in demand for non-stop flights between the UK and Asia which avoid stopovers in the Middle East.

Julia Lo Bue-Said, chief executive of Advantage Travel Partnership, a network of independent travel agents, told the Press Association: “The situation across the Middle East continues to evolve rapidly, and our travel agent partners have been working around the clock this weekend to ensure customers receive the most up-to-date advice and guidance.

“For holidays booked to Cyprus, it is very much business as usual.

“The Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office is not currently advising against travel to Cyprus and as such, if you choose to cancel your holiday at this stage, standard cancellation charges will apply.

“For holidays or trips booked to the Middle East, or to Asia with a routing through the Middle East, standard cancellation terms will apply unless your airline has proactively rerouted or cancelled your flight.

“If you have booked a package holiday and your trip is cancelled by the provider as a direct result of the situation, you are entitled to a full refund or the option to amend your booking.”