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Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese announced plans Thursday for a national bravery award to recognize civilians and first responders who confronted the worst of evil during an antisemitic terror attack that left 15 dead and has cast a heavy shadow over the nation's holiday season. Albanese said he plans to establish a special honors system for those who placed themselves in harms way to help during the attack on a beachside Hanukkah celebration, like Ahmed al Ahmed, a Syrian-Australian Muslim who disarmed one of the assailants before being wounded himself. Sajid Akram, who was killed by police during the Dec. 14 attack, and his 24-year-old son Naveed Akram are accused of perpetrating Australia's worst massacre since 1996. Speaking at a press conference after a Christmas Day lunch at a charitable foundation in Sydney, Albanese described a Christmas defined by a sharp contrast between extremist violence and the best of humanity. This Christmas is a different one because of th
A suspected gunman accused of killing 15 people at Sydney's Bondi Beach conducted firearms training in an area of New South Wales outside of Sydney with his father and recorded a video about their justification for the attack, the Australian Broadcasting Corp. reported Monday, citing police documents. The police statement of facts was made public following Naveed Akram's video court appearance Monday from a Sydney hospital. The statement alleges the 24-year-old and his father, 50-year-old Sajid Akram, threw four improvised explosive devices toward at crowd involved in a Jewish event at Bondi Beach on Dec. 14, but they didn't explode, ABC reported. The New South Wales court media unit could not immediately provide a copy of the statement. Police shot the father dead at the scene and wounded the son. The son was charged last week with 59 offenses, including 15 counts of murder and one of committing a terrorist act.
A suspected gunman in Sydney's Bondi Beach massacre was charged with 59 offences, including 15 charges of murder, police said Tuesday. The 24-year-old man was charged in Sydney hospital on Wednesday, where he has been since police shot him and his gunman father at Bondi on Sunday. The 50-year-old father died at the scene, a police official said. The charges include one count of murder for each victim who died and one count of committing a terrorist act.
Sajid Akram, one of the suspects in the recent mass shooting at Bondi beach in Australia, is a native of Hyderabad, the Telangana Police said on Tuesday. He migrated to Australia 27 years ago and had limited contact with his family in Hyderabad, the Telangana DGP office said in a statement. The factors that led to radicalisation of Sajid Akram and his son Naveed Akram appear to have no connection with India or any local influence in Telangana, it said. Sajid Akram completed his B.Com in Hyderabad and migrated to Australia in search of employment in November 1998, it said.
A mass shooting in which 15 people were killed during a Hanukkah celebration at Sydney's Bondi Beach was a terrorist attack inspired by Islamic State, Australia's federal police commissioner Krissy Barrett said Tuesday. The suspects were a father and son, aged 50 and 24, authorities have said. The older man was shot dead while his son was being treated at a hospital on Tuesday. A news conference by political and law enforcement leaders on Tuesday was the first time officials confirmed their beliefs about the suspects' ideologies. Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said the remarks were based on evidence obtained, including the presence of Islamic State flags in the vehicle that has been seized. There are 25 people still being treated in hospitals after Sunday's massacre, 10 of them in critical condition. Three of them are patients in a children's hospital. Also among them is a man who was captured on video appearing to tackle and disarm one assailant, before pointing the man's weapon
Leading Jewish groups in the United States are urging all Jewish organisations to ratchet up security measures at public events -- including restrictions on access -- following the deadly mass shooting that targeted a Hanukkah celebration on a popular Australian beach. The groups -- including three which specialise in security issues -- said Jewish public events in the coming days should be open only to people who had been screened after preregistering. Provide details of location, time, and other information only upon confirmed registration, the groups' advisory said. Have access control (locks and entrance procedures) to only allow known, confirmed registrants/attendees into the facility/event. Coinciding with this urgent appeal for increased precautions, some rabbis said their synagogues would proceed with large-scale celebrations, intended to demonstrate resilience. The mass shooting is the latest reminder of the Jewish community's longstanding reality of having to factor securi