Australian police yesterday charged one of the alleged Bondi Beach gunmen with murder and terrorism, as grief-stricken mourners buried the first of 15 people slain in the attack.
Sajid Akram and his son, Naveed, are accused of opening fire on a Jewish festival at the famed surf beach on Sunday evening, killing 15 people in a shooting spree inspired by the Islamic State (ISIS) group.
Naveed Akram was charged with 15 counts of murder after waking from a coma, as well as committing a “terrorist act” and planting a bomb with intent to harm.
Photo: AFP
“Police will allege in court the man engaged in conduct that caused death, serious injury and endangered life to advance a religious cause and cause fear in the community,” the New South Wales Police Force said in a statement. “Early indications point to a terrorist attack inspired by ISIS, a listed terrorist organization in Australia.”
Sajid Akram, 50, was killed at the scene in a shoot-out with police. Naveed Akram, 24, was also shot and remained in hospital under police guard.
Authorities said the attack was designed to sow panic among the nation’s Jews.
Australian police are investigating whether the pair met with Islamist extremists during a visit to the Philippines weeks before the shooting.
The Philippines yesterday said there was no evidence that the country was being used for “terrorist training.”
Mourners collapsed in grief as they held the first funerals for those slain in the attack.
Rabbi Eli Schlanger was the first laid to rest, drawing masses of black-clad mourners who spilled out of the Chabad of Bondi Synagogue in Sydney’s east.
Two young women howled with sorrow as they flung themselves on the father-of-five’s casket that was draped with a black velvet cloth bearing the Star of David.
“You’re my son, my friend and confidant,” father-in-law Yehoram Ulman told the funeral, choking back tears. “To think I will go a day without you, it doesn’t seem possible.”
The 41-year-old was a popular figure known to many around town as the “rabbi of Bondi.”
He served as a chaplain in prisons and hospitals, according to the Hasidic Chabad movement.
“This loss is massive for the entire Jewish nation, but for our community here, and for Chabad of Bondi, the loss is unspeakable,” rabbi Levi Wolff told the funeral.
Squads of police patrolled the streets outside the Bondi synagogue, marshalling the large crowds gathered for the service.
Those unable to cram inside huddled together on the street to watch on their cellphones.
“My heart goes out to the community today and every day,” Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said. “But today particularly will be a difficult day with the first funerals under way.”
Mourners later crammed into a suburban chapel for the funeral of rabbi Yaakov Levitan.
Levitan was a father of four renowned for his charitable work, the Chabad movement said.
Among the other victims were a 10-year-old girl, two Holocaust survivors, and a married couple shot and killed as they tried to thwart the attack.
The nation’s fastest supercomputer, Nano 4 (晶創26), is scheduled to be launched in the third quarter, and would be used to train large language models in finance and national defense sectors, the National Center for High-Performance Computing (NCHC) said. The supercomputer, which would operate at about 86.05 petaflops, is being tested at a new cloud computing center in the Southern Taiwan Science Park in Tainan. The exterior of the server cabinet features chip circuitry patterns overlaid with a map of Taiwan, highlighting the nation’s central position in the semiconductor industry. The center also houses Taiwania 2, Taiwania 3, Forerunner 1 and
Japan has deployed long-range missiles in a southwestern region near China, the Japanese defense minister said yesterday, at a time when ties with Beijing are at their lowest in recent years. The missiles were installed in Kumamoto in the southern region of Kyushu, as Japan is attempting to shore up its military capacity as China steps up naval activity in the East China Sea. “Standoff defense capabilities enable us to counter the threat of enemy forces attempting to invade our country ... while ensuring the safety of our personnel,” Japanese Minister of Defense Shinjiro Koizumi said. “This is an extremely important initiative for
MORE POPULAR: Taiwan Pass sales increased by 59 percent during the first quarter compared with the same period last year, the Tourism Administration said The Tourism Administration yesterday said that it has streamlined the Taiwan Pass, with two versions available for purchase beginning today. The tourism agency has made the pass available to international tourists since 2024, allowing them to access the high-speed rail, Taiwan Railway Corp services, four MRT systems and four Taiwan Tourist Shuttles. Previously, five types of Taiwan Pass were available, but some tourists have said that the offerings were too complicated. The agency said only two types of Taiwan Pass would be available, starting from a three-day pass with the high-speed rail and a three-day pass with Taiwan Railway Corp. The former costs NT$2,800
FIRST TRIAL: Ko’s lawyers sought reduced bail and other concessions, as did other defendants, but the bail judge denied their requests, citing the severity of the sentences Former Taipei mayor Ko Wen-je (柯文哲) was yesterday sentenced to 17 years in prison and had his civil rights suspended for six years over corruption, embezzlement and other charges. Taipei prosecutors in December last year asked the Taipei District Court for a combined 28-year, six-month sentence for the four cases against Ko, who founded the Taiwan People’s Party (TPP). The cases were linked to the Core Pacific City (京華城購物中心) redevelopment project and the mismanagement of political donations. Other defendants convicted on separate charges included Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Taipei City Councilor Angela Ying (應曉薇), who was handed a 15-year, six-month sentence; Core Pacific
RSS