TMR

SYDNEY — An attack by a father and son on a Jewish Hanukkah celebration at Sydney’s Bondi Beach killed 15 people, plunging Australia into a day of mourning Monday.

Here’s what we know:

Gunfire at Bondi

Emergency services responded to reports of shots fired at 6:47 pm (0747 GMT) Sunday at Bondi Beach, one of the biggest tourist draws in Australia’s largest city.

The shooting took place during an annual event to celebrate Hanukkah, which police said was attended by around 1,000 people.

Casualties

Police say the attackers fired into the crowds, killing 15 people aged from 10 to 87.

The youngest victim, a 10-year-old girl, died later in a children’s hospital.

Forty-two people were hospitalised overnight, including five in a critical condition. Among them are two police officers wounded in a shootout with the gunmen.

The gunmen

Police say one of the assailants was a 50-year-old father who was shot and killed in a shootout with officers.

The other was his 24-year-old son, who is in a critical condition in hospital, under police guard.

Australian media named them as Sajid Akram and his son Naveed Akram.

In a statement, police said the pair used “long arms to fire into crowds of people”.

The father was licensed to hold six guns, all of which police believe were used in the shooting.

Police do not believe others were involved.

‘Terrorism’

The attack was declared a terrorist incident at 9:36 pm (1036 GMT) by New South Wales Premier Chris Minns.

As a result, federal and police launched a joint counter-terrorism operation.

World reaction

The attack sparked condemnation worldwide, led by Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese who described it as an act of “pure evil”.

US President Donald Trump said it was a “purely antisemitic attack”.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu accused Australia’s government of “pouring oil on the fire of antisemitism” by not acting strongly enough before the shooting. — AFP

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KUALA LUMPUR — The Special ASEAN Foreign Ministers Meeting to assess the latest developments in the ongoing border tensions between Cambodia and Thailand has been postponed, Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim (picture) said.

He said both neighbouring countries had requested a slight postponement of the meeting, which was initially scheduled for tomorrow.

“They (Cambodia and Thailand) asked for a slight postponement of the meeting. So, we are postponing it to ensure everything is in order.

“However, we continue to appeal to both sides to stop the fighting. The situation is very critical, and I remain in virtual contact with them on a daily basis,” he told reporters when asked about the latest developments in the border tensions between Cambodia and Thailand.

The Prime Minister was speaking to the media after officiating at the launch of the book The Man Who Could Move Mountains: Reflections on the Social Activism of S.M. Mohamed Idris at the International Institute of Advanced Islamic Studies (IAIS) Malaysia here today.

Also present were Education Minister Fadhlina Sidek, Dewan Rakyat Speaker Tan Sri Johari Abdul, IAIS Chairman Prof Dr Maszlee Malik and Malaysian National News Agency (BERNAMA) Chairman Datuk Seri Wong Chun Wai.

Commenting on media reports that Thailand has imposed a sea blockade in the Gulf of Thailand to prevent strategic supplies from reaching Cambodia, Anwar said negotiations are ongoing to de-escalate the situation between the two ASEAN member states.

Malaysia had earlier called on both Thailand and Cambodia to cease all forms of hostilities and refrain from any further military action, including the deployment of armed troops to the front lines, starting at 10 pm on Dec 13, Thailand–Cambodia time (11pm Malaysian time).

Anwar said the appeal was conveyed through separate telephone conversations with Thailand’s Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul and Cambodia’s Prime Minister Hun Manet, following his discussion with United States President Donald Trump, in view of the ongoing tensions along the border between the two countries.

Hun Manet and Anutin Charnvirakul signed a peace accord on the sidelines of the 47th ASEAN Summit on Oct 26, witnessed by Anwar and Trump.

Under the peace accord, Thailand and Cambodia agreed to end hostilities and foster good neighbourly ties with each other.

Thailand and Cambodia have long been in dispute over their 817-kilometre border. — BERNAMA

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HONG KONG — Hong Kong pro-democracy media tycoon Jimmy Lai was found guilty Monday on three national security charges, a conviction rights groups denounced as a death knell for press freedoms in the Chinese financial hub.

Prosecutors said Lai was the mastermind behind two conspiracies to ask foreign countries to take action against Hong Kong or China, and accused him of publishing materials they said “excited disaffection” against the government.

The 78-year-old, who pleaded not guilty to the charges, now faces a maximum penalty of life in prison when he is sentenced. He can appeal Monday’s convictions.

“There is no doubt that (Lai) had harboured his resentment and hatred of the PRC for many of his adult years,” Judge Esther Toh told the court, referring to the People’s Republic of China.

“His constant invitation to the US to help bring down the Government of the PRC with the excuse of helping the people of HK would be analogous to the situation where an American national asks for help from Russia to bring down the US Government under the guise of helping the State of California.”

Lai, wearing a light green cardigan and grey jacket, looked impassive as he listened to the verdicts with folded arms, and did not speak.

As he left, he nodded to his wife Teresa and his son Lai Shun-yan, who were sitting in the public gallery, an AFP reporter inside the court saw.

His defence lawyer Robert Pang told reporters as he left court that Lai “is in fine spirits”.

Dozens of police officers were deployed around around the West Kowloon court in the morning, with an armoured car positioned nearby.

Consular representatives, including those from the United States, the European Union and France, were among those in attendance, as well as veterans from Hong Kong’s pro-democracy camp, including Cardinal Joseph Zen and former legislator Emily Lau.

‘Death knell for press freedom’

The founder of the now-shut Apple Daily newspaper has been behind bars since 2020.

His case has been widely criticised as an example of eroding political freedoms under the national security law Beijing imposed on Hong Kong following huge and sometimes violent pro-democracy protests in 2019.

“The predictability of today’s verdict does not make it any less dismaying — the conviction of Jimmy Lai feels like the death knell for press freedom in Hong Kong,” Amnesty International said in a statement.

Reporters Without Borders called the “unlawful conviction” illustrative of “the alarming deterioration of media freedom in the territory”, while the Committee to Protect Journalists called it a “sham conviction” and “a disgraceful act of persecution”.

Beijing, meanwhile, said Friday it “firmly supports” Hong Kong in “safeguarding national security” from criminal acts.

Lai once described himself as a “born rebel” and defied the Chinese Communist Party for years while amassing millions from his clothing and media empires.

The 78-year-old is a British citizen, and UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer faces pressure from rights groups to secure his release.

Before Monday’s verdict, another former Apple Daily employee surnamed Chan recalled that Lai wished for a “free and democratic China”.

“He loved the country a lot, he just didn’t love the regime. (The situation) is absurd,” Chan told AFP outside court.

Health concerns

Lai looked thinner than when he first entered custody, and some of the dozens of supporters who gathered at dawn in front of the court expressed concern for his wellbeing.

“I really want to see what’s happening with ‘the boss’, to see if his health has deteriorated,” said Tammy Cheung, who worked at Lai’s newspaper for nearly two decades.

Lai’s family recently said he had lost weight and had visible decay to his nails and teeth since his long imprisonment.

His daughter Claire told AFP last week that Lai, a diabetic, had “lost a very significant amount of weight” and showed nail and teeth decay.

National security police chief superintendant Steve Li told a press conference on Monday that Claire Lai’s concerns as to her father’s health were smearing.

Authorities have said Lai was receiving “adequate and comprehensive” care, and that he had been held in solitary confinement “at his own request”.

Sprawling trial

Prosecutors cited 161 items Apple Daily published in their case against Lai.

Those items, including opinion articles with Lai’s byline and talk shows he hosted, were deemed seditious under a colonial-era law because they “excited disaffection” against the government.

Prosecutors also accused Lai of being the mastermind and financial backer of the protest group “Stand with Hong Kong, Fight for Freedom”.

Lai countered that he had never sought to influence other countries’ foreign policies, saying Apple Daily represented Hongkongers’ core values: “rule of law, freedom, pursuit of democracy, freedom of speech, freedom of religion, freedom of assembly”.

Apple Daily was forced to close in 2021 following police raids. Six top executives were charged as co-defendants and have already pleaded guilty. — AFP

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