Australia on Sunday, honoured victims of an attack that happened a week ago during a seaside Hanukkah celebration, as the prime minister announced a review of the country's law enforcement and intelligence agencies.
The nation was marking a day of reflection to honour the 15 people killed and the dozens wounded in the attack by two gunmen at Sydney's Bondi Beach.
Authorities invited Australians to light a candle on Sunday evening, the start of the eighth and final day of the Jewish festival of lights, "as a quiet act of remembrance with family, friends or loved ones" of the victims of the attack, allegedly carried out by a father and son.
An evening memorial event at Bondi Beach will take place under a heavy police presence, including officers carrying long-arm firearms, police said in a statement.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said the review, to be led by a former chief of Australia's spy agency, would probe whether federal police and intelligence agencies have the "right powers, structures, processes and sharing arrangements in place to keep Australians safe".
The attack exposed gaps in gun-license assessments and information-sharing between agencies that policymakers have said they want to plug.
Albanese has announced a nationwide gun buyback, while gun safety experts say the nation's gun laws, among the world's toughest, are riddled with loopholes.
The authorities are investigating the shooting as an act of terrorism targeting Jews.
Patrols and policing across the country have been ramped up to prevent further antisemitic violence as authorities believe the gunmen were inspired by militant Sunni Muslim group Islamic State.
"The ISIS-inspired atrocity last Sunday reinforces the rapidly changing security environment in our nation. Our security agencies must be in the best position to respond," Albanese said in a statement.
Albanese, under pressure from critics who say his centre-left government has not done enough to curb a surge in antisemitism since the start of the war in Gaza, has vowed to strengthen hate laws in the wake of the attack.
The Bondi Beach attack was the most serious of a string of antisemitic incidents in Australia, which have included attacks on synagogues, buildings and cars, since Israel launched the war in October 2023, in response to an attack by Hamas.
Albanese condemned anti-immigration rallies being held in Sydney and Melbourne on Sunday.
"There are organised rallies seeking to sow division in the aftermath of last Sunday’s antisemitic terrorist attack, and they have no place in Australia," he said in a statement. "They should not go ahead and people should not attend them.”
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Australia has announced a nationwide gun buyback scheme following the mass shooting at Sydney’s Bondi Beach, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said on Friday, as hundreds of surfers and swimmers gathered there to pay tribute to the victims.
Australia has been plunged into mourning following the deadly shooting at a Jewish holiday gathering on Sydney’s Bondi Beach, with the funeral of 10-year-old Matilda marking a deeply emotional moment for the nation.
Police in Australia have charged a man who allegedly opened fire on a Jewish event on Sydney's Bondi Beach with 59 offences, including 15 counts of murder and one of committing a terrorist act.
The death toll from Hong Kong’s deadliest fire in decades has risen to 161, after forensic analysis confirmed one more victim among the charred remains at Wang Fuk Court in Tai Po, more than three weeks after the blaze began, authorities said on Saturday.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is set to meet President Donald Trump on 29 December in Florida, where he is expected to present a package of military options regarding Iran, Israel’s public broadcaster KAN reported on Saturday.
The U.S. Coast Guard is pursuing an oil tanker in international waters near Venezuela, officials told on Sunday, in what would be the second such operation this weekend and the third in less than two weeks if successful.
The United States has proposed a potential new format for peace talks between Ukraine and Russia, which could include American and European representatives, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on Saturday, December 20.
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