SYDNEY — Two alleged gunmen who killed 15 people at a Jewish celebration at Sydney’s Bondi Beach were a father and son, police said on Monday, as Australia began mourning victims of its worst gun violence in almost 30 years.

The father, a 50-year-old, was killed at the scene, taking the number of dead to 16, while his 24-year-old son was in a critical condition in hospital, police said at a press conference on Monday. The father and son were identified as Sajid Akram and Naveed Akram, respectively, by state broadcaster ABC and other local media outlets.

Officials have described Sunday’s shooting as a targeted antisemitic attack.

Forty people remain in hospital following the attack, including two police officers who are in a serious but stable condition, police said. The victims were aged between 10 and 87.

Witnesses said the attack at the famed beach, which was packed on a hot evening, lasted about 10 minutes, sending hundreds of people scattering along the sand and into nearby streets.

Police said around 1,000 people had attended the targeted Hanukkah event, which was held in a small park off the beach.

A bystander captured on video tackling and disarming an armed man during the attack has been hailed as a hero whose actions saved lives. 7News Australia named him as Ahmed al Ahmed, citing a relative, who said the 43-year-old fruit shop owner had been shot twice and had undergone surgery.

A fundraising page for the man had raised more than A$350,000 ($233,000) by Monday afternoon.

Police did not release the shooters’ names, but said the father had held a firearms license since 2015 and had six licensed weapons.

Home Minister Tony Burke said the father arrived in Australia in 1998 on a student visa, while his son is an Australian-born citizen.

Police did not provide details about the firearms, but videos from the scene showed the men firing what appeared to be a bolt-action rifle and a shotgun.

“We are very much working through the background of both persons. At this stage, we know very little about them,” New South Wales Police Commissioner Mal Lanyon told reporters.

Bondi local Morgan Gabriel, 27, said she had been heading to a nearby cinema when she heard what she thought were fireworks, before people started running up her street.

“I sheltered about six or seven. Two of them were actually my close friends, and the rest were just people that were on the street. But people, their phones had been left down the beach, and everyone was just trying to get away,” she said.

“It’s a very sad time this morning… Normally, like on a Monday or any morning, it’s packed. People are swimming, surfing, running. So this is very, very quiet. And there’s definitely a solemn sort of vibe.”

A makeshift memorial with flowers and Israeli and Australian flags was set up at the Bondi pavilion and an online condolence book was established. Police and private Jewish security guards wearing earpieces were positioned around as mourners paid respects and laid flowers.

WORLD LEADERS CONDEMN THE ATTACK
Authorities said they were confident only two attackers were involved in the incident, after previously saying they were checking whether a third offender was involved.

At the suspects’ home in Bonnyrigg, a suburb around 36 kilometers (22 miles) west of the CBD, there was a heavy police presence on Monday, with a cordon wrapping around several neighboring houses.

Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese visited Bondi Beach on Monday morning to lay flowers near the scene of the attack.

“What we saw yesterday was an act of pure evil, an act of antisemitism, an act of terrorism on our shores in an iconic Australian location,” Mr. Albanese told reporters.

“The Jewish community are hurting today. Today, all Australians wrap our arms around them and say, we stand with you. We will do whatever is necessary to stamp out antisemitism. It is a scourge, and we will eradicate it together.”

Mr. Albanese later urged Australians to light a candle in solidarity with the Jewish community “to show that light will indeed defeat darkness – part of what Hanukkah celebrates”, he said.

Mr. Albanese said several world leaders including US President Donald Trump and French President Emmanuel Macron had reached out and offered condolences and support.

Sunday’s shootings were the most serious in a string of antisemitic attacks on synagogues, buildings, and cars in Australia since the beginning of Israel’s war in Gaza in October 2023.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he had warned Mr. Albanese that Australia’s support for Palestinian statehood would fuel antisemitism.

In August, Australia accused Iran of directing at least two antisemitic attacks and gave Tehran’s ambassador a week to leave the country.

‘SAW BODIES ON THE GROUND’
Mass shootings are rare in Australia, one of the world’s safest countries. Sunday’s attack was the worst since 1996, when a gunman killed 35 people at the Port Arthur tourist site in the southern island state of Tasmania.

Rabbi Mendel Kastel, whose brother-in-law Eli Schlanger was killed in Sunday’s attack, said it had been a harrowing evening.

“You can very easily become very angry and try to blame people, turn on people but that’s not what this is about. It’s about a community,” he said.

“We need to step up at a time like this, be there for each other, and come together. And we will, and we will get through this, and we know that. The Australian community will help us do it,” he added.

Local woman Danielle, who declined to give her surname, was at the beach when the shooting occurred and raced to collect her daughter, who was attending a bar mitzvah at a function center near where the alleged shooters were positioned.

“I heard there was a shooting so I bolted there to get my daughter, I could hear gunshots, I saw bodies on the ground. We are used to being scared, we have felt this way since October 7.”

Hamas militants attacked Israel on October 7, 2023, killing around 1,200 people, according to Israeli tallies. The attack precipitated Israel’s war in Gaza, which has killed more than 70,000 Palestinians, according to Gaza health authorities.

Australia’s Jewish diaspora is small but deeply embedded in the wider community, with about 150,000 people who identify as Jewish in the country of 27 million. About one-third of them are estimated to live in Sydney’s eastern suburbs, including Bondi.

Major cities including Berlin, London, and New York stepped up security around Hanukkah events on Sunday following the attack at Bondi. — Reuters

SEOUL — Former South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol tried to provoke North Korea into mounting an armed aggression to create justification for the December 2024 martial law declaration and to eliminate political opponents, a special prosecutor said.

The special prosecutor, Cho Eun-seok, told a briefing on Monday his team had indicted 24 people, including Mr. Yoon and five cabinet members, for their alleged involvement during his six-month investigation on insurrection charges.

“We known well from historic experience the justification given by those in power for a coup is only a facade and the sole purpose is to monopolize and maintain power,” Mr. Cho said.

Mr. Cho said his team has confirmed an elaborate scheme allegedly masterminded by Mr. Yoon and his defense minister, Kim Yong-hyun, going back to October 2023 to suspend the powers of parliament and replace it with an emergency legislative body.

“To create justification for declaring martial law, they tried to lure North Korea into mounting an armed aggression but failed as North Korea did not respond militarily,” he said.

The special prosecutor’s team has previously accused Mr. Yoon and his military commanders of ordering a covert drone operation into the North to inflame tensions between the neighbors.

Subsequently, Mr. Yoon conspired to brand those who are politically against him, including then-leader of his conservative People Power Party, as anti-state forces and declared martial law when he had no justification, Mr. Cho said.

Mr. Cho was among three special prosecutors appointed after President Lee Jae Myung was elected president in a snap election called after Mr. Yoon’s removal by the Constitutional Court in April.

Mr. Yoon is currently on trial for insurrection, which on conviction is punishable by life in prison or even the death penalty. His former ministers and other officials face various charges stemming from the failed martial law attempt.

Parliament controlled by the liberal Democratic Party voted to void Mr. Yoon’s decree within hours of his declaration late night on December 3 last year and later impeached him for violating the duties of his office.

His wife, Kim Keon Hee, is under a separate special prosecutor probe for corruption stemming from activities during and before Mr. Yoon’s presidency.

Mr. Yoon has said it was within his powers as president to declare martial law and he did it to sound the alarm over the opposition parties’ abuse of parliamentary control that was crippling the work of government. He said no harm was done to the country by his martial law decree.— Reuters

SYDNEY — Stories of horror and heroism emerged as Australians mourned the 15 people killed by two gunmen at Sydney’s Bondi Beach during a Hanukkah event.

Police said two shooters, a father-son duo, opened fire on the crowd gathered for the Jewish festival beside the landmark Sydney beach late on Sunday, in the worst shooting in Australia in three decades.

The 50-year-old father was killed at the scene while his 24-year-old son was in a critical condition in hospital, police said.

A man identified by Australian media as 43-year-old Sydney fruit shop owner Ahmed al Ahmed has been hailed as a hero for tackling and disarming one of the gunmen during the attack.

Video captured by a bystander shows the man identified as Mr. Ahmed creeping through a carpark before tackling the gunman from behind. He was shot by the second gunman and remains in hospital, police said.

“There are many, many people alive tonight as a result of his bravery,” said Chris Minns, the premier of New South Wales state.

More tales of heroism came to light on Monday as mourners returned to the area to leave flowers at a makeshift memorial near the beach’s headlands. Private security guards gathered near the site as Jewish leaders visited.

Kellie Sloane, the state opposition leader whose electorate covers Bondi, was at the beach when the shooting happened and said she saw many people risking their lives to help others.

“I saw the acts of heroism firsthand, what they did, supporting people, trying to save people, was extraordinary,” she said.

“I went in and tried to do my best like so many other locals. It was an incredibly confronting scene, there were bodies everywhere, people working trying to revive people.

“Everyone did their best trying to support those who were in shock, no one knew what to do and everyone pulled together. When I arrived I could hear a couple of shots but everyone was working on the wounded, we held the hands of people who were passing away, we looked after the people who were in shock.”

‘WE CAN MOVE FORWARD’
Bondi resident Morgan Gabriel, 27, said she sheltered a few people who ran from the gunshots.

“It’s just, it’s a very sad time this morning… I’m here every day and normally, like on a Monday or any morning, it’s packed. People are swimming, surfing, running. So this is very, very quiet. And there’s definitely a solemn sort of vibe,” she said.

Trent Tur, 18, was in the water when the shooting started.

“Unfortunately I saw a couple of dead bodies, it was the worst feeling, words couldn’t describe it,” he said.

“Honestly it’s terrible. As a community we can move forward from this, it will be hard but the spirits, the Australian spirit in Bondi is very high and we can move forward.”

Waverley Mayor William Nemesh, a Jewish man whose council covers Bondi, said the community was in shock and mourning.

“It is an unspeakable tragedy that has occurred, a deliberate terrorist attack, cowardly attack targeting innocents enjoying Hannukah. We are tight-knit, we are close, everyone knows someone who has been affected. It truly is devastating,” he said.

Mr. Nemesh said many in Sydney’s Jewish community did not feel safe, particularly after the October 7, 2023 attacks on Israel by Hamas and other Palestinian Islamist factions that triggered the Gaza war.

“But this is just beyond what anyone thought was possible and could happen on Bondi Beach,” he said.

“It’s no coincidence this occurred the first night of Hanukkah, a joyous festival that is about bringing light into the world and the light triumphs the darkness.”— Reuters

BEIJING — China and Saudi Arabia agreed to have closer communication and coordination on regional and international issues, with Beijing lauding Riyadh’s role in Middle East diplomacy, statements following a meeting between the nations’ foreign ministers on Sunday showed.

Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi is on a three-nation tour in the Middle East that began in the United Arab Emirates and is expected to end in Jordan. He met with Saudi Arabia’s Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan Al-Saud in Riyadh on Sunday.

A joint statement published by China’s official news agency Xinhua did not elaborate on what issues the countries will strengthen coordination on, but mentioned China’s support for Saudi Arabia and Iran developing and enhancing their relations.

“(China) appreciates Saudi Arabia’s leading role and efforts to achieve regional and international security and stability,” the statement released on Monday said.

The statement also reiterated both countries’ support for a “comprehensive and just settlement” of the Palestinian issue and the formation of an independent state for Palestinians.

At a high-level meeting, Mr. Wang told his Saudi counterpart that China has always regarded Saudi Arabia as a “priority for Middle East diplomacy” and an important partner in global diplomacy, a Chinese foreign ministry statement on Monday said.

He also encouraged more cooperation in energy and investments, as well as in the fields of new energy and green transformation.

The countries have agreed to mutually exempt visas for diplomatic and special passport holders from both sides, according to the joint statement.— Reuters

PROVIDENCE, Rhode Island — A man was taken into custody on Sunday at a Rhode Island hotel and held as a “person of interest” in the Brown University shooting that left two students dead and nine wounded amid year-end final exams at the Ivy League school, authorities said.

Providence Police Chief Oscar Perez said at a midday news conference that the person detained in connection with Saturday’s gun violence was in his 20s but declined to share further details. Mr. Perez said earlier on Sunday that authorities were not seeking other suspects at this time.

Detectives anticipated that the person in custody would be formally charged Sunday night, city public safety spokesperson Kristy DosReis said.

Other news media outlets, including the Washington Post and NBC News, cited unnamed sources identifying the man as military veteran Benjamin Erickson, 24, who previously resided in Wisconsin.

A person by the name of Benjamin W. Erickson served as a US Army infantryman from May 2021 to November 2024, leaving the service with the rank of specialist without ever being deployed, military officials told Reuters. But they could not confirm whether he was the man detained over the Brown University shooting.

FBI Director Kash Patel earlier Sunday said in a post on X that the person of interest had been detained in a hotel room in the Rhode Island town of Coventry, a 30-minute drive from the Brown campus. An FBI team specializing in cellular data analysis used geolocation information to track the suspect, Mr. Patel said.

The mass shooting — the latest of nearly 400 in the US this year, according to the Gun Violence Archive — shook the community at the university, one of the oldest in the United States. The school canceled exams, and classes, for the rest of the year and the campus was quiet on Sunday as a light snowfall blanketed the city.

Providence Mayor Brett Smiley said that authorities, as of midday on Sunday, had not yet contacted all of the victims’ family members because some were traveling. He invited residents to a previously planned event on Sunday to light a Christmas tree and a menorah to mark the first night of Hanukkah.

“It is quite clear that if we can come together as a community and shine a little bit of light tonight, I think there’s nothing better that we could be doing,” Mr. Smiley said.

AUTHORITIES RELEASE VIDEO OF SUSPECT
Seven people injured at Brown University were in stable condition, Mr. Smiley said. One remained in critical but stable condition, while another had been discharged, he added.

Shelter-in-place orders at the university and nearby areas were lifted on Sunday. Mr. Smiley said earlier in the day that residents should expect a visible police presence across the city.

The gunman fled after shooting students in a classroom in Brown’s Barus & Holley engineering and physics building, where outer doors had been left unlocked while exams were taking place, officials said on Saturday.

Authorities on Saturday released a short video clip of a person of interest dressed in black walking near the engineering building. Providence Deputy Police Chief Timothy O’Hara said on Saturday the individual may have worn a mask, but officials were not certain.

Brown President Christina Paxson told reporters that all or nearly all of the victims were students, adding: “This is the day one hopes never happens, and it has.”

STUDENTS CAUGHT BY SURPRISE
Ref Bari, 22, a graduate student at Brown, said he was inside the Barus & Holley building when he heard a series of loud popping sounds that appeared to be gunfire.

Mr. Bari ran out of the building and asked another student running in the street if he could hide with her and her friends and she agreed. They returned to her basement apartment and hid in the bathroom.

“She trusted me,” he said. “The only connection between us is we’re both students at Brown but beyond that, we don’t know each other.”

Teaching assistant Joseph Oduro, 21, told CNN he was in a classroom that was attacked.

“The first couple of gunshots went straight to the chalkboard right where I was standing,” Mr. Oduro said. “Who knows, if I didn’t duck, maybe I’m not here today.”

A student next to him took two bullets to the leg and was due to undergo surgery on Sunday, he said.

Jack DiPrimio, another graduate student at Brown, said he was initially not concerned when the university went on lockdown because he had experienced many active-shooter drills. The drills have become more common in the US as attacks targeting students have increased.

“I had faced so many lockdowns in high school and even a few at my undergrad, so I wasn’t that worried at first,” Mr. DiPrimio said in a TikTok video after coming out of a five-hour lockdown. “Maybe I was desensitized.”— Reuters