Sydney shopping mall reopens after stabbings. Police make first arrest in riot after church attack
Sydney (AP): A Sydney shopping mall opened to the public on Thursday for the first time since a mass stabbing in which six people died, while the Australian prime minister raised giving citizenship to an immigrant security guard who was wounded while confronting the knife-wielding attacker.
The deadly rampage through Westfield Bondi Junction on Saturday was the earlier of two knife attacks by lone assailants over three days that have traumatized Sydney.
The man who stabbed 18 people in Saturday's attack was shot dead by police. A 16-year-old boy is in police custody after he allegedly stabbed a Christian bishop and priest during a church service on Monday. Police allege the boy had a religious or ideological motivation and attacked during the streamed service to cause intimidation.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has praised those who intervened in Saturday's attack to prevent more deaths, including security guard Muhammad Taha, who was stabbed in the stomach. Taha is from Pakistan and working in Australia on a temporary visa that is due to expire within weeks.
Albanese said his government would consider giving Taha citizenship, the same reward he had earlier offered French citizen Damien Guerot for his own heroic intervention.
“Yes, we certainly will” consider making Taha an Australian citizen, Albanese told Radio FiveAA.
“Muhammad Taha, he confronted this guy, the perpetrator, Joel Cauchi, on Saturday. And it just shows extraordinary courage,” Albanese said.
“That's the sort of courage that we want to say thank you to, frankly.”
Guerot was nicknamed “Bollard Man” on social media after security camera footage showed the construction worker standing at the top of an escalator on Saturday and menacing Cauchi with a plastic bollard — or barrier post — as he approached. Cauchi fled down the escalator and people on Guerot's floor were safe.
Guerot's temporary Australian work visa was due to expire in July until Albanese intervened.
While Guerot had been offered citizenship, he wanted a permanent resident visa, which he would receive on Thursday, Albanese said.
While the Westfield Bondi Junction mall reopened Thursday, shops will remain closed for what is described as a “community reflection day.” The businesses in one of Australia's largest shopping malls will reopen Friday with higher security.
Police are conducting major investigations into the shopping mall attack, the stabbings at the Christ the Good Shepherd Church and the riot that occurred outside the Orthodox Assyrian service as people sought vengeance over the attack.
The mall attack is not a criminal investigation, but police are gathering evidence to present to a coroner to investigate the circumstances of the deaths. Five of those slain were women and one was a male security guard.
The investigation into the riot made its first arrest late Wednesday when police took a 19-year-old man from his Sydney home.
He remained in police custody overnight and will appear in a court on Thursday charged with riot, affray and damaging property during public disorder, a police statement said.
Dozens more suspected rioters are expected to be charged.
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SP has ended contract with I-PAC due to fund constraints: Akhilesh Yadav
Lucknow (PTI): Samajwadi Party president Akhilesh Yadav on Wednesday said his party has severed its association with the Indian Political Action Committee (I-PAC) due to a lack of funds.
He dismissed speculations that the termination of contract was because of recent election results.
Addressing a press conference here, Yadav said the party had engaged I-PAC for a brief period ahead of the 2027 Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections but could not continue the arrangement.
"Yes, we had an association. They worked with us for a few months, but we are not able to continue because we do not have that kind of funding," he said.
The I-PAC is a political consultancy firm known for managing major election campaigns across the country.
Election strategist-turned-politician Prashant Kishor has also been associated with the organisation in the past and has worked with multiple parties, including the BJP and the Congress.
In a lighter vein, Yadav took a swipe at the ecosystem of political consultancies. "We thought that if we have to work with a 'winning agency', then there are several big companies."
He said that some people suggested conducting surveys, hiring another firm, keeping a social media company, and even engaging agencies for negative campaigning against other parties.
"There are one or two more companies whose names are not yet known. I can get those for you as well," Yadav said.
Yadav rejected the suggestion that the decision to end the deal was influenced by recent election outcomes in states such as West Bengal.
"There is no such thing. Do not ask questions based on baseless reports. That is not true," he said.
"This is not the reason for ending the agreement. We simply do not have enough funds. If you (the media) give us funds, we can hire another company," the former Uttar Pradesh chief minister said.
