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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BJP put lives at stake for extorting political donations from vaccine manufacturer: Akhilesh
Lucknow (PTI): Amid a controversy over the "side effects" of Covishield vaccine, Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav on Wednesday accused the BJP of putting the lives of people at stake for "extorting political donations" from a vaccine manufacturer.
Demanding a high-level judicial probe into it, Yadav said allowing such lethal medicines amounts to a “conspiracy to murder someone” and those responsible should be prosecuted.
"Around 80 crore Indians have been given the Covishield vaccine, which is two doses per person, and the company that made its original formula has said that it causes a risk of heart attack,” Yadav said in a post on X.
“Those who have lost their loved ones due to the side effects of the vaccine or who feared the ill effects of the vaccine, their doubts and fears have now been proven right," the former Uttar Pradesh chief minister said.
Those who play with the lives of the people will not be forgiven, he said.
UK-headquartered pharma giant AstraZeneca has admitted that in "very rare cases", its COVID-19 vaccine, which is known as Vaxzevria in Europe and Covishield in India, can cause a blood clot-related side effect but the causal link is unknown, according to court papers being quoted in the UK media.
In India, the AstraZeneca vaccine was manufactured by the Serum Institute of India.
Attacking the BJP, the SP chief further said, "The ruling party has put the lives of the public at stake by collecting political donations from the vaccine manufacturing company."
“Neither the law, nor the public will ever forgive them. There should be a judicial inquiry at the highest level in this matter," Yadav added.
SP leaders had made similar allegations on Tuesday, saying the BJP took "commission" from the manufacturer of the Covid vaccine, which they said was "forcibly" administered to people.
Uttar Pradesh Congress chief Ajay Rai had also attacked Prime Minister Narendra Modi over the issue. "Is this Modi's guarantee?" he had asked.
SP national general secretary Shivpal Yadav had said, "It has now been exposed that they have taken commission in vaccines too. Low quality vaccines and medicines were given to the people."
Dimple Yadav, wife of SP chief Akhilesh Yadav, said people were "forcibly" administered Covid vaccines in the country.
"A donation of Rs 200-300 crore was taken (by the BJP) and they (company) were given permission to market the vaccine. People were forcibly administered vaccines. No where in the world vaccines were administered forcibly,” Dimple said, adding that corruption in vaccine manufacturing has now come to the fore.
Akhilesh Yadav, while the country was under the impact of COVID-19 pandemic, had said that he would not take the "BJP's vaccine", and that when his government comes to power, everyone would be vaccinated for free.
The Daily Telegraph reported that in a legal document submitted to the High Court in London in February for a group action brought by 51 claimants, AstraZeneca admitted that the vaccine developed with the University of Oxford to protect against COVID-19 may cause Thrombosis with Thrombocytopenia Syndrome (TTS) in "very rare cases".
