The Indian Panorama

Tag: SYDNEY

  • Australia’s ‘Bondi Hero’ handed millions collected from fundraising

    Australia’s ‘Bondi Hero’ handed millions collected from fundraising

    SYDNEY (TIP): A man credited with saving lives by wrestling a gun from one of the alleged attackers during a ‍mass shooting at Australia’s Bondi Beach received a cheque for more than ​A$2.5 million ($1.65 million) on Friday , December 19, 2025, after tens of thousands ‌of people contributed to a donation website, says a Reuters report.

    Ahmed al Ahmed ​hid behind parked cars before charging at one of the gunmen from behind, seizing his weapon and knocking him to the ground. Mr. Ahmed suffered gunshot wounds after apparently being fired on by a second perpetrator and remains in hospital after undergoing surgery.

    The Muslim father-of-two was presented with an oversized cheque at his ​St. George hospital bed by Zachery Dereniowski, a social media ⁠influencer and co-organizer of the GoFundMe page, videos posted online showed. More than 43,000 people worldwide contributed to the fundraising, including billionaire hedge fund manager Bill Ackman who ​gave A$99,999 (₹90,02,874) and shared the ⁠fundraiser on his X account. Australia’s Prime Minister and the State Premier have visited Mr. Ahmed in hospital to praise his bravery.

    When handed the cheque, Mr. Ahmed asks, “I deserve it?” to which Mr. Dereniowski says, “Every ‌penny”, the video shows.

    When asked what he would say ‌to the people who donated, Mr. Ahmed said: “To stand with each other, all human beings. And forget everything bad… ‍and keep going to save life.”

    “When I saved the people, I [did it] from the heart because it was a nice day, ‍everyone was enjoying and celebrating with their kids; women, men, teenagers, all. Everyone was happy, and they deserve to enjoy,” Mr. Ahmed said, raising his uninjured fist in the air. “This country [is the] best country in the world. But we’re not going to stand and keep watching. Enough is enough. God protect Australia. Aussie, Aussie, Aussie.”

    The tobacco store owner did not say what ⁠he planned to do with the money. Mr. Ahmed, 43, left his hometown in Syria’s northwest province of Idlib nearly ​20 years ago to seek work in Australia.

    Fifteen people were killed, and dozens were wounded on Sunday (December 14, 2025) after two gunmen opened fire at people celebrating Hanukkah, the Jewish festival of lights, at the famous Bondi Beach. Authorities allege a 50-year-old father, who was shot dead by police, and his 24-year-old son, who was ⁠critically wounded, carried out the attack.
    (Source: Reuters)

  • Australian wildfires likely contributed to the unusual La Nina event

    Sydney (TIP): Researchers have found that the catastrophic Australian wildfires in 2019-2020 contributed to ocean cooling thousands of miles away, ultimately nudging the Tropical Pacific into a rare multi-year La Nina event that dissipated only recently. The research, led by National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR), US, is published in the journal Science Advances. Because the emergence of La Nina can often be predicted months in advance, it’s an important phenomenon for seasonal climate forecasts.
    “Many people quickly forgot about the Australian fires, especially as the COVID pandemic exploded, but the Earth system has a long memory, and the impacts of the fires lingered for years,” said NCAR scientist John Fasullo, lead author of the study. While not uncommon, a La Nina occurrence for three consecutive winters is rare.
    The recent run of La Ninas, beginning in the winter of 2020-21 and continuing through last winter, is only the third string of three in the historical record, which dates back to 1950.
    The recent La Nina streak is also unusual because it is the only one that did not follow a strong El Nino – warming instead of cooling in the Tropical Pacific with similar but opposite climate impacts.
    Previous studies have established that events in the Earth system, including aerosol emissions from large volcanic eruptions in the Southern Hemisphere which cool the climate, can shift the odds toward a La Nina emerging.
    Given the massive scale of the Australian fires – which burned an estimated 46 million acres – Fasullo and his co-authors wondered what climate impacts the resulting emissions might have had. To investigate the question, the researchers used an advanced NCAR-based computer model called the Community Earth System Model, version 2, to run two batches of simulations on the Cheyenne system at the NCAR-Wyoming Supercomputing Center (US).
    All the simulations started in August of 2019 before the blazes in Australia became historically large, but only one set incorporated the emissions from the wildfires as observed by satellite.
    The team found that the emissions from the wildfires, which quickly encircled the Southern Hemisphere, kicked off a chain of climate interactions. Unlike a volcanic eruption, the bulk of wildfire emissions did not make it high enough in the atmosphere to cool the climate by directly reflecting sunlight. (PTI)

  • Australia to remove Chinese-made cameras from defence sites

    SYDNEY (TIP): Australia will strip Chinese-made security cameras from some government buildings to ensure they are “completely secure”, the country’s defence minister said February 9.

    It follows similar moves in the United States and Britain, which have both taken measures to stop government departments from installing Chinese-made cameras at sensitive sites. Britain acted in November last year due to fears that Chinese companies could be forced to share intelligence with Beijing’s security services. The security cameras were installed at more than 200 Australian government buildings — according to official figures compiled by an opposition politician — including at least one run by the Department of Defence.

    Australian Defence Minister Richard Marles said officials would find and remove all cameras found within the defence department’s vast collection of offices and facilities.

    “It’s a significant thing that’s been brought to our attention and we’re going to fix it,” he told national broadcaster ABC.

    “It’s important that we go through this exercise and make sure that our facilities are completely secure.”

    The government-funded national War Memorial – a sprawling 14-hectare (35 acres) complex in Canberra — also confirmed it would remove a small number of Chinese-made cameras out of an “abundance of caution”.

    The cameras were made by companies Hikvision and Dahua, which have both been blacklisted in the United States. The US banned the importation of surveillance equipment made by Hikvision and Dahua in November last year because it posed “an unacceptable risk to national security”.

    In Britain, a group of 67 MPs and lords called for the government to ban Hikvision and Dahua in July last year, following reports their equipment had been used to spy on Uyghurs in Xinjiang.

    It was a Hikvision camera that caught former health secretary Matt Hancock kissing an aide in violation of Covid rules in June 2021, leading to his resignation.

    Hikvision has previously said it was “categorically false” to paint the company as “a threat to national security”.

    Australia’s centre-left government has been trying to repair its relationship with China since coming to power in May last year.

    China slapped hefty tariffs on key Australian exports in 2020 at the height of a bitter dispute with the former conservative government. (AFP)

  • 7.7-magnitude undersea earthquake strikes South Pacific region, no damage reported

    7.7-magnitude undersea earthquake strikes South Pacific region, no damage reported

    Wellington/Sydney (TIP): A powerful 7.7-magnitude undersea earthquake struck the South Pacific on Thursday, triggering tsunami warnings in the region that were later cancelled, with no immediate reports of damage.

    The European Mediterranean Seismological Centre (EMSC) said the quake’s epicentre was 417 km (258 miles) east of Tadine, a town in the French territory of New Caledonia, and at a depth of 10 km (6.2 miles).

    France’s ministry for overseas territories said in a tweet on Thursday there were no immediate reports of damage or casualties in New Caledonia. A spokeswoman for Vale SA’s nickel business in the French territory said there was no damage to facilities. Vale’s nickel operations have been halted since December due to large-scale protests linked to the proposed sale of its local assets. Tsunami centres across the region sent alerts for the public to stay off beaches due to risks of unexpected currents and unusual waves shortly after the earthquake.

    The US Tsunami Warning System later said the tsunami threat had passed for the region, although warned there may be minor sea fluctuations.

    The quake followed at least three other tremors in the region with magnitudes ranging from 5.7 to 6.1 in a span of just over an hour. Large tremors were also recorded after the 7.7 magnitude shock.

    There were no immediate reports of damage near the epicentre in New Caledonia, John Ristau, a seismologist from New Zealand-based GNS Science, told NewsHub’s The AM Show.

    “It’s most likely that damage would have been minimal if anything at all,” he said, adding that Thursday morning’s earthquake could trigger more tremors. Reuters

  • Australia takes on Google advertising dominance in latest Big Tech fight

    Sydney (TIP): An Australian regulator is considering letting internet users choose what personal data companies like Google share with advertisers, as part of the country’s attempts to shatter the dominance of tech titans.

    The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) also proposed limiting the internet giants’ ability to access users’ online histories to cross-sell products. The proposals were part of the ACCC’s interim report into digital advertising in Australia, a A$3.4 billion ($2.6 billion) market the regulator said is marked by a lack of competition, transparency and choice. The ACCC estimates Google’s share of Australian digital advertising revenue at between 50% and 100%, depending on the service. “Google is the only one that can determine the effectiveness of ads, so really often they’re marking their own homework when it comes to the effectiveness of the ads they supply,” ACCC chair Rod Sims told Reuters in a telephone interview. “There’s a lot wrong with the market … and it’s effectively dominated by one player,” he added. The proposals add a new element to the antitrust regulator’s campaign to check the power of online behemoths Google and Facebook Inc in Australia. Proposals by the ACCC that Google pay local media for content that drives traffic to their websites have been adopted in draft legislation by the government. Google has criticised the planned News Media Bargaining Code, threatening to pull its search engine from Australia if they go ahead. In Thursday’s 222-page digital advertising report, the regulator also suggested a system under which users’ personal data would be shared more widely with advertisers, on an anonymised basis, to foster more competition. Allowing internet users to choose to give other parties access to their clicking data may also promote competition among online advertising suppliers, the ACCC said.

    Preventing tech companies from using data collected in one scenario to sell advertising in an unrelated field would also reduce the ability of a single player to dominate the digital ad market, the report added.

    The regulator is accepting submissions for the next month ahead of a final report due in August. The government will then decide whether to make its recommendations law.

    A Google spokesman said the company’s advertising service “helps businesses connect with customers and publishers reach new audiences, creating new growth and revenue opportunities for them”.

    A Facebook representative did not respond to a Reuters email seeking comment.

    Australian Treasurer Josh Frydenberg noted the ACCC’s “concerns over competitiveness and the continued dominance of tech giants” but did not say whether he supported the proposals.

    Sims said he was not surprised by Google’s threat to pull its search platform if the media laws went ahead.

    Reuters

  • UK bans direct flights from UAE, shutting world’s busiest international route

    London/Sydney (TIP): Britain is banning direct passenger flights to and from the United Arab Emirates from Friday, shutting down the world’s busiest international airline route from Dubai to London. Britain said it was adding the United Arab Emirates, Burundi and Rwanda to its coronavirus travel ban list because of worries over the spread of a more contagious and potentially vaccine-resistant COVID-19 variant first identified in South Africa. “This means people who have been in or transited through these countries will be denied entry, except British, Irish and third country nationals with residence rights who must self-isolate for ten days at home,” UK Transport Minister Grant Shapps said on Twitter on January 28. Emirates and Etihad Airways said on their websites they would suspend all UK passenger flights from 1300 GMT on Friday when the ban takes effect.

    Dubai airport, in a statement, advised passengers booked on flights due to arrive in the UK after the ban comes into effect to not go to the airport and instead contact their airline.

    The UK Transport Department advised British nationals currently in the United Arab Emirates to make use of indirect commercial airline routes if they wished to return to Britain.

    Due to border closures caused by COVID-19, Dubai to London was the world’s busiest international route in January with 1,90,365 scheduled seats over the month, according to airline data provider OAG. Emirates and Etihad normally carry large numbers of passengers connecting from Britain to destinations sucha as Australia through their airport hubs, meaning the decision to cancel those flights will have far-reaching implications. The Australian government said it would add more charter flights from Britain if needed as a result of the Emirates and Etihad cancellations. Eran Ben-Avraham, an Australian stranded in Britain due to strict limits on the number of arrivals in Australia, said his options for getting home were continually shrinking. “At the moment, it is only giving us three options of flying Qatar, ANA or Singapore Airlines,” he told the Australian Broadcasting Corporation. “Every day, it is making it more difficult to get home. The flights back are anywhere from like 4,000 pounds ($5,487),” he added. Reuters

  • Cummins puts Oz on top in Sydney Test as India dismissed for 244

    Cummins puts Oz on top in Sydney Test as India dismissed for 244

    Sydney (TIP): A relentless Patrick Cummins and a mean Josh Hazlewood dismissed India for 244 after Cheteshwar Pujara’s slowest half-century helped Australia take complete command at tea on the third day of the third Test here on Saturday, January 9.
    Australia took a first-innings lead of 94 runs and it would be an uphill task for India to make a comeback in this match. Pujara’s (50 off 176 balls) ultra-defensive approach put tremendous pressure on his colleagues and India never quite got the momentum going as Cummins (4/29 in 21.4 overs), Hazlewood (2/43 in 21 overs) and Mitchell Starc (1/61 in 19 overs) continuously attacked the batsmen — first with a leg-side field and short-ball strategy and then on the corridor of uncertainty.
    Pujara doesn’t play the pull or hook shot well and he wasn’t allowed room to either cut or drive. While he never tried to rotate strike, the likes of Ajinkya Rahane (22 off 70 balls) and Rishabh Pant (36 off 67 balls) felt the urge to break the shackles in the absence of any such intention from the other end.
    It also resulted in three run-outs including the one-off Hanuma Vihari (4 off 38 balls), who fell short while going for a quick but non-existent single.
    It was then left to Ravindra Jadeja (27), who had to throw his bat around to bring the lead down to less than 100 runs, but that would be of little comfort considering that India would now have to bat fourth to save the match.
    A total of 84 runs from 34 overs in the first session, with lack of intent especially from Pujara, didn’t help India’s cause and Rahane’s dismissal was purely due to the scoreboard pressure.
    The Indian captain failed to get a move-on initially on a slow track where bounce became variable as the session progressed.
    He did hit a cover drive and then tried to take on Nathan Lyon by lofting him for a six over long on.
    However, Cummins bowled one where he got extra bounce in his off-cutter, cramping Rahane for room and he was played on. The duo added 32 runs in 22.3 overs and it didn’t help the team in any way.
    Had KL Rahul been fit, there could have been a case of Vihari getting dropped as he didn’t show in any way that he was in control during his half an hour stay at the crease.
    Pant got into the groove quickly but a nasty blow on the forearm did affect his shot- making and the result was a caught behind off Hazlewood, after a 53-run stand in a little over 20 overs. Pujara, at the other end, was bowled short initially with three men on the leg side and then on the off-side with his cover drive dried up.
    Even the drive wide off mid-on didn’t fetch him boundaries. In the first 100 balls, he didn’t have a single boundary. Finally, after completing his slowest ever half century in Test cricket, Cummins got one to rear up from short of length and it was that one good ball every batsman gets when he is not scoring runs. From 195 for four, suddenly it was 210 for eight and there was only Jadeja left to score a few runs.

  • More questions over fourth Test after Brisbane lockdown

    SYDNEY (TIP): Brisbane went into three days of strict lockdown as the government tries to contain a more contagious variant of Covid-19, raising more doubts about the Gabba hosting next week’s fourth cricket Test between Australia and India. The city’s two million residents will be barred from leaving their homes for anything but essential business after a worker at a quarantine hotel in the city tested positive for the new strain of the virus first detected in Britain.
    The news will do little to ease widely reported concerns in the Indian touring party over what level of isolation they will be forced into when they leave Sydney for Queensland on Tuesday.
    The Board of Control for Cricket India (BCCI) has made no comment on the Brisbane lockdown but retired batting great Sunil Gavaskar today articulated the concerns of the team during TV commentary.
    “In Sydney, there are people coming to the ground and then going back and having dinner at a restaurant or having a gathering of 20, 30 people in a pub,” he said on Channel Seven. “What they (the team) are saying is they should also be allowed to do something similar. The Queensland government is fully entitled to protect its people. Similarly I believe the BCCI is fully entitled to protect its team. I think that’s something we should never forget.”