Six people are dead and several others injured after a man went on a stabbing rampage in a shopping mall in Sydney, Australia, on Saturday afternoon local time, one of the country’s worst mass killings in recent years. The suspect was shot dead. Eyewitnesses described “pandemonium” as they fled from the attack, with many forced to hide in shops. Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said the attack was “beyond words and understanding,” but amid the “shocking violence,” there were glimmers of heroism. New South Wales police commissioner Karen Webb said four women and a man died at the shopping mall, while a fifth woman later died at the hospital. Webb added that eight additional people are being treated for injuries at hospitals in Sydney. A nine-month-old baby is confirmed to be among the injured and has been in surgery, Webb said. Australian media outlets have reported that the baby’s mother had died, but Webb could not confirm the reports. A police inspector shot the attacker dead on the scene. Police believe the suspect was a 40-year-old man who acted alone, but could not provide further identification details. Early indications suggest the attack was not terror-related. The police officer who shot the suspect is being hailed as a “hero,” with Albanese saying, “There is no doubt that she saved lives through her action.” The officer was nearby when the violence unfolded and shot the attacker when he raised his knife at her, police said. Eyewitnesses described panic and “pandemonium” as fleeing shoppers fell over each other and hid in shops. One woman, Crystal Wang, told CNN she hid in a clothing store for over an hour with other shoppers. Another man told Australia’s state broadcaster ABC that the attacker was stabbing people “indiscriminately.” The attack has shocked Australia, a country where mass casualty events are rare. The deadliest in its history was an April 1996 mass shooting in the town of Port Arthur, Tasmania, that killed 35 people and became known as the Port Arthur massacre. More recently, at least four people were killed and one injured in a mass shooting in the northern city of Darwin in 2019.   Source: CNN

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi was on Wednesday accorded a Ceremonial Guard of Honour at the Admiralty House in Sydney, Australia. PM Modi also signed the visitors' book at the Admiralty House in Sydney. Earlier on Tuesday, PM Modi in his key address to the Indian diaspora at a community event during his Sydney visit, highlighted "Mutual Trust and Mutual Respect" are the foundation of the close historical ties between India and Australia. Noting that bilateral ties between India and Australia were earlier seen to be defined by 3Cs- Commonwealth, Cricket and Curry- and then by 'Democracy, Diaspora and Dosti' and later 'Energy, Economy and Education' emerged as a key component, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said that he believes the relationship is "beyond this" and "it is mutual trust and mutual respect". Addressing the community event in Sydney on the second day of his visit to Australia, PM Modi credited the Indian diaspora in Australia as being a force behind mutual respect and trust between the two countries. "Earlier, it was said that India and Australia's relation is defined by 3Cs- Commonwealth, Cricket and Curry. Then it was said that our relationship is defined by 'Democracy, Diaspora and Dosti. Some people also said that our relationship depends on Energy, Economy and Education. But I believe that the relation between India-Australia is beyond this, it is mutual trust and mutual respect," he said to a packed arena at Sydney Olympic Park. PM Modi held meetings with business leaders of top Australian companies in Sydney on Tuesday, During the meetings, he called for enhancing cooperation with the Indian industry in areas such as technology, skilling, and clean energy. Source: NDTV

Dozens of people were evacuated when a vacant seven-story building in central Sydney caught fire. There were no reports of injuries but nearby residential buildings were damaged in the blaze. A large fire engulfed a seven-story building in Sydney, Australia, on Thursday, causing parts of the structure to collapse and sweeping smoke and ash around the city. Authorities said more than 50 people were evacuated from the area close to the city's Central Station. More than 120 firefighters and 35 fire trucks have been deployed to contain the blaze. Fire and Rescue NSW — referring to the state of New South Wales — said the building inferno initially spread to neighboring buildings, including residential apartments. "The fire is now effectively contained but it will be a very substantial and prolonged duration of firefighting to extinguish the fire completely," Deputy Commissioner Jeremy Fewtrell said. One firefighter was treated by paramedics for a burn to his arm but there were no reports of injuries. Unoccupied building was planned hotel The building in Sydney's Surry Hills district was an old hat factory that was planned to be converted into a hotel, according to a recent development application lodged with city authorities. Emergency services believe the building itself was vacant when the blaze started. "All you could feel when standing here was heat on your face from the flames," one witness told public broadcaster ABC News. "And when they started to move us back, a car just in front of the building caught fire." Nearby train services continued to operate as usual, although light rail services were suspended. "The public is urged to avoid the area as firefighting operations continue," NSW Premier Chris Minns said.

Big Bash League team Sydney Thunder spent a day of shame in Australian cricket. Despite building a team with world famous cricketers like Alex Hales, Rilee Rossouw, Daniel Sams, the team was bowled out for just 15 runs in a T20 match between Sydney Thunder vs Adelaide Strikers.  As a result, the champions of the 2015-16 season of the Big Bash league have created a world record of shame in the history book. This incident happened in the fifth match of the current Big Bash on Friday, December 16 in the match against the Adelaide Strikers at the Sydney Showground Stadium.  While chasing the target of 140 runs given by the Adelaid strikers, Sydney Thunder got all out for just 15 runs in the power play. The record for the lowest total by a team in the history of T20 cricket was till now held by Türkiye. Last year in 2019, Türkiye fell to shame by being bowled out for only 21 runs in the match against Czech Republic.  Now the Australian Big Bash team took their shame on their shoulders.  After winning the toss and batting first, Adelaide Strikers collected 139 runs after losing 9 wickets in the scheduled 20 overs. Chris Lynn scored 36 and Colin de Grandhomme played an innings of 33 runs for the team. Afghan pacer Fazalhaq Farooqi took 3 wickets for Sydney.  In response, Sydney Thunder were bowled out for 15 runs in just 5.5 overs. None of the team's batters reached double figures. Brendan Doggett, the number 10 batsman, played the maximum 4-run innings by hitting the only boundary of the innings. Five batters failed to open their account of runs. Adelaide's right-arm pacer Henry Thornton was on fire in the bowling. He picked up 5 wickets for just 3 runs off 2.5 overs. Another pacer Wes Agar took 4 wickets for 6 runs in 2 overs. Spinner Matt Short got the rest of the wicket.

Troops were set to hit the streets of Sydney on Monday to enforce its prolonged lockdown, as stay-at-home orders in Australia's third-largest city Brisbane were extended to curb a worsening outbreak. About 300 Australian Defence Force personnel will be deployed in Sydney after New South Wales state police requested military help to enforce Covid-19 rules. Authorities have been struggling to stop the spread of the highly infectious Delta variant in Sydney -- and ensure that residents follow containment rules -- with more than 3,600 cases recorded since mid-June. "Police officers will be assisted by ADF personnel as they deliver food parcels, conduct welfare door-knocks and go through compliance checks of stay-at-home and self-isolation orders," NSW Police Commissioner Mick Fuller said Saturday. More than five million people in Australia's biggest city and surrounding areas are entering their sixth week of a lockdown set to run until the end of August. Residents are only allowed to leave their homes for exercise, essential work, medical reasons, and to shop for necessities such as food. But compliance has been patchy and police have increasingly been doling out fines to those violating the restrictions. The defence force said the latest deployment was in addition to the 250 military personnel already working at hotels and airports in New South Wales. Meanwhile, millions of people in Brisbane and several surrounding regions will remain under lockdown until Sunday after an "escalating" outbreak there grew to 29 cases. Those stay-at-home orders had been scheduled to lift on Tuesday. "That will make it an 8-day lockdown. And we desperately hope that that will be sufficient for our contact tracers to get into home quarantine absolutely anyone who could have been exposed to the Delta strain," acting Queensland state premier Steven Miles said. The outbreak was linked to a Brisbane school student, with pupils and teachers at several schools subsequently placed into isolation. With about 14 percent of Australia's 25 million people fully vaccinated, authorities are still relying on lockdowns to slow the spread of the virus. Prime Minister Scott Morrison has outlined a long road out of restrictions -- setting a target of 80 percent of the eligible population to be fully vaccinated before borders are reopened and lockdowns eliminated. Australia has recorded more than 34,000 cases and 925 deaths so far during the pandemic. Source: AFP/BSS AH