本台法广（RFI）非洲通讯员莫伊茲(Moïse)发自阿布贾（Abuja）的实地消息描述道，在贝宁(le Bénin)发生未遂军事政变一周后，简称[西非经共体]（CEDEAO）的[西非国家经济共同体]（Communauté économique des États de l'Afrique de l'Ouest）成员国元首们当天（2025年12月14日星期天）在尼日利亚（le Nigéria）首都聚会。本次峰会是审视这个非洲次区当前诸多令人关注问题的一个契机。
据介绍，塞拉利昂（La Sierra Leone）总统朱利叶斯·马达·比奥（président Julius Maada Bio）当天首次以区内国家元首会议轮值主席的身份与会。这次峰会的议程十分紧凑。他将与这一非洲次区内其他与会国家元首们决定是否继续维持自12月07日科托努（Cotonou）发生未遂政变以来部署在贝宁的约200名[西非经共体]（CEDEAO）待命部队士兵。塞拉利昂（la Sierra Leone）和加纳（le Ghana）的士兵们是否会加入这支部队？这个问题应该会在本周日的这次首脑峰会上得到解答。
区内已有17个团体与公民社会运动呼吁要依法，尽快公布几内亚比绍11月23日总统选举的结果。就此，[翻开新页]（Tournons la page）运动在几内亚的协调员卡马拉(Alseny Farinta Camara)表示：等待几内亚比绍的策划者和同谋们受到最严厉的惩罚，以避免政变在这个非洲次区内升级。
Bill and Hillary Clinton have repeatedly offered to provide sworn statements, but Representative James R. Comer has threatened to hold them in contempt of Congress if they fail to appear.
For months, the Clintons have been engaging with Mr. Comer far more than was previously known to respond to his requests and avoid having to appear on Capitol Hill.
The shooting at Bondi beach targeted a Jewish Hanukkah event where many families were present
The first day of Hanukkah was a sweltering one in Sydney - a perfect afternoon to spend at Australia's most iconic beach.
More than 1,000 people were enjoying a festival marking the occasion at a grassy stretch in Bondi: kids careened around in facepaint, crowds snaked between food trucks, and many enjoyed live entertainment as they soaked up the last rays of sunshine.
Then, just before 7pm local time, shots rang out.
From a small footbridge - just metres from a children's playground - gunmen fired upon the fenced-in crowds. A car full of improvised bombs was parked nearby, though they never went off.
One attendee, who identified himself only as Barry, described watching people around him get shot as hundreds of beach-goers began screaming and running through the park to get away from the attack.
One video showed a man - dubbed a "genuine hero" by state officials - leaping out from behind a parked car to wrestle a gun from one of the attackers and push him away.
"It was simply an unbelievable scene… in today's day and age, that families and kids on Bondi could be completely mowed down for being Jewish," Barry said.
Getty
More than 1,000 people had gathered at the Hanukkah event.
At least 11 people have died and more than two dozen are injured, including a child. One gunman was also killed by police, another is in hospital in a critical condition, and police say they're investigating whether a third person helped stage the attack.
This is an unfamiliar, and devastating, shock for Australia - the deadliest shooting in this country since the Port Arthur massacre in 1996.
That attack, which killed 35 people, was a turning point, famously prompting the government to introduce some of the world's strictest gun control measures.
We've only had a handful of mass shootings since then, most of them horrific acts of domestic violence - not public attacks like today.
Swiftly declared a terrorist attack by police, it comes amid a rise in antisemitic attacks in Australia since the 7 October Hamas attack on Israel and Israel's subsequent offensive on Gaza.
Getty
An injured woman is treated by emergency workers at Bondi beach
Getty Images
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese called it an "act of evil antisemitism" and a "vile act of violence and hate".
But he's been accused by some - including Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu - of failing to address the upward trend of antisemitism here.
"The Australian government, which received countless warning signs, must come to its senses!" Israel's Foreign Minister Gideon Sa'ar wrote on X.
Alex Ryvchin, co-CEO of the Executive Council of Australian Jewry, told Sky News Sunday night that the "worst fears" of the Jewish community had been realised.
"It's been bubbling under the surface for a long time, and now it's actually happened."
In a statement, the Australia Jewish Association's Robert Gregory said many Jews would tonight be pondering whether they have a future in Australia.
"To be confronted with this horrific act of antisemitic violence during the Jewish festival of light and hope is shattering. In moments like this, we hold each other close," the Jewish Council of Australia said in a statement.
Getty
Bondi beach is one of the world's most famous beaches
There's a lot police can't - or won't - say yet. But they have declared this was a terrorist attack.
Who the gunmen are - how many of them even - and their motive is still unclear. They said one of the attackers was known to police, but wasn't on their radar for anything like this.
Officials wouldn't answer any questions about those who died either, out of respect for families who are still being notified.
"It's too early to give that information," was the most frequent refrain uttered at a press conference late on Sunday night.
But where NSW Police Commissioner Mal Lanyon couldn't offer answers, he tried instead to offer reassurance. Police are throwing everything at this investigation, he said.
He urged the community to remain calm, and avoid spreading misinformation online - including speculating on the victims and perpetrators of the attack.
"I want to make sure that there is no retribution," Commissioner Lanyon said.
Local politicians have also asked people not to share graphic footage from the attack on social media.
In the aftermath of the shooting, sirens were ringing through the city and the area surrounding Bondi swarmed with police cars, helicopters circling above.
There we found Fin Green, who was on FaceTime with his family in the UK when he saw the shooting unfolding outside his window. Unsure what was happening, he hid in his wardrobe for an hour and a half, until he felt it was safe to go out.
Danny Clayton, a broadcast journalist who was at the beach and witnessed the events from the Bondi Pavilion, said some people crashed their cars as they attempted to flee.
Many others in the area had similar stories. Restaurant worker William Doliente Petty said he was serving someone when he heard the gunshots. "The whole shop just stood up and we ran into the back exit."
Australia prides itself on being a merry, safe country and Bondi Beach has long been a symbol of that. But that image has been shattered and residents are in disbelief.
Sunday's attack also came less than two years after another nearby tragedy. In April last year, a deadly mass stabbing attack took place at nearby Bondi Junction. Shocked, many then uttered the same words we've heard over and over today too: "This sort of thing just doesn't happen here".
Additional reporting by Katy Watson and Tabby Wilson.
Mr Ahmed managed to wrestle the gun from the attacker in the struggle
A "hero" bystander who was filmed wrestling a gun from one of the Bondi Beach attackers has been named as 43-year-old Ahmed al Ahmed.
Video verified by the BBC showed Mr Ahmed run at the gunman and seize his weapon, before turning the gun round on him, forcing his retreat.
Mr Ahmed, a fruit shop owner and father of two, remains in hospital, where he has undergone surgery for bullet wounds to his arm and hand, his family told 7News Australia.
Eleven people were killed in the shooting on Sunday night, as more than 1,000 people attended an event to celebrate Hanukkah. The attack has since been declared by police as a terrorist incident targeting the Jewish community.
Mr Ahmed's cousin, Mustafa, told 7News Australia: "Still he is in hospital and we don't know exactly what is going on, the doctor says he is OK.
"We hope he is OK, he is a hero, 100% he is a hero. He has two shots, one in his arm and one in his hand, he has had to have an operation."
Watch: Eyewitness captures moment man tackles and disarms Bondi shooter
Two gunmen are believed to have carried out the attack, with police investigating whether others were involved. One of the gunmen was killed, with a second in "critical condition," police say.
The footage of Mr Ahmed's intervention has been shared widely online.
It shows one of the gunmen standing behind a palm tree near a small pedestrian bridge, aiming and shooting his gun towards a target out of shot.
Mr Ahmed, who was hiding behind a parked car, is seen leaping out at the attacker, who he tackles.
He manages to wrestle the gun from the attacker, pushes him to the ground and points the gun towards him. The attacker retreats.
He then lowers the weapon and raises one hand in the air, appearing to show police he was not one of the shooters.
Nearby on the bridge, another gunman continues firing. It's unclear who or what he is aiming at.
At a news conference late on Sunday, New South Wales Premier Chris Minns paid tribute to the bravery of Mr Ahmed, who was unnamed at the time.
"That man is a genuine hero, and I've got no doubt there are many, many people alive tonight as a result of his bravery."
Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said: "We have seen Australians today run towards danger in order to help others.
"These Australians are heroes, and their bravery has saved lives."
The attack targeting the Jewish community at a Hanukkah event in Australia is "sickening", Sir Keir Starmer has said.
At least 11 people were killed in the shooting at Bondi Beach on Sunday and a further 29 taken to hospital, according to police.
In a statement on X, the UK prime minister said: "The United Kingdom will always stand with Australia and the Jewish community." He added that the government was working with Community Security Trust, a Jewish security organisation, on the policing of Hanukkah events in the UK.
The Metropolitan Police said it was increasing its "police presence, carrying out additional community patrols and engaging with the Jewish community to understand what more we can do".
"It is an awful reality that Jewish communities across the world continue to face a higher level of threat," the force said in a statement.
"At a time when London's Jewish communities are coming together to begin the celebration of Hanukkah, we know this attack will be the cause of not just terrible upset but also significant heightened concern about safety."
In October, two people were killed in an attack at a synagogue in Manchester on Yom Kippur, the holiest day in the Jewish religious calendar.
On Sunday, the UK's Jewish Leadership Council (JLC) called on the police and government to protect events celebrating Hanukkah which begins this evening and lasts for eight days.
Hanukkah, also known as Chanukah, is a festival of light usually observed in December.
"We are devastated and angered that in Sydney, Jews appear to have been targeted once again for being Jewish," the JLC said in a statement.
"We know that such hatred also exists in this country, as we are still reeling from the attack on a synagogue in Manchester on Yom Kippur.
"As we prepare to celebrate Chanukah over the next eight nights, we call on government and law enforcement to work with our community to protect Jewish life in the UK and ensure that events this week can go ahead safely. We must not let hatred extinguish the festival of light."
A historic former railway bridge has been cordoned off by police after a section of it collapsed into the River Spey in Moray.
The Spey Viaduct, an iron girder structure near Garmouth, was built in 1886 and while no longer used for trains, was popular with cyclists and walkers.
Images on social media showed one of its supporting stone piers was leaning at an angle and part of the metalwork had twisted and fallen into the river.
Local SNP MSP Richard Lochhead said people in the area would be devastated and questioned whether the structure has been adequately maintained.
He said: "The local community will be heartbroken by the collapse of the much-loved Spey viaduct, which is not only an iconic structure but also incredibly popular with walkers, cyclists, and tourists.
"I'm now in touch with Moray Council seeking answers around when and by whom the structure was last checked, and what happens next with regards to the future of the bridge."
Roddy Robertson
One of the supporting stone piers could be seen at an angle in the river
The bridge spans 350ft (107m) over the River Spey, regarded as the fastest flowing river in Scotland
The railway line closed in the 1960s but the bridge, also known as the Garmouth Viaduct, was later paved.
The Speyside Way, a long-distance trail which traces the River Spey from the Moray Firth to the Cairngorms National Park, passes the east end of the bridge.
It is also part of the National Cycle Network.
Moray Council, which manages the trail, said the bridge would remain closed until further notice.
Roddy Robertson
The bridge has been cordoned off and Moray Council says it is closed until further notice
A council statement said: "Our engineers are aware and will assess the situation before further detail can be provided.
"Members of the public and media are asked to keep their distance from the rest of the bridge structure.
"Do not pass the police cordon in place and do not climb on any part of the bridge - thank you for your co-operation."
Local councillor Shona Morrison said she was "incredibly saddened by the news".
"The viaduct holds such a special place in my family's heart, it is devastating to see the collapse of such a well-loved and iconic landmark."
Nick Woltemade's own goal was enough to give Sunderland a memorable win over their rivals in the first Premier League Tyne-Wear derby since 2016 - and the hosts celebrated at full-time by recreating Newcastle's snap shot.
When asked who suggested the idea, Black Cats manager Regis le Bris smiled and simply said: "Always unpredictable, creative, adaptive."
Defender Dan Ballard, who scored an own goal in that 2024 FA Cup tie, was the only Sunderland player to start in both games.
He revealed how he desperately wanted to avenge the loss, telling Sky Sports: "You cannot describe [the feeling]. It was so painful [losing to Newcastle] for the players and for the fans so we felt we had let them down so we're delighted with this win.
"It prepared us more for today. We came in with more quality in this team, real leaders, we stuck in there, fought really hard and I thought we deserved the win."
Image source, Getty Images
Image caption,
Sunderland recreated this picture from Newcastle's 2024 FA Cup victory over the Black Cats
Seventh-placed Sunderland are enjoying a superb return to the top flight following promotion via the play-offs last season.
The Black Cats have 26 points in 16 games, their most at this stage of a Premier League campaign since 2000-01 (also 26), when they went on to finish seventh.
They are yet to lose in the league at the Stadium Light, which had an electric atmosphere for most of Sunday afternoon.
"Derbies, you have to win, it does not matter how," said captain Granit Xhaka to Sky Sports.
"This team deserves much more - and more respect as where we are in the league is amazing and we're working really hard."
Sunderland are also unbeaten in their last 10 league games against Newcastle (seven wins and three draws), their longest such run against the Magpies.
Newcastle's last league win over Sunderland was back in August 2011.
Le Bris told Sky Sports he was "proud and happy" with the result.
"It was a derby and we were expected [to win] by our fans," he added. "This win is well deserved, we were mature and the lads were incredible.
"It's good for the region, the club, the fans. We knew before it was a special game, but we have to reset quickly as we have another tough challenge in Brighton in one week so let's go again."
Image source, Getty Images
Image caption,
The Sunderland scoreboard at Stadium of Light did not display Newcastle's name
Jimmy Lai, the publisher of a popular tabloid, has spent years fighting the landmark national security case brought over his support of the city’s now vanquished pro-democracy movement.
Watch: Eyewitness captures moment man tackles and disarms Bondi shooter
Twelve people have died - including one gunman - following a shooting at Australia's Bondi Beach which targeted the Jewish community on the first day of Hanukkah.
According to police, at least 12 others have been injured and two officers were shot during the event, which has since been declared a terror attack by officials. The surviving gunman is in a critical condition.
More than 1,000 people were attending an event on the beach celebrating Hanukkah.
Chris Minns, the premier of New South Wales, said: "Our heart bleeds for Australia's Jewish community tonight.
"I can only imagine the pain that they're feeling right now to see their loved ones killed as they celebrate this ancient holiday".
Mass shootings in Australia are very rare, and the attack at Bondi is the deadliest incident in Australia since the Port Arthur massacre in 1996.
Bondi Beach is located in eastern Sydney in the state of New South Wales, on Australia's east coast.
It is one of Australia's most popular beaches, attracting millions of visitors each year. The area is a significant attraction for tourists.
What happened?
New South Wales (NSW) police responded to reports of gunfire at around 18:47 local time (07:47 GMT), with video showing hundreds of people fleeing from the coastline.
In their initial statement posted on X, NSW Police urged people at the scene to take shelter and other members of the public to avoid the area.
Around the same time, local media began reporting people "on the ground" in the vicinity of Campbell Parade.
A video verified by the BBC appears to shows two gunmen firing from a small bridge which crosses from the car park on Campbell Parade towards the beach itself.
An event to mark the first day of the Jewish celebration Hanukkah was taking place on Bondi Beach, very close to the bridge where the men were firing from. More than 1,000 were in attendance.
Premier Minns also paid tribute to a man filmed wrestling a gun from one of the attackers.
"That man is a genuine hero, and I've got no doubt there are many, many people alive tonight as a result of his bravery," Minns said at a press conference.
In the video, the man is seen sneaking up on the attacker, before grabbing him in a bear hug.
The now-disarmed man then retreats back towards the bridge, where the other attacker is still firing from.
As the video continues, another man appears to be injured and flees the scene, as a policeman arrives behind the attackers and opens fire at them.
A separate video, also verified, shows several policemen on the same bridge. One appears to be administering CPR to a motionless man as someone shouts "he's dead, he's dead".
How many people were killed and injured?
Getty Images
The attack targeted a Hanukkah celebration on the beach, police say
Apart from police confirming one gunman as dead, details on who has been killed and injured are sparse.
Twelve people including one of the armed men have been confirmed dead by police. Another gunman is said to be in a critical condition.
Officials say 29 other people were taken to hospital, and two officers were also shot during the incident.
One eyewitness, Barry, was attending the Hanukkah event on Bondi when with his children when he heard gunshots.
He told the BBC he saw two men on a bridge shooting towards the crowd.
He said there were bodies on the ground. He and his children were able to escape with a friend in a car, he added.
What is the latest?
Getty Images
Police have urged for calm as they carry out their investigation
Police have declared Saturday's shooting a terror attack.
An exclusion zone has been set up around the scene as police use specialist equipment to check improvised explosive devices (IEDs) found in a car linked to the dead gunman, and police are still urging the public to avoid the area."
"No stone will be left unturned" in the investigation, New South Wales Police Commissioner Mal Lanyon said.
He said police would not release any information about the gunmen at this time, and urged for calm while police carry out their duties, adding that this was "not a time for retribution".
Police said they cannot confirm if there was a third gunman involved or if there was anyone else involved in the attack, but enquires are ongoing.
During a televised address, Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese called the Bondi Beach shooting "an act of evil antisemitism, terrorism that has struck the heart of our nation".
"We have seen Australians today run towards dangers in order to help others. These Australians are heroes and their bravery has saved lives", he added.
Police and fire officers are investigating the cause of the blaze
A 25-year-old woman has been found dead after a house fire which has left a man, aged in his 60s, critically ill.
The blaze was reported at about 23:00 GMT on Saturday at an address in Northlands Road in Totton, Hampshire.
The roof and an upstairs dormer window of the property were severely damaged by fire.
An investigation has been launched by police and fire officers.
In a statement, Hampshire and Isle of Wight Constabulary said: "Sadly, despite the very best efforts of the emergency services, a 25-year-old woman was pronounced deceased at the scene. Her next of kin have been notified.
"A man in his 60s, who was also inside the property at the time, has been taken to hospital and is in a life-threatening condition.
"We would ask that people respect the family's privacy at this unimaginably difficult time and refrain from any speculation."
Police said officers would remain at the scene for the rest of Sunday.
Students from Ghana at UK universities say they are in danger of being deported after being stranded by their own government without promised scholarships or tuition fee payments.
The group representing more than 100 doctoral students has petitioned Downing Street and Keir Starmer asking for help to persuade the Ghanaian government to pay the backlog of tuition fees and living allowances running into millions of pounds.
Prince Komla Bansah, the president of the group of students, said some have already been deported by the Home Office after their universities withdraw their registrations for non-payment; while others have been evicted from their accommodation or forced to borrow money to survive.
Bansah said: “For most of these students, I don’t know how they survive. Some of them may be working part-time but it’s very hard to do that while studying for a PhD. From what I can gather from our meetings with the students, a lot of them are in debt and getting loans from back home.”
The petition sent to Downing Street says the funding crisis “is so severe that some colleagues are now facing court cases over unpaid rent. To survive, some have had to depend on food banks because they have no money to feed themselves.”
The students affected are at institutions spread across Britain, including University College London, Robert Gordon University in Aberdeen and the universities of Nottingham, Bradford, Warwick, Lincoln and Liverpool.
Ghanaian authorities said that after President John Mahama’s new administration was sworn in last January, it found inherited debts to about 110 institutions in the UK worth an estimated £32m.
Alex Kwaku Asafo-Agyei, the registrar of the Ghana scholarship secretariat in Accra, said an audit of all scholarships given out by the last administration was continuing while a pause had been placed on new scholarships to the UK.
After his appointment in April, Asafo-Agyei said he went on a “fact-finding mission” to the UK and drew up instalment plans with some of the institutions. But he said some of the universities had since rescinded the agreements.
Asafo-Agyei said Ghana had made “significant payments to our partner institutions in the UK and we have agreed to amicably resolve these issues so that our students are not at a loss”. He added that he was “not at liberty to make such disclosures without express approval from above”.
Asafo-Agyei declined to answer how much of the debt has been paid so far.
About 30 of the Ghanian PhD students said the scholarship secretariat had failed to pay their tuition fees since 2024, with some barred from officially graduating, submitting work or accessing their university’s facilities.
Others have missed support payments for more than three years, while Bansah said the government had also failed to renew its letters of support for scholarship holders already studying in the UK.
Bansah said: “We all agree that the new government only came into power in January but the reality is that the government was already aware of the situation and it still hasn’t made the payments.
“Meanwhile, there is evidence that they have still awarded foreign scholarships, so why are they still awarding scholarships when they know there is still a major problem with the UK?”
Earlier this year, more than 180 Ghanaian students at the University of Memphis in the US complained about missing payments from the secretariat.
Students from other countries have also struggled with the same problems. In 2020, Nigerian students protested outside their high commission in London after some students lost course places. More recently, hundreds of South African students in Russia faced eviction from campus after delays in receiving government scholarships.
The killing of three Americans during what was said to be a counterterrorism operation in central Syria served as a reminder that U.S. troops are still operating in the country.
Ukraine’s president is meeting with U.S. negotiators on the latest plans to try end the war with Russia. He said he would give up hopes of joining NATO, at least for now, if he got strong security guarantees.
As of 1 p.m. Sunday, about 2.7 inches of snow had fallen in Central Park. In a typical winter, the park records nearly 30 inches, according to the National Weather Service.
据本台法语部报道，近一千六百万智利人被呼吁在12月14日星期日，参加总统选举的第二轮投票。尽管在11月16日的第一轮投票中领先，但民意调查显示，共产主义候选人珍妮特·哈拉（Jeannette Jara） 预计将输给极右翼候选人 何塞·安东尼奥·卡斯特（José Antonio Kast）。卡斯特得到了右翼联盟的支持，其竞选言论集中在秩序和安全问题上。
本台法语部报道首先提问：谁将接替左翼总统加夫列尔·博里奇（Gabriel Boric）在智利的职位？在这个高度两极分化的第二轮总统选举中，共产主义候选人珍妮特·哈拉（Jeannette Jara）——她继承了现任执政联盟的遗产——将面对极右翼候选人何塞·安东尼奥·卡斯特（ José Antonio Kast）。尽管哈拉在11月16日的第一轮中领先，但由于右翼联合起来支持她的对手，她被认为将落败。卡斯特的竞选活动集中在安全问题上，而这正是智利人最关心的问题。
首先，这位研究员——她也是圣地亚哥安德烈斯·贝洛大学（Andrés Bello University）的教授和拉丁美洲政治危机研究米莱尼奥中心的主任——对本台法语部指出：“卡斯特的受欢迎程度并非源于大多数智利人变成了皮诺切特主义者，而是因为他体现了长期的秩序与安全。而且，他已经放弃了对皮诺切特政权的明确辩护，就像他以前一些在道德上极度保守的立场一样。”
The shooting at Bondi beach targeted a Jewish Hanukkah event where many families were present
The first day of Hanukkah was a sweltering one in Sydney - a perfect afternoon to spend at Australia's most iconic beach.
More than 1,000 people were enjoying a festival marking the occasion at a grassy stretch in Bondi: kids careened around in facepaint, crowds snaked between food trucks, and many enjoyed live entertainment as they soaked up the last rays of sunshine.
Then, just before 7pm local time, shots rang out.
From a small footbridge - just metres from a children's playground - gunmen fired upon the fenced-in crowds. A car full of improvised bombs was parked nearby, though they never went off.
One attendee, who identified himself only as Barry, described watching people around him get shot as hundreds of beach-goers began screaming and running through the park to get away from the attack.
One video showed a man - dubbed a "genuine hero" by state officials - leaping out from behind a parked car to wrestle a gun from one of the attackers and push him away.
"It was simply an unbelievable scene… in today's day and age, that families and kids on Bondi could be completely mowed down for being Jewish," Barry said.
Getty
More than 1,000 people had gathered at the Hanukkah event.
At least 11 people have died and more than two dozen are injured, including a child. One gunman was also killed by police, another is in hospital in a critical condition, and police say they're investigating whether a third person helped stage the attack.
This is an unfamiliar, and devastating, shock for Australia - the deadliest shooting in this country since the Port Arthur massacre in 1996.
That attack, which killed 35 people, was a turning point, famously prompting the government to introduce some of the world's strictest gun control measures.
We've only had a handful of mass shootings since then, most of them horrific acts of domestic violence - not public attacks like today.
Swiftly declared a terrorist attack by police, it comes amid a rise in antisemitic attacks in Australia since the 7 October Hamas attack on Israel and Israel's subsequent offensive on Gaza.
Getty
An injured woman is treated by emergency workers at Bondi beach
Getty Images
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese called it an "act of evil antisemitism" and a "vile act of violence and hate".
But he's been accused by some - including Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu - of failing to address the upward trend of antisemitism here.
"The Australian government, which received countless warning signs, must come to its senses!" Israel's Foreign Minister Gideon Sa'ar wrote on X.
Alex Ryvchin, co-CEO of the Executive Council of Australian Jewry, told Sky News Sunday night that the "worst fears" of the Jewish community had been realised.
"It's been bubbling under the surface for a long time, and now it's actually happened."
In a statement, the Australia Jewish Association's Robert Gregory said many Jews would tonight be pondering whether they have a future in Australia.
"To be confronted with this horrific act of antisemitic violence during the Jewish festival of light and hope is shattering. In moments like this, we hold each other close," the Jewish Council of Australia said in a statement.
Getty
Bondi beach is one of the world's most famous beaches
There's a lot police can't - or won't - say yet. But they have declared this was a terrorist attack.
Who the gunmen are - how many of them even - and their motive is still unclear. They said one of the attackers was known to police, but wasn't on their radar for anything like this.
Officials wouldn't answer any questions about those who died either, out of respect for families who are still being notified.
"It's too early to give that information," was the most frequent refrain uttered at a press conference late on Sunday night.
But where NSW Police Commissioner Mal Lanyon couldn't offer answers, he tried instead to offer reassurance. Police are throwing everything at this investigation, he said.
He urged the community to remain calm, and avoid spreading misinformation online - including speculating on the victims and perpetrators of the attack.
"I want to make sure that there is no retribution," Commissioner Lanyon said.
Local politicians have also asked people not to share graphic footage from the attack on social media.
In the aftermath of the shooting, sirens were ringing through the city and the area surrounding Bondi swarmed with police cars, helicopters circling above.
There we found Fin Green, who was on FaceTime with his family in the UK when he saw the shooting unfolding outside his window. Unsure what was happening, he hid in his wardrobe for an hour and a half, until he felt it was safe to go out.
Danny Clayton, a broadcast journalist who was at the beach and witnessed the events from the Bondi Pavilion, said some people crashed their cars as they attempted to flee.
Many others in the area had similar stories. Restaurant worker William Doliente Petty said he was serving someone when he heard the gunshots. "The whole shop just stood up and we ran into the back exit."
Australia prides itself on being a merry, safe country and Bondi Beach has long been a symbol of that. But that image has been shattered and residents are in disbelief.
Sunday's attack also came less than two years after another nearby tragedy. In April last year, a deadly mass stabbing attack took place at nearby Bondi Junction. Shocked, many then uttered the same words we've heard over and over today too: "This sort of thing just doesn't happen here".
Additional reporting by Katy Watson and Tabby Wilson.
The attack targeting the Jewish community at a Hanukkah event in Australia is "sickening", Sir Keir Starmer has said.
At least 11 people were killed in the shooting at Bondi Beach on Sunday and a further 29 taken to hospital, according to police.
In a statement on X, the UK prime minister said: "The United Kingdom will always stand with Australia and the Jewish community." He added that the government was working with Community Security Trust, a Jewish security organisation, on the policing of Hanukkah events in the UK.
The Metropolitan Police said it was increasing its "police presence, carrying out additional community patrols and engaging with the Jewish community to understand what more we can do".
"It is an awful reality that Jewish communities across the world continue to face a higher level of threat," the force said in a statement.
"At a time when London's Jewish communities are coming together to begin the celebration of Hanukkah, we know this attack will be the cause of not just terrible upset but also significant heightened concern about safety."
In October, two people were killed in an attack at a synagogue in Manchester on Yom Kippur, the holiest day in the Jewish religious calendar.
On Sunday, the UK's Jewish Leadership Council (JLC) called on the police and government to protect events celebrating Hanukkah which begins this evening and lasts for eight days.
Hanukkah, also known as Chanukah, is a festival of light usually observed in December.
"We are devastated and angered that in Sydney, Jews appear to have been targeted once again for being Jewish," the JLC said in a statement.
"We know that such hatred also exists in this country, as we are still reeling from the attack on a synagogue in Manchester on Yom Kippur.
"As we prepare to celebrate Chanukah over the next eight nights, we call on government and law enforcement to work with our community to protect Jewish life in the UK and ensure that events this week can go ahead safely. We must not let hatred extinguish the festival of light."
Dan Houser was one of the masterminds behind revolutionary video game series Grand Theft Auto.
Now, after leaving Rockstar Games and launching his own company, he's released a debut novel about a very different type of game.
A Better Paradise is a dystopian vision of the near future in which an AI-led computer game goes rogue.
Set in a polarised world, it finds Mark Tyburn attempting to create a virtual haven for people to find sanctuary and reconnect within themselves against an all-consuming social media hellscape.
But it all goes wrong when it ends up unleashing a mysterious, sentient AI bot named NigelDave into society - "a hyper-intelligence built by humans" - flaws included.
Readers get to see his thought processes as he struggles with "infinite knowledge and zero wisdom".
"What would an incredibly precocious child, who remembers everything he ever thought - because computers don't forget things - feel like when he started talking?" Houser says.
Getty Images
Written before ChatGPT
It feels a bit like A Better Paradise predicted the future.
First released as a podcast, the book comes as AI's continued boom means the sector's big seven companies are now collectively worth more than China's economy.
But Houser says he began writing the book "a good year" before OpenAI's ChatGPT went live to the masses in 2022, complete with a logo eerily similar to his fictional creation.
Instead, it was humanity's technological dependency during Covid - at a scale he'd underestimated - that inspired his thinking.
In his novel - which sometimes feels monologue-heavy - Houser envisions a hyper-digital, alienating world where people retreat from deepening political problems into a spiral of social media and generative AI.
Enter CEO of Tyburn Industria, Mark, who dreams of building the Ark, an immersive gaming experience users can enter in order to reconnect with themselves. It generates a world and mission tailored to each player's innermost wants and needs.
But during testing, the Ark becomes a Pandora's box of addiction. Some players find joy; others encounter terror. One even reconnects with his dead sister.
Meanwhile, a rogue AI bot named NigelDave slips into the real world, controlling minds and engineering realities no one can control.
Mined for advertising, people are left wondering if their thoughts are genuine. Everything is tracked, and nothing is secure. As climate emergencies intensify, society falls to pockets of civil war.
The only way to escape is to "drift"- which means hiding from a thousand algorithms by living off-grid, constantly moving and suppressing maddening paranoia that your thoughts are not your own.
Mirroring our world
To the reader, NigelDave feels like a nightmare ChatGPT gone wrong.
The AI tool recently reached 800 million weekly active users, according to boss Sam Altman, and Houser believes some people are becoming dependent on the technology's affirming "human veneer".
Microsoft's head of AI Mustafa Suleyman has warned of a rise in AI psychosis - a non-clinical term describing incidents where people increasingly rely on chatbots like Claude, Grok and ChatGPT and become convinced that something imaginary has become real.
In response to the increased scrutiny, ChatGPT creator OpenAI recently tightened its welfare protocols, with updates designed to ensure its chatbot responds "safely and empathetically to potential signs of delusion or mania".
Bloomberg via Getty Images
Mustafa Suleyman, chief executive officer of of Microsoft AI
The dizzying algorithm-fuelled society in which NigelDave is unleashed mirrors ours too.
Parents worry about exposing their children to false information or harmful content. Last year national police chiefs described the "quite terrifying" misogynistic radicalisation of boys and young men. And in 2014 Facebook admitted manipulating the news feeds of nearly 700,000 users without their consent to manage the emotions they were exposed to.
"As a parent, you always worry about anything that you expose your kids to that is going to either give them false information or simply bombard them with too much information," Houser says.
But is it bold for a video game creator to be warning of these dangers - given the long history of video games themselves being accused of making young people violent?
Houser insists there's a difference.
"We always had the data about game violence, and it was very clear: as people played more video games, youth violence went down.
"Whatever people were claiming, we knew the opposite was true."
Getty Images
Psychology professor and game violence researcher Pete Etchells says numerous studies have shown "no meaningful effect of playing violent games on aggression".
AI models and social media are another matter - a "new paradigm" in altering behaviour that gaming never threatened, according to Matt Navarra, social media consultant and author of the Geekout Newsletter.
He says dismissing concerns as a GTA-style moral panic "understates what is changing".
"We're talking about external systems that can potentially shape people's beliefs or manipulate attention, personalised experiences, nudge behaviour or even influence identity and emotional states."
Rockstar freedom
Could Houser have pushed forward with A Better Paradise at Rockstar? "I don't know if I would have had the bandwidth to think about it," he tells me.
He's previously described the fatigue of managing vast open-world sandbox games like Red Dead Redemption and GTA as playing a role in his departure.
The goal with his book was to create "something truly different in this era of crazy media saturation".
Rockstar Games
So where next? He's already writing the second instalment of the series, and plans are under way to develop a video game, for which he promises the visuals are ground-breaking.
A key message, he says, is to not let your device - or AI - "tell you what to think". Otherwise, Houser argues, "you're giving up control to your phone".
His biggest fear, as creator of worlds, is losing imagination because of the endless torrent of algorithms. Sometimes after scrolling for hours, he realises: "I've not had an idea all day".
"If you go offline for a bit - sometimes I make myself go for a walk with no phone, you start to have ideas.
"A human is better thinking than not," he says. "Thinking is a privilege."
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