Daily Briefing | Bondi Beach attack: The big picture

Also read: Overall, a stretch of 426 km passes through Gujarat, some of which became operational in August. Turns out, this partially open stretch has became safe route to smuggle liquor into Gujarat, a dry state.

On that note, let’s get to the rest of the edition👇

🚨 Big Story

One of the suspected gunmen, Naveed Akram, 24, in the Bondi Beach terror attack in Australia, has been charged with 59 offences, including 15 charges of murder, after he woke up from a coma in a Sydney hospital. Naveed’s father — Sajid — the second suspected shooter in the case, was killed during the incident.

Sajid hails from Hyderabad, India, and left the country in 1998, according to police officials. But he came back to visit. Investigators told The Indian Express that Sajid had brought his European-origin wife to Hyderabad in 2001 for a nikah ceremony, and returned a few years later to introduce his son to his family. Read Nikhila Henry’s report.

The Australian Prime Minister has said that ISIS likely inspired the targeted antisemitic attack. Australian officials probing the shooting have also found that the father-son duo travelled to the Philippines weeks before the incident, where they underwent “military-style training”. For years, the southern Philippines has grappled with militants and terror groups. Rishika Singh brings you a brief history.

This, however, isn’t Australia’s first brush with Islamic State terrorism. In recent years, the government had felt that support for the IS had declined in the country, but the Bondi Beach incident has revived that challenge.

⚡Only in Express

Ousted Bangladesh prime minister Sheikh Hasina’s party, the Awami League, will not be allowed to participate in the upcoming elections in February. In an email correspondence with The Indian Express, Hasina’s son and advisor, Sajeeb Wazed Joy, asserted that despite the ban, the Awami League will “always be a major factor in Bangladesh. He also warned that the security situation in Bangladesh posed a threat to India. Read the full interview.

📰 From the Front Page

Choking: All government and private institutes in the national capital must mandatorily ask 50% of the employees to work from home. This comes as part of a series of steps the Delhi government has taken in the wake of the alarming decline in air quality. A ban on the entry of private vehicles, registered outside of Delhi and not compliant with the cleanest emission norms, also goes into effect today.

🎧 For more on the Delhi pollution crisis, tune in to today’s ‘3 Things’ podcast episode.

Case files: Was Assamese star Zubeen Garg’s death an accident or murder? A chargesheet filed by the Assam Police details how the accused made Zubeen go into the water in an “intoxicated” state against medical advice, and did not do enough to save him, The Indian Express has learnt. Read our exclusive report.

📌 Must Read

Objection: The Devendra Fadnavis government has ambitious plans for the 12-year Kumbh, or the Simhastha, which begins on October 31, 2026, and will be celebrated throughout the year in Nashik and Trimbakeshwar. It has even earmarked a budget of Rs 25,055 crore, with the Centre’s help, for infrastructural development and logistical arrangements for the mela. The project, however, has run into a hurdle. The authorities want to clear a nearly 54-acre land with 1,800 trees to make way for the main shelter house for sadhus during the mela. But since last month, protesters, from actors to students, have turned up at the site daily to show their opposition.

The long game: When columnist Neerja Chowdhury and a fellow journalist met a senior BJP minister last week, they jokingly asked if they would have to Google the next party president when the latter hinted at a surprise pick. On Sunday, the party announced Bihar MLA Nitin Nabin as its national working president. Indeed, not many know Nabin outside of Bihar. But his elevation signals several shifts in the party, one that allows lesser-known leaders to come to the fore. Chowdhury analyses the “karyakartaisation” of the BJP.

⏳ And Finally…

As India looks to achieve sporting glory, it has earned a rather dubious distinction. For the third year running, it was found to be the country with the highest number of dope cheats in the world. According to the World Anti-Doping Agency’s annual report for 2024, published on Tuesday, as many as 260 Indian athletes tested positive for prohibited performance-enhancing drugs last year. To put it in context, no other country in the world had dope cheats in triple digits.

That’s all for today, folks! Until tomorrow,
Sonal Gupta

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