TRANSCRIPT
- The man who fatally stabbed six people in a horror attack at a Sydney shopping centre identified.
- US officials say they have downed Iran-launched attack drones flying towards Israel.
- Tiger Woods suffers an unwanted milestone at Augusta National.
Police have identified 40-year-old Queensland man Joel Cauchi as the attacker in a fatal stabbing spree at Westfield's Bondi Junction Shopping Centre on Saturday afternoon.
Six people have died - five women and one man - after succumbing to their injuries sustained at Westfield shopping centre.
The man, who police say moved from Queensland to New South Wales last month, was known to Queensland Police and is believed to be from the Brisbane area.
He was shot dead by a lone police officer, Inspector Amy Scott, who prime minister Anthony Albanese has hailed a hero.
New South Wales Police Assistant Commissioner Anthony Cooke says they have ruled out terrorism as a motive.
"No information we have received, no evidence we have recovered, no intelligence we have gathered, that would suggest that this was driven by any particular motivation, ideology or otherwise. We know that the offender in the matter suffers from mental health. We are continuing to work through the profiling of the offender but very clearly to us at this stage it would appear to us that this is related to the mental health of the individual."
The Assistant Commissioner also said that two of the victims of the attack have no family in Australia and authorities are trying to contact their families.
A nine month old baby is in a serious but stable condition in hospital.
Her 38-year-old mother has reportedly died of her injuries at St Vincent's hospital.
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Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has described the events that unfolded in Sydney's eastern suburbs as beyond comprehension.
He says support needs to be provided for those who witnessed the incident.
"For people who were forced to be locked in shops, people who ran from danger, people who confronted that danger, many of them should ensure that if they need that assistance to talk those issues through to deal with this dreadful experience, then they should reach out and that support will be there."
The Prime Minister says he received words of support from global leaders overnight, who condemned the violent act.
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United States officials say the have shot down Iranian drone aircraft headed towards Israel.
An anonymous defence official said the effort to intercept the attack was continuing.
Booms and air raid sirens sounded in Jerusalem early Sunday after Iran launched dozens of drones and ballistic missiles toward Israel in an unprecedented revenge mission.
Iran had been threatening to attack Israel since an airstrike last week killed two Iranian generals in Syria.
Israel has not commented on that attack, but Iran accused it of being behind it.
This attack marked the first time Iran has launched a direct military assault on Israel, despite decades of enmity dating back to the country's 1979 Islamic Revolution.
The Israeli army's spokesman, Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari, said it would take several hours for the aircraft to arrive and that the country was prepared.
"We are closely monitoring Iranian killer drones that are en-route to Israel, sent by Iran. This is a severe and dangerous escalation. Our defensive and offensive capabilities are at the highest level or readiness ahead of this large scale attack from Iran."
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Australia has condemned Iran's actions and urged its citizens in the Middle East to take shelter after Tehran launched dozens of drones and missiles at Israel in a retaliatory attack.
On April 1, Israel bombed an Iranian embassy compound in Damascus, killing a top general and six other military officers.
Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei called the strike tantamount to an attack on Iranian soil and said Israel "must be punished, and it shall be", and on Sunday, Iran launched its weapons.
Treasurer Jim Chalmers told ABC's Insiders the development was incredibly concerning as violence threatens to spill into the broader region.
"We condemn the actions of the Iranians, as I said, Iran can have a positive role to play in the region or a negative role in the region. This will inflame tensions further. Our big concern here is that we don't want conflict in the Middle East to be broader and deeper than it already is. We've already seen enough lives lost. And so that's why these developments yesterday and overnight are incredibly concerning to all of us."
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In golf,
A day after setting a tournament record in the Masters, Tiger Woods has suffered an unwanted milestone at Augusta National.
Woods insisted he could challenge for a 16th major title after playing 23 holes on Friday to make a record 24th consecutive cut, but slumped to a third round of 10-over-par 82 instead.
That left the 15-time major winner 11 over in total.
The 48-year-old's previous worst Masters scores both came in 2022, when he shot 78 in the third and fourth rounds.
Woods followed a bogey on the fourth with a superb birdie on the difficult par-4 fifth, but then bogeyed the sixth and ran up a double bogey on the seventh.
The 15-time major winner also made a double bogey on the par-five eighth and dropped another shot on the ninth in a front nine of 42.
