Australian Jews fear for safety after beach shooting
Newshour
BBC
4.2 • 1.1K Ratings
🗓️ 16 December 2025
⏱️ 48 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Australian Jews are now fearing for their safety after the Bondi beach shooting in Sydney, a survivor has told the BBC.
One of the two men suspected of carrying out a mass shooting at Bondi Beach was originally from southern India but had "limited contact" with his family there, police sources have said. We'll look at what's emerging from the investigation and what the attack means for Australia's Jewish community.
Also in the programme: The scourge of forced marriages in Kazakhstan; Donald Trump files his multi-billion dollar law-suit against the BBC; and 250 years after her birth, we'll look at why Jane Austen still means so much around the world.
(Photo shows an Israeli flag among candles at Bondi Beach in Sydney, Australia on 16 December 2025. Credit: Hollie Adams/Reuters)
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | BBC Sounds, Music, radio, podcasts. |
| 0:09.2 | Hello and welcome to NewsHour. |
| 0:11.4 | It's coming to you live from the BBC World Service studios in central London. |
| 0:15.0 | I'm Tim Franks. |
| 0:16.5 | We learned two new things today about the father and son who unleashed such murderous terror on a Jewish celebration on Sunday, |
| 0:25.2 | the lighting of the Chanaka candles that was taking place on Bondi Beach in Australia. |
| 0:30.8 | One came from the police service of India. |
| 0:33.6 | They confirmed that the 50-year-old father, Sajid Akram, was indeed an Indian citizen. |
| 0:40.1 | The second and perhaps more significant lead was that before they shot dead 15 people, |
| 0:45.7 | the pair had travelled to the southern Philippines, site of a long-running Islamist insurgency. |
| 0:51.3 | We'll have more on that line of investigation in 30 minutes. First, |
| 0:55.5 | our Australia correspondent Katie Watson has just sent this report from Bondi Beach. |
| 1:02.2 | Two days on from the dreadful events here at Bondi, there's a raw reminder of the panic that |
| 1:09.7 | ensued when the gunman started shooting. |
| 1:13.0 | I'm on the promenade here on the beach. |
| 1:16.3 | Just in front of me, there are beanbags and a whole heap of belongings |
| 1:21.3 | that clearly were just left in panic. |
| 1:24.4 | Upturned chairs, cool boxes, picnic blankets. People here had been sitting by the |
| 1:31.0 | pavilion watching a film, open air cinema at sunset. But when the gunfire started, everyone |
| 1:38.4 | scattered, trying to find safety. But amid the horror, more tales of heroism have come to light. |
| 1:47.0 | Rufan Morrison was filmed throwing an object at gunman Sajid Akram, forcing a retreat. |
| 1:53.4 | Moments later, he was killed. His daughter, Sheena Gutnik, today spoke of her pride. |
... |
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