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The Sydney stabbings attacker who killed six people has been named by police.

New South Wales Police (NSW) said on Sunday that Joel Cauchi, 40, was responsible for the attack on Saturday afternoon at a busy Sydney shopping centre before he was fatally shot by a police officer.

Cauchi, who police said suffered from unspecified mental health issues, launched the knife attack at the Westfield Shopping Centre in Bondi Junction.

Investigators are not treating the incident as terrorism-related and have spoken to Cauchi’s family.

NSW assistant police commissioner Anthony Cooke told reporters at a press conference: “We are continuing to work through the profiling of the offender but very clearly to us at this stage it would appear that this is related to the mental health of the individual involved.

“There is still, to this point… no information we have received, no evidence we have recovered, no intelligence that we have gathered that would suggest that this was driven by any particular motivation – ideology or otherwise.”

A woman pays her respect and lays flowers at the scene of Saturday's mass stabbing. Pic: Reuters
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A woman pays her respect and lays flowers at the scene of Saturday’s mass stabbing. Pic: Reuters

Ash Good
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Ashlee Good

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Dying mum throws baby to brothers

Cauchi’s family released a statement today through Queensland Police.

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They said: “We are absolutely devastated by the traumatic events that occurred in Sydney yesterday.

“Our thoughts and prayers are with the families and friends of the victims and those still undergoing treatment at this time.

“Joel’s actions were truly horrific, and we are still trying to comprehend what has happened.

“He has battled with mental health issues since he was a teenager.”

Six killed in stabbings

New mum Ashlee Good has been named as one of the six people killed in the stabbings.

The 38-year-old was reported to have passed her baby to two men after she was injured.

“I was holding the baby. It looked pretty bad,” one of the men told 9News.

His brother added: “He helped with holding the baby and trying to compress the baby and same with the mother.

Pic: Reuters
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Pic: Reuters

Police do not believe the attack was terror-related. Pic: Reuters
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Police do not believe the attack was terror-related. Pic: Reuters

“We just kept yelling out to get some clothes, get some shirts and just help us to compress and stop the baby from bleeding.”

The other brother added: “There was a lot of blood on the floor. I hope the baby is alright.”

A statement from Ms Good’s family, as reported by ABC, said: “Today we are reeling from the terrible loss of Ashlee, a beautiful mother, daughter, sister, partner, friend, all-round outstanding human, and so much more.

“We appreciate the well wishes and thoughts of members of the Australian public who have expressed an outpouring of love for Ashlee and our baby girl.

Emergency service workers are seen at the scene at Bondi Junction. Pic: Reuters
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Pic: Reuters

Six people were killed in the attack. Pic: Reuters
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Pic: Reuters

“The two men who held and cared for our baby when Ashlee could not – words cannot express our gratitude. We are struggling to come to terms with what has occurred.”

The family added that after hours of surgery the baby was doing well.

The daughter of an Australian businessman has also been named as one of the victims.

Dawn Singleton, 25, was also killed according to widespread media reports in Australia.

Her dad, John Singleton, 82, is a well-known Australian entrepreneur.

According to Ms Singleton’s LinkedIn profile she studied a degree in communications at the University of Technology Sydney.

A third victim was named as Faraz Tahir, by the Australian Pakistani National Association.

They described him as “courageous” and said he was a Pakistani national who had moved to Australia for work.

“Let us stand together in solidarity, offering support and prayers to those grieving and affected by this heartbreaking loss,” their statement said.

New South Wales police commissioner Karen Webb said in a press conference that a man in his 30s killed in the attack was a security guard at the shopping centre.

Six people, five women and one man, aged between 20 and 55, were killed in the attack and 12 others remain in hospital including Ms Good’s child.

Video footage appears to show people fleeing from a knife-wielding Cauchi as he walked through the shopping centre, lunging at people.

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He was only stopped when Inspector Amy Scott shot Cauchi dead at the scene.

Speaking to reporters on Sunday, Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said the lone officer was “certainly a hero” whose actions had saved many more lives.

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Authorities said the suspect is known to them

He added: “The wonderful inspector who ran into danger by herself and removed the threat that was there to others, without thinking about the risks to herself.

“We also see the footage of ordinary Australians putting themselves in harm’s way in order to help their fellow citizens.

“That bravery was quite extraordinary that we saw yesterday.”

Inspector Scott was shown in local media footage administering CPR on the man after he was shot.

“When I met Amy last night… we talked about her going straight into police mode, everything she has been taught during her career and how instinctive it was,” NSW Police Minister Yasmin Catley said.

She added: “When I said to her ‘thank you for your courage’ she said ‘it was not just me, the bystanders around me were so helpful’. (She was) so humble, it’s just typical of a NSW police officer.”

The shopping centre remains closed on Sunday and will be an active crime scene over the coming days, police said.

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Climate-vulnerable islands storm out of COP29 negotiation room in row over funding

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Climate-vulnerable islands storm out of COP29 negotiation room in row over funding

Representatives of dozens of climate vulnerable islands and African nations have stormed out of high-stakes negotiations over a climate funding goal.

Patience is wearing thin and negotiations have boiled over at the COP29 climate talks in Azerbaijan, which were due to finish yesterday but are now well into overtime.

After two weeks of talks, the more than 190 countries gathered in the capital Baku are still trying to agree a new financial settlement to channel money to poorer countries to both curb and adapt to climate change.

Talks have now run well into overtime at COP29, but a deal now feels much more precarious.

The least developed countries like Mozambique and low-lying island nations like Samoa say their calls for a portion of the fund to be allocated to them have been ignored.

Samoa’s minister of natural resources and environment Toeolesulusulu Cedric Schuster is one of the representatives who walked out.

“We are here to negotiate but we have walked out… at the moment we don’t feel we are being heard in there,” he said on behalf of more than 40 small island and developing states, whose shorelines are being lost to rising sea levels.

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Shortly after he made a veiled threat of leaving COP29 altogether, saying: “We want nothing more than to continue to engage, but the process must be INCLUSIVE.

“If this cannot be the case, it becomes very difficult for us to continue our involvement here at COP29.”

Evans Njewa, who chairs a group of more than 40 least developed countries, said the current deal is “unacceptable for us. We need to speak to other developing countries and decide what to do.”

The last official draft on Friday pledged $250bn a year annually by 2035.

This is more than double the previous goal of $100bn set 15 years ago, but nowhere near the annual $1.3trn that experts say is needed.

Sky News understands some developed countries like the UK were this morning willing to bump up the goal to $300bn.

Developing countries are angry not just about the finance negotiations, but also on how to make progress on a pledge from last year to “transition away from fossil fuels”.

A group of oil and producing countries, spearheaded by Saudi Arabia, have tried to dilute that language, while the UK and island state are among those that have fought to keep it in.

Mr Schuster said all things being negotiated contain a “deplorable lack of substance”.

He added: “We need to see progress and follow up on the transition away from fossil fuels that we agreed last year. We have been asked to forget all about that at this COP, as though we are not in a critical decade and as though the 1.5C limit is not in peril.”

“We need to be shown the regard which our dire circumstances necessitate.”

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At least 11 killed in Israeli strikes on central Beirut, Lebanese authorities say

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At least 11 killed in Israeli strikes on central Beirut, Lebanese authorities say

At least 11 people have been killed and 63 injured in an Israeli strike on central Beirut, Lebanese authorities have said.

Lebanon‘s health ministry said the death toll could rise as emergency workers dug through the rubble looking for survivors. DNA tests are being used to identify the victims, the ministry added.

State-run National News Agency (NNA) said the attack “completely destroyed” an eight-storey residential building in the Basta neighbourhood early on Saturday.

Footage broadcast by Lebanon’s Al Jadeed station also showed at least one destroyed building and several others badly damaged around it.

The central Basta neighbourhood in Beirut, where four people were killed in an Israeli airstrike
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The central Basta neighbourhood in Beirut, where four people were killed in an Israeli airstrike

Map of Lebanon and Israel

The Israeli military did not warn residents to evacuate before the attack – the fourth targeting the centre this week.

At least four bombs were dropped in the attack, security sources told Reuters news agency.

The blasts happened at about 4am (2am UK time).

A seperate drone strike in the southern port cuty of Tyre this morning killed one person and injured another, according to the NNA.

The blasts came after a day of bombardment of Beirut’s southern suburbs and Tyre. The Israeli military had issued evacuation notices prior to those strikes.

Pic: AP
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Pic: AP

Israel has killed several Hezbollah leaders in air strikes on the capital’s southern suburbs.

Heavy fighting between Israel and Hezbollah is ongoing in southern Lebanon, as Israeli forces push deeper into the country since launching a major offensive in September.

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US envoy Amos Hochstein was in the region this week to try to end more than 13 months of fighting between Israel and Hezbollah, ignited last October by the war in Gaza.

Mr Hochstein indicated progress had been made after meetings in Beirut on Tuesday and Wednesday, before going to meet Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and defence minister Israel Katz.

According to the Lebanese health ministry, Israel has killed more than 3,500 people in Lebanon and wounded more than 15,000.

It has displaced about 1.2 million people – a quarter of Lebanon’s population – while Israel says about 90 soldiers and nearly 50 civilians have been killed in northern Israel.

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Vladimir Putin vows to increase production of Russia’s ‘unstoppable’ missile – as NATO and Ukraine to hold talks

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Vladimir Putin vows to increase production of Russia's 'unstoppable' missile - as NATO and Ukraine to hold talks

President Vladimir Putin has said Russia will ramp up the production of a new, hypersonic ballistic missile.

In a nationally-televised speech, Mr Putin said the intermediate-range Oreshnik missile was used in an attack on Ukrainian city Dnipro in retaliation for Ukraine’s use of US and British missiles capable of striking deeper into Russian territory.

Referring to the Oreshnik, the Russian president said: “No one in the world has such weapons.

“Sooner or later other leading countries will also get them. We are aware that they are under development.”

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Putin’s warning to the West

Russia war latest: Long-awaited US air defences arrive in Ukraine

He added: “We have this system now. And this is important.”

Detailing the missile’s alleged capabilities, Mr Putin claimed it is so powerful that using several fitted with conventional warheads in one attack could be as devastating as a strike with nuclear weapons.

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General Sergei Karakayev, head of Russia’s strategic missile forces, said the Oreshnik could reach targets across Europe and be fitted with either nuclear or conventional warheads – while Mr Putin alleged Western air defence systems will not be able to stop the missiles.

Mr Putin said of the Oreshnik: “There is no countermeasure to such a missile, no means of intercepting it, in the world today. And I will emphasise once again that we will continue testing this newest system. It is necessary to establish serial production.”

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Testing the Oreshnik will happen “in combat, depending on the situation and the character of security threats created for Russia“, the president added, stating there is “a stockpile of such systems ready for use”.

NATO and Ukraine are expected to hold emergency talks on Tuesday.

Meanwhile Ukraine’s parliament cancelled a session as security was tightened following the strike on Dnipro, a central city with a population of around one million. No fatalities were reported.

EU leaders condemn Russia’s ‘heinous attacks’

Numerous EU leaders have addressed Russia’s escalation of the conflict with Poland’s Prime Minister Donald Tusk saying the war is “entering a decisive phase [and] taking on very dramatic dimensions”.

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Russia’s new missile – what does it mean?

Speaking in Kyiv, Czech foreign minister Jan Lipavsky called Moscow’s strike an “escalatory step and an attempt of the Russian dictator to scare the population of Ukraine and to scare the population of Europe”.

At a news conference, Mr Lipavsky gave his full support for delivering the additional air defence systems needed to protect Ukrainian civilians from the “heinous attacks”.

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