Multiple law enforcement sources confirmed to the publication that Naveed Akram, 24, and his father, Sajid, had traveled to the Southeast Asian nation in November. The Australian Federal Police is reportedly investigating their movements within that country and the reasons behind the trip, according to The Sydney Morning Herald.

Authorities are also scrutinizing the pair's potential ties to Islamic State terror ideology after a flag was located in their vehicle at Bondi Beach following the shooting, alongside improvised explosive devices, Nine News reported.

The Islamic State of East Asia (ISEA), a regional branch of the terror group, has been listed as a proscribed terrorist organization by the Australian government since 2017.

"While there are no known links between ISEA and Australia, there have previously been links between Australians and terrorist groups in the Philippines," a briefing document reads.

Security cameras recorded the moment the terrorists launched their plan to massacre Sydney's Jewish community on Sunday, The Sydney Morning Herald reported. This occurred while their family operated under the false belief that the pair was visiting Jervis Bay for the weekend.

In reality, the duo was concealed within a small, grey brick home in Campsie, a short-term rental property that offers nightly accommodation to travelers, according to The Sydney Morning Herald.

"He rings me up [on Sunday] and said, 'Mum, I just went for a swim. I went scuba diving. We're going … to eat now, and then this morning, and we're going to stay home now because it's very hot'," Naveed's mother, Verena, said on Monday morning as police swarmed the family residence at Bonnyrigg, Nine News reported.

Video evidence shows one of the gunmen instructing bystanders to clear the area before opening fire on crowds from the pedestrian bridge connecting Campbell Parade and Bondi Pavilion, The Sydney Morning Herald noted.

CCTV footage secured by The Sydney Morning Herald and Nine News captures Sajid and subsequently Naveed departing from 103 Brighton Avenue, Campsie, at approximately 5:15 p.m. on Sunday, shortly after the phone call.

The second individual, identified as Naveed dressed in black, appears to manipulate an object in the rear of the vehicle before taking the driver's seat of the silver hatchback, according to the report.

The car pulls out and begins its 40-minute journey to the east, The Sydney Morning Herald stated. Less than 90 minutes later, the first shots were discharged at Bondi Beach.

New footage reveals the father and son hours before they allegedly carried out the terrorist attack, Nine News reported. Naveed, an unemployed bricklayer, and Sajid, a fruiterer, fired into a crowd gathered to celebrate Hanukkah and a Bar Mitzva.

The rampage resulted in 15 fatalities and numerous injuries. Sajid was fatally shot by police at the scene, while Naveed was also shot and remains in critical condition in the hospital, The Sydney Morning Herald reported. Sources told the outlet that Naveed has awoken from his coma.

Police retrieved four weapons at the location and on Monday afternoon confiscated two additional firearms from the rented room in Campsie, Nine News noted. Officers entered and exited the home throughout the day, wearing ballistic vests until the evidence could be removed in large paper bags.

Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke said on Monday that Sajid "arrived in 1998 on a student visa, transferred in 2001 to a partner visa and after trips overseas has been on resident return visas, which occurred three times".

Akram's mother was unable to identify her son from a photo taken at the shooting scene but stated she did not believe he could be involved in violent or extremist acts, according to The Sydney Morning Herald.

"He doesn't have a firearm. He doesn't even go out. He doesn't mix around with friends. He doesn't drink, he doesn't smoke, he doesn't go to bad places … he goes to work, he comes home, he goes to exercise and that's it," she told this masthead.

"Anyone would wish to have a son like my son … he's a good boy."

Akram was searching for employment after being retrenched from his bricklaying job about two months prior, following his employer's insolvency, The Sydney Morning Herald reported.

Although he had many friends during high school at Cabramatta High School, he was not particularly social, Verena told the outlet. She noted he did not appear to spend significant time online, preferring fishing, scuba diving, swimming, and exercise.

Akram appeared to be tagged in a 2022 social media update indicating he had passed his Koran studies at Al-Murad Institute, which teaches Arabic and Koran studies in Heckenberg, western Sydney, according to The Sydney Morning Herald. The post has since been deleted. The man in the photograph, whom The Sydney Morning Herald chose not to identify, stated he had lost contact with Akram in early 2022.

"I am devastated by the images of the victims in Bondi," he said. The man indicated that he and his family had been forced to leave their home after receiving death threats, according to The Sydney Morning Herald.

The report concluded that Akram's mother is a stay-at-home parent caring for her elderly mother, while Akram lived at the property with his parents and siblings in a three-bedroom home bought in 2024.

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The disclosure follows ABC's documentation of extensive connections between 24-year-old Naveed Akram and Australia's pro-Islamic State network, including associations with extremist cleric Wisam Haddad and imprisoned youth recruiter Youssef Uweinat, according to ABC.

Legal counsel for Haddad stated he "vehemently denies any knowledge of or involvement in the shootings that took place at Bondi Beach," ABC reported. Authorities are examining the Akrams' links to international jihadist networks after establishing their early November arrival in Manila, case-briefed officials disclosed to ABC.

The duo subsequently journeyed to the southern Philippines for terrorist training, a senior counter-terrorism official confirmed anonymously to ABC. Late November marked their return to Australia – mere weeks before Sunday's beachfront slaughter, officials told ABC.

Since the early 1990s, the Philippines has functioned as a terrorist hub, hosting training facilities relocated from the Pakistan-Afghanistan border to southern Mindanao, ABC reported. Security sources have withheld specific location and movement details regarding the pair's time in the southern Philippines, according to ABC.

ASIO, the nation's intelligence service, investigated Naveed Akram in 2019 over his Sydney-based IS terrorist cell associations, ABC revealed Monday.

Ahmed, you are an Australian hero.

You put yourself at risk to save others, running towards danger on Bondi Beach and disarming a terrorist.

In the worst of times, we see the best of Australians. And that's exactly what we saw on Sunday night.

On behalf of every Australian, I… pic.twitter.com/mAoObU3TZD

— Anthony Albanese (@AlboMP) December 16, 2025

The then-18-year-old displayed "indications of intent" and concerning connections prompting ASIO's 2019 investigation, though additional scrutiny was deemed unwarranted then, a senior security source told ABC. Prime Minister Anthony Albanese informed the 7.30 program Monday evening that ASIO's six-month probe uncovered "no evidence" of radicalization in either father or son, ABC reported.

Neither man appeared on terrorism watchlists before the assault, and licensed gun owner Sajid Akram encountered no legal barriers to firearm possession, according to ABC.

Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke, questioned on Radio National today about whether the Philippines travel alerted national security agencies, provided no direct answer, ABC reported. Burke observed that following ASIO's 2019 inquiry, "there was a radical change in the risk profile of that individual," according to ABC.

Two Islamic State flags discovered in the Akrams' Bondi Beach vehicle led investigators to conclude the pair had pledged allegiance to the terrorist group, ABC disclosed Monday.

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The powerful storm positioned itself approximately 60 kilometers (37 miles) southeast of Hong Kong as of 10:00 a.m. Sunday, according to the city's meteorological observatory, which documented massive waves crashing against Hong Kong Island's eastern coastline.

Weather officials implemented the T10 hurricane alert – the territory's highest storm warning level – announcing that "winds with mean speeds of 118 kilometers per hour (73 mph) or more are expected" and represent a "considerable threat to Hong Kong," The Guardian reported.

"Under the influence of its eyewall, hurricane force winds are affecting the southern part of the territory," the observatory stated, urging residents to "beware of destructive winds."

Mainland China's Hainan and Guangdong provinces received high alert designations as the storm approached, state news agency Xinhua confirmed.

The weather system, which intensified to typhoon status during overnight hours, tracked toward Macau and the adjacent Chinese municipality of Zhuhai. Meteorologists projected the storm would reach landfall late Sunday before continuing westward toward Vietnam later in the week.

Hong Kong's airport authority revealed that approximately 500 flights faced cancellation due to weather conditions, while another 400 flights received rescheduling for later departure and arrival times on Sunday.

Government-operated temporary shelters accommodated hundreds of residents seeking safety from the storm. Medical officials treated one individual at a public hospital emergency room Sunday morning, while authorities documented more than a dozen fallen tree incidents across the territory.

Education officials suspended Sunday classes at all day schools and daycare facilities throughout Hong Kong.

Local railway systems provided restricted services while completely halting operations in exposed sections of the network.

The typhoon delivered heavy precipitation and flooding conditions to the Philippines, where the national disaster council reported two missing persons in connection with the storm system.

Hong Kong previously activated the T10 warning designation for Super Typhoon Saola in 2023, marking the last time officials employed the territory's highest storm alert level.

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Former Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte was arrested by the government Tuesday after it allegedly received an International Criminal Court warrant accusing him of crimes against humanity, CNN reported. The 79-year-old was taken into custody amid chaotic scenes at Manila's main airport after returning to the Philippines from Hong Kong.

Interpol's Manila office had received "the official copy of the arrest warrant from the ICC" on Tuesday morning. "Upon his arrival, the Prosecutor General filed an ICC notification for an arrest warrant against the former president for crimes against humanity," the Presidential Communications Office stated, adding that Duterte is currently in custody of authorities.

The ICC has investigated Duterte over his brutal anti-drugs crackdown during his time in office that killed more than 6,000 people based on police data, though independent monitors believe the number could be much higher, CNN reported. The bloodshed prompted the ICC investigation, a monthslong House of Representatives inquiry, and a separate Senate inquiry led by the cousin of the current President Ferdinand Bongbong Marcos Jr.

Duterte questioned the basis for his detention in a video posted online by his daughter. "What is the law and what is the crime that I committed?" he asked. The former president has repeatedly denied extrajudicial killings of alleged drug suspects, although he also openly admitted to ordering police to shoot suspects who resist arrest.

The Philippines withdrew from the ICC under Duterte's administration, but under the court's withdrawal mechanism, it retains jurisdiction over crimes committed during a state's membership period – in this case, between 2016 and 2019, when the Philippines' pullout became official.

His former spokesperson Harry Roque contested the legality of the detention. "The warrant of arrest has no basis because it was issued at a time when we are no longer a member of the ICC," Roque said in a livestream on Facebook. "What is happening right now is unlawful detention. We have not seen the warrant of arrest from the police or Interpol."

Presidential communications undersecretary Claire Castro told reporters on Monday that "Our law enforcers are ready to follow what law dictates, if the warrant of arrest needs to be served because of a request from Interpol," according to Reuters.

Duterte had apparently anticipated his arrest. "From my own news, I have a warrant from the ICC or something," he told supporters in Hong Kong on Sunday. "What did I do wrong? I did everything that I could in my time, so there is a little bit of quiet and peace for the lives of the Filipinos."

Rights groups praised the development. Duterte's detention "is a critical step for accountability in the Philippines," said Bryony Lau, deputy Asia director at Human Rights Watch. "His arrest could bring victims and their families closer to justice and sends the clear message that no one is above the law."

Before becoming president, Duterte established his reputation as mayor of Davao City over two decades, advocating a hardline approach against criminals. He claimed to have drastically reduced the city's previously high rates of violent crime, but his tenure was also marked by allegations of connections to extrajudicial killings by vigilante groups.

During his 2016 presidential campaign, he told a crowd to "forget the laws of human rights" and warned drug pushers that as president, he would kill them just as he claimed to have done as mayor. After taking office, he maintained this unfiltered rhetorical style.

Despite frail health and the looming threat of an ICC arrest warrant, Duterte registered in October to run for mayor of his southern home city of Davao. The move was widely interpreted as an attempt to strengthen his scandal-hit political dynasty amid a bitter falling out between his daughter, Vice President Sara Duterte, and President Marcos Jr.

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A powerful typhoon slammed into the southeastern Philippines Thursday and was blowing across island provinces where nearly 100,000 people have been evacuated from high-risk areas that could be devastated by flash floods, landslides and tidal surges, officials said.

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There were no immediate reports of casualties or major damage but military and coast guard rescue personnel were helping residents stranded by fast-rising waters. Disaster-response officials said about 10,000 villages lie in the projected path of the typhoon, which has a 400-kilometer (248-mile)-wide rain band and is one of the strongest to hit the country this year.

The Philippine coast guard said it has grounded all vessels, stranding nearly 4,000 passengers and workers in dozens of southern and central ports. Several mostly domestic flights have been canceled and schools and workplaces were shut in the most vulnerable areas.

Crowding in evacuation centers was complicating efforts to keep people safely distanced after authorities detected the country's first infections caused by the Omicron coronavirus variant. Vaccinations were also halted in provinces likely to experience stormy weather.

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It said the tugboat was carrying nearly 284,000 liters (75,000 gallons) of diesel. The report did not say what national flag the vessel was flying.

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Iran, which has some of the world's cheapest fuel due to heavy state subsidies, has been fighting rampant fuel smuggling overland to neighboring countries and by sea to Gulf Arab states. It has frequently seized boats that it says are being used for smuggling fuel in the Gulf.

The incidents come at a time of increased tensions between Iran and the West in the Gulf following the United States' exit from the 2015 nuclear deal with Tehran.

While Iranian media reports say that an estimated 10 million liters (around 2,600,000 gallons) of fuel are smuggled per day, Tehran has been promoting legal gasoline exports through its energy exchange.

Gasoline sales hit a record high of $72 million last week on the Iran Energy Exchange for exports to neighboring countries, according to state TV.

The stand-off between Iran and the United States triggered by Washington's withdrawal from the 2015 nuclear deal with Tehran in May last year has stirred fears of a Gulf war with global repercussions.

In July, Iran seized a British oil tanker near the Strait of Hormuz for alleged maritime violations, two weeks after British forces detained an Iranian tanker near Gibraltar accused of taking oil to Syria in violation of European Union sanctions.

The Iranian tanker was later released and was last spotted off the coast of Syria. This week, Iran freed seven of the 23 crew members of the British-flagged oil tanker.

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Should Philippine Airlines get an overflight permit, which would save on flight time and costs, it could launch direct service to Tel Aviv within six months, airline president Jaime Bautista said on Wednesday.

"The Civil Aeronautics Board wrote to Saudi authorities asking for overflight [rights]," Bautista told Reuters. "A letter was sent in October."

Last March, Saudi Arabia opened its airspace for the first time to a commercial flight to Israel for an Air India route between New Delhi and Tel Aviv.

Saudi Arabia does not recognize Israel and the move ended a 70-year-old ban, marking a diplomatic shift as Israel attempts to reach out to Gulf Arab states that share its concern over Iran's regional activities.

There is no indication any Israeli airline will be granted similar rights.

Israel's flag carrier El Al, which must take more circuitous paths to avoid Saudi Arabia, has asked the International Air Transport Association, an airline industry lobby group, to help it gain access to Saudi airspace.

Direct Philippines-Israel flights would be welcomed by the thousands of Filipinos employed as careworkers in Israel, and tourists heading in either direction. The number of tourists visiting Israel from the Philippines rose by 61% in 2017, and tourism in the other direction rose by 42% in 2016.

Philippines Transportation Undersecretary Antonio Tamayo told reporters last month that his country has landing rights as far as Israel is concerned.

"This is the result of the visit of the [Philippines] president to Israel [in September]," he said.

Failure to secure a permit from Saudi Arabia would add more than an hour to the flight time, he said.

Officials at Israel's Tourism and Transportation ministries were not immediately available for comment.

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