MELBOURNE: A Daesh sympathizer planned to buy a gun and kill as many revellers as possible on New Year’s Eve in Melbourne, police alleged Tuesday after foiling the plot.
Ali Ali, born in Australia to Somali parents, was arrested in a raid on a house in the Melbourne suburb of Werribee on Monday.
He appeared in court Tuesday charged with preparing to commit a terrorist attack and collecting documents to facilitate a terror attack. No bail was applied for.
Police claim the 20-year-old accessed a guide book online produced by Al-Qaeda on how to carry out terror acts and use firearms, but was arrested before he could purchase an automatic rifle.
“What we will be alleging is that he was intending to use a firearm to shoot and kill as many people as he could in the Federation Square area on New Year’s Eve,” said Victoria Police Deputy Commissioner Shane Patton.
“It is a tremendous concern to us that (during) the festive season, when people are out enjoying themselves, that there is a potential plot to commit a terrorist act. That is a huge issue for us but that is why we put the resources in.”
Federation Square is in the heart of the city, opposite a busy train station and St. Paul’s Cathedral. It is one of the most popular places to see-in the new year and would be packed on December 31.
The alleged plot comes a year after police prevented what they said was another attack in the same area on Christmas Day, arresting several men who planned to use explosives, knives and guns to target the location.
Patton said Ali, who lives with his parents, had been on their radar since the beginning of the year, part of a small community of extremists that police have been monitoring.
His behavior had gradually escalated over time, but police believe he was acting alone.
A person who knows Ali told the Melbourne Herald Sun: “He is a very quiet guy. This is an absolute shock.”
Justice Minister Michael Keenan said the fact that the Christmas — New Year period was again a target “reminds us of the depravity of terrorists.”
“They seek to strike fear in the community when Australians are enjoying time over the Christmas period with their families and friends,” he said, adding that there would be high-profile policing over the holiday period.
Australian officials have grown increasingly concerned over the threat of extremist attacks, raising the national terror alert level to “probable” in September 2014.
Since then, 74 people have been arrested in 347 counter-terror investigations.
Authorities say 14 attacks have now been prevented in the past few years, including a Daesh-directed attempt to bring down a plane using poisonous gas or a crude bomb disguised as a meat mincer.
Despite this, several attacks have taken place, including a cafe siege in Sydney in 2014 where two hostages were killed.
Police foil Australia New Year’s Eve ‘terror plot’
Police foil Australia New Year’s Eve ‘terror plot’
Global ‘Center for Space Futures’ announced at World Economic Forum
- The center aims to facilitate public-private discussions on space collaboration, incorporating best practices from the WEF and its communities into the global space sector
RIYADH: The World Economic Forum and the Saudi Space Agency signed an agreement to establish the Center for Space Futures, a Centre for the Fourth Industrial Revolution.
Hosted by the SSA, the center is expected to open later this year and will be the first in the C4IR network to focus exclusively on space. It will operate alongside the existing national center, C4IR Saudi Arabia, to advance Saudi Vision 2030.
Jeremy Jurgens, the WEF managing director, told Arab News: “Historically, many people assume that space is the exclusive domain of a few countries that have a fully integrated space technology stack. What we’ve seen over the last few years is that space is something that should be available to the whole globe.
“By launching the Center for Space Futures here in Saudi Arabia, we’re actually demonstrating that space is something for all humanity, and that we can actually unlock those benefits and use them anywhere and everywhere.”
The center aims to facilitate public-private discussions on space collaboration, incorporating best practices from the WEF and its communities into the global space sector, and generating contributions to accelerate space technologies.
Dr. Mohammed Al-Tamimi, CEO of the SSA, told Arab News: “This center is part of a global platform that will engage everyone to make sure that we’ll be activating public and private discussions, especially in this era.” As the world experiences a shift from a government-centered space sector to a private-centric sector, Al-Tamimi said that the center offers “great potential to collaborate and engage more with the private sector and government initiatives.”
The officials said they are committed to harnessing the vast opportunities of the space industry and creating a sustainable economy globally through best practices, governance, policies, innovation and valuable technologies to encourage further cross-sector engagement.
Mishaal Ashemimry, managing director of the Center for Space Futures, told Arab News: “Space generally has seen no boundaries when it comes to development, and you need the input of international countries with their expertise, their backgrounds, their achievements in space, to work together, whether it’s towards a mission or achieving governance policies … Space cannot move forward without international collaboration.”
The center will join 19 others that make up the C4IR network, a platform for multistakeholder collaboration, bringing together public and private sectors to maximize technological benefits to society while minimizing the risks.
The WEF launched the first C4IR in San Francisco in 2017, followed soon after by others in Japan and India. The network now includes the Centre for Trustworthy Technology, in Austin, the US Centre for Advanced Manufacturing, in Detroit, Germany’s Global Government Technology Centre, Norway’s HUB Ocean, and others in Rwanda, Saudi Arabia, Serbia, South Africa, India, Turkiye and the UAE.
Saudi crown prince calls for global collaboration to build resilient global economy
- Crown prince affirmed the Kingdom’s commitment to acting as a stabilizing force in the region
- He said cohesion and cooperation with regional and global partners is the key to achieving security and prosperity
RIYADH: Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman called for global collaboration to help build a more resilient and integrated global economy on Monday.
Speaking during a special dialogue session at the World Economic Forum’s Special Meeting in Riyadh, the crown prince discussed the current geopolitical and economic challenges facing the world, Saudi Press Agency reported.
He affirmed the Kingdom’s commitment to acting as a stabilizing force in the region and said that cohesion and cooperation with regional and global partners is the key to achieving security and prosperity.
Saudi Arabia has created diverse opportunities for regional and global investors by building on decades of robust growth fueled by its energy exports, the crown prince said.
He also highlighted the Kingdom’s achievements under Saudi Vision 2030, noting that the Kingdom continues to create transformative investment opportunities in emerging sectors across its evolving economy.
At the special session attended by government officials, business leaders, and academics, the crown prince discussed the comprehensive set of reforms implemented in the Kingdom over the course of the last eight years to enable the private sector to become an engine of growth. He said the growth of the Kingdom’s Public Investment Fund and its intent to become a trillion-dollar sovereign wealth fund was an example of this.
Discussing Saudi Arabia’s rapidly diversifying economy, the crown prince said non-oil economic activity in Saudi Arabia contributed 50 percent to the Kingdom’s gross domestic product in 2023, the highest level ever.
He emphasized the importance of investing in research and development, noting that such investment has propelled the growth of national giants including ACWA Power, Ceer Motors, and Alat.
This creates a foundation for these companies to embed emerging technologies into their business models and further the growth of the sector in the Kingdom, the crown prince said. He added that this has contributed to the rapid growth of the Kingdom’s digital economy, at a rate three times faster than the global growth rate.
He also highlighted how Saudi Vision 2030 has created a flourishing civil society and brought about vast improvements to quality of life and social mobility and inclusion, with women’s participation in the workforce having doubled since 2016.
Working with global partners, Saudi Arabia is building an economy of the future based on innovation, growth, and opportunity, Prince Mohammed said.He ended by saying Saudi Vision 2030 is a journey, not a destination, and that although the Kingdom has made significant strides, there is still much more to do.
The special meeting of the World Economic Forum in Riyadh ended on Monday evening.
Saudi Arabia likely to meet tourism targets ahead of 2030, says top official
RIYADH: Based on Saudi Arabia’s extraordinary achievements in the tourism sector, the Kingdom is likely to achieve its targets ahead of 2030, said a top tourism official.
During a panel at the Future Hospitality Summit held in Riyadh, Gloria Manzo, chief special adviser at the Ministry of Tourism, likened Saudi Arabia’s approach toward the development of the sector to the private sector with clear goals with key performance indicators reviewed quarterly.
She added: “We have goals, we have quarterly meetings that review our KPIs quarterly. You better be on the plan and if not, you have to explain why, so most likely it will achieve those numbers, before 2030. Absolutely!.”
Manzo noted that increasing the target indicates that Saudi Arabia is progressing faster than expected, which reflects a positive momentum in achieving tourism goals.
She said for Saudi Arabia “the sky is the limit.” The development process in the Kingdom, she added, is supported by unprecedented levels of government investment.
“What the government is doing in this country, there’s no other example in the world. I have never seen something like this in my 30 years of career,” the official said.
She also highlighted challenges facing the tourism sector such as geopolitical issues and weather-related crises, which can disrupt operations.
The official identified the development of human resources for the sector as a challenge for which the government is taking several measures.
“We wish we could do that faster. The ministry is training Saudis abroad. We announced a (training) academy. We’re partnering with universities here. That is very important, but it will be wonderful if we can train them faster. The private sector is also helping us to train these Saudis,” she said.
Manzo also expressed optimism about more Saudi women joining the tourism industry.
The official said interestingly the Saudi government “moves faster than the private sector” unlike any other country in the world where the latter tends to act quicker. She said small and medium enterprises require more support to keep pace with the ongoing development in the sector.
“I would say the SMEs need more support, and of course, we wish we can support them so that they can accelerate in this transition,” Manzo added.
“We’re working with them. We have a plan and the ecosystem is very structured,” the tourism official said.
Suspected Houthi missiles hit commercial ship in Red Sea
- US military destroys new barrage of militia drones
- CENTCOM says actions taken to protect freedom of navigation and make international waters safer
AL-MUKALLA: Missiles thought to have been fired by Houthi forces in Yemen targeted a commercial ship in the Red Sea on Monday as the US military destroyed a new barrage of Houthi drones.
UK Maritime Trade Operations said that it received an alarm about an explosion in the proximity of a commercial ship 87 km northwest of Yemen’s western town of Al-Mokha, but that the ship and the crew were safe.
“Vessels are advised to transit with caution and report any suspicious activity to (us),” UKMTO said on X.
Ambrey, a UK maritime security service, identified the target ship as a Malta-flagged cargo vessel that was hit by three missiles while travelling from Djibouti to the Gulf.
The Houthis did not immediately claim responsibility for Monday’s strike, although they often only take credit several hours, sometimes even days, after an attack.
Since November, the Iran-backed Houthis have seized one commercial ship, sunk another, and launched hundreds of drones, ballistic missiles, and remotely operated and explosives-laden boats at commercial and navy vessels in the Gulf of Aden, the Red Sea, and the Bab Al-Mandab Strait.
The Yemeni militia claims that the assaults are aimed only against Israel-bound and Israel-linked ships to push Israel to allow humanitarian supplies into the Gaza Strip.
In response to the Houthi’s ship campaign, the US formed a coalition of marine forces to protect critical maritime channels off Yemen and began strikes on Houthi-controlled areas of Yemen.
The US Central Command said that its forces on Sunday intercepted five drones launched by the Houthis over the Red Sea that were aimed at the US, its allies, and international commercial and naval ships.
“These actions are taken to protect freedom of navigation and make international waters safer and more secure for US coalition and merchant vessels,” CENTCOM said on X on Monday morning.
At the same time, the Houthi-run Saba news agency reported that the group’s armed forces carried out more than 83 strikes on 103 ships affiliated with Israel and its allies, as well as shooting down three US military MQ-9 Reaper drones between November 19, 2023, and April 26, 2024.
In a 39-page report on campaign against shipping in the Red Sea, the Houthis claimed that their strikes killed two American marines, two Filipinos, and one Vietnamese sailor while injuring four marines from the US-led marine task force.
During the campaign, the Houthis captured one ship, set fire to four, sunk two others, and damaged scores more, according to the report.
Despite a recent escalation in the number of strikes, since late last month the Houthis have drastically curtailed missile and drone attacks on ships.
The decrease in assaults has caused US military generals and analysts to surmise that the Houthis may have run out of weaponry and that the US-led air campaign reduced their military capabilities.
Pakistan confers military award on Turkish land forces commander
- President Asif Ali Zardari conferred the award at a special investiture ceremony held in Islamabad
- General Selcuk Bayraktaroglu, who is currently visiting Pakistan, also met Army Chief Gen Asim Munir
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan on Sunday conferred a military award, Nishan-i-Imtiaz, on Commander of the Turkish Land Forces, General Selcuk Bayraktaroglu, during his visit to Islamabad, Pakistani state media reported.
Pakistan President Asif Ali Zardari bestowed the Turkish general with the award at a special investiture ceremony held at the Presidency in Islamabad, the state-run Radio Pakistan broadcaster reported.
“The award was conferred upon him in recognition of his illustrious services and contribution toward strengthening Pakistan-Turkiye defense relations,” the report read.
The investiture ceremony was attended by foreign diplomats and high-ranking military officials.
Separately, General Bayraktaroglu called on Pakistan’s army chief, General Asim Munir, and General Sahir Shamshad Mirza, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee, the Pakistani military said.
During his meeting with Gen Munir, matters of mutual interest and measures to further enhance bilateral defense cooperation were discussed, according to the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR), the Pakistani military’s media wing.
“Both sides expressed satisfaction over deep-rooted relations between the two countries, based on historic, cultural and religious affinity,” the ISPR said.
“COAS emphasized the need to further strengthen existing military to military cooperation between the two Armed Forces.”
During the meeting, the ISPR added, the visiting dignitary appreciated the role of Pakistan Army in ensuring peace and stability in the region.
