SYDNEY (AP) — In the first full day of opening since a mass shooting driven by antisemitism killed 15 people at Australia's famed Bondi Beach on Sunday, thousands of people returned to the waterfront Friday to commemorate the losses and try to heal through a sense of community.
In a hastily organized event, people gathered shoulder to shoulder on Bondi’s pristine crescent of sand and then formed an enormous circle in the ocean in an expression of solidarity among Sydney’s residents and support for the Jewish community.
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FILE - Surfers and swimmers walk along the promenade at Bondi Beach in Sydney, Friday, Dec. 19, 2025. (AP Photo/Steve Markham, File)
FILE - Surfers and swimmers leave the water after a tribute following last Sunday's shooting at Bondi Beach, in Sydney, Friday, Dec. 19, 2025. (AP Photo/Steve Markham,File)
FILE - Surfers and swimmers leave the water after a tribute following last Sunday's shooting at Bondi Beach, in Sydney, Friday, Dec. 19, 2025. (AP Photo/Steve Markham,File)
Surfers and swimmers head out to the ocean as a tribute following Sunday's shooting at Bondi Beach, in Sydney, Friday, Dec. 19, 2025. (AP Photo/Steve Markham)
FILE - Surfers and swimmers head out to the ocean as a tribute following Sunday's shooting at Bondi Beach, in Sydney, Friday, Dec. 19, 2025. (AP Photo/Steve Markham,File)
Police reopened parts of the beach Thursday, sparking a return to one of the country's beloved landmarks five days after two shooters attacked a Hanukkah celebration at a park near the shore, killing 15 people.
With questions emerging about whether Australian Jews were sufficiently protected from the threat of attack, and fears of a backlash against Muslims, armed police officers stood guard outside synagogues and mosques in Sydney on Friday.
Strangers embraced and wept during the morning commemoration. Some people stood in prayer near fluttering remains of crime scene tape and the shoes abandoned as people fled the horror of the shooting. Those who joined the circle in the ocean observed a minute’s silence for the dead, the wounded and those who rushed into danger to save them.
Life also began returning to normal on the sand and boardwalk, where people jogged, walked dogs and sipped coffee in the hum of everyday life at Bondi Beach.
In a country where mass shootings are rare and most people pride themselves on an ability to get along, Australians have been stricken and bewildered by the attack. Many looked to cope as they always have, by rising at dawn, donning swimsuits, grabbing surfboards and making their way to the beach.
Some of the beachgoers expressed a fervent wish that Australia’s relaxed and friendly way of life would continue undisturbed.
“I’ve grown up here my whole life,” 22-year-old swimmer Jack Hobbs said. “Today was a reminder of the amazing people where we live and what this community’s built on.”
In the days after the attack, Australians have celebrated those who helped in the aftermath or threw themselves into harm's way to save lives. In a land repeatedly tested by wildfires, floods and other natural disasters, resilience is forged through pulling together in tough times.
Many have embraced the stories of heroism that emerged after the shooting.
Ahmed al Ahmed, an Australian Muslim store owner who was born in Syria, tackled and disarmed one of the two gunmen before he was shot and wounded by the other.
“It was a nice day, everyone enjoying celebrating with their kids,” al Ahmed said from his hospital bed in a video posted to social media Friday. “They deserve to enjoy and it's their right.”
His message was “to stand together, all human beings,” he said.
Australia is “the best country in the world,” al Ahmed said. He raised a fist and, in a faint voice, pronounced a phrase engendering national pride among Australians everywhere: “Aussie, Aussie, Aussie.”
Al Ahmed's remarks reflected a national mood of solidarity, which included a menorah beamed onto the sails of Sydney's famous opera house and the city's residents queueing for hours to donate blood. In a national record, nearly 35,000 donations were made and more than 100,000 appointments booked since Monday, according to Lifeblood, a branch of the Australian Red Cross.
Through their grief, the families of three Jewish people who died trying to stop the slaughter, Reuven Morrison and Boris and Sofia Gurman, also celebrated their courage.
But a fraught debate has grown in Australia about how to quell the hateful ideologies that apparently drove Sunday's shooting, while Jewish leaders spoke of their grief and rage that the horror had been able to unfold.
“There have been various leaders present here from various parts of the spectrum, trying to kind of groom political capital,” Andrew Stephen said, standing at the beach close to what has become a makeshift memorial of bouquets.
“But these community gatherings have been really good,” said Stephen, 53, who has lived at Bondi for more than 20 years. “People are wanting to connect.”
On Saturday, Bondi Beach's lifeguards will return six days after members of their service became first responders by running toward the gunfire barefoot and clutching first aid kits.
As the familiar sight of their red and yellow flags are planted in the sand to direct beachgoers where to swim, another marker of life at Australia's most famous beach will return.
Smith reported from Newcastle, Australia.
FILE - Surfers and swimmers walk along the promenade at Bondi Beach in Sydney, Friday, Dec. 19, 2025. (AP Photo/Steve Markham, File)
FILE - Surfers and swimmers leave the water after a tribute following last Sunday's shooting at Bondi Beach, in Sydney, Friday, Dec. 19, 2025. (AP Photo/Steve Markham,File)
FILE - Surfers and swimmers leave the water after a tribute following last Sunday's shooting at Bondi Beach, in Sydney, Friday, Dec. 19, 2025. (AP Photo/Steve Markham,File)
Surfers and swimmers head out to the ocean as a tribute following Sunday's shooting at Bondi Beach, in Sydney, Friday, Dec. 19, 2025. (AP Photo/Steve Markham)
FILE - Surfers and swimmers head out to the ocean as a tribute following Sunday's shooting at Bondi Beach, in Sydney, Friday, Dec. 19, 2025. (AP Photo/Steve Markham,File)
MOSCOW (AP) — Russian President Vladimir Putin emphasized Friday that Moscow’s troops were advancing across the battlefield in Ukraine and voiced confidence that the Kremlin would achieve its goals militarily if Kyiv fails to agree to Russia's conditions in peace talks.
Speaking at his tightly orchestrated annual news conference, Putin declared that Russian forces have “fully seized strategic initiative” and would make more gains by the year's end.
In the early days of the conflict in 2022, Ukraine's forces managed to thwart an attempt by Russia’s larger, better-equipped army, to capture the capital of Kyiv. But the fighting soon settled into grinding battles, and Moscow's troops have made slow but steady progress over the years. Putin frequently touts this progress — even though it is not the lightning advance many expected.
“Our troops are advancing all across the line of contact, faster in some areas or slower in some others, but the enemy is retreating in all sectors,” Putin said at the live news conference, which is combined with a nationwide call-in show that offers Russians across the country the opportunity to ask questions of their leader.
Putin, who has ruled the country for 25 years, has used the event to cement his power and air his views on domestic and global affairs.
This year, observers are watching particularly for Putin’s remarks on Ukraine and the peace plan put forward by U.S. President Donald Trump. Despite an extensive diplomatic push, Washington's efforts have run into sharply conflicting demands from Moscow and Kyiv.
While the event often focuses heavily on domestic questions, Ukraine has dominated so far this year. Since the event is highly choreographed, that could reflect the Kremlin’s desire to assuage the public after nearly four years of fighting.
Putin reaffirmed that Moscow was ready for a peaceful settlement that would address the “root causes” of the conflict, a reference to the Kremlin’s tough conditions for a deal.
Earlier this week, Putin warned that Moscow would seek to extend its gains in Ukraine if Kyiv and its Western allies reject the Kremlin’s demands.
The Russian leader wants all the areas in four key regions captured by his forces, as well as the Crimean Peninsula, illegally annexed in 2014, to be recognized as Russian territory. He has also insisted that Ukraine withdraw from some areas in eastern Ukraine that Moscow’s forces haven’t captured yet. Kyiv has publicly rejected all these demands.
The Kremlin has also insisted that Ukraine abandon its bid to join the Western NATO military alliance and warned that it wouldn't accept the deployment of any troops from NATO members and would view them as “legitimate target.”
Putin also has repeatedly said that Ukraine must limit the size of its army and give official status to the Russian language — demands he has made from the onset of the conflict.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has expressed readiness to drop Ukraine’s bid to join NATO if the U.S. and other Western nations give Kyiv security guarantees similar to those offered to alliance members. But at the same time, he has emphasized that Ukraine’s preference remains NATO membership as the best security guarantee.
″The United States don’t see us in NATO, for now," Zelenskyy said this week. “Politicians change.”
As it faces grinding Russian advances across the front line and relentless attacks on its energy facilities, Ukraine is in on the verge of bankruptcy — and it desperately needs more cash from its Western allies.
On Friday, European Union leaders agreed to provide a massive interest-free loan, but they failed to bridge differences with Belgium that would have allowed them to use frozen Russian assets to raise the funds.
The leaders worked deep into night to reassure Belgium, where most of the frozen assets are held, that they would protect it from any retaliation from Moscow if it backed the plan, but as the talks bogged down the leaders eventually opted to borrow the money on capital markets.
Putin commented that using the Russian assets to help Kyiv would have amounted to “robbery,” adding that the move would have spooked investors, “dealing not only an image blow but undermining confidence in the eurozone.”
Putin told the audience that the flow of volunteer soldiers has remained strong, topping 400,000 this year. It was not possible to verify that claim since recruitment effort isn't open to independent scrutiny.
But the government offers relatively high pay and extensive benefits to volunteer soldiers that have helped swell their ranks. The Kremlin says that it exclusively relies on volunteers to fight in Ukraine, but some media reports and rights groups have said that military officers often coerce conscripts into signing military contracts.
Asked by a soldier’s widow about the slowness in paying out a pension, Putin apologized and vowed that the issue would be quickly solved — an exchange typical of the annual event, which the Russian leader often uses to show his command of a wide array of subjects and his ability to solve problems.
Russian President Vladimir Putin, background center, speaks during his annual news conference and call-in show at Gostinny Dvor, in Moscow, on Friday, Dec. 19, 2025. (AP Photo/Pavel Bednyakov)
Russian President Vladimir Putin gestures while speaking during his annual news conference and call-in show at Gostinny Dvor, in Moscow, on Friday, Dec. 19, 2025. (AP Photo/Pavel Bednyakov)
Russian President Vladimir Putin gestures while speaking during his annual news conference and call-in show at Gostinny Dvor, in Moscow, on Friday, Dec. 19, 2025. (AP Photo/Pavel Bednyakov)
Russian President Vladimir Putin speaks during his annual news conference and call-in show at Gostinny Dvor, in Moscow, on Friday, Dec. 19, 2025. (AP Photo/Pavel Bednyakov)
Russian President Vladimir Putin gestures while speaking during his annual news conference and call-in show at Gostinny Dvor, in Moscow, on Friday, Dec. 19, 2025. (AP Photo/Pavel Bednyakov)
Russian President Vladimir Putin arrives to attend his annual news conference and call-in show at Gostinny Dvor, in Moscow, on Friday, Dec. 19, 2025. (AP Photo/Pavel Bednyakov)
Russian President Vladimir Putin, center, speaks during his annual news conference and call-in show at Gostinny Dvor, in Moscow, on Friday, Dec. 19, 2025. (AP Photo/Pavel Bednyakov)
Russian President Vladimir Putin gestures while speaking during his annual news conference and call-in show at Gostinny Dvor, in Moscow, on Friday, Dec. 19, 2025. (AP Photo/Pavel Bednyakov)
Russian President Vladimir Putin gestures as he speaks at the annual board meeting of the country's Defense Ministry in Moscow, Wednesday, Dec. 17, 2025. (Kristina Kormilitsyna, Sputnik, Kremlin Pool Photo via AP)
