A FAULTY alarm clock may have saved the life of Dawood Ibrahim, 15, who slept in and was not at school during the deadly Taliban school massacre.
The Express Tribune reports that Dawood had been at a wedding the night before with his family. His brother, Sufyan, told the newspaper that they were not sure if Dawood had failed to set his alarm or if it just never went off.
“Dawood is lucky. He missed school today because we attended a wedding last night, and he overslept. It was fate,†his brother said.
Dawood, who is reportedly a member of Pakistan’s under-16 judo squad, is in the ninth grade. Sufyan said all his brother’s classmates had been killed and that he spent Tuesday afternoon attending the funerals of his friends.
Sufyan said his brother had frozen up and would not speak about what happened.
“Dawood isn’t talking to anyone, he isn’t talking at all,†his brother said. “He is into judo
and is a tough child but he is showing no emotion at all right now. He just attends funerals
IN NATIONAL NEWS
— JOHN O’Brien was the first hostage to escape, but his five hours of terror won’t soon be forgotten. This is what happened inside the Lindt cafe.
— TORI Johnson’s family and partner were overwhelmed with the public support during an emotional visit to the Martin Place floral tribute this afternoon.
— IRAN says it requested the extradition of Man Haron Monis — the gunman behind the Sydney hostage siege — 14 years ago but Australia refused. This is how he terrorised a city.
— MARTIN Place gunman Man Monis was acquitted of threatening to shoot his wife as a magistrate threw out her application for an AVO. Less than a year later she was dead, stabbed and burned alive allegedly by Monis’ new girlfriend at his urging.
— MORE of us are getting cancer, but we’re more likely to survive the big C with nearly one million Australians diagnosed in the last 28 years still alive.
IN WORLD NEWS
— THE Taliban have released a dire warning to the people of Pakistan as they attempt to mourn a tragic massacre.
— THE US and Cuba will discuss normalising diplomatic relations after a surprise prisoner swap that freed jailed American Alan Gross.
— ISRAEL is reeling after the European Parliament adopted a resolution recognising Palestinian statehood as an EU court took Hamas off its terror blacklist.
— THE Dalai Lama says he may be the last Tibetan spiritual leader but he would prefer that than have a ‘stupid’ person take his place.
— BRITISH troops mistreated Iraqi detainees, but did not commit atrocities like murder or torture, an inquiry has found.
ELSEWHERE
— HUNDREDS of couples have performed a tango on St Peter’s square in a birthday treat for Pope Francis, a proud Argentinian who was reportedly a mean dancer himself in his youth.
— AN IMPATIENT passenger eager to get off the taxiing plane before other travellers opened the door himself — triggering the emergency slide.
— A TOURIST was killed and 11 others injured when two hot air balloons blew off course and crashed over the Turkish mountains of Cappadocia.
— HE MAY be the United States president now, but Barack Obama tells how he was mistaken for the valet.
IN SHOWBIZ NEWS
— JAMIE Dornan admits he visited a risque sex dungeon as research for his role as an S&M billionaire in Fifty Shades of Grey.
— 7TH Heaven dad Stephen Collins has penned a 1000-word essay admitting to sexually abusing three girls.
— SHARON Osbourne found herself in a sticky situation when her front tooth fell out live on air. And it wasn’t pretty.
IN SPORTS NEWS
— NEW Zealand and Pakistan have paid an emotional tribute to the Taliban massacre victims as their one-day match went ahead despite criticism.
— WALLABY veteran Adam Ashley-Cooper has ended the chase for his signature, joining French team Bordeaux after next year’s Rugby union World Cup.
— COLOMBIAN World Cup star James Rodriguez has overcome a calf injury and is back in full training for Real Madrid ahead of the Club World Cup final.