Sydney

Australian police say a knife attack in Sydney that wounded a bishop and a priest during a church service as worshippers watched online and in person, and sparked a riot was an act of terrorism.

Police have identified the assailant who stabbed six people to death at a busy Sydney shopping center before he was fatally shot by a police officer.

Eight people, including a 9-month-old, were injured in the attack in Sydney's eastern suburbs before a police inspector shot the suspect after he turned and raised a knife, police said.

Authorities have forecast the most destructive wildfire season during the approaching Southern Hemisphere summer in Australia's populous southeast since the fires of 2019-20 that killed 33 people.

Days of torrential rain have caused dams to overflow and waterways to break their banks, bringing a fourth flood emergency in 16 months to parts of the city of 5 million people.

Parts of Sydney's 5 million people are facing a fourth flooding emergency in less than a year and a half after torrential rain caused dams to overflow and waterways to break their banks.

Thousands of residents in Sydney suburbs were told to evacuate their homes on Sunday after heavy rains caused floodwaters to rise and rivers to overflow.

The defendant faces a potential sentence of life in prison on sentencing scheduled for Tuesday.

The incident, in which someone saw a man in a wetsuit get dragged underwater, is the city's first fatal shark attack since 1963. Beaches are closed while lifeguards patrol for further shark sightings.

About 300 unarmed soldiers are joining local police in the city of 6 million to enforce coronavirus restrictions as authorities try to quell a new outbreak linked to the delta variant.