A brother and sister were among four adults who were killed when a river rapids ride malfunctioned at a popular theme park on Australia's east coast.

Australian police cordoned off a building today in a tense stand-off with a man claiming to have a bomb in his backpack and issuing demands from a lawyer’s office where he holed up with his teenage daughter, police said.

RACIAL tensions erupted yesterday into running battles between police and thousands of white youths, many chanting racial slurs against ethnic Middle Easterners, at a beachside suburb in southern Sydney.

Racial tensions erupted today into running battles between police and thousands of white youths, many chanting racial slurs against ethnic Middle Easterners, at a beachside suburb in southern Sydney.