What's going on?

Things aren't good in either Australia or Japan at the moment. What's with the violent raids in Sydney that prompted the government to dispatch 450 police for night patrol? And what about the separate murders of the primary school children here in Japan? I don't understand it.

One of the killings took place in the neighbouring prefecture, Tochigi. But it happened in a town that is located on the same national highway as Azuma. So, beginning Monday this week, the school bus has a police escort, all parents have been asked to wait at bus stops and walk their children home, and mountains of paper have been placed on desks to keep staff updated on the situation. It really is quite scary.