Australia foreign office building evacuated over suspicious package

Australia is on high alert after heavily armed police stormed a Sydney cafe and freed terrified hostages being held there at gunpoint for 16 hours.

Australia's Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade in the capital, Canberra, was evacuated on Tuesday after a suspicious package was found in the building's canteen, police said.

Few other details were available.

Australia is on high alert after heavily armed police stormed a Sydney cafe early on Tuesday morning and freed terrified hostages being held there at gunpoint for 16 hours. Two hostages and the gunman were killed, police said.