An Australian spy agency boss has told an inquiry he had pivoted resources away from counterterrorism to espionage and foreign a few years before two gunmen massacred 15 people at Sydney Hanukkah celebration.

An Australian army private and her husband accused of spying for Russia have been denied bail on the first charges against suspected operatives under Australia’s updated 2018 espionage laws.

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

The head of Australia’s main domestic spy agency says the country has downgraded its terrorism threat level from “probable” to “possible” for the first time since 2014.