Social media can be a divisive place, but even more so when it comes to Taylor Swift.

A Google Drive link allegedly containing 17 tracks that are purportedly from Swift's eagerly awaited "The Tortured Poets Department" album has been making the rounds on the internet in the past day and people are equal parts mad, sad and happy about it.

Swift's 10th album will be released at 2pm AEST today, Friday April 19.

READ MORE: A man who served 17 years in jail for a crime he didn't commit dismisses apology from UK review body

The claimed leak is both being hailed and nailed by Swift's supporters.

One person shared a drawing of a young woman asleep in a sparkly bed with sparkly blankets on X, writing, "How I slept last night knowing I'm going to hear TTPD for the very first time tonight cause I haven't listened to any leaks."

Yet another person posted a video of two models walking and wrote, "Me and my bestie on our way to listen to #TSTTPD leaks."

On Thursday, "Taylor Swift leaks" was a prevented search phrase on X.

READ MORE: Heroic security guard killed in Bondi Junction stabbing to be farewelled today

The general consensus among those who have decided to be "leak-free" appears to be that they are the true Swifties – as her hardcore fan base is known – because they don't believe the singer would have sanctioned such a "leak."

Swift herself has gone to great lengths to prevent unintended early releases in the past.

"I have a lot of maybe, maybe-not-irrational fears of security invasion, wiretaps, people eavesdropping," Swift said of her music during an 2014 appearance on Jimmy Kimmel Live.

She added that her "1989" album only existed on her phone, "covered in cat stickers and the volume buttons don't work very well because there's candy stuck in there," for nearly two years.

"The Tortured Poets Department" is Swift's 11th album and comes after she became the first woman and only solo artist to win the Grammy for album of the year three times.

Land is sinking underneath millions of peoples' feet in China's major cities due to human activities, putting the country's coastal areas more at risk of flooding and rising sea levels, new research shows.

Nearly half of China's urban areas comprising 29 per cent of the country's population are sinking faster than 3 millimetres a year, according to the study published Thursday (Friday AEST) in the journal Science. That's 270 million people living on sinking land.

Meanwhile, 67 million people are living on land that is subsiding faster than 10 millimetres a year.

READ MORE: Two jurors dismissed from Trump hush money trial

China's rampant groundwater extraction is one of the primary factors for subsidence, researchers said. Cities have been pumping water from underground aquifers faster than it can be replenished, a situation exacerbated by climate change-fuelled drought. Excessive pumping lowers the water table and causes the overlying land to sink.

The land is also sinking due to the growing weight of cities themselves. Soil can compact, naturally from the weight of sediments accumulating over time and from heavy buildings pressing down on the ground, causing the land to steadily sink.

Land subsidence isn't just a problem in China. In the US, dozens of coastal cities, including New York City, are sinking. In the Netherlands, 25 per cent of its lands have sunk lower than sea levels. And in Mexico City, likely the world's fastest subsiding city, land is sinking at the speed of up to 50 centimetres, or nearly 20 inches, a year.

READ MORE: Rubbish truck driver sentenced after running over four-year-old boy

The impact of sinking is typically worse along the coasts, where the sea level is rising at the same time. This combination exposes more land, people and property to destructive flooding.

The study suggests roughly a quarter of China's coasts will be lower than sea level because of subsidence and projected sea level rise, priming the area for colossal damage and putting lives at risk. Tianjin, Shanghai and areas around Guangzhou are significantly exposed to both issues, the study found.

But some coastal areas in China have already built physical protection from the growing risk of inundation, and the study does not take those protections into account. In Shanghai, for example, Shengli Tao, co-author of the study and professor at Peking University, said the city has built "impressive" dike systems that are metres tall.

READ MORE: Toddler in critical condition after stroller struck by truck

"Such massive coastal dike systems will largely reduce the risk of being inundated even given both land subsidence and sea level rise," Tao told CNN. "I am not aware of other countries that have built such massive dike systems."

Thursday's study is "scientifically robust" and did "a fine job" of highlighting that subsidence is not just a "coastal problem," said Leonard Ohenhen, a doctoral researcher at Virginia Tech who recently published a study on land subsidence in the US.

"Most urban cities experience land subsidence, but we focus our attention on coastal cities because of sea level rise," Ohenhen, who was not involved with the study, told CNN. "However most urban cities experience land subsidence at rates comparable or even greater than subsidence in coastal cities."

Tao said the Chinese government is addressing the sinking in a few ways, including implementing strict laws to control groundwater pumping in the last few years. Shanghai and surrounding areas have been limiting groundwater withdrawals, which has slowed the region's rate of subsidence. Decades ago, Shanghai's subsidence was a significant issue, Tao said.

China has also been pumping water from the Yangtze River in southern China to northern China – including to Beijing – which has suffered from water shortages. The project prevents the need for over-pumping groundwater and has stopped land subsidence in Beijing, the study found.

"I believe China's government efforts will address the issue of land subsidence," Tao said. "But I would suggest to keep controlling groundwater withdrawals for major cities and constantly maintain dike systems in coastal lands."

FOLLOW US ON WHATSAPP HERE: Stay across all the latest in breaking news, celebrity and sport via our WhatsApp channel. No comments, no algorithm and nobody can see your private details.

Police are hunting four alleged young offenders who allegedly assaulted a man who confronted them for trespassing in Brisbane.

The group allegedly broke into a home in Willawong about 10pm on Tuesday and was faced with the owner, Rick Madsen.

"What the hell are you guys doing on our property?" he could be heard saying on security footage.

READ MORE: Inside Westfield Bondi Junction for the first time since attack

The group, however, was undeterred and allegedly punched the 60-year-old multiple times in the face before he fell to the ground.

His screams brought his nephew Cameron running.

"You start hearing him scream 'help, help' so I just run out of the house and you see him lying on the ground," Cameron told 9News.

Police reportedly took over two hours to arrive on the scene, and group allegedly broke into another home on the same street in that time. 

The Madsen family have confirmed Rick is doing okay but said it was the fourth time since December their homes had been targeted.

Headphones and a laptop were among the items taken. 

READ MORE: Teenager accused of kicking cop cars at Wakeley church riot granted bail

"You sort of end up sleeping with one eye open," Peter, Rick's son, said. 

"Everyone up and down the street keeps getting hit as well," Cameron added. 

George's Loader Hire, a railway business about one kilometre up the road, believes the same group had allegedly broken into their business on the same night – making it the third time they had been targeted in a week and the second time in one day. 

The business has upped security after suffering property damage and theft.

"The impact on our business is immense," managing director Kelly Cooke told 9News.

"Short of sleeping here, which we have considered, we feel we've done as much as we can."

The group of alleged offenders is currently on the run as police continue their investigations.

A first-of-its-kind surf haven has opened in Sydney today, three kilometres away from the nearest beach.

Urbn Surf Wave Park at Olympic Park offers four hectares of surf, pumping out up to 600 waves per hour.

Aussie surf legend Owen Wright said the waves were world class.

READ MORE: Tsunami alert triggered in Indonesia after eruption forces mass evacuation

"The competition out there was fierce, this is a world-class wave in the middle of the city," Wright told 9News.

The park is open to amateurs and pros alike, with entry tickets ranging in price from $39 to $140 depending on the session length and surfers' experience.

"When you look at what we are providing here, perfect waves on tap … you don't have to travel to the beach … it's supervised, you've got lifeguards," Urbn Surf CEO Damon Tudor said.

The lagoon cost $75 million to develop and build. 

The surf park will also operate as a training ground for surf rescuers, partnering with Surfing NSW.

"We can create those environments for surfers to know how to respond in those emergency situations," a spokesperson for Surfing NSW said.

It will also host learn-to-swim days. 

A Sydney property developer has admitted to his part in burning down a $24 million heritage-listed home on the city's Lower North Shore.

Steve Nassif, 70, admitted in court today that he was involved in the arson of a heritage property in Northwood, Sydney, in September 2022.

The home, which was built in 1915, was destroyed by the fire.

READ MORE: PM hints at budget help ahead of huge student debt hike

It wasn't insured at the time.

It was revealed in court that the first attempt to firebomb the home had failed, as an accomplice backed out at the last minute.

Two weeks later on September 5, 2022, the homes' torching was caught on security cameras, with the getaway van, a grey Toyota Hi-Ace, later found at the developer's Wentworth Falls mansion.

Nassif pleaded guilty to damaging a property by fire at the Downing Centre Local Court today.

Defence barrister Mark Dennis SC told the court there was "no apparent motive."

The 70-year-old property developer is facing up to 10 years in prison, but currently remains out on bail.

READ MORE: Inside Westfield Bondi Junction for the first time since attack

An application was made by prosecutors to keep him behind bars until sentencing, however, Nassif argued that the stress of a potential jail sentence had left him with depression, anxiety and PTSD.

The developer also needs to be tested for dementia and claimed that his wife suffers from panic disorder with agoraphobia, and he fears she can't be left alone.

The home in Northwood boasted a $24.1 million price tag, a tennis court and water frontage.

It was bought in 2021 by fund manager "Owen" Ouyang Chen and his sister, 10 months before the blaze.

Chen is known to Nassif but has denied setting the fire or hiring someone to do so. He has never been charged and there is no suggestion of wrongdoing on his part.

Nassif will return to court in May.

“No injuries have been reported,” police said.

A teenager accused of taking part in a violent riot and damaging two police cars after the stabbing of a Sydney bishop says he made a mistake but he was angry about officers' violence.

Bishop Mar Mari Emmanuel was attacked during a live-streamed sermon to those at Christ the Good Shepherd Church at Wakeley in Sydney's western suburbs on Monday night.

The incident sparked volatile scenes outside the church, where a crowd of people gathered over several hours as parts of the unruly crowd peppered police and other emergency service personnel with projectiles.

READ MORE: Inside Westfield Bondi Junction for the first time since attack

An estimated 2000 people took part in the "riotous assembly", according to court documents.

Dani Mansour, from Doonside, was the first person arrested and charged over the public-disorder incident, although police said they were looking for as many as 50 people over their roles in the riot.

The 19-year-old appeared at Blacktown Local Court on Thursday supported by his mother, father and sister.

Mansour allegedly filmed himself kicking two police cars during the riot before uploading the footage to Instagram.

Speaking to reporters outside Blacktown police station on Thursday, he said he had "just done one (police car)".

READ MORE: Three million Aussies about to owe government extra $1113

When asked to explain his actions, Mansour said he was "pissed off" at officers who had hurt people outside the church.

"I saw there – a guy – his hand was all bleeding from the cops," he said.

During the earlier bail hearing, Magistrate Aaron Tang said police and paramedics were just trying to do their job but were caught in a volatile situation.

"There is no place for vigilante justice in our society," he said.

"Whilst the court acknowledges the traumatic impact of the stabbing of the bishop on the church community, those involved in the alleged riot acted in a reprehensible way."

Mansour was granted strict conditional bail on charges of rioting, affray and destroying or damaging property during a public-disorder incident.

The rioting charge carries a maximum jail term of 15 years.

While Mansour was yet to make a plea, Tang noted there was a prospect the 19-year-old could serve time behind bars if he was guilty.

READ MORE: PM hints at budget help ahead of huge student debt hike

As the sole breadwinner of his family, Mansour will be under house arrest and only allowed outside to go to work as a barber or when in the company of his mother, father or sister.

The 19-year-old will only be allowed to use one mobile phone and is banned from social media.

He will next come before Blacktown Local Court on May 2 and the case will be referred to the NSW Director of Public Prosecutions.

A 16-year-old has been arrested over the bishop's stabbing, but he is yet to be charged and remains under police guard in hospital.

The attack was declared an act of terrorism by police early on Tuesday morning due to the teen's alleged religious motivation for carrying out the stabbing.

No decision has been made about the defaced panel’s future.

Kevin Moore claims he is tangata whenua and refuses to move from the beachside property.

One person has died and two others are in hospital with meningococcal disease in Western Australia, health authorities have confirmed.

Three people were diagnosed with the uncommon and life-threatening disease — two with serogroup B and one with serogroup W.

"Sadly one adult has died, and the other two adults are recovering in hospital. The cases were not linked," WA Health said. 

READ MORE: Five Australians arrested in global cybercrime sting

The death and diagnoses has sparked warnings for people to ensure they are vaccinated against the potentially fatal disease.

The three cases are the first in the state this year.

Last year, there were nine cases and no deaths. 

Meningococcal disease is caused by a bacterial infection of the blood or membranes and can spread rapidly, killing about five to 10 per cent of people diagnosed.

Another 15 per cent may experience long-term complications like hearing loss, amputations and brain damage. 

The disease is, however, treatable with antibiotics if medical attention is sought immediately and most people usually recover. 

READ MORE: Inside Westfield Bondi Junction for the first time since attack

"Meningococcal bacteria are carried harmlessly in the back of the nose and throat by about 10 to 20 per cent of the population at any one time," WA Health said.

"Very rarely, the bacteria invade the bloodstream or tissues and cause serious infections."

Symptoms include high fever, chills, headache, neck stiffness, nausea and vomiting, drowsiness, confusion, and severe muscle and joint pains.

In young children who may not complain of symptoms, parents can look out for a fever, pale or blotchy complexion, vomiting, lethargy, poor feeding and rashes.

Anyone who experiences these symptoms are urged to seek medical attention urgently.