There was no official word as yet on the fate of the hostages inside the two-storeyed house at Chinore on the city outskirts, 20km from the International Border with Pakistan. Media reports from the spot indicate that the four children and their mother are safe. However two other hostages are reported to have lost their lives.
But the gunman, who identified himself as Tiger Singh, killed on hostage.
Iranian-born Islamic State sympathiser Man Haron Monis began to doze off in the early hours of Tuesday when the hostages decided to escape together and on realising this he opened fire, according to a media report.
The abductors of three Indians in Iraq have threatened to execute one of them if their demands are not not met by 8.30pm IST Sunday.
They want compensation for the families of the Iraqis who died fighting American troops in Fallujah and the release of all Iraqis held in US and Kuwaiti jails.
Gautam Singh, who is MLA from Manjhi in Saran district and in whose Assembly constituency Samhauta village of martyr Premnath Singh falls, had paid a visit to the sepoy home to pay condolence, when angry villagers took him hostage and demanded visit of the CM.
Tori Johnson, the 34-year-old manager of Lindt Chocolate Cafe who was one of two persons killed during the Sydney siege, is being remembered as a hero with some reports claiming that he tried to snatch the weapon from the gunman to allow the other hostages to escape.
A group of sailors taken hostage by Somali pirates nearly two years ago have appealed to the government to get them released from captivity.
In a sudden turn of political events in Andhra Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh Congress Chief YS Sharmila Reddy spent the night in her party office at Vijayawada as in an attempt to avoid house arrest.
Scenes of death and destruction from Gaza and Israel.
After they landed at Tehran airport a few days ago, a Pakistani agent took them to a hotel and held them hostage for ransom, officials said.
"Babies separated from their mothers were brutally taken hostage. These are war crimes, blatant documented war crimes but tragically the abomination doesn't end here. Hamas terrorists happened upon an outdoor party of young Israelis celebrating the holiday weekend," he said.
More than 100,000 Palestinians have fled south over the past two days, according to Israel, but they still face bombardment and dire conditions.
Prison guard Dinesh Singh was beaten up by some inmates when he was calling those meant for cooking dinner in the jail, Sub-divisional Magistrate J P Dhurve said adding, he was admitted to hospital with injuries.
In a calibrated operation, the Indian Navy on Saturday 'coerced' 35 Pirates onboard a merchant ship around 1,400 nautical miles from the Indian coast to surrender and ensured the safe evacuation of 17 crew members without any injury, officials said.
French tycoon Francois-Henri Pinault was held hostage in his car by staff angered over 1,200 job cuts at two of his stores.
The wife of Maoist leader Sabyasachi Panda, whose outfit claimed to have abducted Italian national Paolo Basusco, on Tuesday appealed to the ultras not to harm the hostage.
'I have no desire for my devastation to lead to another mother's devastation.'
'It was apparent that most of the dead were tortured. What shocked me were the telltale signs showing clearly how the hostages were executed in cold blood.'
In the wake of the 12-day hostage crises that ended after the release of Sukma Collector Alex Paul Menon, Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Raman Singh on Friday sought a national policy to deal with such situations. "There has to be a national policy to deal with hostage crises. I will ask Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in tomorrow's meeting to call all chief ministers to discuss it. There is a need to discuss it briefly," Singh told reporters.
In a dramatic incident, a 50-year-old man who created ruckus in central London today, after taking four people hostage in a building and threatening to blow himself up, has been arrested by Scotland Yard.
The strikes are targeting tunnels, ammunition, and rockets all around Shifa. Hamas expects the IDF will enter the hospitals in one or two days.
Idan Amedi, 35, was fighting as an IDF reservist. He was airlifted to a hospital on Monday where he was sedated and received treatment.
Liverpool forward Mohamed Salah said on Monday that families grieving for their loved ones in Gaza should not be forgotten, as he issued an emotional Christmas message marking only his second comment on the war in the enclave.
In a dramatic rescue mission, Pakistani commandos on Sunday stormed a building near the army headquarters in Rawalpindi to end a 20-hour siege freeing 42 hostages held by the Taliban terrorists, who staged a brazen assault on the top military facility, and killed 4 militants.
US authorities have been scrambling to establish how many Americans have been killed or taken hostage in the conflict.
No decision yet on the fate of the Sydney Test, which starts December 26, but for us the tour is still on, says the Board of Control for Cricket in India secretary, Sanjay Patel.
The MEA insists that as far as the government is concerned the hostages are alive. But the families have grown tired of these assurances. They are clueless and so it seems is the government. Rashme Sehgal reports.
Navy officials on Monday said that the swift response by the Indian Navy's mission deployed warship INS Sumitra ensured the safe release of the hijacked vessel and its crew.
The family of slain Steven Sotloff said they were relishing seeing the terrorist being punished.
The resolution did not include any explicit condemnation of the October 7 terrorist attacks by Hamas, they said, adding India abstained in the vote in absence of all elements of its approach not being covered in the final text of the resolution.
Maharashtra Chief Minister Vilasrao Deshmukh on Thursday said there is no hostage-like situation at any hotel where people have locked themselves in their rooms for safety after the attack by terrorists on Wednesday.
Another Indian national, who was among about 15 people held hostage in a popular Sydney cafe and later rescued, was also an Infosys employee.
ILFC urges India to release six jets held 'hostage' after Kingfisher failed to pay for them.
More than 35 Pakistani soldiers went missing on Thursday after a fierce attack by the Afghan Taliban on a border check-post in the country's restive tribal belt. The militants have claimed that they are holding ten Pakistani soldiers hostage.
The India-US joint statement after the 2+2 Ministerial Dialogue called for the immediate release of all remaining hostages.
Israeli jets carried out "intense" airstrikes on targets in Gaza on Sunday afternoon.
An Indian pilot was taken hostage by Congo rebels on Saturday when his aircraft was attacked at an airstrip in a mining zone in North Kivu province, according to media reports.Congolese authorities blamed Rwandan Hutu rebels for the attack. The aircraft belonged to Goma Express, which confirmed the attack. The identity of the Indian pilot could not be ascertained.Authorities said the rebels looted the money on board the aircraft and abducted the co-pilot.
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