Commandos storm a cafe in Sydney, Australia, ending a 16-hour siege by a gunman identified as an Iranian refugee who took dozens of hostages.

US Secretary of State John Kerry meets his Russian counterpart, Sergei Lavrov, in Rome on the eve of talks with the Israeli prime minister.

Hundreds of armed police seal off an area of central Sydney after at least one gunman takes hostages in a cafe.

Steve Smith is chosen to replace injured Michael Clarke as Australia captain for the rest of the Test series against India.

Three prisoners who escaped from the US island prison Alcatraz in 1962 may have made it to land alive, a new study suggests.

Hundreds of Brazilian police officers and their relatives protest in Rio de Janeiro to demand tougher legislation for crimes against the police.

Hong Kong police arrest several people as they clear the last remaining pro-democracy protest site of Causeway Bay.

A Ugandan maid is sentenced to four years in jail for assaulting a toddler, in a case which sparked national outrage after a video was released.