15 December 2014 Last updated at 08:53
Sydney siege: Hostages held in Lindt cafe
A gunman is holding staff and customers hostage at a cafe in Sydney, Australia.
The Lindt cafe in the city centre is surrounded by armed police. Officers have made contact with the gunman.
Five people have been seen running from the building. It is not clear how many remain inside. A black Islamic flag has been displayed at the window.
Prime Minister Tony Abbott said it was "profoundly shocking" that people were being "held hostage by an armed person claiming political motivation".
He was speaking after chairing a meeting of the national security committee in Canberra.
Earlier Mr Abbott said: "Australia is a peaceful, open and generous society - nothing should ever change that and that's why I would urge all Australians today to go about their business as usual."
Mexican police clash with protesters at site of concert for missing students
Injuries to 21 people reported and cars burned near venue of solidarity concert for 43 students missing since September
Clashes between federal police and protesters organising a concert in solidarity with 43 missing college students left at least 21 people injured and several cars in flames on Sunday in the southern Mexican state of Guerrero.
A police official said eight officers were injured, including five who were run over by a vehicle. Three others were said to have been beaten by protesting teachers, leaving one officer with “severe brain damage”. The official was not authorised to talk to the press and spoke on condition of anonymity.
The Tlachinollan human rights group, which supports the relatives of the missing students, said the violence left at least 13 people injured, including students, teachers, parents of the missing students and two journalists, including a photographer who was working with Associated Press.
Belgium sees massive strike against austerity measures
Union-led strikes have cut air and rail service to Belgium, with the anti-austerity action set to affect schools, businesses and government offices across the country. The strike targets the new government's budget plan.
A nation-wide strike affecting Belgian public transportation, schools, government offices, businesses and manufacturing facilities is unfolding Monday after disruptions to flights and train service began on Sunday.
Monday's large general strike culminates a series of smaller weekly protests that have also targeted transportation, leading to canceled flights and train service. The anti-austerity actions began in early November with around 100,000 taking part in a Brussels march that led to clashes between demonstrators and police.
The unions driving the strike say they are voicing opposition to budget-tightening proposals by the country's new center-right coalition government with Prime Minister Charles Michel at its head. The contested moves include the government's scrapping of a customary cost-of-living raise for 2015 as well as plans to raise the country's retirement age from 65 to 67 by 2030 and institute additional public sector cutbacks.
Islamic State prevents residents fleeing Iraq's city of Mosul
December 15, 2014 - 2:49PMRichard Spencer
Baghdad: Islamic State jihadists in the Iraqi city of Mosul were preparing on Sunday night for an assault from government forces by cutting phone lines and banning residents from fleeing the city.
Refugees and those still living in Iraq's second-largest city told how conditions have deteriorated, as Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (Isil) comes under increasing pressure. "You have to bring a guarantor to say you will come back in 10 days," said Mr Ghazwan, a Mosul resident recently arrived in Baghdad. He asked for his full name to be withheld. "If you don't come back, they are punished".
He said he discovered this new rule after a friend's mother died because he could not bring her to Baghdad for surgery. "People are trying to leave Mosul," he said. "They closed the hospitals because they have no electricity or water".
The BBC and the West need to clean up their act on Rwanda
An October BBC documentary titled 'Rwanda's Untold Story' represents and repeats most of the flaws and misreadings in the Western narrative on post-genocide Rwanda.
This post is part of a series of writings and blogs on Rwanda by Mr. Johnson. The views expressed are the author's own.
The famed and ostensibly high-minded BBC recently lent its prestige to Rwanda genocide denial and to a group plausibly alleged to be engaged in terrorist attacks to subvert the post-genocide Rwanda order. This fiasco should be corrected by strong action by the BBC as well as the UK and other Western governments. The West should expose and oppose rather than foster and condone violent external threats to Rwanda.
Many Western observers believe passionately that democracy and human rights are not well served by the way President Paul Kagame’s Rwanda Patriotic Front (RPF) has governed post-genocide Rwanda, and that a more Western interpretation of international norms on these issues would do better. It is legitimate for these critics to make their case, and when they do so with due diligence and respect for factual evidence it can be to Rwanda’s benefit.
No weddings, no funerals: China decrees new rules when singing national anthem
December 15, 2014 -- Updated 0503 GMT (1303 HKT)
China's 1.3 billion citizens may soon find it much harder to belt out their national anthem at will.
A series of rules proposed by the government will set strict limits on when, where and how "March of the Volunteers" -- the anthem of the People's Republic since 1949 -- can be performed, state-run Xinhua news agency reported Friday.
The anthem is not allowed to be played or sung at private weddings and funerals, dancing parties, commercial events, or any other setting with "an inappropriate atmosphere."
When singing the anthem, people should dress appropriately, stand still and be full of energy, according to the government.
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