Central Sydney Hostage

Two hostages and an extremist Iranian-born gunman were killed today in a 16-hour siege that ended when police stormed a cafe in central Sydney.

The Opera House in Sydney cancelled on Monday night's performances in the light of the situation in the central business district here, where over 30 people are being held hostage by a gunman at a cafe.

Australian police said on Monday they had not had any direct contact with an armed offender holding an undisclosed number of people hostage at a cafe in central Sydney.

Commonwealth Bank of Australia, Westpac Banking Corp and Australia and New Zealand Banking Group said they had shut their Sydney CBD branches on Monday after a number of hostages were taken in a central city cafe.

Terrified hostages cowered inside a cafe in central Sydney Monday with an Islamic flag displayed against a window, sparking a security lockdown in an area home to government and corporate headquarters.

Hostages were being held inside a cafe in central Sydney Monday with an Islamic flag displayed against a window, according to witnesses and reports, while police said they were also responding to an "incident" at the nearby Opera House.

Two hostages and an extremist Iranian-born gunman were killed today in a 16-hour siege that ended when police stormed a cafe in central Sydney.

The Opera House in Sydney cancelled on Monday night's performances in the light of the situation in the central business district here, where over 30 people are being held hostage by a gunman at a cafe.

Australian police said on Monday they had not had any direct contact with an armed offender holding an undisclosed number of people hostage at a cafe in central Sydney.

Commonwealth Bank of Australia, Westpac Banking Corp and Australia and New Zealand Banking Group said they had shut their Sydney CBD branches on Monday after a number of hostages were taken in a central city cafe.

Terrified hostages cowered inside a cafe in central Sydney Monday with an Islamic flag displayed against a window, sparking a security lockdown in an area home to government and corporate headquarters.

Hostages were being held inside a cafe in central Sydney Monday with an Islamic flag displayed against a window, according to witnesses and reports, while police said they were also responding to an "incident" at the nearby Opera House.