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hundreds of armed police sealed off martin place, in sydney s central business district. new south wales police asked people to avoid the area. an australian broadcasting corporation reporter said gunfire was heard on the scene. that is yet to be confirmed. major landmarks in the area, such as the opera house have been evacuated. it s been reported that the air space above the cafe has been shut down at the moment as police continue the operations. you are looking at video from channel 7 in sydney. hundreds of armed personnel trying to get the situation under control. we are trying to confirm the affiliation of the black and white flag this witnesses report seeing with hostages holding in the window. it s the black standard, a flag with arabic writing, on display. once again, police confirmed the surrounding area has been evacuating, we see a lot of personnel with federal force and local police with rifles and heavily arm, trying to get the situation under control. i wa ....
tonight an in our week ahead segment, senate approved bill to keep the government running. we ll examine how that will radically change the bank reform law in the walk of the financial crisis. we begin with our breaking news. the hostage situation started before 10:00 a.m., 6:00 eastern. hostages were taken in a lindt coffee shop. a black and whiel white flag wib writing is flying. to give you a better understanding, the lindt chocolate shop is located in the center of sydney in martin place. this is a very active place for business. during the height of the monday morning rush hour. tony abbott said he didn t know if the incident was politically motivated but appeared to be. this is a very disturbing incident. i can understand the concerns and the anxieties of the australian people, but our thoughts must go out to the individuals who are caught up in this. i can think of almost nothing more distressing more terrifying than to be caught up in such a situation and our ....
cows, coming back to life after a conflict leaving thousands dead. former u.s. vice president defends the c.i.a. s torture techniques. starting in australia where hostages are being held in a sydney cafe, bringing much of the central business district to a standstill. within the last hour two hostages have been seen running from the building. i ll tell you anyway, it s not known if they escaped or were released - two in the last hour. earlier, three others made it out through the fire exit. it is unclear how many are inside. some have been seen with their hands pressed against the windows. the siege began at 9:45 in the morning local time, when a man believed to be armed walked into the lindt cafe. at one point a flag was put in the wind, on it was written the islamic creed which said there s no god but allah, and mohammed it his messenger come for islams. the information i have is no harm has come at the moment. we have been working through negotiations to try to ....
injured at the moment. we ve been working through negotiations to try to make sure that the people inside are cared for, but that they have what they need to so they don t become ill or injured. we ll continue to do that. andrew thomas joins me live from sydney. any update to the situation there, andrew? reporter: in the last 45 minutes three people have emerged from the cafe, they ve either escaped or released, we re not sure. but the police confirmed that three people have got out of that cafe. but what still is not clear is how many more hostages remain inside the cafe or, indeed, how many hostage takers there might be if there is more than one. we do know there is one armed man inside that cafe. the police would not confirm whether there were any more at all inside. the whole of the area has been locked down. macquarie street, martin place 200 meters to the left up there. this road is normally a busy thoroughfare. but now it s completely closed off by the police ....
hostage situation started just before 10:00 a.m., that would be 6:00 p.m. l local standard time. they have blocked off the there. this i m dovt, you ve been watching al jazeera, these are the global headquarters. a siege in australia entering a 10th hour after a man believed to be armed walked into a sydney cafe. five have run from the building. it s unclear how many others are inside. well, the siege brought much of sydney s central district to a stand city. this is close to the harbour, thousands of workers have been evacuated from the offices and police set up a cordon around the cafe well, this is the scene in st. martin s place. you can see a couple of armed me, security forces there just behind one of those lamp posts. we saw the lights in central business district. we are expecting any moment now to hear from the new south wales police once again. it s been a couple of hours since they made a statement. we are expecting a live press conference any moment. in ....