Sydney CBD Terror Attack

[BlueKelah]

Hostages Taken in Sydney Cafe, Islamic Flag Reportedly Flown

Armed police surrounded a central Sydney cafe where at least one gunman took staff and customers hostage, as Prime Minister Tony Abbott said the siege may be politically motivated.

Television images showed hostages pressed up against a window at the Lindt cafe in Martin Place with their arms raised and holding a black flag with white Arabic lettering. State police said they were trying to make contact with those inside and warned people in the vicinity to stay indoors and away from open windows.

“We don’t yet know the motivation of the perpetrator,” Abbott, who convened Cabinet’s National Security Committee for briefings on the siege, told reporters in Canberra. “We don’t know whether this is politically motivated although obviously there are some indications that it could be.”

Australia raised its terrorism alert to the highest level in a decade in September, citing the threat posed by supporters of Islamic State,

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-12-14...flown.html
======================================================================
Not sure why they are not saying if the terrorist are armed but looks like special forces sent in already.

[desmondxyz]

ISIS in the house....Opera House

[jjlim84]

hope those innocent ppl will be alright

[BlueKelah]

Seems like only one guy lone wolf holding up the cafe is armed , he made the people inside hold up islamic banner. Refusing to negotiate. Aus forces have so many special forces and snipers on scene, can take him out easily, .
[Image: ap_sydney_13_kb_141214_16x9_992.jpg]

Image Source : ABC News
Sydney Hostage Situation: People Held at Lindt Chocolate Shop, Forced to Hold Up Flag


via Galaxy Tab S with Tapatalk

[BlueKelah]

a few hostages have run out of the cafe.. heh looks like a poorly executed terror attempt. Are you guys getting this live on ChannelNewsAsia?

[CityFarmer]

RIP for the two captives, and my condolences to their families...

Police storm Sydney cafe to end hostage siege, three dead

SYDNEY - Heavily armed Australian police stormed a Sydney cafe early on Tuesday morning and freed terrified hostages being held there at gunpoint, in a dramatic end to a 16-hour siege in which two captives and the attacker were killed.

Police would investigate whether the two hostages were killed by the gunman or died in the cross-fire, said Andrew Scipione, police commissioner for the state of New South Wales.
...
http://www.todayonline.com/world/austral...ney-street

[desmondxyz]

Backfire of Australia immigrant policy. They took in a bastard with full list of criminal records, in exchange of 2 innocent good lives....

[specuvestor]

^^ I'm not against immigration, Singapore was built on immigration, but numbers don't tell the whole story. Singapore is learning about the problems of unassimilated immigration. Instead of newcomers learning our ways of life, we are learning their ways. We are not alone though, Northern Europe and of course US are experiencing the same issue when academics look at it as a numbers game.

Property to remain mainstay of nation’s resources for years to come
PHIL RUTHVEN THE AUSTRALIAN DECEMBER 01, 2014 12:00AM

Phil Ruthven on a Shaping Our Future panel at the Sydney Opera House. Source: News Corp Australia

PROPERTY in Australia will pass the $9 trillion mark by the end of this fiscal year in June 2015.

We love property, as most ­people in most countries do; and have often fought for over many millenniums. Property means many things to people: freedom; safety & security; prestige; belongingness; happiness; jobs; wealth creation; rental income; and more.

It dominates Australia’s total assets of $12.8 trillion (66.2 per cent) and has done so for a very long time, although the dominance was higher 10 years ago in 2004 (71.6 per cent). The first exhibit puts property and its broad segments in perspective within the nation’s total resources over the past two decades.

Clearly residential property, nearing 10 million dwellings (not all inhabited), has the major share of property in value as well as number terms. Its value is currently over $5.6 trillion, some 64 per cent of all property. Other property consists of commercial & industrial property, rural property and infrastructure (airports, ports, roads & bridges, utilities and more), and is valued at $3.2 trillion.

The value of all residential property has increased by 5 per cent a year over the past five years, just pipped by all other types of property at 5.7 per cent a year.

It may be of surprise to find our natural resources valued at less than a tenth (9.2 per cent) of the total as of June 2014, such has been the visibility of the current mining boom, our sixth since 1788, but this time being progressively dominated by energy minerals (gas, oil, coal and uranium) as the cycle ­peters out in the 2030s. That said, just 10 years ago in 2004, minerals accounted for a mere 3.3 per cent of all resources; and that share may well return in a few decades time as this cycle runs its course.

--snip--

Property is likely to remain the mainstay of the value of the nation’s resources for a very long time. Our land of 7.7 million square kilometres is close in size to China (9.6 million square kilometres) and well over the 3.3 million square kilometres of India, both having populations over 50 times ours. We are currently growing faster than the world’s population — 1.5 per cent a year versus 1.3 per cent — and are likely to do so for much of the future largely due to immigration; leading to growing land value and overall property values. The rapidly increasing wealth of the region is already being experienced in foreign ownership of property, especially rural and residential property.

I'm also wondering if Australia is willing to have a Chinese or Indian as a Prime Minister. When one simply looks at a single facet, conclusion is simplistic

http://www.valuebuddies.com/thread-4912-...#pid101910

[desmondxyz]

It's Not about quantity, it's about quality.

Looking at the list of criminal records, shouldn't he deserved to be deported?

[specuvestor]

^^ It's not as simple as that. Policies should be targeted but not biased. Would you suggest all criminals be deported or just those non locally born ones?

Every developed country has a list of prerequisites for immigrants. In this case he was probably an Iranian refugee or maybe even asylum seeker. What is a country's policy on refugees or deportation? For example China used to deport North Koreans back to North Korea... is that the best solution?

Human rights is a very loaded term.