Tony Abbott

Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott on Dec. 18 admitted Sydney's cafe siege was "a horrific wake-up call" as details emerged of the final minutes of the standoff which left the gunman and two hostages dead.
      

Prime Minister Tony Abbott vowed Dec. 17 not to rest until he was assured Australians were safe, as he formally announced a review into the fatal Sydney cafe siege.
      

The two hostages, who died in the Sydney cafe siege on Monday, have been named as the cafe manager Tori Johnson and Katrina Dawson, a barrister and mother of three.

Both victims were Sydney citizens. They and the gunman who had held them hostage for 16 hours were killed as police commandos stormed the cafe.

Five people fled a central Sydney cafe Dec. 15 where a gunman is holding terrified hostages after displaying an Islamic flag at the window, triggering a lockdown in an area home to government and corporate headquarters       

A few dozen people are being held hostage by an unknown gunman in a cafe in downtown Sydney, Australia.

Three of the people have left the cafeteria according to the latest report, and police is due to  interrogate them.

The West Australian later put the number of those having fled at five.

Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko has asserted a "real ceasefire" which entered into force on Tuesday is now being observed.

While on an official visit to Australia, Poroshenko asserted a truce had been registered "for the first time in seven months in Ukraine."

Vladimir Putin's early exit from a G20 summit in Australia after an icy reception from world leaders may further stoke Russia-West tensions and lead to renewed fighting in Ukraine, analysts said.
      

G20 leaders representing the bulk of the world's economy on Nov. 16 committed to reform measures to lift their collective growth by an extra 2.1 percent by 2018, despite evidence of a slowdown in some major nations.
      

US President Barack Obama will pledge $3 billion to a UN fund aimed at mitigating the effects of climate change in the world's poorest countries, a US official said Nov. 14.
      
"It is in our national interest to helping vulnerable countries to build resilience to climate change," the administration official said as Obama headed to a G20 summit in Australia.
      

Pope Francis has called on G20 leaders not to forget the poor, saying to do so would be "regrettable" as the heads of the world's most powerful economies prepare to meet in Australia.