o. >> three dead as australian commandos end the sydney cafe siege as three hostages run for their lives. the gunman is determined to be manharon monis, facing multiple charges of sexual assault. this is al jazeera live from lon. also coming up. syrian say they killed 50 government soldiers in idlib. and a national strike against

austerity plans brings belgium to a standstill. hello, australian police have stormed a cafe in sydney. two hospital stadges are dead hh man haron monis. he is already under charges of attempting to murder his ex wife. mmonis walked into the cafe, located at the end of martin place. next door is the reserve bank of australia, directly opposite are the tv studios for the australian network channel 7. other major buildings nearby include the world famous sydney

opera house. kim vanel reports. one officer appears to throw a stun grenade. in the crack of what was either gun fire or flash explosions. paramedics were already there and quickly ran towards the building. one woman could be seen being carried out. the siege began during monday morning rush hour. >> a woman was summonings police, she had her phone to her ear. police on motorcycles arrived and others on foot very quickly. she was telling them she had gone to go inside the cafe and the automatic glass sliding doors had been disabled and shut. she initially thought the cafe was closed and then realized

something was going on inside. she told police she saw a man with a blue bag and what she thought was a shotgun. there at one point a flag held up in the cafe women, with an ic creed, and the person involved was man haron monis. >> this pen is my gun and these words are my bullets. >> monis who was born in iran, faced charges that involved sexual assault and deamented atd murder of his ex wife. >> it is profoundly shocking that innocent people should be held hostage by an armed person claiming political motivation. >> bond disposal units moved in to check the cafe and a 16 hour

hostage drama drew to a close. many australians no doubt shane by this attack and the -- shane by thishaken by the attack. >> andrew thomas, as i understand it we still don't know from them how the hostages were killed. >> no, we don't, certainly not officially we don't, no. three people killed as a result of this siege, two hostages, a 34-year-old man, a 38-year-old woman, and the hostage taker, the 50-year-old who went into this cafe in the middle of sydney cbd, not far off 24 hours ago now and took what we now believe to be 19 hostages taken at 9:45 in the morning on monday morning. it's now tuesday morning lights now in sydney and at this press

conference just a few minutes ago we heard from the premier of new south wales and the police commissioner about why they went in when they did. because all through monday in a number of updates they gave to the media they said they were determined that this siege would reach a peaceful resolution, and of course it didn't. they stormed in, the police just after 2:00 a.m. local time in sydney. so some four hours ago now. the question at the press conference was why they did that and this is what the police commissioner said. >> they made the call because they believed at that time if they didn't enter there would have been many more lives lost. >> why is that? why do you think, what had changed? >> well i think that events that were unfolding inside the premises led them to the belief that now was the time to actually deploy and they did. >> what was happening inside? >> at this stage i understand that there were a number of gun shots that were heard which

caused officers to move to what we call straight to mpa, emergency action plan and that caused them to enter. >> there you have from the police commissioner there was an exchange of gun fire inside the cafe and that's what caused the police to decide they needed to storm it when they did. athey didn't need any more concerns. this 50-year-old man who was very much on the radar not only of new south wales police, the area where sydney is yo but on e judiciary's radar, he had convictions of sending hate mail to the families of the soldiers that had been killed in afghanistan, he had appealed those convictions, just failed in those convictions, could that have been the trigger for this attack. he had been charged with more serious offenses of being an accessory to murder of his ex

wife. and sexual offenses dating back a decade. a man very much known to police and very much on their radar. how was he able to walk into a central sydney cafe and take as many hostages as he did on a busy monday morning? should he have been on bail like he was, should he have been more closely watched by authorities in australia? those are questions that will be asked in the coming days. police press conference a couple of moments ago, they said they are tretting this as a critical -- treating this as a critical incident but not speculating as to what his direct motivations may have been or indeed at the moment as to why this could have been handled differently or could have been handled better. three people dead is certainly not the conclusion that authorities in australia wanted. >> andrew thomas thank you very much indeed.

andrew has been reporting on this from the beginning. muslims in australia, with the oit identity of the gunman revealed, offered to walk with the woman who removed her headdress. the hashtag, "i'm ride wit "i'lh you. ". >> police in france have arrested ten suspects in a series of dawn raids across the country. most of the raids took place in the south around to toulouse.

. >> a significant demonstration that has been sending young mem to iraq and syria to fight for groups like i.s.i.l. the investigation has been going on for about 18 months, the original tipoff was from a mother of a young man, turkish mother who was concerned about the razz callization of her son. she -- radicalization of her son. she told police and they began their investigation which culminated on monday morning with these early morning raids across france, in normandy in the north and some areas around paris but mostly in toulouse in the south. there are about a thousand frern french nationals who have gone to fight in iraq and syria. it is an issue the french government needs to address urgently. the real worry is that the

profile of the people who are prepared to go and fight is -- appears to be widening. not simply disenchanted young men from disadvantaged suburbs. but also, now, young men from middle class families, in france. >> palestinian officials say they plan to push for a u.n. security council vote this week that will secure their statehood. 15 member u.n. security council sets a november 16 deadline for ending israeli occupation of palestinian territory. it also seeks recognition for the west bank and israeli blockaded gaza strip.

idlib, biggest of its kind in two years. opposition fighters now control seven military checkpoints in the area. zeina khodr reports. >> reporter: this was thought the first time the opposition had tried to push out government forces. but on monday, the attack against the heavily militarized zone located on the outer reaches of idlib province was well planned and coordinated. hundreds of rebel fighters took part in the operation, i.t. was it was a strategic win. they lie on a highway that links the north to the south. >> translator: important because it lies on a main junction. regimes present in the north and

it is important since it was here. >> reporter: this is a major military setback for the government which has lost control over much of idlib but a setback for so-called moderate rebels. el nusra front al qaeda's syrian branch after pushing back western backed rebels. according to the syrian observatory for human rights those heavy arms were used in the offensive. one of el nusra's commanders who are saudi arabian, promised more battlefield successes. >> our message to every syrian soldier protecting assad your destiny will end up like the soldiers destiny today. the regime never tried to save them so they died at the hands of the mujahideen. >> the syrian are military says the fight is not over but the rebels are already celebrating

but it is el nusra in particular that won this battle. it is the dominant force in that corner of syria. zeina khodr, al jazeera, beirut. >> iraqi army has been engaged in furious fighting as they try push out i.s.i.l. from the anbar province. security forces are being backed by tribesmen on the ground. al jazeera continues to demand the release of its three journalists who have now been detained in egypt for 352 days. baher mohamed, mohamed fahmy and peter greste protest against their sentences.

the turkish president recep tayyip erdogan has rejected criticism of police raids, he told the eu to keep its opinions to itself. zoman newspaper is among 20 detained. journalists and producers have also been arrested as police search the offices of a newspaper and tv station. >> translator: this is a protest of normalization. this process is the planting of the seeds of the new turkey. those who try oget involved in dirty business and dirty relations with the hope of returning turkey to its old days are getting the necessary response and will continue to get it. >> still to come this half hour. >> i'm tim lavelle in london where you would struggle to get a huge tin of beans for 2 pounds that's just under $3.

why certain people have allowed it. >> onl

>> hello again reminder of the top stories here on al jazeera. australian police ended a hostage crisis which ended more than 16 hours. would hostages are dead along with a gunman. the hostage taker is named as manharman haron monis.

killed 50 soldiers during an attack on idlib. other attacks took part in the assault. future of a palestinian state. u.s. secretary of state john kerry is discussing the proposal at a meeting in rome. jordan has called for israel's wrawisrael'swithdrawal from paln territory by 2016. with more from rome here's barnaby phillips. >> this meeting between john kerry and benjamin netanyahu takes place at the time the israelis if not feeling isolated certainly unhappy with the general drift of european diplomacy and european impatience. symbolic votes in parliaments in the france in the u.c. and in

portugal -- in the u.k. and in portugal and benjamin netanyahu will want to know can he count on american support as he has been able to so many times in the past. if some sort of resolution went before the u.n. security council that the israelis were unhappy with. well, it's no secret that this marianna administration, the obama administration has found working with the israeli prime minister unusually difficult but it's a long leap from there to say that the americans would be prepared to waive their veto rights and not support the israelis. having said all that john kerry would like the diplomatic track to continue. he'll be talking to benjamin netanyahu trying to work out whether there's any possible ground of compromise save a european country brought its own resolution to the u.n. council. and after the meeting in rome john kerry goes on to paris, he goes on to london to meet european and arab cowrnlt parts to try -- counterparts to try

and revive this process. >> joining me is robert serra, he gave a speech earlier to the u.n. security council. thank you very much indeed for being with us. draft resolutions to set a time frame for the creation of a palestinian state. what is your feeling of how likely it is about to happen? >> well, i don't necessarily have a reservation about that process. what i have said this morning that given where we are, and literally deadly deadlock, that the international community has also its own responsibilities to take now. now, i am aware that there are consultations among councilmembers, you referred to the arab league position. you referred earlier in your programs to meetings now in europe. what i have said this morning in the council on behalf of the secretary-general, we very much hope that the council will be

part of constructive action that could lead to a framework, a credible framework, an effective framework for resumed negotiations. >> now we've heard from our contacts in the u.n. that some palestinians find that it's time to move to a multinational conference to try and sort this out. is that something you think would work? >> well, again, this is part of what -- of the renewed architecture. but in the end i said that also in my briefing this morning, to the council, there is no substitute for the parties to also directly engage. but it doesn't mean that an international conference could be a condude in that direction. these are issues -- conduit in that direction. these are issues i hope seriously discussed among parties and what i have also been highlighting today is that if we continue to believe that

the two state solution is the solution, and that there is in fact no alternative to it, then it's very, very late now for actually achieving it. and that means also that as international community we have to take our responsibility now. >> you mentioned the kind of fact of the difficult situation on the ground also. you seem to be particularly concerned with the escalation of tensions in the area. how do those play into any possibility of renewing kinds of talks or negotiations or whatever you want to call them? >> well, it will be very, very important of course to deescalate the tensions in jerusalem. we have seen these tedgeses tene have seen the recent very tragic death of a palestinian minister while he was protesting in tumo zaia in the west bank. actually i have been there i know the situation there and i know what the protesters were trying to do. they were trying to replant

olive trees on land nearby settlement which was taken from them. so this in a nutshell proves how urgent the situation has become. if we are not able to reverse this then as i have said now several times and i repeated it also this morning in the council then the parties are at the doorstep of something else which i can only describe as a one-state reality. >> all right, thank you very much indeed for taking time to talk to us on al jazeera. >> thank you. >> a new report in mexico says more than 40,000 people have been murdered since president enrique pena nieto took office two years ago. lucia newman reports from guerrero state where 43 students disappeared in september. our apologies.

hopefully we'll bring you lucia's report a little later on. fighting broke out in ukraine in april, a new report a quarter of the deaths have happened since a ceasefire began in september. well over 10,000 people have been injured in the conflict in eastern ukraine. skirmishes and localized shelling have occurred during ceasefire. russia's currency has fallen to an exclusive low, against the dollar. now takes 60 rubles to buy a single dollar. raising its lending rate, so far these measures have been unsuccessful. nationwide strike in belgium has brought parts of the country to a standstill. thousands of members of the union have taken part, workers have expressed anger over the

cutting of public services and raising of the pension age. jackie roland has the latest from brussels. >> it was a day when no one was going anywhere. 600 flights were cancelled and passengers were left stranded. it was the same picture at train stations. services were cancelled as railway workers joined the strike. confused passengers had to find other ways to get to their stages. destination. >> i'm stuck here until 10:00 tonight. i'll have to take a taxi to leland, catch the eurostar from there. >> weeks of protest against government austerity plan aimed at saving nearly $14 billion. the measures include raising the retirement rage and scrapping an inflation linked pay rise next

year. the whole idea was to bring the country to a standstill and in brussels the unions seem to have achieved their objective. they say ordinary people are being asked to bear the brunt of this austerity program and they want the government to look at ways of raising new revenue from big business and the banking sector. the unions recognize that the government needs to balance the state budget but they complained that there has been no dialogue. >> the principal message we send to the government is, that yes to review is text of government agreement. which contains a lot of measures which are no good for the workers and for the person would gain social benefits. good but not everyone in bell jim supports the strike. some argue that the new center right government has only been

in office for two months and needs to be given time. >> those who are not politics for the citizens. the ma churlt of the people -- the majority of the people in bell jim want to go to work they don't want to be stuck on the roads. >> reporter: it was the most comprehensive trying to take place in bell jim fo r are belg. jackie roland, al jazeera, brussels. >> tackling two problems at once, food waste and poverty. phil lavelle has more. >> you don't see that often. beef down from six pounds to one. the whole lot for a little over $5. special offer, no. standard fare at a new type of supermarket. trying to combat food waste and food poverty.

50 million tons of supermarket food ends up in the bin in the u.k. every year. bypassing checkout to chuckout. the box may be damaged, the store might have just overorderred, social supermarkets like this one, be resword for next to nothing. the promise of cheap food is always going to lure crowds in. but the point behind this place is the doors will remain firmly closed to all but members. first they have to be living in an area classed by the government to be deprived. secondly they need some form of income like government support. effectively a number of classes run by this place on things like debt management, confidence building and how to apply for jobs. on top of that the membership will not last forever, we're

talking six months max. after that time, it has to be reviewed to see if someone needs it more. >> if they are motivated and enthusiastic in changing their lives in a way they've decided is most appropriate that's exactly the right place for them. if all they're looking for is very, very cheap then there are quite a few places on the high street you could buy that from without needing this other intervention. >> this is the first supermarket, 20 more are due to open their doors and mavis is becoming somewhat of a regular. >> it's a supermarket, you're paying for the goods and items, for a small reduction but you feel there's some dignity about it. >> reporter: last year one of britain's biggest supermarkets tracked one of its 25 biggest selling products. they found 25% of apples are

wasted, bananas are never eaten and half of the bakery goods were never sold. putting food on plates and smiles on face he. phil lavelle, al jazeera, london. let's check out our team. here a science journalist and'dicator with a background in neurobiology. treatment. >> all right, i'm all rigged