Instruct: Given a question, retrieve relevant passages that can help answer the question.
Query: Has Sydney been under siege?
The 2014 Sydney hostage crisis, also known as the Sydney siege and Lindt Cafe siege,[12][13][14] occurred on 15–16 December 2014 when a lone gunman, Man Haron Monis, held hostage ten customers and eight employees of a Lindt chocolate café located at Martin Place in Sydney, Australia. Police treated the event as a terrorist attack at the time,[12][15] but Monis' motives were subsequently debated. However, the findings of the Coroner in 2017 deemed the event to be a terrorist attack.
The Sydney siege inquest was an inquest into the deaths that occurred during the 2014 Sydney hostage crisis, which was instigated by Man Haron Monis. The inquest started on 29 January 2015, had more than 100 witnesses and was run in blocks into 2016.
The second block began hearing evidence on 17 August 2015. It focused on why Monis was granted bail before the siege, his previous bail history, whether prosecuting authorities responded appropriately to his applications for bail, and whether procedures should be changed. However, Coroner Barnes said that it was unfair to blame the bail process for the siege because no one could have been expected to foresee the events that followed.
Police have been criticised over their handling of the siege for not taking proactive action earlier, for the deaths of hostages at the end of the siege, and for the lack of negotiation during the siege. Hostage Marcia Mikhael called radio station 2GB during the siege and said, "They have not negotiated, they've done nothing. They have left us here to die."[16][17]
The designation of the 2014 Sydney hostage crisis, also known as the Sydney Martin Place siege, has been subject to debate among terrorism experts and news commentators. Initially, during the early stages of the incident, the Australian government and NSW authorities did not label the event as a terrorist attack; however, as the siege continued, NSW police authorised the engagement of the state's counterterrorism task force, treating the incident as an act of terrorism. Commentators have debated whether the perpetrator of the attack, Man Haron Monis, was in fact a terrorist and whether his actions can be classified as an act of terrorism. One terrorism expert described Monis's actions as those of a "lone-wolf terrorist … driven by a desire for attention and to be in the spotlight." Another wrote in an opinion column that the attack "was very different from first-generation or second-generation terrorist attacksbut it was terrorism, and terrorism of a brutal and more unpredictable sort." Scott Stewart supervisor of the analysis of terrorism and security issues for Statfor said that this hostage-incident exhibits many of the elements associated with grassroots terrorism. By contrast, criminologist Mark Lauchs stated that the event "was not about religion and neither was it a terrorist attack." Media outlets have also provided conflicting designations for Monis; John Lehmann, editor of "The Daily Telegraph", wrote how Monis filled the criteria of an Islamic State terrorist, while a columnist for "The Guardian" wrote how the designation of a terrorist is misplaced and would only serve the interests of ISIL. On 15 January 2015, Australia's Treasurer Joe Hockey declared the siege in Sydney's Martin Place as a terrorist incident for insurance purposes.
Blues Point is a harbourside locality of North Sydney, Australia. Named after local mariner Billy Blue in the 19th century, Blues Point is at the very southern tip of the McMahons Point peninsula and has views of Sydney Harbour. The locality, within North Sydney Council, is home to the Blues Point Tower, a controversial residential tower designed by Harry Seidler. Since 2005, under the dual naming policy Blues Point has also been officially referred to by its indigenous name, Warungareeyuh. Blues Point is also used as a vantage point for Sydney's New Year's Eve celebration.
Aside from his contributions to both SUMS and AICSA, Macpherson has been involved in many other arts organisations. He has been a member of the Sydney Chamber Choir, the Opera Australia Chorus and Cantillation. He has acted as chorus master for Sydney Philharmonia Choirs. Macpherson, as an accomplished orchestral conductor, has conducted the Taverner Consort of Voices, the Sydney Chamber Choir, the Sydney University Symphony Orchestra, the SBS Radio and Television Youth Orchestra, the Sydney Youth Orchestra, and the Orange Regional Conservatorium .
The Rocks Markets are located at the northern end of George Street, in The Rocks and under the shadow of the Sydney Harbour Bridge. The market has a distinctive amount of arts and crafts. It has recently been expanded to include a large weekend market and a farmers' market on Friday nights, Saturdays and Sundays.
Sydney's population officially hit 5 million people at the 2016 census.[65] The city has gained a reputation for diversity and is Australia's most multicultural city.[66] In the 2011 census, 34 percent of the population reported having been born overseas.[67] The city's first dedicated rapid transit system is currently under construction, with a completion date set for 2019. The project has been hailed as "transformative" by journalists.[68] The Sydney Metro will link the suburb of Epping to the north-west of Sydney. It will be a first in Australian transportation, as no other Australian city currently has an automated underground metro.[69][70] The first line will serve the north-western suburbs of the city, while a future line to open in 2024 will run under Sydney Harbour from the southwest into the central business district.[71]
However, the film's reputation has risen in recent years: Quentin Tarantino screened it at the Quentin Tarantino Film Festival in Texas, and in 2006 it was restored by the National Film and Sound Archive. It has historical value, depicting postwar Sydney, its harbour foreshore and the remains of the Fort Macquarie Tram Depot which was being demolished for construction of the Sydney Opera House.
The General Post Office (abbreviation GPO, commonly known as the Sydney GPO) is a landmark building located in Martin Place, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. The original building was constructed in two stages beginning in 1866 and was designed under the guidance of Colonial Architect James Barnet. Composed primarily of local Sydney sandstone, mined in Pyrmont, the primary load-bearing northern façade has been described as "the finest example of the Victorian Italian Renaissance Style in NSW" and stretches along Martin Place, making it one of the largest sandstone buildings in Sydney.
This film was co-written and directed by Renzo Martinelli. It has been released on DVD in the United States under the title "Sword of War", and elsewhere under the title "Barbarossa: Siege Lord".
Sydney is Australia’s centre for film and media. Many of the landmarks in Sydney have been referenced, shown and the setting for countless films and television programs. Sydney also has a wide amount of references to films that have been set in the city, the most famous being Finding Nemo, which was set in the famous Sydney Harbour. The emerging suburb of Parramatta in Sydney, recently played host to Owen Wilson and Kate Hudson film premiere You, Me and Dupree. All films premiere in Sydney and only in very few cases in other Australian cities. Film in Sydney has been criticized for attracting major and international productions only and neglecting local productions, which are usually filmed in other Australian cities. Compared to other Australian cities, Sydney's film industry is highly commercial and only Gold Coast has a commercial film industry slightly similar to Sydney's.
Sydney, with a population of 4.84 million, is the largest city in Australia, and has been named the world's best city eight consecutive times by Condé Nast Traveler. Melbourne is the second largest city in Australia with a population of 4.44 million, is the current and has been named seven consecutive times world's most liveable city by "The Economist". It has been called the fashion, arts, and sporting capital of Australia. On the other hand, Sydney may be called the historic, finance and media capital. While Sydney has been recently overtaken by Melbourne in terms of domestic tourism income, Sydney still remains the leading tourism destination for international tourists.
In 1747, during the Austrian War of Succession (1740–1748) the fort was under siege by the French. This siege has been extensively documented. Eventually, the fortress Bergen op Zoom fell and the siege was abandoned. 
Women Under Siege is a project of the Women's Media Center. It has reported on the use of rape as a means of oppression in Syria. Women Under Siege has also reported extensively about the continued use of rape as a weapon of war in Myanmar (also known as Burma).
The Winter Siege
Thomas and Robbie travel to Hookton and find that the Dominican has also been to Hookton. Thomas meets with his old friend Sir Giles Marriott who gives him a book that his father wrote about the Grail. Thomas also receives a message from Sir Guillaume that he has been outlawed by France and his castle is under siege.
Sudi was born in August 2014 to Shiba. Sudi has been kept under close protection from his mother, and has not been allowed the freedom to explore, Kuma has allowed Fumo. Shiba has recently been encouraging Fumo to interact with Sudi.
Given its prominent position, historically, geographically, economically and socially, the City of Sydney has long been a source of political interest and intrigue. As a result of this, the boundaries, constitution and legal basis of the council has changed many times throughout its history, often to suit the governing party of the State of New South Wales. The City of Sydney is currently governed under the City of Sydney Act, 1988, which defines and limits the powers, election method, constitution and boundaries of the council area. On 6 February 2004, the former local government area of the City of South Sydney, which itself had been created in 1989 from areas formerly part of the City of Sydney (including Alexandria, Darlington, Erskineville, Newtown and Redfern), was formally merged into the City of Sydney and the current city boundaries date from this merger.
The massive army of Toyotomi Hideyoshi surrounded the castle in what has been called "the most unconventional siege lines in samurai history." The samurai were entertained by everything: from concubines, prostitutes and musicians to acrobats, fire-eaters, and jugglers. The defenders slept on the ramparts with their arquebuses and armor; despite their smaller numbers, they discouraged Hideyoshi from attacking. So, for the most part, this siege consisted of traditional starvation tactics. Only a few small skirmishes erupted around the castle, as when a group of miners from Kai Province dug under the castle walls, allowing men under Ii Naomasa to enter.
His work has been exhibited at artspace Sydney, Perth Institute of Contemporary Art, Perth, Performance Space, Sydney, Customs House, Circular Quay, Sydney, Space 3, Sydney, COFA Exhibition and Performance Space, UNSW, Sydney.
His collaborative work has been exhibited in Taipei, Taiwan, Broken Hill, NSW, Gallery 4A, Sydney and Electrofringe, Newcastle. His screen-based work has been shown in Sydney and internationally, and he has given occasional guest lectures most notably at the Sydney arm of Boston University, USA. He has also collaborated with Professor David Malin to create the first new media visual component to accompany the work of a major Australian Composer (Ross Edwards) and presented in pre-eminent concert venues including the Adelaide Town Hall and the Sydney Opera House.
During the siege, police asked Muslims in Sydney to source an ISIL flag for Monis, before obtaining their own.[74] The police later raided several houses of people contacted by Ms Kay who was attempting to find an ISIL flag.[74] Ms Kay assumed that the phone calls had been monitored, and that the request had been solely to find out who she would contact, lowering trust among Muslims in the NSW police force.[74]
The city of Van which has long been strategic in Eastern Anatolia was surrounded, put under siege and bombarded. On this campaign, Suleiman was accompanied by the French ambassador Gabriel de Luetz. Gabriel de Luetz was able to give decisive military advice to Suleiman, as when he advised on artillery placement during the siege.
Following the Sydney siege inquest, in May 2017, the NSW Coroner Michael Barnes determined that "The siege was a terrorist incident."[209]
An ambulance drives through Sydney, having been hijacked by escaped convict Matt Kirk and his three accomplices, Matt's brother Johnny, Italian Luke and Bert. The four men manage to avoid detection at Sydney Hospital, and head out through Sydney Harbour in a purchased vessel, intending to go north. However the boat breaks down before they can get through Sydney Heads and the men decide to take refuge in Fort Denison (also known as Pinchgut), unaware it is occupied by caretaker Pat Fulton, his wife and daughter Ann.