Swede held hostage in Russia

An employee of the Swedish embassy in Moscow was taken hostage by a lone man believed to be armed and demanding a $3m (pounds 1.8m) ransom. The embassy premises were cordoned off by dozens of Russian policemen, both armed and unarmed. The hostage is a trade representative of Sweden in Russia. The attacker, armed with a hand grenade, was holding him in his car, news reports said. They also quoted police as saying the attacker appeared to be mentally unstable and was "grabbing the grenade pin all the time."

Reuters - Moscow