Taliban Attack: In one of Pakistan’s worst terror incidents in recent years, Taliban gunmen are reported to have killed at least 126 people and taken hostages in an assault on a school in northwestern Pakistan. About a half-dozen Taliban gunmen entered the Army Public School and Degree College in Peshawar and opened fire about 10 this morning. Hundreds of students remain trapped as security forces exchange fire with the Taliban.

Aussie Café Siege: Two hostages and a lone gunman were killed when heavily armed Australian police stormed a café in Sydney amid bursts of gunfire late yesterday. The siege began Monday afternoon when the Iranian-born gunman burst into the Lindt Chocolate Café taking 17 employees and customers hostage. He had hostages hang out a black flag bearing a Muslim slogan in Arabic.

Five of the hostages escaped during the day, but police decided to retake the café by force at midnight. Police would not say whether the gunman or police bullets killed the two hostages. Prime Minister Tony Abbott said the gunman had “a long history of violent crime, infatuation with extremism and mental instability.”

Dr. Zhivago: Under falling oil prices and Western economic sanctions, the value of the Russian ruble is taking a dive. It dropped 11 percent on Monday alone. Billions of rubles have been transferred out of the country in search of a safe haven, causing the government to raise interest rates 6.5 percentage points. In an attempt to attract money, the rate at a Russian bank is now 17 percent. But the value of the ruble against the dollar has dropped by nearly half since July.

Nation: Pennsylvania police are looking for an Iraq war veteran they believe killed six relatives in several locations early Monday. Former Marine Bradley Stone had been in a long custody battle with his ex wife over their two daughters. Among the dead were Stone’s ex-wife, her mother, her grandmother, sister, brother-in-law and a niece. Stone’s ex-wife had previously said she though he would kill her.

>The families of nine people killed in the 2012 Newtown, Ct. school massacre are suing the maker of the assault rifle used in the attack. Although the Bushmaster AT15 was legal in Connecticut, the suit argues that Bushmaster was negligent in making the killing machine available to the shooter, 20-year-old Adam Lanza, who had obvious mental illness.

The Cosby Show: Comedian Bill Cosby’s wife Camille issued a public indictment of the news media for defaming him amid of flurry of accusations that he drugged young women and raped them over many years. Mrs. Cosby blamed the news media for reporting accusations of rape without vetting. “It is the portrait of a man I do not know,” she said. “It is also a portrait painted by individuals and organizations whom many in the media have given a pass.” It recent weeks about two-dozen women have described a similar scenario in which Cosby drugged and assaulted them. But Mrs. Cosby asked, “Who is the victim?”

The Obit Page: David Garth, the pugnacious engineer of political advertising whose campaigns created governors, senators and four New York City mayors, has died in Manhattan at age 84. His New York mayoral candidates alone have served 38 out of the last 45 years in city hall. Among his winners were governors Carey of New York and Grasso of Connecticut. His New York mayors included Lindsay, Koch, Giuliani, and Bloomberg. For good or evil, Garth made the political television commercial into today’s blunt weapon of politics.

Tattoo You: New York’s Gov. Andrew Cuomo has signed a law making it illegal to give your pet body piercings or tattoos. Legislators banned the practice saying it’s cruel to kitties and puppies. But it’s still legal in New York to get your girlfriend drunk and take her to a tat parlor at 4 am.

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