One of the most prominent events last year was the Manila Hostage crisis, which happened on August 23, 2010 at the Rizal Park, Manila. For those who have been living under the rock for a year, here's a summary of it:
The Manila hostage crisis occurred when a dismissed Philippine National Police officer took over a tour bus in Rizal Park, Manila, Philippines on August 23, 2010. Disgruntled former senior inspector Rolando Mendoza, from the Manila Police District (MPD) hijacked a tour bus carrying 25 people (20 tourists and also a tour guide, all from Hong Kong, and four Filipinos) in an attempt to get his job back. He said that he was summarily dismissed without the opportunity to properly defend himself, and that all he wanted was a fair hearing.
The first shots were heard about ten hours into the standoff, after which the Filipino bus driver escaped from the bus and was shown on television saying "everyone is dead" before being whisked away by police. The ensuing rescue assault mounted by the MPD and resulting shoot-out, which was widely criticized by pundits as "bungled" and "incompetent", was watched by millions on live television news and took around 90 minutes. Eight of the hostages and Mendoza were killed; many other hostages and bystanders were injured. (Source: Wikipedia)
