] A heavily armed gang seized up to 400 hostages at a
] Russian school near Chechnya Wednesday and threatened to
] kill 50 children for any member of their group killed, a
] senior local official said.
]
] Itar-Tass news agency said negotiations had begun with
] the gang of up to 17 men and women who stormed into the
] secondary school in Beslan in North Ossetia province
] during a morning ceremony to mark the first day of the
] new school year.

[ Jesus, people are some kinda fucked up. And given Russia's historcal lack of delicacy in these situations, i really fear for these hostages. It would seem that whatever Russia's policy on Chechnya is, it's not working so well, what with the planes and the suicide bomb in Moskow. -k]