Sydney's terror siege fought with the domestic dramas of a former Spice Girl on the UK's newspaper front pages on Tuesday, while newspapers in the northern hemisphere gave generous coverage to the tragedy.

Going to press hours after the siege's bloody end, some of London's Tuesday papers looked for deeper meaning, and explanations of how it could have happened.

"Why was 'hate sheikh' at large?" asked London's The Daily Telegraph on its front page, saying Australian intelligence chiefs faced questions over the "Islamist fanatic" behind the violence.

Others simply reported the news as it had unfolded - the morning commuter paper Metro went with photos of hostages escaping the café above the headline "Run for your life", the Independent did the same over "Terror strikes at the heart of Sydney".

The Guardian went with a straight news story – with a profile of the "marginalised" hostage-taker on an inside page – and The Times reported a "Bloody end to Sydney siege", saying "A radical Muslim cleric [had] subjected Australia to 16 hours of terror".

The red-top tabloids The Sun and the Mirror, however, chose to focus on ex-Spice Girl Mel B's marital crisis.

The Mirror did find room for a front-page pointer to the "Jihadi hostage bloodbath" report inside, while the Sun promised its readers the "Vile sex secrets of Jihad gunman".

The Daily Star also had only a slim text pointer on the siege, reserving most of its front page for gossip about Mel B.

The Daily Express found room for a picture and a pointer to a report on the siege inside, reserving its lead story for the discovery of a "New pill to fight ageing".

And The Daily Mail did not feature the story at all on page 1 - it led with a story attacking Labour's position on Blair-era torture and rendition.

In the US, The New York Times ran a photo of the shop window of the Lindt cafe with a hostage holding up the black flag containing the Islamic profession of faith.

The Washington Post also carried a front-page picture of hostages escaping from the cafe hours before police moved in.

In India, the siege dominated the news, with country's three main cable networks providing continuous coverage of the story, which was also featured prominently on the front pages of Tuesday's national newspapers.

India's biggest-selling English newspaper The Times of India led with the story "2 Indians among several hostages rescued as cops storm Sydney cafe"

The Times of India  also carried a picture of one of the hostages, Ankireddy Vishwakanath Reddy.

The Deccan Herald also led with story and carried interviews with Mr Reddy's parents and relatives who expressed their relief at their son's rescue.

In southern India, The Bangalore Mirror and The Hindu newspaper, which is headquartered in Chennai, the Sydney was also the main front page story. The Mirror, which has a large Muslim readership, also reported that the people of Sydney had reached out to its Muslim community.

The Hindu reported that security for the touring Indian cricket team had been lifted in the wake of the siege.

with Jason Koutsoukis