The Maori Party distanced itself from former candidate Derek Fox after he controversially blamed the victims of the Paris terror attacks for their deaths.

Holding signs and posters aloft, more than 200 people gathered at a vigil in Wellington last night to "share their sorrow" following the Charlie Hebdo massacre in Paris.

In the Place de la Republique, 35,000 Parisians came out on a bitterly cold winter's night to rally in memory of the 12 people shot dead and the 11 injured.

Kiwi cartoonist Dylan Horrocks has spoken of the shock among the tight-knit global cartooning community following the massacre at Paris magazine Charlie Hebdo.

Vigils for the victims of the Charlie Hebdo massacre in Paris are being held in Wellington and Auckland in the coming days.

The aim of those who attacked Charlie Hebdo was to silence the magazine, but the thousands who gathered in public squares are thumbing their noses at that notion.

One of three suspects in the massacre of 12 people at French magazine Charlie Hebdo has handed himself in to police after seeing his name on social media.

New Zealand broadcaster Derek Fox has been criticised on social media for blaming the victims of the Paris terror attack.

As gunman ran out of Charle Hebdo office, he raised his right index finger in a gesture adopted by radical Islamists.

Artists around the world respond to the Charlie Hebdo shooting as #JeSuisCharlie sweeps Twitter.

Masked gunmen shouting "Allahu akbar!" stormed the Paris offices of a satirical newspaper overnight, killing 12 people, including the paper's editor, before escaping in a getaway car.

Despite receiving numerous threats over cartoons of Muhammed, France's foremost satirical magazine never shied from attacking Islamic extremism.

Airbus has rushed two specialists to Jakarta to assist in the investigation of the disappeared A320 airliner operated by AirAsia, the budget carrier that rose from almost nothing in 2001 to be its biggest customer.

A French mayor has been accused of a shameful lack of Christmas spirit after banishing homeless people from the city centre by putting cages over public benches.

French police have shot dead a man who attacked them with a knife in a police station while shouting "Allahu Akbar", a source says.

In French rugby, different rules apply. Dan Carter got a taste of what life will be like at Racing Metro when he played five matches for Perpignan in 2009...

Francois Hollande's disastrous public image has taken another blow with the publication of a picture of the French President kitted out in a traditional Kazakh fur hat and coat that sparked social....

The southern French city of Marseille has been forced to scrap a system of yellow triangles intended to help spot homeless people after it was accused of employing Nazi-style tactics.

Former President Nicolas Sarkozy seems set to clear the first obstacle in a once-improbable bid to return to France's highest office this weekend when he secures the leadership of the conservative UMP party.

Two military heroes - former spy Pippa Doyle and Willie Apiata - rubbed shoulders last night as France bestowed its highest honour on the 93-year-old Mrs Doyle.

She parachuted behind enemy lines, evading the Nazis to to spy on their troop movements. Now a quiet Aucklander is to receive France's highest honour.

PK Stowers travels to France's Loire Valley and discovers its historic chateaux.

Named after the country's longest river, the Loire Valley is referred to as the 'cradle of the French language' because of its rich history of human habitation going back thousands of years. It's also renowned for its magnificent chateaux, from mediaeval fortresses to renaissance palaces, all within a relatively short distance of each other.

The Wallabies are bracing for a backlash from a new-look French team as they look to extend their winning start under the coaching of former Parisian Michael Cheika.

An agent who evaded the Nazis to send coded messages to Britain is to be honoured by France. Andrew Stone writes about a modest war hero who lives quietly in Auckland.

After 12 years in Auckland, Diane Clayton returns to the city of her birth, Paris. City of Light. City of Love. City of dog poo.

An inflatable “Christmas tree” erected in Paris is making passers-by feel a little uncomfortable.