For nearly two years I had been working for an international aid agency, being sent between different humanitarian crises. I spent much of this time working with Syrian refugees on the Jordanian and Lebanese borders.

At least 36 people have been killed in air strikes by Russian and Syrian jets on Islamic State-controlled Deir Ezzor province, a monitor said.

Gunmen shouting Islamic slogans and throwing grenades stormed a top hotel in Mali, West Africa, late last night and took 170 people hostage.

The death of police dog Diesel in the Paris raids has inspired hundreds of tributes from pets around the world - with a little help from their owners.

Muslim communities have to be more forthright in their commitment to Western values and less indulgent of those in their midst who preach and practice hatred, writes Paul Thomas.

Are rock bands running scared from Europe? Foo Fighters, Deftones and Prince have all cancelled tours following the Paris attacks.

Friend describes how a five-year-old was found covered in blood, hidden beneath his mother's lifeless body.

Andy Dowding has been producing the Vodafone NZ Music Awards with his Kiwi partner Justine McKay since their lives in New York were overturned by the events of 9/11.

Islamic State supporters in New Zealand are being monitored, a police spokeswoman says.

One suspected terrorist was shot dead, another died when her suicide vest detonated, and four police were wounded in the battle which began about 4.30am.

The Paris attacks and the largely stalemated war in Iraq and Syria have prompted heavy criticism of Barack Obama's handling of the fight against Isis.

France launched fresh air strikes against Syria yesterday, as a defiant Paris reopened for business.

France's Charles de Gaulle aircraft carrier will be deployed to the eastern Mediterranean to boost operations in Syria.

On the night of January 2, Belgian authorities closing in on a terror cell in the town of Verviers intercepted a telling piece of intelligence.

Misinformation is common online. But after a major international tragedy, internet rumours only become more frequent and more damaging.

Staff and pupils from Dunedin high schools are in shock after learning a teacher who recently worked in Dunedin was killed in the Paris terror attacks.

This will likely be the article no one will want to read, writes Johann Go. It is going to be the viewpoint that challenges the media and public orthodoxy surrounding the Paris attacks. This article challenges the current state of our world.

A 2009 Gallup survey of European Muslims showed they are just as likely, if not more so, to identify with the country in which they live, than the rest of the population.

Bataclan hero reveals how he saved pregnant hostage from falling to her death - but he still doesn't know if she survived. WARNING: article contains disturbing footage.

The ringleader of the Paris terrorist attacks has been named by as Abdelhamid Abaaoud, a Belgian national already suspected of planning previous attacks.

In an indication that Isis retains a capacity to strike after the Paris attacks, Iraqi intelligence said there were 24 people involved in the French operation.

The intense manhunts unfolded as clearer portraits emerged of the network behind the carnage that left at least 129 people dead.

France and its allies in the air must not let up over the weeks ahead but it is, of course, no more than the terrorists would have expected.

An Australian man and his 12-year-old son were forced to lie on top of bloodied bodies as they tried to escape the terrorists in the Bataclan theatre.

Some Kiwis who are set to travel to Paris soon are changing their plans in the wake of the weekend's terror attack.

Seventy-two hours before the attacks in Paris began, messages including images of weapons and the Eiffel Tower began to appear on social media.