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.

A father, with his young daughter watching, sacrificed himself to save others when Isis terrorists struck Beirut last week.

Jihadists are able to travel freely from Syria to Europe as one in 100 are checked against the EU's anti-terrorism watchlist in some countries.

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.

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.

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

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.

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

Sombre French music is playing and the crowd is subdued

Of all the tales of heroism from the horrors of the Paris attacks, one stood out: that of a man who gave his life to save a young woman.

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.

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.

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.

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

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.

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.

Sir Jerry Mateparae has condemned the "brutal and callous" attacks on Paris.

The amount of "dark communications" which NZ spy agencies are unable to intercept is increasing, John Key says.

Until stable regimes with meaningful values are rebuilt in the Middle East, the region will continue to hemorrhage refugees and spit out the kind of evil that has stained the streets of Paris with blood, writes Alexander Gillespie.