Kiwis in Paris say they've been shocked by the attack on the Charlie Hebdo offices, as PM John Key condemned it as an attack on the fourth estate.

"We must stand robustly against anyone who would stifle freedom of expression," writes Professor Bill Durodie.

Thousands of people have flooded Paris’ Place de la Republique in a vigil to pay tribute to the victims of the attack on satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo.

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.

He undertook a dangerous 10-month journey to find his teenage son in Syria. Now a father is returning to help other families track their youngsters.

Confused Islamists hoping to disrupt international travel fall short of their goal when they hack UK bus timetable instead.

A Sydney man arrested on terrorism-related charges will spend Christmas behind bars.

Bright yellow sunflowers have been laid on the white coffin of Sydney cafe siege victim Tori Johnson at his funeral in Sydney.

A court has been told of fears the Sydney siege gunman could continue to influence his partner's extremist views from beyond the grave.

The wife of the gunman killed during the Lindt cafe siege could be taken into custody if her bail is revoked in a Sydney court.

Just days before the Lindt Café Siege, an anonymous caller rang authorities to alert them to gunman Man Haron Monis' website.

Three days after Pakistan suffered its worst ever terrorist attack, with the massacre of 132 schoolchildren in Peshawar, the country has hit back.

It was 2am on Tuesday. They had been under his reign of terror for 16 hours and it was now, or never.

In five words, Ken Johnson - father of Sydney cafe siege victim Tori Johnson - summed up the emotion surrounding this week's Martin Place tragedy.

How many Pakistani children have to be slaughtered to stop a cricket match? We don't know, but it's more than 132, writes Paul Thomas.

Horrifying pictures have emerged showing the Taliban gun squad who slaughtered 132 innocent children - as a new threat to kill schoolkids was revealed.

As Australia reels from the Sydney siege and its unhappy end, many will be wondering what can be done for the hostages stuck for hours with the gunman in the Lindt cafe.

The first lesson of the day for 10-year-old Irfan Shah at Peshawar's Army Public School was social studies.

A Taliban attack on a school in Pakistan that killed 132 children has been widely condemned as un-Muslim, abhorrent, inhumane and disgusting.

Amid the sea of flowers and mourners at Sydney's Martin Place, siege survivor Harriette Denny set up her own tribute for her slain boss, Tori Johnson.

The frontier city of Peshawar was once known as "the city of flowers".

The "fake sheik" behind the deadly Sydney cafe siege railed against Australian "terrorism" on his website a day before he took 17 people hostage.

PM John Key said the Sydney siege gunman highlighted the conundrum for authorities over protecting citizens against potential terrorism and over-stepping their powers.

Prime Minister Tony Abbott will urgently review how a lone gunman known to federal police and ASIO was able to take hostages in a Sydney cafe.

Government MP Mark Mitchell argues that the Sydney hostage drama is 100 per cent justification for the anti-terrorist legislation he helped bulldoze through Parliament last week.