Haitian officials had said the gang had asked for $1 million each for the group of 17, which included five children. The gang had threatened to kill the North Americans.

At least eight people were killed in Somalia's capital on Thursday (November 25) when Islamist militants launched a suicide attack on a U.N. security convoy using a vehicle laden with explosives, officials and witnesses said. The Islamist group al Shabaab claimed responsibility for the huge blast which rocked Mogadishu and injured at least 23 people, including school students, sending a column of smoke above the city. Gunfire echoed around the scene, witnesses said. It was not immediately clear if any U.N. personnel were among those killed or injured in the huge blast, which targeted the U.N. convoy as it passed near the site of a school.

Armed men attacked a bilingual school in south-west Cameroon, killing at least four students and one teacher and leaving several others hospitalised. Meanwhile, Tunisia's waste crisis continues to anger residents in Agareb. Our correspondents met with people living next to a toxic trash dump.

In October last year, around a dozen armed men riding motorbikes attacked a bilingual school in Kumba, also in the Southwest, killing seven children aged nine to 12. A dozen other children were wounded, either by gunfire or machete.

The assault on police officers guarding a polio vaccination team took place a day after the militants had called an end to their truce with the Pakistani government.

The Group of Seven countries have condemned Russia's military buildup near its border with Ukraine and warned that further military aggression against Ukraine would have "massive consequences." G7 foreign ministers also issued a warning to Iran.

Parents have accused the government of lacking empathy, as they remember one of the worst attacks in Pakistan's history. Imran Khan is negotiating with the TTP — which is responsible for the deaths of 132 children.

On February 19, 2020, a racist terrorist attack destroyed nine young lives. The perpetrator also killed himself and his mother. From the perspective of the relatives one year on, far too little has been done.

On December 19, 2016, Islamist attacker Anis Amri drove a stolen truck through a crowd in central Berlin, killing and injuring dozens. Five years later, the background to the attack remains unclear.

A Yemeni Houthi rebel attack on the Saudi Arabian town of Jizan resulted in two casualties and seven injured. Among the dead from the Houthi-fired projectile are a Saudi and a Yemeni national.

The attacker set off an explosive device at the entrance to a bar and restaurant in the Democratic Republic of Congo, as customers gathered on Christmas Day. Two children were reportedly among those killed.

Amid a security crisis in the West African country, the government declared a mourning period of two days after a suspected militant attack claimed 41 lives.