Islamic State (IS) militants have launched a new assault on the Iraqi city of Samarra, killing at least 3 people and injuring dozens more.

Car bombs were reportedly detonated along the main motorway west of the city, home to one of Shia Islam's holiest shrines. US-led coalition airstrikes drove back the IS fighters from villages to the south of the city that were captured by the IS offensive.

The 2006 destruction of the al-Askari shrine by Sunni militants has been considered a key event that triggered revenge attacks by Shia militias across Iraq, tipping the country into sectarian violence.

The Nigerian president Goodluck Jonathon, opened his campaign to win a second elected term as Nigeria’s leader, by defending his record at tackling Boko Haram militants that have been responsible for killings across the region.

Criticising the opposition, Jonathan said,

“They talk about insecurity, that they will fight insecurity. Ask him when he was head of government did he buy one rifle for Nigerian soldiers? No. these people did not buy anything for the military.”

The British Prime Minister, David Cameron said that he would not take part in TV debates ahead of the general elections unless the Green Party was also included, reports the BBC.

The current proposals include the Conservatives, Labour, the Liberal Democrats and UKIP in the television debates.

The greens party said it was deeply disappointed in the regulator’s stance.

The suggested schedule is for debates on 2 April, 16 April and 30 April ahead of the election on 7 May.

At least 12 people have been killed in Paris, after two armed gunmen attacked the offices of satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo.

The magazine's editor-in-chief Stephane Charbonnier and three other cartoonists are reportedly amongst the dead, with at least two police officers also reportedly killed. A further four people are seriously injured.

The attack, carried out by at least two masked gunmen has drawn international condemnation.

France's President Francois Hollande told reporters at the scene, "an act of exceptional barbarism has just been committed here in Paris against a newspaper, meaning (against) the expression of liberty."

The Canadian government pledged to accept a further 10,000 Syrian refugees and 3,000 Iraqis in 2015 in attempts to help deal with the displacement caused by Islamic State militants.

Canada’s appeal meets 10 per cent of the latest United Nations Refugee Agency appeal for nations to accept refugees from the conflict caused by Islamic State militants, reports The Globe and Mail.