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The Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has condemned the beheading of a Canadian hostage kidnapped by Islamist militants in the Philippines.

John Ridsdel, 68, was taken from a tourist resort with three others by the Abu Sayyaf group in September 2015. In November, the Islamist militants released a video showing Mr Ridsdel and three other captives, and demanded a ransom of $80m (£55m).

Mr Trudeau called his death “an act of cold-blooded murder”.

A Philippines army spokesman said Mr Ridsdel’s severed head was found on the remote island of Jolo, hours after the Abu Sayyaf ransom deadline expired. Mr Ridsdel was taken to Jolo after being kidnapped from a marina near the city of Davao, along with another Canadian, Robert Hall; a Norwegian, Kjartan Sekkingstad; and a Philippine woman, Mr Hall’s girlfriend, Marites Flor.

Mr Ridsdel later warned in a video released by the group that he was due to be killed on 25 April if no ransom was paid. The Canadian government has a policy against paying ransoms.

Confirming the death of Mr Ridsdel, Mr Trudeau called it a “heinous act”. “Canada condemns without reservation the brutality of the hostage-takers, and this unnecessary death. This was an act of cold-blooded murder and responsibility rests squarely with the terrorist group who took him hostage,” he said in a statement.

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Swedish intelligence service Sapo is investigating a possible terror threat to the capital, Stockholm, local media say.

Iraqi authorities had informed Sweden that seven or eight militants from the so-called Islamic State group had travelled to Sweden, newspapers reported.

A Sapo spokesman would not confirm the nature of the information received. But he told Swedish Radio the information could not be “dismissed”. The same spokesman, Simon Bynert, told another news outlet that Sapo was also sharing information with the national police service “to see if they in turn can implement measures that fall under their remit”.

Police and national agencies are on stand-by, though Sapo has cautioned that it receives this type of information “quite often”. The national terror threat level is unchanged at three, or “elevated”, on a five-point scale. Government officials would not comment.

Stockholm is the largest city in the Nordic countries, with a population of some 900,000.

President Barack Obama says he is to send up to 250 more special forces troops to Syria to support local militias in the fight against so-called Islamic State (IS).

The new deployment will bring to 300 the number of US special forces soldiers in Syria.

Speaking in Hannover, Germany, Mr Obama said the troops would not lead the fight but would provide training. He has repeatedly ruled out sending in American ground forces”Make no mistake,” he said. “These terrorists will learn the same lessons that others before them have, which is: your hatred is no match for our nations, united in defence of our way of life.”

Earlier, US Deputy National Security Advisor Ben Rhodes said IS had been pushed out of some strongholds in northern and eastern Syria. “We believe the commitment of additional US special forces can play a critical role,” he added.

The goal, officials said earlier, was to encourage more Sunni Arabs to join Kurdish fighters in north-east Syria.

While in Hannover, President Obama is discussing Syria and other foreign policy issues with leaders of the UK, Germany, France and Italy. On Sunday, Mr Obama said he was “deeply concerned” about a surge in violence in Syria, with the opposition accusing the government of violating a truce brokered by the US and Russia.

Mr Obama has resisted calls to send combat troops into Syria, where a five-year-old conflict has killed more than 250,000 people and displaced some 11 million others. Of those, four million have fled abroad, including growing numbers who are making the dangerous journey to Europe.

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Police in Australia have charged a 16-year-old with preparing an act of terrorism, saying they believe he was plotting to target Anzac Day services.

It is the second year in a row that authorities say they have intercepted an attack linked to the holiday.

Anzac Day commemorates the first major battle involving Australian and New Zealand forces during World War One.

The 16-year-old was denied bail and is due to appear in a children’s court on Monday. If convicted he faces life in prison. Officers allege the 16-year-old was planning to attack a dawn ceremony in Sydney. They arrested him near his home in the suburb of Auburn. Police believe he was acting alone but gave few other details.
The ceremony, attended by thousands of people including veterans, happened without incident.

Justice Minister Michael Keenan said the age of the suspect was troubling but not surprising. “Unfortunately, this is part of a pattern that we have been observing, where younger and younger people are targeted and incited to go and commit an act of terror,” he told reporters in Perth, according to the Associated Press news agency.

Last October, a 15-year-old British boy was sentenced to life in prison for plotting to behead police officers at an Anzac Day parade in Australia.

A security advisor to Burundi’s vice-president has been shot dead while dropping off his daughter at school in the capital Bujumbura.

General Athanase Kararuza and his wife died instantly. No group has said it was behind the attack.

More than 400 people have been killed in the turmoil since President Pierre Nkurunziza said he would run for a third term last April. A string of high-ranking army officials have been targeted during the conflict. Security forces have also been accused of killing opponents and dumping them in mass graves by rights group Amnesty International.

Shortly after the attack, the International Criminal court announced that it was starting a preliminary investigation into the violence in Burundi. This will decide whether a full-blown investigation will take place, which could result in charges against those accused of being behind the violence.

The killing is a blow for President Nkurunziza because it shows that he cannot guarantee the safety of his officers. On Sunday the Minister for Human Rights Martin Nivyabandi survived a grenade attack as he was coming out of church. Although both opposition and government forces are ethnically mixed, some fear that the violence could descend into a repeat of the genocidal killings which the country has previously experienced.

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