Urgent changes to the law introduced to combat the threat of "foreign fighters" had been flagged by the Prime Minister as for short-term only.

The Islamic State militant known as Jihadi John has threatened to bring slaughter to the streets of Britain and the West in a new video announcing the murder of an American aid worker.

Three NZ Defence Force personnel have already left for the Middle East to scope out a role for New Zealand forces to help train Iraqi forces fight ISIS.

The Prime Minister's landmark speech on national security has two messages for New Zealanders, but they are somewhat discordant.

John Key says any NZ commitment to the campaign against Isis in the Middle East would be for a long time, pointing to the 10-year deployment of troops to Bamiyan.

Isis is a nasty, brutish group that uses terror in parts of the globe, but it doesn't threaten the entire world. So Kiwis don't need to fight, says David Shearer.

New Zealand's contribution to the fight against Isis is set to be discussed at Cabinet today.

The second of three brothers who travelled to Syria to join forces seeking the overthrow of Bashar al-Assad has been killed in fighting, his father has confirmed.

In the weeks and months before he was brutally murdered on camera by militants from Isis, James Foley was beaten, starved, subjected to mock executions and even waterboarded by his captors.

Ginger jihadist Abdullah Elmir could face 25 years in jail if he ever sets foot on Australian soil again.

Abdullah Elmi, an Australian jihadist, has been lambasted by his Australian relatives as an idiot for his chilling video message.

French journalist Nicholas Henin reveals describes his "brutal and gruesome" life as an Islamic State hostage.

Australian special forces and aircraft will not be sent into Iraq until the Cabinet considers a risk assessment and the United Nations gives the operation the nod.

Cameras captured the moment a Palestinian man was allegedly shot by an Israeli sniper while he searched for his family, before being shot again as he struggled to get up.

This winter was not a good one for farmers in the Fertile Crescent.

Pope Francis sacked the five-man board of the Vatican's financial watchdog - all Italians - in the latest move to break with a murky past under his predecessor.

Pope Francis has called for Christians, Jews and Muslims to work together for peace as he toured holy sites in Jerusalem on the final day of his Middle East pilgrimage.

The second round of peace talks for Syria have now collapsed. This double failure will accelerate the death toll.

The fate of dozens of men detained by the Syrian security forces as they left the besieged city of Homs is continuing to cause international concern.

The Pakistan Government met the Taliban for the first time yesterday in a last-ditch attempt to end the group's seven-year campaign of terror.

A New Zealand Army officer serving as a United Nations military observer was detained and released by armed men in Syria on Monday.