Three senior commanders and members of their families were killed in the attacks.

Israel’s new hardline coalition government ploughs ahead with overhaul of judiciary.

Rare daytime operation as 2000 new settler homes reportedly approved, more violence fears.

Figure crosses major threshold, set to surge further under Israel’s new far-right govt.

The assault came after seven died in deadliest attack on Israeli civilians in a decade.

It's the deadliest day of violence in years, and Hamas is threatening revenge.

Are Ankara’s threats of a ground invasion serious?

Israel has vowed to respond with a "new level of force" to any further Hamas hostilities.

AP said journo violated social media policy. Tweets on Gaza conflict may be the reason.

Isil 'terrorist' shook with fear as she told journalist how she wants to come home.

American forces made a hasty and chaotic withdrawal from northeastern Syria.

The United States has been negotiating a ceasefire with Turkey.

The Turkish offensive has displaced at least 130,000 people.

Hundreds of Islamic State-affiliated foreigners escaped during heavy shelling.

The ancient city, almost destroyed by ISIS, could re-open to tourists next year.

Over one hundred people have been killed in a suicide bombing in Pakistan, the deadliest violence ahead of the parliamentary election. Footage: AP

Iraq has launched its biggest fight against Isis. PM Haider al-Abadi pledged to raise the Iraqi flag over Mosul once more.

Russia-US relations fell to a new post-Cold War low as the Obama Administration abandoned efforts to cooperate with Russia on ending the Syrian civil war.

Massacres attributed to Isis have struck on four continents this year, reflecting how its appeal is growing despite setbacks in Iraq and Syria.

On NZ Herald Focus – The Treasury is warning that record levels of immigration could push New Zealanders out of low-skilled jobs and Islamic State militants launch a major counter-attack on Iraqi government troops in Fallujah. Also Rolling Stones guitarist Ronnie Wood is a father again at the age of 68 after his wife gave birth to twin girls.

A disfiguring tropical disease has spread across the Middle East as millions are displaced from the war-torn region.

The US military has dealt a potential blow to the Taliban whose insurgent assaults pose a major obstacle to US hopes for ending the war in Afghanistan.

Lebanon's Hizbollah militia has blamed the killing of a militant described as its top commander in Syria on extremist Sunni insurgents.

The Isis affiliate in Egypt prompts Israel, Egypt and the Palestinian militant group Hamas to form an unlikely alliance against the terrorist group.

Recovering in Turkey after a deadly air strike in Aleppo, all Abu Abdu Tebyiah could think about was the six children he had been forced to leave behind.

Foreign Minister Murray McCully says Israel's latest land seizure deserves response from UN Security Council.

Putin's announcement that Russia will begin withdrawing the "main part" of its military from Syria is a surprise potential end to a six-month intervention.

Isis militants killed dozens of people in two major attacks on Baghdad yesterday, bombing a market and assaulting security forces on the city's outskirts.