New Zealand's partnership with Jordan was never more important than it is today, says Jordan's King Abdullah II.

Woman arrested after alleging rape is told she's free to go after case collapses.

A British tourist allegedly gang-raped in Dubai faces a prison sentence and needs $42,200 for legal fees after police accused her of having "extra-marital sex".

US President-elect Donald Trump has promised everything. But what does he stand for? These are his key policies.

The US presidential election has become an object lesson in everything that ails a country long seen as a beacon of freedom and hope.

Thousands of residents poured out of eastern neighbourhoods of Mosul yesterday, the first significant wave of people to escape the city held by Isis.

The United Nations have said that at least 239 migrants have drowned this week in two shipwrecks off the coast of Libya.

More than 300 child soldiers, dubbed the "cubs of the caliphate", have reportedly been killed after being sent into battle.

Iran's supreme leader says the statements made by the frontrunners in the US Presidential race are proof of the destruction of human values in the United States,"

Nick Jenkins discovers a friendly way to visit the turbulent Middle East.

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

A 22-year-old woman is to be hanged this week after being found guilty of killing the husband she says abused her.

Watch NZH Focus: A Kiwi face transplant surgeon has lead his team in transplanting two donor arms to a retired marine who lost all four limbs in Afghanistan.

A stalled free trade deal with Saudi Arabia and other Middle Eastern countries will be completed, Trade Minister Todd McClay has announced.

On a clear afternoon last Monday a line of humanitarian aid trucks eased to a stop in front of a cluster of warehouses packed with aid supplies 24km outside the Syrian city of Aleppo.

Alison Stephenson realises why her luxury hotel was so cheap - it's 50C outside.

'Magnificent mosques, diverse history and unrivalled hospitality,' are drawcards for the country.

COMMENT: Burkinis be damned is the one-sided debate raging here in France. Comeback king Nicolas Sarkozy has promised voters he'll ban the burkini.

Dubai's new rainforest hotel will make for a unique guest experience.

An Islamic State insider has revealed the never-before-told story of the shadowy meeting that spawned the bloodthirsty terror group.

In parts of the world right now, it feels like 60C. Experts fear it won't be long till the scorching heat threatens human survival.

Christopher Adams runs into an alarming situation in a Middle Eastern market.

US-backed Syrian fighters have found evidence that the Islamic State has rewritten school textbooks to promote its violent ideology.

Isis fighters shot down a Russian helicopter above Syria, killing both pilots on board.

Relatives of Marie Colvin, a Sunday Times journalist, have filed a lawsuit claiming that Syrian government officials killed her.

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

This year is turning out to be one of the deadliest for asylum-seekers who try to cross the Mediterranean Sea to Europe.

COMMENT: David Shearer's article last week, "Border decisions condemn countries to conflict", seems conflicted.

The non-combat deployment in the battle against the Islamic State had been set to finish early next year, but would now last until November 2018.