Opposing sides in the Syrian war came face-to-face in United Nations peace talks for the first time in three years yesterday.

More than 2800 needy children are already being sponsored by the charity Variety's Kiwi Kids scheme, launched in 2013, and a further 600 are on its waiting list.

Russian media denied that chemical attacks had taken place, depicting rescue workers as jihadist militants and doctors as propagandist purveyors of "fake news".

A Russian airstrike in northern Syria has killed three Turkish soldiers and wounded 11 more, senior Russian officials have confirmed.

Royal Air Force jets were scrambled to intercept nuclear-capable Russian bombers over the North Atlantic.

President Donald Trump denounced arguments against his immigration order as "disgraceful".

Twice a week in the middle of the night, men were taken in "meat fridges" to their death inside a military prison. WARNING: Graphic.

Syrian President al-Assad's Govt has secretly executed between 5000 and 13,000 people in just one prison as part of its campaign to eliminate opposition.

Nearly one in two Americans support Donald Trump's block on some immigrants

A young Kiwi couple's dream to see America has been dashed - at least temporarily - by Donald Trump's ban on visitors from seven majority-Muslim nations.

Prime Minister Bill English says it remains unclear whether a US travel ban applies to New Zealanders who also hold a passport from Muslim-majority countries.

Prime Minister Bill English has a duty to speak out against US President Donald Trump's ban on Muslim travellers, the Green Party says.

US President Trump and Russian President Vladi­mir Putin discuss coordinating on ISIS and Syria, Kremlin says.

Travellers with valid visas and green cards have reportedly been prevented from boarding flights and turned away at US border control.

The 750 refugees who arrive in NZ each year now face a whole new journey navigating our foreign land.

The father of a toddler who was found dead lying face down in the mud after trying to flee Myanmar has pleaded with the world to take notice. WARNING: GRAPHIC

Sitting in her family's new apartment in Turkey, Fatemah al-Abed still cannot believe they made it out of Aleppo alive.

Turkish authorities are hunting a lone gunman who opened fire at one of Istanbul's most popular nightclubs, killing 39 and wounding 70.

A truce aimed at ending the bloody five-year war in Syria has been announced. But what does it mean?

A black box has been found in the wreckage of a Russian military plane that crashed into the Black Sea on Sunday.

Mass graves with the bodies of civilians subjected to brutal torture have been found in Aleppo areas left by militants.

Syrian refugee Mohamad Eid Morad and his family are grateful to be celebrating a safe first Christmas together in New Zealand.

Tens of thousands of people from east Aleppo as well as two Shi'ite villages in Syria's Idlib province have been evacuated.

New Zealand is increasing aid to those affected by six years of bloody civil war in Syria.

A chilling video shows two young girls - aged 7 and 9 - being embraced and kissed by their parents before being sent on suicide missions in Damascus.

COMMENT: I don't want to live in a world where we shrug our shoulders at the destruction of a state and the killing of its people. That's not the NZ that I grew up in.

A look at the two main players in the killing of a Russian diplomat in Ankara, Turkey.

COMMENT: The situation is complex even for the people who live there, let alone us trying to understand it. None of our business.

Now, as the battle reaches its final stages, visitors are returning to the historical sites at the city's centre - and taking selfies amid the ruins.

Seven policemen, two Jordanian civilians and one Canadian tourist were killed on Sunday.