The father of one of three schoolgirls who are believed to have travelled to Syria to join Isis says her siblings "cannot stop crying".

When Isis took over Raqqa, a wave of black swept over the city. It's turned into a grim prison for residents - with no escape in sight.

Three British "jihadi brides" who ran away from home to join fighters from Isis were believed to have crossed the Turkish border into Syria.

There is no crime of war, nor crime against humanity that they have not committed, writes Alexander Gillespie. But what is NZ's risk in getting involved?

Last June the US tried a bold rescue mission to gather hostages taken by Isis. It failed. All the hostages have since died. Was the White House to blame?

The Iraqi Government has asked for New Zealand's help to fight the Islamic State by describing the battle as World War III.

They're being lured with promises of reclaiming a lost Islamic empire. But foreign fighters for Isis often in up on the front lines, or as suicide bombers.

Isis militants are reported to have publicly beheaded a man after finding him guilty of practicing “sorcery”.

Governments increasingly view human rights as "a luxury" they can ill afford, Human Rights Watch said yesterday.

Foreign Minister Murray McCully has condemned the killing of up to 30 civilians in Eastern Ukraine over the weekend and called on Russia to intervene.

Foreign Minister Murray McCully is to travel to Jordan to discuss the crisis in Syria and the on-going threat of the Islamic State terror group.

Islamic State has published a list of punishments ranging from 80 lashes for drinking alcohol and losing a hand for theft, to death for committing blasphemy.

The Prime Minister has told a BBC interviewer New Zealand's military contribution to the war against jihadists in Iraq and Syria is "the price of the club".

The devastated father of France's most wanted woman has handed himself in to police, declaring: "That is my daughter."

He undertook a dangerous 10-month journey to find his teenage son in Syria. Now a father is returning to help other families track their youngsters.

A Syrian asylum-seeker who piloted nearly 770 illegal migrants on board a cargo ship to Italy has described how he was appointed as the "captain" of the ship by a trafficking gang.

Nearly 1000 refugees were safely brought ashore in Italy yesterday after being abandoned by suspected smugglers on a merchant ship.

A Kiwi jihadist who claims to be fighting in Syria with Isis has been mistakenly broadcasting his exact location after forgetting to turn off his phone's tracking function.

The father of a Jordanian pilot captured by Isis after his plane crashed pleaded for his son's release, as reports emerged that the jihadists were preparing to publicly execute him.

A man accused of obtaining a New Zealand passport as he prepared to fight in Syria will appear in an Australian court today.

A 15-year-old was prevented from joining Isis by British police who hauled her off a plane at Heathrow just as it was due to take off.

Peter Kassig, the American aid worker murdered by Isis (Islamic State) in Syria, may have been killed by a gunshot wound rather than beheading, analysis has suggested.

Intelligence agencies believe a teenager and her 20-year-old friend have become the first Australian women to join terrorists in Syria and offer themselves as jihadi brides.

I was in Normandy, talking to the former neighbours of a French jihadist last seen slitting the throat of a Syrian captive in an Islamic State (Isis) militant video.

The father of a teenager from Cardiff is thought to be the first Briton to have rescued his son from the jihadist group Islamic State.

The British Isis killer known as "Jihadi John" may have a body double, according to a new video analysis.

British journalist and Islamic State (Isis) group hostage John Cantlie says in a newly released propaganda video he is likely to suffer the same fate as other US and UK hostages, who were beheaded.

Much has changed in Iraq and Syria in the six weeks since the last Western hostage, Alan Henning, was beheaded.

UK has received reports that notorious terrorist accused of killing two British hostages has been injured in an airstrike.