The possibility of NZ soldiers taken prisoner and appearing in beheading videos does not bear thinking about, let alone electorally, writes John Armstrong.

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.

One hundred years after the outbreak of World War I, Britain plans to repay some of the debt issued to help finance the conflict.

On board the troop ship Aparima in 1915, Neville Hawkes was in high spirits as he penned a postcard to his little brother.

A large-scale uprising by people living under the totalitarian regime of Isis (Islamic State) is the most likely trigger that will lead to the undoing of the self-declared caliphate.

Palestinian leaders accused Israel of an act of war in closing the sacred Temple Mount religious site after a dramatic rooftop ambush of an Arab accused of trying to kill a far-Right Jewish activist provoked rioting.

41: The Gallipoli landings occurred on April 25, 1915. It was eight months of bloodshed before evacuations began in December.

There were reasons for optimism on that February day, eight years ago, that Britain's Helmand force would not suffer the same fate as the French in Vietnam

39: In August 1915, an Anzac shot through the eyes recognised one comforting voice as he lay close to death in a Cairo hospital.

This month marks the 75th anniversary of the arrival in New Zealand of Chinese refugee families fleeing the Japanese. Renee Liang talks to one of the original refugees, now an Auckland GP, about the long road to acceptance.

An expose by the New York Times claims the US military covered up the discovery of huge chemical weapons sites in Iraq - in areas now controlled by Islamic State.

The US was struggling to put aside misunderstandings between itself and Turkey, after officials in Ankara contradicted a claim by top officials that the two countries had reached a deal to give the....

A summit of military commanders from the US-led coalition against the Islamic State, including New Zealand, will meet in Washington tomorrow.

Bomb camera vision showing Australian bombs obliterating Islamic State targets won't be publicly released.

36: It's easy to commemorate every Tongan who fought for New Zealand in the Great War - just 94 signed up to fight for the tiny country. Eleven died from combat, illness and accidents.

Toby Manhire argues the decision of whether NZ will jump into a looming war against Islamic State is simply too big for John Key to decide by himself.

35: Hundreds of vessels were sunk by U-boats and Allied submarines during World War I, from the Mediterranean to the South Atlantic to the Pacific.

If New Zealand decides to send forces to support an international response to the "Islamic State" in Iraq and Syria (Isis), the decision will be made by the Government not Parliament, the Prime Minister has explained.

Any commitment of military assistance to counter Islamic State militants in Iraq should not make NZ more of a target for terrorism, Prime Minister John Key says.

The argument that if we don't join the American crusade to wipe out Muslim fanatics in Iraq and Syria, they'll swoop down to Godzone and behead us all is a rerun of the old Vietnam War domino theory....

PM says any plan to give assistance to efforts against militants will probably be debated in Parliament but the ultimate decision is the Government's alone.

Paula Bennett, Jonathan Coleman, Amy Adams and Simon Bridges have consolidated their status as the National Government’s rising stars in John Key’s new Cabinet.

34: It's said the greatest technological advances come in wartime. Indeed, World War I saw the invention of tanks, flamethrowers, tracer bullets, depth charges, aircraft carriers, and even sanitary napkins.

NZ's elite SAS personnel aren't yet on standby for deployment to combat Islamic State militants - but the PM can't rule out sending them in if asked.

The leader of al-Qaida's Syria affiliate has vowed that his group would "use all possible means" to fight back against airstrikes by the U.S.-led coalition.