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.

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.

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.

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.

Prime Minister John Key is expecting to receive advice over the coming weeks on further assistance New Zealand could offer to help counter the terrorist group Isis.

RAF jets were unleashed above Iraq as Britain threw its military might behind a US-led air war against the Isis (Islamic State) terror group.

32: An adventurous Frenchman whose attempts to get New Zealand's fledgling aviation industry off the ground were cut short by the outbreak of World War I.

The daughter of the British hostage murdered by Isis militants has spoken out against the terrorist organisation that has ravaged Iraq and Syria, saying it needs to be eradicated.

Britain could join air strikes in Iraq by the weekend after Prime Minister David Cameron set the country on the path to war.

Jihadist fighters have begun preparing defences against American air strikes and a feared land-based counter-offensive in Iraq and Syria, residents living under their rule say.

Welfare payments will be stripped from people in Australia suspected of supporting terrorism.

He strode out. He spoke well and he "My Fellow Americans-ed" with the best of them. But this speech was one US President Barack Obama never wanted to make, writes Jack Tame.

New Zealand would back United States airstrikes against Islamic State jihadists in Iraq, Prime Minister John Key and Labour leader David Cunliffe say.

American drones are being flown over the Syrian stronghold of Isis (Islamic State) for the first time, in an effort to target the jihadi group's leader, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi.

As the Nato summit in Wales ends, Simon Tisdall assesses their choices.

A ceasefire between Ukraine and separatist rebels began last night and appears to still be in place following a five-month bloody conflict left more than 2,000 dead.

The Ukrainian government and separatist rebels agreed to a ceasefire amid flickering hopes of peace.

Few experts disagree with David Cameron and Barack Obama's assertion that by paying ransoms Western governments end up bankrolling the very terrorism groups they seek to combat.

The Prince of Wales has written an impassioned letter to Christians in Iraq speaking of his "heartbreak" at their suffering at the hands of Jihadists.

An Iraqi soldier survived a mass execution carried out by Islamic State militants (Isis) by dropping to the floor and pretending to be dead.

A Briton will be the next hostage murdered by Islamist terrorists, the British extremist known as "Jihadi John" threatened in a beheading video released yesterday.