Teenage girls abducted by Islamic State fighters in Iraq and Syria are being sold in slave markets "for as little as a pack of cigarettes," the UN envoy on sexual violence said Monday.

An Islamist coalition that includes Syria's al-Qaeda affiliate al-Nusra Front takes over one of the last government strongholds in western Idlib province, activists say.

Australia plans to pass a law within weeks to give the government power to strip citizenship from dual nationals who are suspected terrorists even if they are not convicted of a crime, the prime minister says.

A rare bird may become extinct in Syria because of the capture of Palmyra by Islamic State, experts say.

Saudi Arabia advertises for eight new executioners, recruiting extra staff to carry out an increasing number of death sentences, usually done by public beheading.

The Islamic State group on Thursday released an audio message purportedly from its leader, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, who has not been seen or heard from in months.

Fresh efforts to revive peace talks on Syria is due to begin in Geneva.

Islamist rebels in Syria takes over much of the key north-western town of Jisr al-Shughur, activists say.

Islamic State (IS) has lost more than a quarter of its territory in Iraq since US-led coalition air strikes began in August, the Pentagon has said.

According to Israeli military assessment, Israel could suffer hundreds of civilian dead if it fights another war with Hezbollah.

A monitoring group says, since last three months, the Islamic State has recruited at least 400 children in Syria and trained them as so-called "Cubs of the Caliphate" and hard line indoctrination.

Nine British medical students and doctors are feared to has travel to Syria to work in areas controlled by Islamic State militants.

The US defence department says it is investigating an online threat allegedly made by Islamic State to about 100 of its military personnel, and posted a list of the names and addresses on a website linked to the group alongside a call for them to be killed

Chechen woman living in Netherlands takes her two young children against their father's will to join Islamic State (IS) militants in Syria

Three teenagers who were stopped from travelling to Syria from Turkey are flown back to the UK and arrested, Scotland Yard says

Three teenagers who were stopped from travelling to Syria from Turkey have been flown back to the UK and arrested, Scotland Yard has said.

The Vatican's ambassador to the United Nations endorses military action against the Islamic State group in Iraq and Syria -- an unusual move because the Vatican traditionally has opposed force in the region

Islamic State (IS) accepts pledge of allegiance from Nigeria's militant group Boko Haram, according to an audio message

Melbourne schoolboy who travelled to Middle East to fight with Islamic State (IS) dies in suicide attack in Iraq

US-led coalition air strike in Syria hits an oil refinery run by the Islamic State militant group killing 30 people