On a clear afternoon last Monday a line of humanitarian aid trucks eased to a stop in front of a cluster of warehouses packed with aid supplies 24km outside the Syrian city of Aleppo.

Alison Stephenson realises why her luxury hotel was so cheap - it's 50C outside.

'Magnificent mosques, diverse history and unrivalled hospitality,' are drawcards for the country.

COMMENT: Burkinis be damned is the one-sided debate raging here in France. Comeback king Nicolas Sarkozy has promised voters he'll ban the burkini.

Graham Reid spends 24 hours in Dubai International's famously huge and busy terminals.

A Kiwi team is battling sweltering and dusty conditions in the Middle East.

Dubai's new rainforest hotel will make for a unique guest experience.

An Islamic State insider has revealed the never-before-told story of the shadowy meeting that spawned the bloodthirsty terror group.

In parts of the world right now, it feels like 60C. Experts fear it won't be long till the scorching heat threatens human survival.

Isis fighters shot down a Russian helicopter above Syria, killing both pilots on board.

Relatives of Marie Colvin, a Sunday Times journalist, have filed a lawsuit claiming that Syrian government officials killed her.

Massacres attributed to Isis have struck on four continents this year, reflecting how its appeal is growing despite setbacks in Iraq and Syria.

This year is turning out to be one of the deadliest for asylum-seekers who try to cross the Mediterranean Sea to Europe.

COMMENT: David Shearer's article last week, "Border decisions condemn countries to conflict", seems conflicted.

The non-combat deployment in the battle against the Islamic State had been set to finish early next year, but would now last until November 2018.

In the same way, people in 100 years will live with the consequences of the decisions we make now.

A disfiguring tropical disease has spread across the Middle East as millions are displaced from the war-torn region.

It is not often that international solutions work so well but when it happens, it deserves a tentative cheer.

Recovering in Turkey after a deadly air strike in Aleppo, all Abu Abdu Tebyiah could think about was the six children he had been forced to leave behind.

The Isis affiliate in Egypt prompts Israel, Egypt and the Palestinian militant group Hamas to form an unlikely alliance against the terrorist group.

Putin's announcement that Russia will begin withdrawing the "main part" of its military from Syria is a surprise potential end to a six-month intervention.

This will be the new longest flight in the world - more than 18 hours flight time between Doha and Auckland.

Ewan McDonald heads to the UAE to live the high life.

The terrorist group is making millions by funnelling dollars looted from banks into legitimate currency markets in the Middle East.

Isis militants killed dozens of people in two major attacks on Baghdad yesterday, bombing a market and assaulting security forces on the city's outskirts.

Across Syria's battered and blasted landscape, the relief was palpable as an unlikely truce actually took hold.

The serenity of Majdal Shams leaves Edna Heled at peace.

Up to 70,000 Syrians are heading for Turkey, threatening to send a new wave of refugees into Europe as Syria's civil war intensifies.

Isis is building an "army of the poor" in its new haven in Libya by recruiting foot soldiers from Africa's poorest nations, intelligence chiefs warn.