Latest from Syria

Aleppo hospitals bombed, out of use

The two largest hospitals in the Syrian city of Aleppo have been bombed, knocking them out of service and worsening an already dire medical crisis.

Kids operated on without anaesthetic

As Syrian regime troops begin a massive Aleppo ground offensive, doctors are having to operate on kids without anaesthetic after being overwhelmed by patients.

Scores of children killed as jets unleash savage assault

Dozens of civilians were killed in Aleppo as Russian and Syrian regime bombers pounded city with a wave of air strikes on unprecedented scale.

'People don't think they will live another day'

A humanitarian catastrophe is looming in Aleppo after two days of Russian and Syrian government airstrikes left two million people without running water.

'Why did they wait to kill us?'

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.

Boy's touching letter to Obama goes viral

A 6-year-old boy's letter to Barack Obama asking him to send a Syrian refugee child to come and live with his family has gone viral.

Cartoon: First world problems

Syria slams 'US incompetence'

Syria's UN ambassador, Bashar Ja'afari, slammed the United States at the special Security Council meeting.

'Blood on the hands of everybody'

John Key said will be blood on the hands of everybody including the Security Council and major participants in the Syria crisis if they could not find a resolution.

Growing fears at new Syria conflict

Clashes between Syrian rebels and Kurdish-aligned forces, both backed by the United States, have intensified in northern Syria.

US allies at war as Turks, Kurds clash

Turkish tanks and attack aircraft have clashed with Kurdish-led forces in northern Syria, just hours after hopes were raised about a new general ceasefire.

NZ faces tough task to help Syrians

New Zealand hopes of a breakthrough in Syria during its Presidency of the Security Council next month will be a tough ask if a debate in the Security Council on Monday was anything to go by.

Heartbreaking photo captures Syrian horror

The five-year-old's eyes are glassy with shock and he seems hardly aware of the blood seeping from a wound in his forehead.

Fateful night Isis was created

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

Syria maternity hospital bombed

At least two people have been killed and several, including babies, were injured in an air strike on a maternity hospital in Syria's Idlib province.

Scepticism over Aleppo offer

An offer of amnesty by Syrian President Bashar al-Assad has been met with scepticism by rebel fighters and residents.

Isis rewrites textbooks to push ideology

US-backed Syrian fighters have found evidence that the Islamic State has rewritten school textbooks to promote its violent ideology.

NZH Focus: Bombings in Syria

In NZ Herald Focus this morning - a boy has been pulled from the rubble of a building destroyed in Aleppo.