An intense battle for the Iraqi city of Tikrit, north of Baghdad, hints at the background and future of the wider conflict.
A fourth personal communication from the heart of territory where Islamic State holds sway.
The Israeli prime minister's purpose in Washington was to consolidate a vital and largely unrecognised political-religious alliance.
The post-9/11 wars In Afghanistan and Iraq never really ended. But in the campaign against Islamic State, their maps are having to be redrawn.
The challenge of jihadism in Iraq, Syria, Libya and elsewhere is reinforcing the United States's embrace of "remote control" warfare.
The containing of an explosion on the Hizbollah-Israel frontier has politics to thank. But next time could be different.
The return of United States-Russia tensions marks the end of the post-cold war. It also heralds a bonanza for companies eager to supply deadly new arsenals to powerful states.
Western states express optimism about the anti-jihadist campaign in Syria-Iraq. A report from a high-level meeting in London offers another view.
A third letter from an Islamic State operative based in an area of Syria ruled by the movement.
A confluence of experience, activism, energy and ideas is bringing a radical move towards sustainability ever closer.
The Paris massacre and its aftershocks must also be considered in the context of the larger war being fought in the Middle East and Africa.
A naval-base agreement between two royal states suits both sides. But money, along with security a big part of the deal, could also undermine it.
