The ransom business
Islamic State commanders know exactly how to extract the greatest possible profit from their hostages. Some care about little else
A letter from the border
Turkey, Syria It is the early hours of the day that Parliament votes on whether to bomb the so-called ‘Islamic…
Diary
Lebanon The Beirut press corps gather to remember the murdered journalist Jim Foley. People stand for a minute’s silence, drink…
The view from Kurdistan
Arriving in Erbil, you don’t feel you are in Iraq, but another country altogether, which is what the Kurds would…
‘It’s jihad, innit, bruv’
Meeting the British Muslims who have joined the ‘Islamic State’
Baghdad notebook
In the passport queue at Baghdad airport, my heart sinks. This place vies with Cairo for the title of most…
The enemy Assad wants
A new Islamist alliance among Syria’s rebels leaves the West’s friends in the country weaker than ever
A miniature civil war
Events in one Syrian town cast light on the nation’s strife
