Experts warn independent aid workers of conflict zone dangers
Aid workers with no organisation affiliation or security most vulnerable to danger
Syrian army, Hezbollah advance in campaign against rebels in south -monitor
The south is the last notable foothold of the mainstream, non-jihadist opposition to President Bashar al-Assad
American hostage Mueller's family, U.S. government say she is dead
President Obama vows to hunt down the culprits; cause of U.S. aid worker's death still unknown
Aid agencies see many more migrant deaths in Mediterranean
So far, 50 people have died in the Mediterranean this year with nearly one-quarter of migrants reaching Italy being Syrian
Iraqi Yazidis take revenge as Islamic State atrocities unearthed
Arabs and Yazidis agree Sinjar will never be the same as it was before IS came, when they were friends and farmed together
Egypt blasts wound 10, air raids kill 15 militants-sources
Frequent small-scale attacks have hurt Egypt's efforts to project an image of stability after four years of turmoil
Twenty-nine migrants die of cold on Italian coast guard boats
Patrol boats are too small to keep migrants below deck and some died of hypothermia after 18 hours in the cold
At least 29 migrants die of cold on Italian coast guard boats
The migrants died of hypothermia for spending some 18 hours on deck, buffeted by high winds and spray
Senior Afghan militant with suspected IS links "killed in drone attack"
Rauf had been influential in Afghanistan's jihadi movement for well over a decade
Yazidis receive military training from Kurdish peshmerga
Volunteer Yazidis receive military training from the peshmerga in an effort to protect their families and territory from Islamic State militants