The Latest Breaking News from IS

In today’s newsletter: The Guardian’s William Christou was the first western journalist to gain access to Sednaya prison. He reflects on what he saw

Massive U.S. airstrikes on Islamic State militants in Syria are meant partly as a message to the group and a move to ensure that the insurgents don’t try to take advantage of the chaos following the overthrow of President Bashar Assad’s government

HTS is currently seen as a terrorist organisation in the UK but this could all change soon

The Home Secretary can decide to lift a ban on a proscribed organisation.

The speed with which the Assad dictatorship was overthrown has taken most external observers by surprise, including agencies from Russia, Iran, America, Britain and France. Those in the know were closer to the scene of the action – Turkey, Israel and Saudi Arabia – to name but three.

Citizens dream of a better future but some are wary of Islamist groups claiming to represent them

The forgotten Syrian civil war has again flared up with the spectacular capture of Aleppo by opposition forces. A complex set of circumstances created the right time for rebels to strike, plunging Syria into an uncertain future and catching President Bashar al-Assad by surprise.

War broke out in 2011 following the government’s repression of peaceful pro-democracy protests and has spiralled into a complex conflict

Jack Letts, a British-Canadian detained in Syria, pleads for repatriation to Canada and denies being an IS member.