This report documents how hundreds of civilians have been killed and injured since an offensive began in June (2017) to recapture Raqqa, the 'capital' and main stronghold of the armed group, Islamic State (IS).

At Saydnaya Military Prison, the Syrian authorities have quietly and methodically organized the killing of thousands of people in their custody. Amnesty International’s research shows that the murder, torture, enforced disappearance and extermination, carried out at Saydnaya since 2011, has been perpetrated as part of an attack against the civilian population that has been widespread...

Turkey, Syria and Iraq depend on the Tigris-Euphrates river system for their food and water security. Both rivers have contributed to interstate tension and hostility, and the region is yet to agree on a water-sharing mechanism that could lead to more amicable relations.

Amid all the debate about what the West should or shouldn't do about the Syrian civil war, few if any commentators acknowledge the reality that the political outcome in Syria matters more to regional states than it does to the West.

Independent federal MP Andrew Wilkie claims "it is illegal for Australia to bomb in Syria" because governments can't bomb a sovereign state which poses no threat to other countries.