Steven Sotloff

The U.S. military launched a drone strike Thursday targeting "Jihadi John," the masked Islamic State terrorist who beheaded several Western hostages in Syria and came to symbolize the brutality of the militant group, U.S. officials said.

US President Barack Obama met today with the family of Steven Sotloff, who was abducted in Syria and beheaded by the Islamic State group in September.

The BBC said on Thursday it had learned that the "Jihadi John" suspect who has featured in several Islamic State beheading videos is Mohammed Emwazi from London.

The gruesome murders of foreign journalists by the Islamic State group contributed to 2014 being a particularly deadly year for international correspondents, an annual review by the Committee to Protect Journalists reported Tuesday.

Attacks on journalists have grown more barbaric and kidnappings have soared, Reporters Without Borders said Tuesday, after a year when violence against the media took centre stage and 66 reporters were killed.

The British government on Saturday said it had received reports that "Jihadi John", the British-accented Islamic State militant apparently responsible for the beheading of western hostages, had been injured in a US air strike.

Western journalists James Foley and John Cantlie converted to Islam while being held hostage in Syria, a Belgian newspaper quoted a jihadist suspect as saying on Wednesday, adding that the pair may have been forced to do so.

The Al-Jazeera television network said Sunday it had withdrawn an article posted on its website questioning the authenticity of videos showing the decapitation of two US journalists by Islamist militants.

Iraq on Saturday welcomed US President Barack Obama's plan for an international coalition against jihadists as a "strong message of support", after repeatedly calling for aid against the militants.

The family of murdered US journalist Steven Sotloff have paid a moving tribute to "his gentle soul", as a friend challenged his jihadist killers to debate the teachings of Islam.

In the cities and towns across the desert plains of northeast Syria, the ultra-hardline al Qaeda offshoot Islamic State has insinuated itself into nearly every aspect of daily life.

The family of murdered US journalist Steven Sotloff paid moving tribute to the reporter on Wednesday, remembering a gentle soul with a fondness for junk food and golf who was fiercely committed to giving "a voice to those who had none."

The United States plans to fight Islamic State until it is no longer a force in the Middle East and will seek justice for the killing of American journalist Steven Sotloff, President Barack Obama said on Wednesday.

President Barack Obama said Wednesday that the United States will not be intimidated by Islamic State militants after the beheading of a second American journalist and will build a coalition to "degrade and destroy" the group.

Steven Sotloff, a US journalist beheaded by Islamic State militants, also held Israeli citizenship, Israel said on Wednesday after apparently withholding the information in a bid to stem the risks to the captive.

The U.S. military launched a drone strike Thursday targeting "Jihadi John," the masked Islamic State terrorist who beheaded several Western hostages in Syria and came to symbolize the brutality of the militant group, U.S. officials said.

US President Barack Obama met today with the family of Steven Sotloff, who was abducted in Syria and beheaded by the Islamic State group in September.

The BBC said on Thursday it had learned that the "Jihadi John" suspect who has featured in several Islamic State beheading videos is Mohammed Emwazi from London.

The gruesome murders of foreign journalists by the Islamic State group contributed to 2014 being a particularly deadly year for international correspondents, an annual review by the Committee to Protect Journalists reported Tuesday.

Attacks on journalists have grown more barbaric and kidnappings have soared, Reporters Without Borders said Tuesday, after a year when violence against the media took centre stage and 66 reporters were killed.

The British government on Saturday said it had received reports that "Jihadi John", the British-accented Islamic State militant apparently responsible for the beheading of western hostages, had been injured in a US air strike.

Western journalists James Foley and John Cantlie converted to Islam while being held hostage in Syria, a Belgian newspaper quoted a jihadist suspect as saying on Wednesday, adding that the pair may have been forced to do so.

The Al-Jazeera television network said Sunday it had withdrawn an article posted on its website questioning the authenticity of videos showing the decapitation of two US journalists by Islamist militants.

Iraq on Saturday welcomed US President Barack Obama's plan for an international coalition against jihadists as a "strong message of support", after repeatedly calling for aid against the militants.

The family of murdered US journalist Steven Sotloff have paid a moving tribute to "his gentle soul", as a friend challenged his jihadist killers to debate the teachings of Islam.

In the cities and towns across the desert plains of northeast Syria, the ultra-hardline al Qaeda offshoot Islamic State has insinuated itself into nearly every aspect of daily life.

The family of murdered US journalist Steven Sotloff paid moving tribute to the reporter on Wednesday, remembering a gentle soul with a fondness for junk food and golf who was fiercely committed to giving "a voice to those who had none."

The United States plans to fight Islamic State until it is no longer a force in the Middle East and will seek justice for the killing of American journalist Steven Sotloff, President Barack Obama said on Wednesday.

President Barack Obama said Wednesday that the United States will not be intimidated by Islamic State militants after the beheading of a second American journalist and will build a coalition to "degrade and destroy" the group.

Steven Sotloff, a US journalist beheaded by Islamic State militants, also held Israeli citizenship, Israel said on Wednesday after apparently withholding the information in a bid to stem the risks to the captive.