The Al-Saud dynasty gave its family name to the Gulf Arab monarchy of Saudi Arabia ruled by the sons of founder Abdul Aziz bin Saud.

Saudi Arabia's hard-charging Mohammed bin Salman, named crown prince on Wednesday, holds unusual power for a man of just 31, so much so that diplomats nickname him "Mr Everything".

The son of King Salman has risen to become Saudi Arabia's most influential and prominent figure since being named second-in-line to the throne in early 2015.

The unprecedented U.S. downing of a Syrian regime warplane highlights the rapidly shifting dynamic in the six-year conflict where President Donald Trump has given American commanders a freer rein in the battlefield.

The Islamic State group is in retreat across Syria and Iraq, and the contours of a new conflict among the array of parties battling it are already starting to appear.

The U.S. military shot down a Syrian government warplane on Sunday, saying it had targeted an American-allied Kurdish force that is battling the extremists in their de facto capital, Raqqa. That led Russia, a close ally of Syrian President Bashar Assad, to warn that it would target U.S.-led coalition planes flying west of the Euphrates River.

A diplomatic crisis pitting Saudi Arabia against Qatar has put Syrian rebels in a difficult position, analysts say, after rivalries between Gulf backers had already weakened the opposition.

Europe is struggling to respond to the challenge posed by the thousands of jihadists who traveled to the battlefields of Syria or Iraq and have now begun to return home.

Many Iraqi Kurds hailed last week's announcement of a September referendum on independence as historic, but major obstacles will remain on the path to statehood after an expected landslide "yes".

The Gaza Strip, run by Islamist movement Hamas for the past 10 years, is a poverty-stricken and overcrowded Palestinian coastal enclave suffering from a severe Israeli blockade:

Its strongholds in Iraq and Syria slipping from its grasp, the Islamic State group threatened to make this year's Ramadan a bloody one at home and abroad. With attacks in Egypt, Britain and Iran among others and a land-grab in the Philippines, the group is trying to divert attention from its losses and win over supporters around the world in the twisted competition for jihadi recruits during the Muslim holy month.

Supported by crutches and a fellow Islamic State jihadi, Abu Shuaib al-Maslawi hopped on his left leg toward the explosives-laden black SUV that he would minutes later plow into a group of Iraqi troops in the northern city of Mosul.

Then, turning toward the camera, the one-legged suicide bomber spoke his final words, urging Muslims in the West who cannot come to the extremists' self-declared caliphate in Iraq and Syria, to carry out attacks inside their home countries.