Britain's leaving the European Union promises to be a fraught divorce, with the first exchanges showing how breaking up will be hard to do after more than 40 years together.

It was Britain's poorer and less-educated citizens -- angry at not having shared in the economic benefits of a new world order -- who pushed it out of the European Union, in a vote that threatens elites, analysts say.

They are those who suffered the worst hangover from the economic crisis, and whose precarious economic position makes them most fearful of rising immigration -- to the benefit of far right groups in the EU and Donald Trump in the United States.

Britain's economy was plunged into a dizzying unknown on Friday as the country lurched towards the EU exit, with the world economy bracing for a hit on growth and unemployment.

Financial markets on Friday indicated the turbulence that lies ahead for the world's fifth biggest economy, with the pound falling to its lowest level against the dollar since 1985.

Britain's vote to become the first country to leave the EU opens up a Pandora's box of uncertainties threatening the survival of the whole post-war European project, analysts said Friday.

Reaching out to Russia and working to normalize ties with Israel, Turkey is moving to mend fences and restore its waning regional clout by returning to a policy known as "zero problems with neighbors."

Rebels, Christian militiamen, local fighters: a cluster of Syrian Arabs united by their hatred for the Islamic State group have cast their lot with Kurdish forces to defeat the jihadists.

A vote in favor of Brexit could embolden surging populist parties across Europe hoping to follow in Britain's footsteps and either leave the EU or significantly cut its powers, experts warn.

A complicated picture has emerged of 29-year-old Omar Mateen, who opened fire in a gay Orlando nightclub. The attack left 49 dead and dozens more wounded in the worst mass shooting in modern U.S. history.

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The murder of 50 people in Orlando, Florida is the latest U.S. violence linked to Islamist extremists over the past quarter of a century.

On Monday, the Islamic State (IS) group claimed responsibility for the Florida shooting, in which 49 people were killed, saying in a radio bulletin that it was carried out by "one of the soldiers of the caliphate."

Forces allied with Libya's unity government are closing in on Islamic State group fighters in Sirte in a month-long operation aimed at ousting the jihadists from their North African stronghold.