Syria's Kurds dreamt of an economic success story when they declared an autonomous region in the country's north, an area rich in oil resources and known as a breadbasket.

From the roads of Pennsylvania and corridors of power in Washington to the public squares of Cologne and EU offices in Brussels, the shockwaves from the July 15 failed coup have gone well beyond Turkey.

The United States has opened a new front in its campaign against the Islamic State group, launching air strikes to support Libyan forces battling to oust the jihadists from Sirte.

Key dates since the Islamic State group (IS) moved into Libya in 2014 amid the chaos that followed the ouster of Moammar Gadhafi in 2011.

Venezuelan electoral authorities are due to meet Monday to rule on the opposition's bid for a referendum on removing President Nicolas Maduro from power amid an economic implosion.

The National Electoral Council (CNE) left the opposition hanging last Tuesday, its original deadline to rule on whether Maduro's opponents had successfully gathered 200,000 signatures on a petition to make the leftist leader face a recall vote.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel's key ally in Bavaria distanced himself again on Saturday from her welcoming policy towards migrants in the wake of a series of brutal attacks in the country.

Al-Nusra Front, whose leader on Thursday announced its break from al-Qaida, is a well-organized, battle-hardened jihadist group allied with rebels fighting the Syrian regime.

On the subject of women in politics, Hillary Clinton is fond of quoting the words of another illustrious first lady, Eleanor Roosevelt, who once said: "You need to grow a skin as thick as a rhinoceros."

When out on the stump, in cafes, and rallies across the country, Clinton talks of the adversity she has faced down over the course of four decades in public life.

On a recent Sunday in southern Egypt, dozens of Coptic Christians gathered for mass next to the charred remains of a wooden structure they once used as a chapel.

The failed coup of July 15 left the Turkish army humiliated and weakened at a time when it must tackle the twin challenges of fighting guerrillas of the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) and jihadists from the Islamic State (IS) group.