Venezuelans seeking to oust President Nicolas Maduro expect a crucial ruling Tuesday on whether their efforts to remove him in a referendum can proceed.

Here is a quick guide to the process:

More than his security forces, what saved Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on the night of the coup attempt was the extraordinary devotion the charismatic strongman inspires among his followers.

In the tense hours when rebel troops attacked with fighter jets and tanks, and commandos were closing in on him, Erdogan called directly on the Turkish people to resist the mutineers.

For most people in Turkey, July 15, 2016 was just another brilliant summer day heading into a balmy night. Until around 10:30 pm.

Then came the F-16s roaring over Ankara, dropping bombs on targets including parliament. Tanks and heavily armed soldiers appeared on the Bosphorus bridges in Istanbul, where they were soon confronted by angry citizens.

The Islamic State group has claimed several high-profile attacks in the West that it appears to have inspired rather than planned, sowing fear and boosting its profile at low cost.

Such attacks require far less effort than planning and financing an operation in Europe or the United States and dispatching IS jihadists to carry it out, and also leave fewer signs for authorities trying to foil them.

The failed coup attempt in Turkey and President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's firm crackdown on the alleged plotters have aggravated ties between Washington and Ankara, already poisoned by the war in Syria and human rights issues.

Although they are NATO allies and officially partners in the fight against the Islamic State group, the United States and Turkey have seen their relations take an icy turn in recent months.

When President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's drawn face was seen on television appealing to supporters through a humble mobile phone app, some may have thought the game was up for the Turkish strongman.

But his backers flooded the streets of Istanbul and Ankara in response to his desperate appeal on FaceTime to counter the botched military coup that represented the biggest threat to his 13-year domination of the country.

Fethullah Gulen, the U.S.-based cleric accused by Ankara of orchestrating the coup attempt in Turkey, has a wide following in his native country, where he enjoys support among the police and judiciary.

The reclusive Islamic preacher, who lives in a tiny town in the Pocono Mountains of the U.S. state of Pennsylvania, was immediately accused by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan of being behind the coup attempt.

In striking the jewel of the French Riviera on a national holiday the truck attack on Nice delivered a new blow to France's tourism sector already reeling from repeated terror attacks.

A gunman drove a 19-tonne truck into a crowd of revelers following Bastille Day fireworks Thursday evening, killing at least 84 people -- in what President Francois Hollande declared a "terrorist" attack.

The living held their hands. They knew they were dead, but they would not let them go.

A year ago, a landmark nuclear deal with world powers led jubilant Iranians to dream of an end to isolation and economic hardship, but critics say US obstacles have soured those hopes.