Pope Francis's three-day trip to the United Arab Emirates Sunday marks the first time a pontiff has ever visited the conservative Muslim Arabian Peninsula, where over 2.6 million Catholics reside.

While the overwhelming majority of Catholics in the region are expatriates, according to the Apostolic Vicariates of southern and northern Arabia, the pope's journey to the birthplace of Islam is another milestone in his efforts to boost interreligious ties.

Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini was an austere and charismatic cleric who became an icon of the 21st century for standing against the West and bringing down Iran's monarchy, but also for his revolutionary ideas about Islam’s role in politics.

With diplomatic ties between France and Italy increasingly tense, some observers have reached for marital metaphors to describe the breakdown in relations between two countries at the heart of the European Union.

Islamic State (IS) jihadists in June 2014 proclaimed a "caliphate" across the swathes of territory they had seized in Syria and Iraq, but have since lost one territory after another.

Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro accuses the United States of trying to orchestrate a coup against him. While the U.S. says it's trying to rescue Venezuela's democracy, Washington has a long history of interventions — military and otherwise — in Latin American politics.

Venezuelan oil output has plunged by more than half in 30 years but the country still sits on the world's biggest crude reserves, so any political changes will ripple worldwide.

The fallout from developments in Venezuela and uncertainty over Britain's exit from the European Union are set to be key points of discussions Thursday at the World Economic Forum in the Swiss town of Davos.

Following two days when much of the debate has centered on issues related to global trade, particularly the dispute between the United States and China, and climate change, the world's political and business elites are digesting what's going on in Venezuela, after the U.S. recognized opposition leader Juan Guaido as interim president.

From the shock Brexit referendum result to Monday's unveiling of the British government's reworked Brexit strategy, here are milestones on the UK's rocky road out of the European Union after 46 years.

- Britain votes to leave -In a referendum on June 23, 2016, Britons choose to end their membership of the 28-nation EU by 52 percent to 48 percent.

Since the start of the Syrian conflict, Turkey has pushed for the creation of a buffer zone on its border to protect refugees and prevent the emergence of an autonomous Kurdish region.

Iraq could bear the brunt if conflict intensifies between Iran and the United States, a think-tank study said Wednesday.