As Israel and Iran clash in Syria, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's government is courting Gulf Arab states at a time when broader policies align against their common rival Tehran.

The warring parties in World War I signed no less than 16 peace treaties at the end of the devastating conflict, the most important being the 1919 Treaty of Versailles in which the victorious Allies made Germany accept responsibility.

Global diplomatic fallout from the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi in Saudi Arabia's Istanbul consulate may help Qatar in its political stand-off with the kingdom, experts said.

Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, whose image has been tarnished by the murder of Jamal Khashoggi, gained popularity after shaking up the ultraconservative kingdom with reforms. But many now see his crackdown on dissent as verging on authoritarianism. 

Saudi Arabia has long been a major US ally in the Middle East, thanks primarily to security considerations and oil.

A European Union summit this week broke up with little progress towards a Brexit deal, just months before Britain is due to leave the bloc on March 29, 2019.

Next week's EU summit has been billed as a last chance to negotiate an orderly Brexit, but is the cliff edge really that close? When is the true deadline?

Malaysia will join the nearly three quarters of countries in the world which have abolished or ceased to use the death penalty, according to Amnesty International.

Capital punishment currently remains in place in 23 countries, with China still believed to be the "world's top executioner", according to the rights group's 2017 report.

The main sticking point in Brexit negotiations is how to keep the land border between Britain and Ireland open after Britain leaves the European Union.

Right-winger Jair Bolsonaro and leftist candidate Fernando Haddad, who will contest a second-round runoff to become Brazil's next president, hold diametrically opposed visions of Brazil's future.