From US military deployments to alleged "threats" from Iran and attacks on oil tankers and installations, here is a timeline of escalating tensions in the Gulf:

The succession of two powerful cousins to the top government posts in Iraqi Kurdistan has sealed the Barzani family's "monarchic" rule over the autonomous region, analysts say.

General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, interim leader of Sudan where protesters allege security forces broke up a weeks-long sit-in through a deadly operation Monday, was largely unknown until mid April.

Thirty years ago millions of mourners crowded the streets of Tehran for the funeral of Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, and today the founder of the Islamic republic remains a guiding figure in Iran.   

British Prime Minister Theresa May announced her resignation on Friday with the Brexit process in total disarray.

Christophe Chalencon, a blacksmith with right-wing views, is on the campaign trail around France seeking to turn his fame as a "yellow vest" protester into a seat in the European parliament. And it's no easy task. 

This week's European parliamentary elections will launch a scramble for the continent's top leadership jobs, but won't decide the winners.

When U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo sat down with Iraqi officials in Baghdad last week as tensions mounted between America and Iran, he delivered a nuanced message: If you're not going to stand with us, stand aside.

The message, relayed to The Associated Press by two Iraqi government officials, underscores Iraq's delicate position: Its government is allied with both sides of an increasingly contentious confrontation.

President Donald Trump won the White House pledging to wind down the nation's many foreign entanglements and put "America First." But as his administration in recent days has sent mixed signals on the prospects of a military conflict with Iran, Trump's campaign trail promise is being put to the test.

With the 2020 election approaching, the political pitfalls ahead for the first-term Republican president could be serious.

In a hard-won deal struck in 2015, Iran agreed to freeze its nuclear programme in return for the lifting of punishing international sanctions.