Alireza says he used to dream of a better future in Iran and even saw himself getting a new car or house, but those days are now gone after he lost his job to reimposed US sanctions.

"My purchasing power has been cut, and my life is under pressure," said Alireza, an Iranian car industry veteran. "I no longer see myself as middle-class. It feels terrible."

Thailand's monarchy has survived major upheavals and a turbulent domestic political scene.

A king married four times with a penchant for piloting jets; a shrewd tactician with a hefty fortune and the army's loyalty -- snippets from the closely-guarded life of Thailand's King Maha Vajiralongkorn who remains an enigma to his subjects.

Thousands of anti-government protesters have been camped outside the Sudan army headquarters in Khartoum for three weeks, staying put to demand civilian rule even after Omar al-Bashir quit power on April 11.

The Sudanese Professionals Association, which led months of protests that eventually forced one of Africa's longest-ruling leaders from power, says its revolution is far from over.

The umbrella group of unions succeeded where war and sanctions failed — in ending President Omar al-Bashir's three-decade rule. This week the protesters scored another victory by forcing three figures seen as too close to the ousted regime to resign from the military council that assumed power after overthrowing al-Bashir on April 11.

Anti-government protests that erupted in Sudan more than four months ago have led to the ouster of veteran leader Omar al-Bashir and evolved into a push for civilian rule.

North Korea's close relationship with the Soviet Union cooled in the 1990s under a new Russian power, but were revived in the 2000s as Moscow sought support amid a new standoff with the West. 

More than 350 people are now known to have died in a horrifying series of attacks that ripped through Sri Lanka on Easter Sunday.

While the majority of victims were Sri Lankans attending church on the Christian holy day, there were also a number of foreign tourists killed, many visiting during the Easter holiday period.

It's a thin line where the patina of age on Europe's countless monuments gives way to the onset of neglect. Like with so many loved ones, all is assumed to be fine, until suddenly it's not.

In the wake of the fire last week that gutted Notre Dame, questions are being raised about the state of thousands of other cathedrals, palaces and village spires that have turned France — as well as Italy, Britain and Spain — into open air museums of Western civilization.

South Africa's first all-race vote 25 years ago turned the page on an oppressive system of racial segregation called apartheid that for roughly 50 years privileged whites over blacks.