President Barack Obama confirmed Monday that a U.S. drone strike in southwest Pakistan had killed Taliban leader Mullah Akhtar Mansour, heralding a new chapter in the Afghan insurgency which had grown fiercer under him.

- Who will succeed him?

After decades of officially-imposed detachment from the "Great Satan," Iranians are this time transfixed by the wild U.S. presidential campaign, mindful that the next White House occupant could have direct impact on their lives.

At the heart of the matter is last year's deal with world powers, which eased the country's isolation and removed many economic sanctions in exchange for a curtailing of the Iran's nuclear program. Presumptive Republican nominee Donald Trump has bitterly criticized the accord, which is rather popular here, and says he would rework it.

Turkey's incoming prime minister Binali Yildirim is a longstanding and faithful ally of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan who has shown the president unstinting loyalty even before he won the highest office.

Afghan Taliban leader Mullah Akhtar Mansour, who according to U.S. officials was probably killed in a drone strike, took over as head of the insurgent movement last July following the revelation that the group's founder Mullah Omar had been dead for two years.

Venezuela's armed forces, which are conducting exercises against perceived internal and external threats, hold immense power in the government of President Nicolas Maduro and notably have interests in the vital oil sector.

The military boasts Russian and Chinese systems, including Sukhoi strike jet fighters, missiles and tanks.

U.S. President Barack Obama will try to turn the page on a war-strewn history with Vietnam and Japan when he begins a two nation Asia visit Monday, including a somber pilgrimage to Hiroshima, site of the world's first nuclear attack.

This will be the tenth trip to Asia by America's self-declared "Pacific President," who unapologetically sees America's future tethered to the region.

Egyptian search teams on Friday found wreckage and debris including body parts from an EgyptAir plane that mysteriously crashed into the eastern Mediterranean carrying 66 people, but investigators remain baffled about what brought it down.

Turkey's incoming prime minister Binali Yildirim is a longstanding and faithful ally of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan who has shown the president unstinting loyalty even before he won the highest office.

The appointment of Yildirim to lead the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) and thus lead the government signals a move to a more pliant premiership for Erdogan than was the case under the outgoing Ahmet Davutoglu, who feuded with the Turkish strongman on one too many issues and earlier this month threw in the towel.

Searches were under way in the eastern Mediterranean on Thursday after an EgyptAir flight vanished from radar screens, with a Greek aviation source saying it had crashed south of Karpathos island.

The flight, which had 66 people on board, was headed to Cairo after taking off from Charles de Gaulle airport in Paris.

Several scenarios could explain the mysterious crash of the EgyptAir flight into the Mediterranean en route from Paris to Cairo early Thursday, but aviation experts say a terror attack is the most probable.

Both France and Egypt have been leading targets for Islamist extremists in recent months.