BEIRUT (AFP) — Russian troops are to deploy in Lebanon soon for the first time in more than 200 years, with a small contingent being sent to build bridges — not only real ones but also geopolitical ones. As a member of the Middle East diplomatic “Quartet”, Moscow is grouped …

JABALIYA REFUGEE CAMP — Khalil Madhouni, a balding, middle-aged baker in this particularly squalid patch of the Gaza Strip, goes from fighter to peacemaker in the time it takes him to scratch his round belly with flour-caked fingernails. “War forever,” the angry-eyed bread maker growls when asked if the ruling …

OLGAGH, Morocco — The glare of an arc lamp reveals a stretch of dirt track where, to the beat of a drum, villagers huddled in a circle sing in honour of the bride. In a house nearby, veiled and bejewelled, 17-year old Rabhah sits in silence in a sparse room …