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 …

SANAA — Unprecedented political debate during recent Yemeni polls also broke taboos over the issue of succession, putting reelected President Ali Abdullah Saleh’s plans for his son to take over on hold, analysts say.