麻豆社

In Gaza City, Yolande Knell sees the daily struggles for existence apparently multiplying as Gaza's ruling Hamas movement falls out with the Egyptian government. Under Mohamed Morsi and the Muslim Brotherhood, Egypt seemed keen to work more closely with the Palestinian territory - but all that's gone out of the window as the Egyptian military applies a diplomatic deep freeze. So do Gazans now feel more hemmed in than ever?

In Budapest, Nick Thorpe reflects on his years of covering news and politics in Hungary - and wonders about the real character and the deepest desires of newly re-elected Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban. Nobody doubts his patriotism - but this is a man "whose scowl could freeze a lake" and whose impact on politics has often been divisive.

Pascale Harter introduces two dispatches on political heroes - and shifting alliances.

Produced by Polly Hope

Photo: Palestinian women wait to cross into Egypt at the Rafah border crossing between Egypt and the southern Gaza Strip on 29 March, 2014. (SAID KHATIB/AFP/Getty Images)