麻豆社

Tim Whewell remembers the songs of his youth in the USSR and why they are paradoxically now part of a revival of older values - imperial, Orthodox, Tsarist - not just in Russia, but even among the militias of eastern Ukraine. Mary Harper is on the streets of Mogadishu, seeing signs of a newly blossoming relationship between Somalia and Turkey - some Somalis even calling their sons Erdogan, after the Turkish president!

Martin Fletcher delves deep into the history of the chukudu, a wooden workhorse (a kind of handmade giant scooter) invented to ease farmers' lives in one of the world's toughest places to scratch a living. Anu Anand explores the sacred status - and daily trials - of the animals working in India's cities. And, Justin Marozzi bids a fond farewell to Chefchaouen, the Moroccan town where even the hustlers and hawkers tend to take things easy.

(Photo:An elephant grabs a bunch of bananas offered by an Indian man on World Elephant Day in Nagaon, 2014. Credit: Anuwar Hazarika/AFP/Getty Images)