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Pascale Harter introduces analysis and reflection from Â鶹Éç correspondents and reporters in Russia, Chad and Palau.

Vladimir Putin's position is consolidated and his power seems more absolute than ever. He's just won a fifth term - six more years - as President and there is little sign of dissent among the country's elite. Steve Rosenberg attends a glittering event at the Kremlin Palace where the Russian leader's place in history seems undisputed.

Sudan's civil war has raged for almost a year now, and the violence it has inflicted on civilians - particularly women and girls - has been intense. At a camp for displaced people from Darfur, just over the border in Chad, Marcy Juma heard the stories of survivors of sexual violence, which are often kept secret.

Palau is a tiny nation of fewer than 20,000 people, who live on a string of islands in the western Pacific. But these small islands are a stage for one of the greatest power struggles in the world - the global contest for influence between the United States and China. In the capital, Koror, Frey Lindsay has seen how American, Chinese and Japanese investment changes the landscape.

Producer: Polly Hope
Editor: Richard Fenton-Smith
Production Co-Ordinator: Katie Morrison

(Image: Russian President Vladimir Putin meets with his election agents at the Kremlin in Moscow, Russia. Credit: Photo by SERGEI ILNITSKY/EPA-EFE/REX/Shutterstock (14395126l)