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Pascale Harter introduces analysis and reflection from ´óÏó´«Ã½ 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)