By MARK MACKINNON, Toronto Globe and Mail

LATTAKIA, Syria -- Here in Bashar Assad's hometown, they love their leader. Or at least they make an extremely good show of appearing to do so.

DIYARBAKIR, Turkey -- Murat and Farida didn't know about the feud between their families when they first met at the university in this stone-walled town in southeastern Turkey, a place where residents cling to long memories and ancient traditions.

ZAKHO, Iraq -- The streets of this bustling frontier town are crowded with trucks sporting blue and white Turkish license plates and billboards advertising Turkish products that are popular in Iraq. Watching the hectic flow of commerce, you'd never think that hostilities are exchanged across this border almost as rapidly as goods are traded across the same line.

MANAMA, Bahrain -- Each evening, a warbling call rises from hundreds of mosques across this tiny island kingdom. Come pray, the muezzins sing, and celebrate the holy month of Ramadan.

JERUSALEM -- For a man who has dedicated his life to the pursuit of peace, it was an odd sensation for Yariv Oppenheimer to have his house guarded by armed men this week.

JERUSALEM -- When Israel's charismatic foreign minister, Tzipi Livni, claimed victory this past week over her nearest rival for the leadership of Israel's governing Kadima party, she told reporters outside her Tel Aviv residence that she would approach her new post with "great reverence."

Brandishing Kalashnikov assault rifles, the boat full of heavily armed pirates pulled alongside a defenseless Italian merchant ship. As they prepared to board the vessel, intending to seize whatever riches they found aboard, the Italian captain sent out a distress call and a gunboat flying the colors of Canada's navy came steaming to his aid, forcing the pirates to flee.

ELI ADN, Golan Heights -- Uri Hetz has a lot invested in Israel's decades-old presence here in the Golan Heights. He and his partners have invested millions of dollars in Chateau Golan, an up-and-coming winery with acres of vineyards that stretch right up to the barbed-wire fence that marks the current border with Syria.

HARARE, Zimbabwe -- Zimbabwe's opposition leader is planning to make Zimbabwe "ungovernable" in the aftermath of an election that returned Robert Mugabe to power after a brutal campaign of violence against opposition supporters that drew condemnation from around the world.

CAIRO, Egypt -- If you want to meet the Arab world's best-selling author, you have make an appointment between the checkups and teeth whitenings at Alaa al-Aswany's dental practice.