Living in caves in Syria, gazelle poaching in Libya, and more

Story 1: Syria

We begin today in Syria, in the province of Hama. Rebels of the Free Syrian Army are battling for control of the region with government forces. Many of the residents hace chosen to flee rather than risk getting caught in the crossfire. But the decision to leave is often just the start of their problems. Our Observer Ahmed sent us this report.

Story 2: Libya

Now to Libya, and its problem with guns. Weapons have been freely circulating since the revolution that unseated Muammar Gaddafi 18 months ago. It's a big security problem in the cities, but out in the Sahara desert, inland, it's a problem for the animals. Here's our Observer, Ahmed al-Kich.

Story 3: World

Now for our weekly roundup of images and reports sent in by our Observers.

First stop Abuja, Nigeria, with Otunba Melaye, an anti-corruption campaigner. He recently took to the streets because of a scandal involving the man who used to oversee pensions for police officers. The official was convicted of embezzling a whopping 110 million euros from the pension fund. But the fine he was given was just 3,500 euros. The demonstration appears to have had an effect. The official was re-arrested on new charges of stealing another million euros.

Now to Iran, with a story from Omid Habibinia. It's about the monkey that Iran says it sent into space at the end of January. Official agencies released photos of the monkey before and after the 20-minute flight, but Internet users noticed it was two different monkeys - one with a red mole over its eye, the other without. That raised concern about whether the monkey pilot made it back to earth safely. Iranian authorities say he did, and that the agencies had mistakenly showed pictures of one of his stand-ins.

Our last stop today is Shanghai, China. Our Observer Lu Haitao tipped us off to this video, shot on the Shanghai underground, which shows 21 fare-dodgers in just 90 seconds. After the video hit the Web, the transit authorities took action, sending plainclothes inspectors on a clampdown. They caught 128 fare-dodgers in an hour and a half.