Yet it is precisely the fact that soldiers who were fighting one another not long ago now train together, or that firemen co-operate on a routine basis or that everyone from vets to central bankers meets with almost dreary regularity which constitutes the good news.

ECONOMIST: Former Yugoslavia patches itself together

The crime-fighting idea is now being tested at various train stations by British Transport Police (BTP).

BBC: Staring eyes 'deter' Newcastle University bike thieves

Mr Cameron also said Britain would provide troops to an EU mission to train the Malian military, who are fighting Islamist militants who have taken over the north of the country.

BBC: Mali: RAF surveillance aircraft Sentinel deployed

Officials with the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey said the agency was deploying additional staff and is assembling snow-fighting equipment for area's airports, bridges and tunnels, and the PATH train system.

WSJ: Blizzard Barrels Toward Area

Lebanese officials said Saddam El-Hajdib, one of the men killed in Sunday's fighting, was the fourth-highest ranking member of Fatah and a suspect in a failed German train bombing.

NPR: Brief Pause in Lebanese Violence Allows Aid

Muslims, strengthened by America's Equip and Train programme and by covert arms supplies from Islamic states, may reckon they have reason enough to start fighting: some 40% of Bosnia's population before the war, they now control only 27% of the land.

ECONOMIST: The disunited state of Bosnia