I began "The Quiet Rise" at a moment when Germany still felt new to me, new enough that I was holding onto the idea that this country would finally give me the freedom, safety and dignity I had been denied for most of my life. I had left Iran after ...

For thousands of years, oases have sustained human life in the world's deserts. Globally, an estimated 150 million people rely on the water, arable land and access to trade networks they provide. Now, in the face of an ever harsher climate, many of these...

The capital of the Democratic Republic of Congo could be the most populous city in sub-Saharan Africa by 2050. This presents a number of massive challenges - from housing, transport and provision of food to fuel supply, sanitation and governance. The...

Dhaka is a massive, low-lying urban expanse that is home to over 10 million people and sits at the confluence of the Meghna and Padma Rivers. The central districts straddle the banks of the Buriganga, one of the city's main transport corridors and ...

At 4,150 metres above sea level El Alto is the highest major city in the world, situated adjacent to La Paz, Bolivia's capital. Growing from a mid-sized town of 95,000 in 1980 to over one million today, El Alto is coming into its own. With a burgeoning ...

In 2019, Indonesia's former President Joko Widodo announced the relocation of the national capital Jakarta, plagued by overpopulation and constant flooding, to a new planned city in the jungle of Borneo. This new urban creation was named Nusantara. The ...

In November 2019 Armenia, a poor former Soviet Republic in the southern Caucasus, was rocked by a major scandal following shocking revelations about international adoptions of children that had taken place between 2016 and 2018. The country's National ...

Deep in the Amazon rainforest, 80 kilometres north of the regional capital Manaus, Brazil's National Institute of Amazonian Research (INPA) is conducting one of largest scientific experiments ever carried out in the region. AmazonFACE - or Amazon ...

This project examines the traces of the nearly three million Sudeten Germans who were expelled from the border areas of Czechoslovakia between 1945 and 1947. For centuries, German-speaking communities lived in Bohemia, Moravia, and Silesia, shaping ...

"After leaving many years ago I returned to find a country frozen in time. Whilst London had flourished, the communities of the economic north were left behind. Cities once full of factories were filled with foodbanks, barbershops and fading hopes." ...

In June 2025, India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated a new railway line that for the first time connects New Delhi to Kashmir. Carving through the Himalayas with its 36 tunnels and 943 bridges, it spans 272 kilometers of railway tracks. ...

Since the discovery of the first South African diamond in 1867, the country's mining industry has generated extraordinary wealth for outsiders and elites, yet few of the benefits have trickled down to local communities in mining areas, which remain among...

The Nomadic Fulani are one of the largest nomadic groups in the world, spread over 20 countries in West and Central African Sahel. Year after year they herd livestock across the hot, arid lands of the Sahel, the region below the Sahara, in search of ...

"Today, I'm going to eat three kilograms of pork and noodles." In the small, specially fitted-out studio in his brand new apartment, Ami-Ami (32) announces her menu of the day. Positioned in front of the young woman an array of smartphones, lights ...

When can I go back to school? Thats the first question many children across Latin America start their day with. For millions in the region, theres often no guarantee that their school will be open, accessible, or safe that day. Classrooms caught in ...

The Karapinar district of Konya, the largest province in Turkey, is one of the driest parts of the country. Over the past two decades, as a result of decreasing rainfall due to climate change and excessive use of groundwater for agricultural activities, ...