A couple ride a motorcycle along a street during snow in Altay, Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region, China, November 8, 2015. Picture taken November 8, 2015. (Photo by Reuters/Stringer)

A period of relative stability has put the Iranian capital No1 on the list of world cities that have achieved biggest improvements in liveability over the past five years, as calculated by the Economist Intelligence Unit. The “most improved” top 10 contains some unexpected names. So, eg, the fourth place: Abidjan, Ivory Coast. Latest ranking: 128; Ranking five years ago: 131; Five-year index movement: 3.8%. Here: A supporter of Ivory Coast president Alassane Ouattara campaigns in a market in the city’s Koumassi quarter. (Photo by Sia Kambou/AFP Photo)

In this Wednesday, August 20, 2014 photo released by Red Bull, Maikel Melero of Spain warms up prior to the fifth stage of the Red Bull X-Fighters World Tour in the South African savanna of Pretoria, South Africa. (Photo by Joerg Mitter/AP Photo/Red Bull)

A woman crosses an open sewer as she makes her way to her house in a Christian slum in Islamabad December 4, 2014. (Photo by Zohra Bensemra/Reuters)

Mil Mi-8 combat helicopter flies over Moscow, Russia on May 7, 2019 during the dress rehearsal of a Victory Day air show marking the 74th anniversary of the victory over Nazi Germany in the 1941-1945 Great Patriotic War, the Eastern Front of World War II. (Photo by Sergei Savostyanov/TASS)

A member of the Pena de Pavao de Krishna traditional carnival group, which celebrates Indian deities, performs in Belo Horizonte, Brazil, on February 23, 2020. The group added more accelerated northern rhythms to its repertoire in a way to raise awareness of the importance of the Amazon rainforest and the worrying rates that it is burning at. (Photo by Douglas Magno/AFP Photo)

A poster of Russian President Vladimir Putin is used as target practice along a trench on the frontline with Russia-backed separatists near Zolote village, in the Lugansk region, on January 21, 2022. Ukraine's Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba on January 22, 2022, slammed Germany for its refusal to supply weapons to Kyiv, urging Berlin to stop “undermining unity“ and “encouraging Vladimir Putin” amid fears of a Russian invasion. (Photo by Anatolii Stepanov/AFP Photo)

A woman and child look on at volcanic ash rising into the air during the eruption of Mount Ibu, as seen from Duono Village in West Halmahera, North Maluku province, on January 15, 2025. (Photo by AZZAM via AFP Photo)