A combination picture shows Aleppo's Umayyad mosque, Syria, before it was damaged on March 12, 2009 (top) and after it was damaged (bottom) December 13, 2016. (Photo by Omar Sanadiki/Reuters)

A woman walks with her daughter through an empty street on April 27, 2020 in Malaga, Spain. Since April 27 children under 12 are allowed to come and go from their homes more freely. Spain has had more than 209,000 confirmed cases of COVID-19 and over 23,000 reported deaths, although the rate has declined after weeks of lockdown measures. (Photo by Daniel Perez Garcia-Santos/Getty Images)

Dancers perform during the closing ceremony of the 19th Asian Games at the Hangzhou Olympic Sports Centre Stadium on October 8, 2023 in Hangzhou, Zhejiang Province of China. (Photo by Tingshu Wang/Reuters)

A Bengal tiger grabs a bag of food belonging to labourers at the Tadoba Andhari Tiger Reserve in Chandrapur, India in the first decade of February 2024. The workers were cutting the grass to avoid forest fires in the area. The wild feline, watched on by its family, later dropped the bag without any harm caused. (Photo by Jignesh Patel/Solent news)

The American skier Lindsey Vonn celebrates winning the women’s downhill race in the FIS Alpine Ski World Cup on December 12, 2025. She is joined on the podium by Moritz, the competition’s official mascot, named after the Swiss resort in which it is held. (Photo by Denis Balibouse/Reuters)

A chicken is seen next to the body of a woman killed by unknown gunmen at the market in a port area of Manila, Philippines October 28, 2016. Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte's war on drugs and other crimes took he office on June 30 has claimed 4,447 lives, according to official figures made available by police on November 10. (Photo by Damir Sagolj/Reuters)

The report, prepared by the Sustainable Development Solutions Network (SDSN) and the Earth Institute at Columbia University, showed Syria, Afghanistan and eight sub-Saharan countries as the 10 least happy places on earth to live. The top 10 this year were Denmark, Switzerland, Iceland, Norway, Finland, Canada, Netherlands, New Zealand, Australia, and Sweden. Denmark was in third place last year, behind Switzerland and Iceland. The bottom 10 were Madagascar, Tanzania, Liberia, Guinea, Rwanda, Benin, Afghanistan, Togo, Syria and Burundi. The United States came in at 13, the United Kingdom at 23, France at 32, and Italy at 50. Here: #8. NEW ZEALAND: A woman dives from a platform into a giant air bed at a park in Palmerston North September 29, 2011. (Photo by Marcos Brindicci/Reuters)

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)