Indian men stand around sword fish for sale at a harbour a harbour in Chennai on June 5, 2016, as fishermen return with their catch after a 45-day fishing ban on the east coast of India. Authorities in the southern Indian state of Tamil Nadu had imposed a 45-day ban on fishing by mechanised vessels to protect marine life, with only “country boats” operating within five nautical miles off the coast. (Photo by Arun Sankar/AFP Photo)

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)

A boy walks with toy guns as people ride an APC during a military show at the Finnish Gulf coast in St.Petersburg, Russia, Saturday, September 5, 2015. (Photo by Dmitry Lovetsky/AP Photo)

Some 1200 windsurfers take the start of the 21th edition of the Defi Wind in the Mediterranean Sea, off the coast of Gruissan in southern France, on May 19, 2023. (Photo by Charly Triballeau/AFP Photo)

Some wave over the rainbow – a splash of colour is captured in spray over the sea wall at Totland Bay on the Isle of Wight off the south coast of England on February 16, 2022. (Photo by Jamie Russell/Bournemouth News)

Massangbe Doumbia, 25, a street vendor, carries goods on her head at the Adjame main market in Abidjan, Ivory Coast on March 7, 2024. (Photo by Issouf Sanogo/AFP Photo)

A puffin swims underwater in search for fish off the coast of the Farne Islands in Northumberland, North East England in the last decade of July 2025. (Photo by Brian Matthews/Solent News & Photo Agency)

Grey seals show their playful side while swimming off the English coast, UK in the last decade of May 2025. (Photo by Brian Matthews/Solent News)