A woman poses for photographs while Indonesian police officers burn seized various drugs during a press conference at the regional police headquarters in Banda Aceh on June 12, 2025. (Photo by Chaideer Mahyuddin/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)

Mamoni Mandal, member of the Rapid Action Force (RAF), attends a training session at a police training school in Kolkata April 15, 2007. (Photo by Parth Sanyal/Reuters)

In Weronika Gęsicka’s unsettling images, American archive photography gets distorted into scenes that are both nightmarish yet somehow entirely plausible. Gęsicka is a guest artist at the Circulations festival for young European photographers, Paris, until 5 March. Here: “Untitled #5”. (Photo by Weronika Gęsicka/The Guardian)

South Asian countries in terms of total contribution of travel and tourism to GDP. #6. Vietnam, Total GDP: USD 202.6 billion (2016). Contribution of Travel and Tourism to GDP: 9.1% . Here: A boat in the Thu Bon River, Hoi An, Vietnam. (Photo by Domingo Leiva/Getty Images)

Police detain a woman as people gather at a memorial site in Clapham Common Bandstand, following the kidnap and murder of Sarah Everard, in London, Britain on March 13, 2021. (Photo by Hannah McKay/Reuters)

A service member of the Ukrainian armed forces is seen at fighting positions on the line of separation from pro-Russian rebels in Donetsk region, Ukraine on April 10, 2021. (Photo by Oleksandr Klymenko/Reuters)