Under the Soviet Union a disastrous irrigation programme turned the Aral Sea into a toxic desert. Photographer Laurent Weyl visited the fishermen of Tastubek to document their story.
Once again the fate of the Kurds hangs in the balance after the crucial role they played in the US-backed onslaught against ISIS in Syria. This little-known story of a formidable Kurdish female tribal-leader from more than a century ago is a reminder of their long and fraught relationship with the West.
A shift in the balance of world power means that China and Russia are currently more aligned than at any point since the 1950s. Ed Pulford takes a journey along the border between two superpowers.
At the end of last year Vladimir Putin declared war on Russia’s rappers. Yet hip hop’s obsession with machismo and dominance on the world stage finds inevitable echoes within the political establishment.
The opening of a major new centre for the study of wildfire in London this year is the latest admission of the impact it is having on society and the environment.
