There was a time when the Colorado River snaked its way across the western United States and Mexico for over 2,000 kilometres from the snow-capped peaks of the Rocky Mountains to the Gulf of California. Since the 1980s, however, the river has been ...

The Darien Gap - a steamy expanse of roadless jungle swamp on the border between Colombia and Panama - is known simply as 'hel' to those who survive it. The passage involves steep mountain passes patrolled by drug traffickers and armed bandits, ...

The death of Queen Elizabeth II, Britain's longest serving monarch and arguably the most famous woman in the world, brought huge crowds of people onto the streets of British towns and cities, wanting to express their sadness and experience this historic ...

The Ecole des mousses is France's premier naval college that takes in around 240 young men and women every year and trains them to be the future sailors of the Marine nationale. Founded in 1856 by Napoleon III and based at a boarding school at the ...

The Damodar river darkens as it snakes through lush forest, tall maize fields and thatched villages. The rain water that falls on the Chota Nagpur Plateau in central India has turned a viscous black by the time it is scooped up into Tuklal Mahto's ...

'If we lived in gardens, religion would not have been possible. Its absence has driven us to long for paradise. The space without flowers and trees impels the eyes to look to heaven and reminds mortals that their first ancestor made a brief stop in ...

Metro Manila is one of the largest and most densely populated cities in the world. Around a third of its 20 million inhabitants lives in slum areas with limited access to sanitation, healthcare and education. Ulingan community in Malabon is one of the...

Norway, a country of pristine fjords, mountains and endless pine forests, derives 98% of the energy coursing through its grid from renewable sources. Near the town of Kvalsund in the far North of the country Nussir, a local mining company, is hoping to ...

In the patchwork of peoples, cultures and religions that makes up the Caucasus region, no conflict has proved more intractable and painful than the struggle over Nagorno-Karabakh, a mountainous part of western Azerbaijan whose population has historically...

20 years after the end of its bitter, long-running civil war, Angola remains one of the most heavily mined nations on earth. De-mining organisations have so far found and destroyed more than 100,000 anti-personnel and anti-tank mines from across the ...

A low English sun is creeping in through Tudor windows high up in an ancient York pub, where groaning floorboards that have carried 400 years of life slope precariously at 40 degrees. In a corner where the last of the evening light almost fails to reach ...

Manual sewage clearing is one of the most dangerous jobs in the world, but it is widespread among India's 'untouchable' caste. The stench is overwhelming as the two slight figures wrestle the lid away from the concrete drain, but the pair hardly ...

In March 2019, following the surprise resignation of President Nazarbayev who had ruled Kazakhstan for 30 years, the capital he built, formerly known as Astana, was renamed Nursultan, his first name, in his honour. In September 2022 Nazarbayev's ...

Back in the dark days of Covid 19 it seemed to be my work that was dying around me as commissions and foreign assignments dried up. With more time on my hands I took on an allotment and enjoyed watching plants grow. As the year marched on and plants ...

When Juscelino Kubitschek was elected 21st president of Brazil in 1955 he immediately fulfilled his promise to build a brand new centrally located capital city. The utopian model city was to become the symbol of a modern nation and help economically ...

The axolotl is an unusual creature. Technically a salamander, it doesn't undergo metamorphosis to reach adulthood. Instead, it remains in the water and retains its gills. It is native to Lake Xochimilco, a now largely drained lake in the southern part of...