Located at the nexus of Europe and Asia, Turkey has a long tradition of uniquely brewed coffee, made with grounds finer than those used to craft the average espresso. The coffee is prepared in a special long-handled pot until a thick foam rises to the top and then served unfiltered, with the grounds lining the bottoms of small cups traditionally used for fortune telling. Turkey also has another notable coffee claim to fame too - it currently has the cheapest Starbucks coffee in the world.
For the first time in our history, more than 70% of Africans are under the age of 30. This, along with entrenched inequalities, poverty, unemployment and socioeconomic fault lines, is reshaping how our societies interact with one another and the world. This is Africa's most consequential decade. Leaders who take office over the next 10 years will have to deliver on difficult mandates within a political, economic and social landscape that has been fundamentally altered.
One of the most southerly sites, at the very edge of the alluvial river plain and close to the marshes: the transitional zone between sea and land, with its shifting watercourses, islands and deep reed thickets.
Professor Xiaoxiang Zhu, who leads the project and is the chair of data science in Earth observation at TUM, says the real achievement is that the new map is a three‑dimensional picture of how much space people actually inhabit. "3D building information provides a much more accurate picture of urbanization and poverty than traditional 2D maps," she explains. With 3D models "we see not only the footprint but also the volume of each building."
"It is a beautiful feeling that allows you to discover new things, but it also makes you feel very unhappy and lonely." This paradoxical description comes from a research participant in Türkiye in our multi-country investigation of social connection. In Türkiye-a culture synonymous with çay (tea) shared among friends and legendary hospitality- loneliness wears an unexpected face. Türkiye reports high loneliness rates despite cultural traditions emphasizing warmth and connection.
City living is proving pretty popular. The proportion of people living in urban areas in 1950 was a bit less than one-third. Today, it's more than half. By 2050, two-thirds of the global population will call a city home - a complete reversal of the situation 100 years earlier. The health and happiness of these people, and the world's responses to the specific challenges faced by city-dwellers, are therefore central to the future prospects of humanity.
Former Honduran President Juan Orlando Hernández was convicted last year in a New York courtroom of flooding the US with tons of cocaine. This week, US President Donald Trump has pardoned him and he's walked out of prison a free man. Also, taking lessons from Shenzhen, China, a megacity that has largely sidestepped the air pollution, overcrowding and failing infrastructure that often accompany rapid expansion.
As cities densify and the global population continues its steady migration toward urban centers-projected to reach around 70% by 2050-domestic space is becoming increasingly compressed. Rising land prices, high construction costs, and a surge in single-person households push developers toward smaller units and tighter floor plans. At the same time, cultural shifts toward resource efficiency and minimal living support this move.
The Middle East bus market, valued at USD 4.4 billion in 2024, is projected to grow to USD 5.86 billion by 2030, corresponding to a compound annual growth rate of 4.8%, according to the Middle East Bus Market Report 2025 by Research and Markets. The market is then expected to increase by USD 1.46 billion, or roughly 33%, over the six-year period.
This building, completed in 1966 in Seoul's Sinchon district, was built during a period of rapid urbanization. Aerial photographs by Kim Han-Yong from the same year show the Han River area still largely undeveloped, while the city, under its push for rapid construction, was beginning to transform the urban landscape at an unprecedented pace. The history of the building over the past five decades is unclear, but its condition today is severely deteriorated.
People born in 1990 are more likely to have an immigration background, and more likely to be highly educated, than the general German population. As the country marks its 35th anniversary, here's a look at how the nation's 35-year-olds are living. People who were born in 1990 are the same age as Germany itself, as that was the year in which the former countries of East- and West Germany were officially unified to form the nation as we know it today.
Europe is losing green space that once harboured wildlife, captured carbon and supplied food at the rate of 600 football pitches a day, an investigation by the Guardian and partners has revealed. Analysis of satellite imagery across the UK and mainland Europe over a five-year period shows the speed and scale with which green land is turning grey, consumed by tarmac for roads, bricks and mortar for luxury golf courses and housing developments.
The Anthropocene is defined by significant human impact on the Earth's geology and ecosystems, resulting in alterations that will be evident for millennia in geological strata.
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