Features

  Laval / AFP Welcomed with open arms — some even received coats from Prime Minister Justin Trudeau himself — the Syrian refugees who arrived in Canada a year ago are now facing their share of difficulties. Among them, 50-year-old Fahed Fattouh came with his wife and their two children after they fled the war-battered city of Aleppo via Beirut ...

  Fez, Morocco / AFP Nestled in a labyrinth of streets in the heart of Morocco’s ancient city of Fez, stands the world’s oldest working library. Its sculpted dark wooden door stands almost hidden on the edge of a square where artisans hammer away at copper in a deafening din, delighting passing tourists. But for the few lucky enough to ...

  Kathmandu / AFP When aspiring chef Bijay Shrestha left Nepal last year for the Caribbean island of Saint Lucia his goal was an international degree, work experience, and a chance at a well-paid career. But instead, after 14 months living in penury in Saint Lucia, Shrestha was back in Kathmandu penniless and without his qualification. Shrestha is one of ...

  Dikanäs / AFP A herd of reindeer moves silently down the mountain, their silver coats and majestic antlers blending into the Swedish tundra as their herder leads them to their winter grazing grounds in the plains below. The annual pilgrimage, called transhumance, takes on almost sacred meaning for Sweden’s indigenous Sami reindeer herders nowadays, as they face modern-day threats ...

  New Delhi / AFP At one end of a backstreet in downtown Delhi a group of women hold a vigil to demand rapists be executed, while at the other acolytes of a spiritual leader arrested for sexual assault demand his release. Anyone seeking a glimpse of the bewildering range of issues animating voters in the world’s largest democracy should ...

  PATE ISLAND / AFP Ahmed Ali Mohamed snorkels over sea grass and coral, keeping an eye out for different fish species darting through the waters below him. But his job is not to catch the fish — as his family has done for generations — instead he only counts them. Mohamed is one of the first former fishermen to ...

  Soga / AFP The vivid red wound at the base of Gina’s ankle has remained open for three months and refuses to heal, leaving the Guinea-Bissau islander in constant pain. “I thought it was from a piece of wood,” she said, recalling the day when a snake sunk its fangs into her leg. “They had to carry me back ...

  Nagano / AFP Rising silently before dawn to slip on his monastic robes and begin the solemn duties of a Buddhist monk, Kazuki Yazawa is not your average Olympic athlete. Bowing his shaved head in prayer five times a day as part at the ancient Zenkoji Daikanjin Temple, Yazawa is so committed to his faith very few people would ...

Harriersand / DPA Claus Hartmann works with enormous logs of up to 4 metres in length. First he traces out his design on the wood and then he takes a chainsaw and begins to cut out the head and shoulders of a figurehead for a ship. After a week of work in his garden on the river island of Harriersand ...

  Barcelona / AFP Pedro and Mohamed await every utility bill with much angst. To reduce the money they have to pay, they live in the dark, without heating, or shower just once a week — victims like millions in Spain of energy poverty. Welfare associations have for years warned against this situation, but the death earlier this month of 81-year-old ...