Madrid / AFP They may be cute, colourful and chatty, but South American quaker parrots have taken up residence in Madrid and other Spanish cities, irritating residents with their shrill squawks and destabilising the ecosystem. The small, bright green and grey-breasted birds — also known as monk parakeets — first arrived in Spain in cages as entertaining pets, but …

Ranomafana / AFP “Last time, I burnt a section about that big,” says Mihareta Laivoa, pointing to a parcel of land about the size of a football field, as the farmer admitted to having destroyed forest to make way for his crops. “I don’t own a piece of land in the valley, so I have no choice,” explains the 41-year-old …

  Tehran / AFP Mansour Faridfar did well on the black market until the law caught up and left him jobless, forcing him to join the thousands of “shakhsi” unofficial taxi drivers clogging Tehran’s streets. “I used to be very well off and I thought my fate was in my hands, but I gradually learned that was not true,” said the …