Photo Essays

You won′t find cockfights or bullfights in the west of Turkey. Instead, elaborately decorated camels enter the ring here – to the pride of their owners. By Nina Niebergall

Iran has experienced a dramatic increase in the number of homeless people in the past few years. Rights activists blame President Rouhani, who promised social justice during his election campaign, for the problem. By Keivandokht Ghahari

Orthodox Christmas is celebrated by Patriarch Bartholomew I with a festive mass. Afterwards, the waters on the banks of the Golden Horn are traditionally blessed and young men jump into the icy cold water to retrieve a golden cross. By Ulrich von Schwerin

He travels to Iraq, Afghanistan, Syria, Nigeria. There’s hardly any war region that he hasn't visited. And usually, he comes back with highly moving pictures. By Bettina Baumann

Somaliland′s wild frankincense forests are under threat as global demand for essential oils rockets. Unsustainable harvesting has endangered ancestral frankincense trees and the livelihoods of local people. By Irene Banos Ruiz

Sufism – the mystical path of Islam – enjoys a long tradition in Sudan. Sufis aspire to achieve perfection of worship through music, dance and meditative exercises. Two of the largest Sufi orders in Sudan are the Qadiriya and the Burhani brotherhoods. In Omduraman near Khartoum, members of the Qadiriya order meet every weekend by the hundreds in front of the tomb of their former leader, Sheikh Hamed al-Nil, at the cemetery bearing his name. The ceremony's popularity has long since extended beyond the Qadiriya order and is now the largest regularly-held Sufi event in Sudan. By Philipp Breu

Istanbul exerts a unique appeal not only on tourists, as it is also the adopted home of the largest expat community in Turkey. Nonetheless, the repeated terrorist attacks, the failed putsch attempt, and the constant repression have unsettled many of the international residents on the Bosporus. Marian Brehmer offers a portrait of old and new Istanbulers from four continents

Fleeing war-torn Syria, painter Majd Kara found himself in Lithuania where half the population says they refuse to help asylum-seekers. Now holding his second exhibition, Kara is changing the country's attitude. By Karolis Vysniauskas

The land between the Euphrates and Tigris Rivers in the Middle East is one of the cradles of Western civilisation. Many inventions from the region are still with us – though we're often fully unaware of their origins. By Lea Albrecht