Photo Essays

Ramadan is a holy month for the world's Muslims. It is a month of peace and the time in which the Koran was first sent down from heaven to the Prophet Mohammed. The fasting takes place from sunrise to sunset and means abstinence from eating, drinking and sex. It is a form of worship. Those who fast should gain a better appreciation of the predicament of the poor and the destitute. Ramadan is also a month devoted to intensive prayer and social welfare. Our slide show presents impressions of Ramadan from the varied Islamic cultures all across Asia.

Syria is suffering the effects of the civil war. Forty percent of the nation's infrastructure has been destroyed. Four million people have been bombed out of their homes. Everyday life is becoming increasingly difficult in the worst-hit regions. Impressions from Andreas Stahl

The Arab Spring raised hopes that women in the region would get more rights. They're now standing up for themselves. With Islamist parties winning elections, some fear that women's rights will be reduced again. By Andreas Gorzewski

It's been a year since Moammar Gadhafi's death - how are Libyans going about their lives and what remains of his legacy? A photo essay by Gaia Anderson

Libya celebrates its first national Liberation Day, a year after the country deposed of Moammar Gadhafi's rule. By Gaia Anderson

Journalist Martin Gerner has made several trips to Afghanistan since 2004, reporting for various German radio stations and print publications. The photographs he has taken in the country represent an attempt to capture the everyday life of children in Afghanistan.

For one month a year, the daily routines of Muslims are determined not only by prayer rituals, but also by sunrise and sunset. During the hours of daylight, the faithful are required to desist from eating and drinking and instead exercise self-discipline and abstinence. But for many Muslims, Ramadan brings with it a whole host of other challenges.

Afghan soccer fans celebrate the country's first premier league football final. By Waslat Hasrat-Nazimi

The innumerable symbols and slogans in graffiti, banners and leaflets that served the Arab demonstrators as a means for political protest against their autocratic rulers were at times rich in metaphor, laconic and ironic, and at other times more direct and accusatory.

Zanzibar has long been a place of religious tolerance and diversity, and this characteristic is reflected in its architecture. The East African archipelago in the Indian Ocean off the coast of Tanzania enjoys a reputation as a melting pot of religions. In the maze of narrow alleyways that make up the old quarter of Stone Town on the main island Unguja, mosques stand side by side with Hindu temples and churches among houses made of coral by Muslim Arabs some 300 years ago. Impressions and images by Arian Fariborz.