"What kills people around the world - and how does it vary by country? The Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation have published their latest report in to the global burden of disease today and alongside the release have launched a range of visualisations showing how the data breaks down by country. Explore one of the new interactives below and see how causes of death have changed over time. Use the drop down menu to view data by a specific country and to change indicator"
What is it about London? Population growth is slowing across most of Europe - people are having fewer children and, it could be argued, steps are being taken to try to reduce social inequalities. But London is unusual. London continues growing, and London is becoming more youthful. The middle aged and those who are poor, but not desperately poor, are being squeezed out. Graduates from the rest of Britain and the rest of the world flow in ever greater numbers and require ever higher degrees of optimism. Many fail to achieve their aspirations. Above them a few are becoming ever richer. Below them, as private rents and social housing becomes too expensive for huge numbers of lowly paid families and many leave, a new poor may be growing, less well documented, less well protected, with even less to lose.
The number of older people using day care centres in England has fallen by nearly a quarter in three years, charity Age UK has said.
Age UK found the number using services such as lunch clubs had fallen from 88,498 in 2009-10 to 68,160 in 2011-12, and blamed councils' funding pressures.
From January 2013, Tanzania will start restricting the size of land that single large-scale foreign and local investors can "lease" for agricultural use. The decision follows both local and international criticism that major investors are grabbing large chunks of land here, often displacing small-scale farmers and local communities.
A US intelligence portrait of the world in 2030 predicts that China will be the largest economic power, climate change will create instability by contributing to water and food shortages, and there will be a "tectonic shift" with the rise of a global middle class.
"SOMETIME in 2013 Lagos will overtake Cairo to become Africa's largest city. This is confirmation of a decisive shift away from the ends of the continent and towards its tropical middle. Within a decade Lagos will have 16m people; Kinshasa, in Congo, will have 15m. The standard view of cities as generators of wealth, diversity and ideas will be challenged in Africa. To become liveable, cities will have to improve public transport, address rising violent crime and generate opportunities for young Africans. In 2013, over half of all city-dwellers will be under 18 and every African election will be decided, statistically at least, by first-time voters. What is certain is that African cities will be the most informal economies in the world in 2013. Some 70% of workers will live on their wits, relying on day labour to make enough to eat, pay rent and send their children to school. That will make cities dynamic and mobile, but also combustible. See full article."
"WHAT EXACTLY IS THE GIRL EFFECT?
The girl effect is a movement. It's about leveraging the unique potential of adolescent girls to end poverty for themselves, their families, their communities, their countries and the world. It's about making girls visible and changing their social and economic dynamics by providing them with specific, powerful and relevant resources.
Created by the Nike Foundation in collaboration with the NoVo Foundation, United Nations Foundation and Coalition for Adolescent Girls, the girl effect is fuelled by hundreds of thousands of girl champions who recognise the untapped potential of adolescent girls living in poverty."
What were the defining issues of this year in development? Land grabs dominated headlines as investors bought up swaths of Africa, Britain controversially decided to stop sending aid to India and the Rio+20 conference on sustainability caused widespread frustration. Click on the pictures to explore the issues and revisit this year's major topics