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We're going to take a short break from the end of August while we work on refreshing and reimagining the newsletter. The last edition in its current format will be sent on 29 August - when we return, you can look forward to a new look and inspiring stories from every corner of the world.

The night sky over buildings in Accra, Ghana, in December 2022 (Credit: Nipah Dennis/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

The 'year of return': Have people found new lives in Ghana?

In 2019, the Ghanaian government marked 400 years since the first documented African slaves were taken to America by launching a campaign called the Year of Return - an invitation to people with African heritage to come to Ghana, and even start new lives there. Five years later, what have the consequences been for those who took part, and for the country itself?

'It feels like less of a risk to take a chance here'

What in the World: Helping you make sense of what’s happening

3D render of human brain (Credit: Palmihelp/Getty Images)

Can technology improve how our bodies work?

Engineering has moved inside the body to innovate like never before. Caroline Steel meets three scientists developing technologies to improve the way our bodies function.

'We're hoping to get more of the drug to the right spot'

A bulb of garlic split in half to reveal cloves (Credit: Getty Images)

What makes garlic so special?

From ancient Egyptian pyramid builders to French chefs, garlic has been prized, feared, and even used to ward off evil. Rumella Dasgupta explores its journey through history and across cultures.

'Cloves were found in the tomb of Tutankhamun'

13 Minutes Presents: The Space Shuttle (Credit: BBC)

The story of the space shuttle

Maggie Aderin-Pocock charts the triumphs and tragedies of a colossal project that changed our relationship with outer space, as told by the people who made it happen.

13 Minutes Presents: The Space Shuttle

Scout Tzofia Bolton (Credit: Courtesy of Prison Radio Association)

'I'd started to believe I was in a film of my own life'

During a manic episode in 2023, Scout Tzofia Bolton held up a shop with a toy gun, believing they were in a film. While serving a prison sentence, they found a new path forward in life.

'It upset and frightened me that I was capable of that'

Marit Bouwmeester celebrates winning gold at the 2024 Paris Olympics (Credit: Luisa Gonzalez/Reuters)

'I'd been raised to believe only first place counts'

Marit Bouwmeester is the most decorated female sailor in Olympic history, but has becoming a mother changed the way she sees sport and the world?

'This is the nicest level, but also the hardest'

Turning letters into artworks

Yoko Nishina is a Japanese calligrapher who turns written letters into works of art. She gives Rosa Johnston Flint an insight into the intricacies of her craft.

'Making the ink is a kind of meditation'

Girl carrying umbrella while standing on road against trees during rainfall (Credit: Cavan Images via Getty Images)

Can we use science to stop rain from falling?

How much control could mankind have over when and where in the world it rains? Chhavi Sachdev investigates the science of rainfall, and to what extent the weather can be engineered.

'These particles form seeds for the cloud'

The skull of Homo floresiensis (centre) (Credit: Jim Watson / AFP via Getty Images)

'I knew that it can't have been from a human'

In 2003, archaeologists on the island of Flores, in Indonesia, discovered the skeleton of a Homo floresiensis, a species now thought to have become extinct around 70,000 years ago.