Indian Ocean

Myanmar is lurching through its transition from military dictatorship to almost-democracy. As it does, tensions between religious groups are increasing. After two Muslim boys died in a fire at their school, the country is on edge.

Because of Myanmar’s economic stagnation over the past decades, very little development has taken place — which has allowed the country’s historic colonial buildings to endure. But as the country loosens up, some preservationists are worried it may lead to destruction of relatively rundown, but still historic, buildings.

Burma, officially known as Myanmar, is in the throes of political reforms. Protesters have been released from prison and notions once unbelievable are now common. And that’s meant a growing movement to teach citizens English.

The archipelago known as Socotra consists of four small islands located 250 miles off the coast of Yemen. Socotra, known as the “Galapagos of the Middle East,” is populated by hundreds of species that cannot be found anywhere else on the planet — and tourists are flocking there.

About two years ago, the Maldives announced the nation would be carbon-neutral by 2020. That’s a tall order for a country that spends 15 percent of GDP on diesel fuel, but work is progressing toward that goal.