Is the news too negative? One academic thinks we need to stop making ourselves miserable: humanity is the best it has ever been. Others believe the worst is yet to come.
Reasons to be glad this Friday 13th
The bright side: Despite multiple crises, the world has never been as prosperous, educated and progressive says Professor Sergei Guriev, the dean of the London Business School. Glossary
Black Death - A bacterial infection that killed as much as 60% of the population of Europe and 33% of the Middle Eastern population.
Timur - Mongolian ruler of Samarkand who led his nomadic hordes to conquer an area from Turkey to Mongolia (1336-1405).
Little Ice Age - A climate interval of much cooler weather that occurred in Britain in the 17th century and lead to several big freezes.