“Dubai is sometimes called the “City of Gold” because of its stunning growth from a sleepy Gulf port to a world-famous business crossroads in the space of a single generation. Its nickname has a literal meaning for traders in the precious metal. The city is building itself up as a center for the gold trade, between sources in Africa and consumers in the rising economies of China and India”. – Kamran Jebreili via Associated Press

Photo: A gold press operator collects 10 gram gold blanks to press them with the logo of the Emirates Gold company in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. Gold prices remained relatively steady in 2012, close to $1,700 an ounce. (Photo by Kamran Jebreili/AP Photo)

Nepalese Hindu devotees offer oil lamps in the Bagmati River as they observe the festival of Bala Chaturdashi in the early morning hours at the Pashupati Temple in Kathmandu, Nepal, 28 November 2016. Seven kinds of seeds – paddy, barley, sesame, wheat, gram, maize and finger millet – are sown around the temple premises in the name of loved ones departed during the last three years, in the belief that the departed souls will receive salvation. (Photo by Narendra Shrestha)

A couple have taken their love of animals to the extreme – by opening up their home to over 100 rescued animals. Dr Prakash Amte and his wife, Dr. Mandakini Amte have dedicated their lives to helping both the animals – and people – of Hemalkasa, Maharashtra in India. Here: Prakash Amte is seen playing with a Hyena from his orphanage on September 19, 2017 in Maharashtra, India. (Photo by Haziq Qadri/Barcroft Media)

“Atheris is a genus of venomous vipers found only in tropical subsaharan Africa, excluding southern Africa. Confined to rain forest areas, many members have isolated and fragmented distributions. In an interesting example of convergent evolution, they show many similarities to the arboreal pit vipers of Asia and South America”. – Wikipedia

Photo: Atheris squamigera. (Photo by David Williams)

A man is publicly flogged by a member of the Sharia police after he was found guilty of raping a child, in Idi Rayeuk, East Aceh on November 26, 2020. (Photo by Cekmad/AFP Photo)

US model Bella Hadid poses as she arrives for the screening of the film “Rocketman” at the 72nd edition of the Cannes Film Festival in Cannes, southern France, on May 16, 2019. (Photo by Antonin Thuillier/AFP Photo)

People walk with their belongings in a flooded area after the Nile river overflowed after continuous heavy rain which caused thousands of people to be displaced in Bor, central South Sudan, on August 8, 2020. (Photo by Akuot Chol/AFP Photo)

Mask dancers take part in a parade during the the International Festival of Masquerade Games “Surva” in the town of Pernik, some 30 km from Sofia, Bulgaria, January 31, 2016. (Photo by Vassil Donev/EPA)