People sit near a fully loaded in Madama near the border with Lybia on January 1, 2015. French Defence Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian paid a surprise visit to northern Niger on January 1, to visit a base being built to combat the growing flow of weapons and jihadists from neighbouring Libya. Le Drian travelled from Chad to Madama, a desert outpost about 100 kilometres from Libya, where he saw in the New Year with troops at a French base. Madama is situated on the route used by jihadists and arms smugglers in southern Libya to reach northern Mali and Niger. (Photo by Dominique Faget/AFP Photo)

“Kumbh Mela is a mass Hindu pilgrimage in which Hindus gather at the Ganges river. The normal Kumbh Mela is celebrated every 3 years, the Ardh (half) Kumbh Mela is celebrated every six years at Haridwar and Prayag, the Purna (complete) Kumbh takes place every twelve years, at four places (Prayag (Allahabad), Haridwar, Ujjain, and Nashik). The Maha (great) Kumbh Mela which comes after 12 “Purna Kumbh Melas”, or 144 years, is held at Allahabad.

The last Ardh Kumbh Mela was held over a period of 45 days beginning in January 2007, more than 70 million Hindu pilgrims took part in the Ardh Kumbh Mela at Prayag, and on January 15, the most auspicious day of the festival of Makar Sankranti, more than 5 million participated. The previous Maha Kumbh Mela, held in 2001, was attended by around 60 million people, making it at the time the largest gathering anywhere in the world in recorded history”. – Wikipedia

Photo: Sadhus (holy men) smoke at their camp near the ritual site at Sangam, the confluence of the Ganges, Yamuna and mythical Saraswati rivers during the Ardh Kumbh Mela festival (Half Pitcher festival) January 18, 2007 in Allahabad, India. Millions of Hindu pilgrims have flocked to the largest religious gathering in the world which lasts for 45 days in northern India. The festival commemorates the mythical conflict between gods and demons over a pitcher filled with the “nectar of immortality”. Devotees believe that taking a holy dip in the Ganges at this time washes away their sins and paves the path to salvation. (Photo by Mario Tama/Getty Images)

A gold prospector is detained by agents of Brazil’s environmental agency on the Uraricoera River during an operation against illegal gold mining on indigenous land, in the heart of the Amazon rainforest, in Roraima state, Brazil April 15, 2016. At over 9.5 million hectares, the Yanomami territory is twice the size of Switzerland and home to around 27,000 indians. The land has legally belonged to the Yanomami since 1992, but illegal miners continue to plague the area, sawing down trees and poisoning rivers with mercury in their lust for gold. (Photo by Bruno Kelly/Reuters)

High-wire artist Kane Petersen successfully walks a tightrope 300 metres above the ground at Eureka Skydeck on September 16, 2015 in Melbourne, Australia. The walk was the highest tightrope walk ever attempted in the Southern Hemisphere. The stunt is to mark the arrival of the film “The Walk” to Australian cinemas in October. The stunt saw Kane mimic the film's French high-wire artist Philippe Petit, who successfully walked between the twin towers of the World Trade Center in 1974. (Photo by Scott Barbour/Getty Images)

“Lofoten Glow”. I was desperately searching a good sunrise spot this particular morning. Normally Storvatnet Lake is completely covered in snow, so you can only imagine my surprise when I saw these crazy ice formations almost being shot out of the frozen lake. I put my crampons on and took a big risk walking out. I could hear the ice cracking underneath my feet, and when you’re all alone in a fjord/canyon like this – the cracks are echoed and sound really frightening. Was it worth it? I sure think so! Photo location: Storvatnet, Lofoten Islands in Northern Norway. (Photo and caption by Stian Klo/National Geographic Photo Contest)

Young cheetahs eat meat at The Cheetah Conservation Fund (CCF) center in Otjiwarongo, Namibia, on August 13, 2013. The CCF started breeding Anatolian livestock dogs to promote cheetah-friendly farming after some 10,000 big cats – the current total worldwide population – were killed or moved off farms in the 1980s. Up to 1,000 cheetahs were being killed a year, mostly by farmers who saw them as livestock killers. But the use of dogs has slashed losses for sheep and goat farmers and led to less retaliation against the vulnerable cheetah. (Photo by Jennifer Bruce/AFP Photo)

An Extinction Rebellion environmental activist couple getting married at an action site they are calling “The Beacon” on Westminster Bridge on October 7, 2019 in London, England. Primarily made up of London based activists the site is one of 12 situated around key Government locations in central London as actions are also predicted to occur in unto 70 cities around the world. The group aim to occupy the areas in central London for up to two weeks through non violent protest with an estimated 8 times as many people as their April protests which saw over 1,200 people arrested. (Photo by Ollie Millington/Getty Images)

Londoners enjoy a “Silent Night” as Big Ben falls silent, London, UK on August 21, 2017. ose Allerston from Clapham, London said “After a stressful day in the office, I couldn't think of anything better than going home and climbing into bed – but when I saw this bed opposite Big Ben I just couldn't resist getting in for a snuggle”. (Photo by Imagewise Ltd/Rex Features/Shutterstock)