Nestled among the cocoa plantations of western Ivory Coast is a gold mine that does not feature on any official maps. It is not run by an industrial mining company, nor does it pay taxes to the central government. The unlicensed mine is a key part of a lucrative business empire headed by the deputy commander of the West African nation's elite Republican Guard, United Nations investigators allege. Here: A gold prospector sits and eats close to a soldier at a gold mine near the village of Gamina, in western Ivory Coast, March 18, 2015. (Photo by Luc Gnago/Reuters)

Discovered in 1952 by French bio-speleologist Henri Coiffait, the waterfall and accompanying sinkhole were fully mapped in the 1980s by the Spéléo club du Liban. The cave is also known as the "Cave of the Three Bridges." Traveling from Laklouk to Tannourine one passes the village of Balaa, and the "Three Bridges Chasm" (in French "Gouffre des Trois Ponts") is a five-minute journey into the valley below where one sees three natural bridges, rising one above the other and overhanging a chasm descending into Mount Lebanon. During the spring melt, a 90–100-metre (300–330 ft) cascade falls behind the three bridges and then down into the 250-metre (820 ft) chasm. A 1988 fluorescent dye test demonstrated that the water emerged at the spring of Dalleh in Mgharet al-Ghaouaghir.

A devotee of the Chinese Bang Neow Shrine, with two plastic guns pierced through his cheeks, takes part in a street procession celebrating the annual vegetarian festival in Phuket September 29, 2014. The festival, featuring face-piercing, spirit mediums and strict vegetarianism celebrates the local Chinese community's belief that abstinence from meat and various stimulants during the ninth lunar month of the Chinese calendar will help them obtain good health and peace of mind. (Photo by Damir Sagolj/Reuters)

“What did I know about Chechnya before last week? For someone who grew up in the 1990s the very word Chechnya meant a string of grainy images on TV showing people in battered camouflage outfits, shooting at each other amid destruction and ruin. Fear, wahhabis, Shamil Basayev, terrorism, mountains: these were the words that used to spring to my mind when someone mentioned Chechnya”. – Maxim Shemetov. Photo: Special forces officers stand guard during a government-organised event marking Chechen language day in the centre of the Chechen capital Grozny April 25, 2013. (Photo by Maxim Shemetov/Reuters)

When you first see the art works created by a Thai metalworker Ban Hun Lek, you are completely stunned by the level of detail of the metal sculptures that he creates. One of his most prominent creations is a full sized sculpture of a Hulk. The fact that this sculpture was created practically solely out of steel nuts adds to the rugged feeling of force that emanates from this creation. And if you think that this creation is amazing, you should look at his other works such as the Ganesha – the god of wisdom, knowledge and new beginnings, or the Predator. For that matter, almost every sculpture that he creates blows your mind away, making you wonder just how many hours has he put into making these amazing pieces of art. (Photo by BanHunLek)

For more than a century, the Barcelona skyline has been graced (or marred, depending on who’s talking) by the spectacle of the Basilica designed by Anton Gaudi, first started in 1882. If you want to know what it’ll look like when finished, don’t fret — 2026 is right around the corner. Or you can watch this video, released last week on YouTube by Basílica de la Sagrada Família and titled simply “2026 We Build Tomorrow,” a 3-D artists’ rendering of the building stages through completion.
(If 144 years sounds like a long time to finish a cathedral, keep in mind that there were decades that they didn’t work on it — and that Notre Dame de Paris took 182 years, although the 13th century Parisians didn’t have diesel-powered industrial cranes.) Now, if only the video could show us what the admission and hours will be in 2026 (and how to avoid the inevitable long lines).

Few things are more beautiful than puffy white clouds floating in the bright blue sky. Do you remember the time when you would lay on the soft green grass, look up at the sky, and try to recognize shapes in the clouds floating overhead? Wasn’t it wonderful, just lying there, letting the wind caress your skin, as you imagine that the clouds in the sky are actually mystical or not-so-mystical creatures? Dragons, ducks, teddy bears, dinosaurs, everything was up there. It was good old times. As adults we forget about simple pleasures of life. However, an Argentinian artist Martin Feijoo didn’t forget those times, and took them a step further. After imagining what a particular cloud looks like, he draws that particular shape over the picture of the cloud, allowing the entire world to see what goes on in his mind. (Photo by Martin Feijoo)