The civilised world lies on its knees, a sickness wracking its body. The affliction causes a necrotising of tissues so perfectly uniform in distribution that victims take on the appearance of corpses long before death occurs due to organ failure or secondary infections. ...

A woman dances during a rehearsal by the group “Tambores de Olokun” in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Sunday, April 17, 2022. The Brazilian municipalities of Rio de Janeiro and Sao Paulo postponed the traditional parades of the carnival samba schools to April 22 - 23, as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. (Photo by Bruna Prado/AP Photo)

New Market traders rescue an injured shopkeeper who got hurt during a clash with students from Dhaka college in Dhaka on April 19, 2022. (Photo by Munir Uz Zaman/AFP Photo)

A police officer offers a prayer to his weapon as part of a ritual at their headquarters on the occasion of Dussehra, or Vijaya Dashami, festival in Ahmedabad, India, October 15, 2021. (Photo by Amit Dave/Reuters)

Women practice “katte samu”, a rural traditional self-defence martial art during a workshop organised by the The Department of Language, Art and Culture of Telangana state for the upcoming International Women Day in Hyderabad, on March 6, 2020. (Photo by Noah Seelam/AFP Photo)

This photo taken on July 19, 2020 shows a security guard looking at his smartphone while water is released from the Three Gorges Dam, a gigantic hydropower project on the Yangtze river, to relieve flood pressure in Yichang, central China's Hubei province. Rising waters across central and eastern China have left over 140 people dead or missing, and floods have affected almost 24 million since the start of July, according to the ministry of emergency management. (Photo by AFP Photo/China Stringer Network)

A migratory bird picks her food as army soldiers are reflected in a fountain during rehearsals for the upcoming Republic Day parade at the Raisina hills, the government seat of power, in New Delhi, India, Monday, January 18, 2021. India celebrates Republic Day on Jan. 26, highlighted by a march past by different branches of the military as well as a display of arms and missiles. (Photo by Manish Swarup/AP Photo)

A man dressed as Hindu goddess Kali, the goddess of power, performs with a burning camphor tablet on his tongue during a religious procession ahead of the “Kumbh Mela”, or Pitcher Festival, in the northern Indian city of Allahabad January 6, 2013. During the festival, hundreds of thousands of Hindus take part in a religious gathering at the banks of the river Ganges. The festival is held every 12 years in different Indian cities. (Photo by Jitendra Prakash/Reuters)