David Rawcliffe, house and monument steward at the National Trust's Chedworth Roman Villa cleans a Roman mosiac in the new environmentally-controlled conservation shelter on March 19, 2012 near Cirencester, England. Opened this month, the multi-million pound building allows visitors to walk on suspended walkways just above the 1600-year-old Roman floors and to see recently excavated mosaics not seen for 150 years, with more to be uncovered over the coming year. (Photo by Matt Cardy/Getty Images)

Melissa Sinclair livestock apprentice prepares seven year old Maisie the Highland cow ahead of the International Highland Cattle Show being held at Pollock Country Park on September 15, 2011 in Glasgow, Scotland. This year's event , takes place on Saturday 17th in the grounds of the park, with 30 breeders from across the UK attending with more than 100 head of cattle competing in 12 classes, to win the supreme champion. (Photo by Jeff J Mitchell/Getty Images)

A period of relative stability has put the Iranian capital No1 on the list of world cities that have achieved biggest improvements in liveability over the past five years, as calculated by the Economist Intelligence Unit. The “most improved” top 10 contains some unexpected names. So, eg, the fourth place: Abidjan, Ivory Coast. Latest ranking: 128; Ranking five years ago: 131; Five-year index movement: 3.8%. Here: A supporter of Ivory Coast president Alassane Ouattara campaigns in a market in the city’s Koumassi quarter. (Photo by Sia Kambou/AFP Photo)

Balis Chinese community perform the dragon dance during Chinese New Year called Ngelawang ceremony on January 21, 2023 in Kuta, Bali, Indonesia. The Chinese diaspora of Southeast Asia is celebrating Lunar New Year, as COVID-19 restrictions have been removed, it is traditionally a time for people to meet their relatives and take part in celebrations with families. In Indonesia, ethnic Chinese families visited temples to celebrate the Year of the Rabbit on January 22. (Photo by Agung Parameswara/Getty Images)

People use large water guns to spray each other as they celebrate the annual Songkran festival in Bangkok, Thailand on April 14, 2025. Thailand celebrated the Thai traditional New Year, called Songkran in Thai and also known as ëthe water festivalí, on 13 April, with festivities going on on throughout the weekend. During Songkran, people celebrate the New Year by splashing water to each other as a sign of washing away sins and bad luck from the previous year. People across Thailand celebrate the New Year with parties and water related activities throughout the weekend. (Photo by Diego Azubel/Matrix Images)

Glasgow based artist dressed Frank To dressed in a medieval Plague Doctor costume sits beside 72-year-old Willie Kennedy from Glasgow on March 31, 2011 in Glasgow, Scotland. The artist is promoting his first major exhibition in two years, “The Human Condition”, which opens tomorrow at the Leith Gallery in Edinburgh. The artist is showing a series of pictures which depict Mediaeval Plague Doctors, which have fascinated the artist for the last three years. (Photo by Jeff J Mitchell/Getty Images)

Myanmar punks walk in the downtown area as they take part in a punk gathering ahead of the Thingyan water festival in Yangon, Myanmar, 12 April 2017. Myanmar punks have been gathering in Yangon on the day ahead of Thingyan water festival to celebrate every year. The annual water festival is marked with large groups of people congregating to celebrate by splashing water and throwing powder at each others faces as a symbolic sign of cleansing and washing away the sins from the old year to mark the traditional New Year in countries such as Myanmar, Thailand, Laos and Cambodia. This year, the Myanmar Thingyan water festival falls on 13 April and ends on 16 April. (Photo by Lynn Bo Bo/EPA)

Capturing this picture of lightning striking near Blackpool Tower has earned Stephen Cheatley the UK Weather Photographer of the Year award 2018. (Photo by Stephen Cheatley/Bav Media)