Dancers take part in “La Vijanera”, a winter masquerade at the beginning of carnival season in Europe, in Silio, northern Spain, January 8, 2017. (Photo by Vincent West/Reuters)

Netherland's Kitty van Male is hit in the face by Argentina's Agustina Habif during the women's quarterfinal field hockey game, August 15, 2016. (Photo by Carl de Souza/AFP Photo)

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)

A two-horse team street cleaner, with sprayer, squeegee, and roller at rear. New York, between ca. 1910 and ca. 1915. (Photo by NYC Municipal Archives)

Fisherwomen laying barrels with salt in preparation for herring curing, 1937. (Photo by Topical Press Agency)

Crashed cars in Finchley Road, north London. (Photo by Hulton Archive/Getty Images). May 1924

Women balance on a “mikoshi” or portable shrine as people carry it into the sea during a festival to wish for calm waters in the ocean and good fortune in the new year in Oiso, Kanagawa prefecture, west of Tokyo, Japan, January 1, 2016. (Photo by Yuya Shino/Reuters)

Indian Hindu devotees wait to take part in an event to mark Pongal in Mumbai on January 15, 2016. Pongal, which coincides with the Hindu festival Makara Sankranthi, is a thanksgiving and harvest celebrated throughout India and specifically by those from the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. (Photo by Indranil Mukherjee/AFP Photo)