The Smilovichi Felting Factory in Belarus was founded in 1928, when Smilovichi was a small Jewish settlement of craftsmen. Five of those craftsmen organized a small artel (a cooperative association of craftsmen who all live and work together), which produced warm boots called “valenki” for cold weather. Photo: Belarusian workers works at a felt boot factory in Smilovichi, some 35km from Minsk, Belarus, 16 January 2012. (Photo by Tatyana Zenkovich/EPA)

Gaza authorities say two newborn lion cubs just unveiled by Hamas as prized additions in a zoo they run have died. Mohammad Abdel-Rahman, the acting manager of the Beit Lahiya zoo in northern Gaza, said Thursday the cubs died of an unspecified illness. He said the zoo's staff was unable to save them because they lacked experience in caring for newborn cubs. Photo: Two-day-old lion cubs Fajr and Sjel are fed at a zoo in the northern Gaza Strip town of Beit Lahia, on November 19, 2013. (Photo by Mohammed Abed/AFP Photo)

With a presence in nearly every city and town across Iran, the paramilitary Basij volunteer corps has an ever-increasing influence on life in the Islamic Republic. Authorities created the Basij, which means mobilization in Persian, just after the country's 1979 Islamic Republic. It is part of Iran's powerful Revolutionary Guard. Photo: In this Thursday, August 22, 2013 photo, a female member of the Basij paramilitary militia aims a rifle as a trainer looks over her shoulder in Tehran, Iran. (Photo by Ebrahim Noroozi/AP Photo)

The Euro sculpture is partially reflected in a puddle on a cobblestone pavement in front of the headquarters of the European Central Bank in Frankfurt on Jan. 21. (Kai Pfaffenbach/Reuters)

An Israeli police officer holds his weapon as he stands in front of an injured Israeli driver moments after witnesses said his car crashed into a Palestinian on a pavement during stone-throwing clashes near Lion's Gate just outside Jerusalem's Old City on May 10, 2021. (Photo by Ilan Rosenberg/Reuters)

A woman fancy dressed as the character of La Catrina poses before taking part in the Catrinas Parade, commemorating the Day of the Dead, in Mexico City, on October 23, 2022. (Photo by Claudio Cruz/AFP Photo)

Two girls run through the heavy rain as people head out to Wind Street in Swansea, Wales to celebrate Halloween on Monday, October 31, 2022. (Photo by Robert Melen)

A zookeeper counts penguins through an observation window during the annual stocktake at ZSL London Zoo in central London on January 3, 2023. (Photo by Justin Tallis/AFP Photo)