A man stands next to a horsecart laden with oil drums on a street in Lahore on September 27, 2020. (Photo by Arif Ali/AFP Photo)

A civil defence volunteer wearing a Covid-19 coronavirus-themed helmet holds a placard as he takes part in an awareness campaign at a market in New Delhi on November 25, 2020. (Photo by Sajjad Hussain/AFP Photo)

An Indian girl wearing traditional attire takes selfie as others perform the Garba, a dance of Gujarat state, to celebrate the Hindu festival Navratri in Ahmedabad, India, Thursday, October 7, 2021. Navratri, or nine nights festival, began Thursday. (Photo by Ajit Solanki/AP Photo)

Spot-billed pelican interact on the banks of an artificial lake in Colombo on September 28, 2021. (Photo by Ishara S. Kodikara/AFP Photo)

Wang Zeyu, 4, a fee-paying enthusiast of kung fu, practises during a training class at a kung fu school near the Shaolin Temple April 10, 2005 in Dengfeng, Henan Province, China. Zeyu's father sent him to the school from his home in Jiangsu Province, thousands kilometres away from Dengfeng, when he was just 3 years old. And his father must pay 9,800 yuan (US$1195) for one year's tuition at the school, a huge amount for most Chinese. There are more than 80 kung fu schools that line the road from the city of Dengfeng to the Shaolin Temple with hundreds and thousands of young kung-fu lovers from all over the country and beyond studying here. All the schools use the Shaolin name to attract students as the Shaolin Temple is the birthplace of Chinese Kung Fu. (Photo by Cancan Chu/Getty Images)

Hippo keeper Atthapon Nundee, 31, takes pictures of a two-month-old female pygmy hippo named “Moo Deng” who has recently become a viral internet sensation, at Khao Kheow Open Zoo in Chonburi province, Thailand, on September 16, 2024. (Photo by Athit Perawongmetha/Reuters)

An orange oakleaf rests on a plant at the Taipei Zoo on November 26, 2020. (Photo by Sam Yeh/AFP Photo)

People in Kathmandu joke that the face mask has now become part of the national dress – an indispensable accessory in an effort to protect themselves from the dust. Nepal has the worst air quality in the world, according to the Environmental Performance Index. (Photo by Pete Pattisson/The Guardian)