Girls practice sit-ups during gymnastics lessons at the Shanghai Yangpu Youth Amateur Athletic School in Shanghai, China, on May 4, 2016. China's sports system has been enormously successful since the country returned to the Olympic fold in 1980, culminating with the host nation topping the medals' table at the 2008 Beijing Olympics. And yet, with the Rio de Janeiro Games less than three months away, the system is beginning to break down due to the shifting demographics of a more prosperous nation. (Photo by Aly Song/Reuters)

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)

Workers prepare Koshary, a popular Egyptian dish, in an attempt to break the Guinness World Record for the world's biggest plate of Koshary, at a general garden in Zamalek, Cairo, January 17, 2015. Koshary is a traditional Egyptian dish dating to the 19th century in which rice, pasta and lentils are mixed together in one plate with a topping of spicey tomato sauce and some crispy fried onions. With a huge plate of koshary measuring 10 metres long and in width and of 1.2 metres in height, the plate weighed 7 tonnes, or about 7,000 kg. About 6,000 attendees turned up to the festival, earning it a place in the world record books. (Photo by Mohamed Abd El Ghany/Reuters)

The report, prepared by the Sustainable Development Solutions Network (SDSN) and the Earth Institute at Columbia University, showed Syria, Afghanistan and eight sub-Saharan countries as the 10 least happy places on earth to live. The top 10 this year were Denmark, Switzerland, Iceland, Norway, Finland, Canada, Netherlands, New Zealand, Australia, and Sweden. Denmark was in third place last year, behind Switzerland and Iceland. The bottom 10 were Madagascar, Tanzania, Liberia, Guinea, Rwanda, Benin, Afghanistan, Togo, Syria and Burundi. The United States came in at 13, the United Kingdom at 23, France at 32, and Italy at 50. Here: #8. NEW ZEALAND: A woman dives from a platform into a giant air bed at a park in Palmerston North September 29, 2011. (Photo by Marcos Brindicci/Reuters)

North Koreans who signed up to join the army train in the midst of political tension with South Korea, in this undated photo released by North Korea's Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) in Pyongyang August 23, 2015. Top aides to the leaders of North and South Korea resumed talks on Sunday after negotiating through the night in a bid to ease tensions involving an exchange of artillery fire that brought the peninsula to the brink of armed conflict. (Photo by Reuters/KCNA)

Construction continues on One World Trade Center (TALLEST BUILDING AT LOWER LEFT) as the memorial footprints of the twin towers are seen (BOTTOM C) on August 12, 2011 in New York City. Upon completion, One World Trade Center will be New York's tallest skyscraper, topping out at a symbolic 1,776 feet, with 3 million square feet of office space. More than 2,700 people were killed when al-Qaeda terrorists hijacked U.S. passenger jets and flew them into the twin towers of the World Trade Center on September 11, 2001. Nearly ten years after the crippling attacks on Lower Manhattan, business, tourism and new construction like One World Trade Center have rejuvenated the formerly devastated cityscape.(Photo by Mario Tama/Getty Images)

Sushi Cats (originally branded as Neko-Sushi) is a series of photographs created by the Japan-based company Tange & Nakimushi Peanuts. In this series the creators have dressed up a number of cats and placed them on top of oversized balls of sushi rice. The kitties don’t look too happy with what is going on, though they do look adorable in their little outfits. Tange & Nakimushi Peanuts didn’t think that making a set of photos was enough, so they’ve also created an Android and iPhone apps featuring Sushi Cats. Moreover, people living in Japan can visit their website, if they wish to order photo prints, postcards, and other items. (Photo by Tange & Nakimushi Peanuts)

A sign advising to pray for rain hangs above an exhibit area at the 47th Annual World Ag Expo in Tulare, February 12, 2014. About a hundred years ago, when urban water systems were being developed throughout the state, the city of Sacramento wrote protections from metering into its charter, vowing that residents would always have the right to use as much water as they needed. But on Tuesday, the state's top water regulators released a framework for enforcing California's first statewide mandatory restrictions on urban water use – cuts of 25 percent for non-agricultural users ordered last week by Democratic Governor Jerry Brown as a devastating drought enters its fourth year. (Photo by David McNew/Reuters)