Athletes attend training session at the Ak Bulak Nordic Arena outside Almaty, Kazakhstan, July 16, 2015. Kazakhstan is aspiring to host the 2022 Winter Olympics but many in the Central Asian nation view the bid as yet another vanity project of long-ruling President Nursultan Nazarbayev. Almaty, the financial capital, will go head-to-head with the Chinese metropolis Beijing on Friday when the International Olympic Committee elects the winner at its session in Malaysia. (Photo by Shamil Zhumatov/Reuters)

At least 43 people have been killed and more than 200 others wounded in an attack by Somali Islamist militants on a Nairobi shopping mall, the Kenyan Red Cross said on Sunday. The Somali Islamist group al Shabaab claimed responsibility for Saturday’s attack on the Kenyan capital’s Westgate mall, which is frequented by Westerners as well as Kenyans. Several foreigners, including a Canadian diplomat, were among the dead. Photo: Security officers secure an area inside the Westgate Shopping Centre. (Photo by Siegfried Modola/Reuters)

The Stone Forest or Shilin is a notable set of limestone formations located in Shilin Yi Autonomous County, Yunnan Province, People's Republic of China, near Shilin approximately 120 km (75 mi) from the provincial capital Kunming. The tall rocks seem to emanate from the ground in the manner of stalagmites, with many looking like petrified trees thereby creating the illusion of a forest made of stone. Since 2007, two parts of the site, the Naigu Stone Forest (乃古石林) and Suogeyi Village (所各邑村), have been UNESCO World Heritage Sites as part of the South China Karst.

Few people haven’t heard about the ancient city of Persepolis, which lies at the foot of the Mountain of Mercy (Kuh-I-Rahmat). In ancient times, Persepolis was the capital of the Achaemenid Empire. Regretfully, it was burned by the Greeks in 330 BC after they looted the immense treasure of this city. It is said that Greeks needed 5,000 camels and 20,000 mules to carry all the treasures from Persepolis. The only thing of Persepolis that has survived the wear of time is the ginormous stone terrace 530 by 330 meters adorned by elaborate stone sculptures. It is amazing how intricately detailed some of the sculptures are, despite the fact that they were created many centuries ago.

Labourers stack dried bricks inside a kiln, where they will be fired, at a brick factory on the outskirt of Sanaa, Yemen, June 1, 2016. Traditional mud brick tower houses have always been a source of pride to Yemenis, and over a year into a devastating civil war, they are also providing some much-needed jobs in the ancient capital Sanaa. (Photo by Mohamed al-Sayaghi/Reuters)

A Colombian Nukak Maku Indian boy gestures in a refugee camp at Agua Bonita near San Jose del Guaviare of Guaviare province September 3, 2015. Since emerging from the jungle in 2005, half naked and carrying blowpipes, the Nukak have lived in settlements near the frontier town of San Jose del Guaviare, a humid outpost in the Amazon 400 km (250 miles) southeast of the capital Bogota. (Photo by John Vizcaino/Reuters)

Passengers ride an overcrowded bus as they head towards their village to celebrate "Dashain", the biggest religious festival for Hindus in Nepal, as fuel crisis continues in Kathmandu, October 20, 2015. Many people who live in Nepal's capital hail from districts outside the Kathmandu Valley and return home for the festival. (Photo by Navesh Chitrakar/Reuters)

People rush an injured woman to a local hospital in Peshawar, Pakistan, Monday, October 26, 2015. A powerful 7.7-magnitude earthquake in northern Afghanistan rocked cities across South Asia. Strong tremors were felt in Kabul, New Delhi and Islamabad on Monday. In the Pakistani capital, walls swayed back and forth and people poured out of office buildings in a panic, reciting verses from the Quran. (Photo by Mohammad Sajjad/AP Photo)