A pregnant woman poses on June 19, 2018 in Vertou, western France. France had an estimated population of 68.4 million by January 1, 2024, representing a further year-on-year increase of 0.3 percent, limited by a marked drop in the birth rate, the INSEE national statistics bureau of France reported on January 16, 2024. In 2023, 678,000 babies were born in France, 6.6 percent fewer than the previous year, the lowest number of births in any year since 1946. Over the same period, there were 631,000 deaths, down 6.5 percent on 2022, a year marked by the consequences of the Covid-19 pandemic and episodes of extreme heat. (Photo by Loic Venance/AFP Photo)

Young Lebanese women wearing protective masks and gloves against the coronavirus pandemic, stand on August 5, 2020 amid the rubble in Beirut's Gimmayzeh commercial district which was heavily damaged by the previous day's powerful explosion that tore through Lebanon's capital, resulting from the ignition of a huge depot of ammonium nitrate at the city's main port. Rescuers searched for survivors in Beirut after a cataclysmic explosion at the port sowed devastation across entire neighbourhoods, killing more than 100 people, wounding thousands and plunging Lebanon deeper into crisis. The blast, which appeared to have been caused by a fire igniting 2,750 tonnes of ammonium nitrate left unsecured in a warehouse, was felt as far away as Cyprus, some 150 miles (240 kilometres) to the northwest. (Photo by AFP Photo/Stringer)

A handout photo made available by Borneo Orangutan Survival Foundation (BOSF) shows veterinarian wearing protective masks and suit, conducting anesthesia procedure on Nenuah, a nine year old Bornean Orangutan before being transported and released to the Bukit Batikap protection forest, at the Nyaru Menteng Orangutan Rehabilitation Center in Palangkaraya, Central Kalimantan, Indonesia, 15 February 2021. BOSF and the national nature conservation agency (BKSDA) released 10 orangutans back to the wild in Bukit Batikap Protection Forest in Central Kalimantan and the Kehje Sewen Forest in East Kalimantan amid the pandemic according to BOSF. (Photo by BOSF Handout/EPA/EFE)

EMT Christian Amoroso, wearing personal protective equipment (PPE), pauses while unloading COVID-19 patients at the Montefiore Medical Center Wakefield Campus on April 06, 2020 in the Bronx borough of New York City. A specialized bus known as a Medical Evacuation Transport Unit (METU), caries infected patients on stretchers and benches between hospitals. (Photo by John Moore/Getty Images)

Girls, who are part of Afghan Mobile Mini Circus for Children (MMCC), participate in a juggling competition in Kabul, Afghanistan August 12, 2015. The MMCC, founded by David Mason from Denmark, teaches cooperation and creativity to children scarred by years of war in Afghanistan. Despite the dangers, the project has grown so popular that it now runs centres in ten provinces and has hundreds of regular students. The circus makes visits to internally displaced persons' camps, schools, orphanages, and holds annual festivals. The children are taught the skills of juggling clubs, walking on stilts and acrobatics. (Photo by Ahmad Masood/Reuters)

“Reem Riyashi (1982 – 14 January 2004) was a Palestinian mother of two from Gaza City who killed herself and four Israelis at the Erez crossing on January 14, 2004 in a suicide bombing attack. Hamas and the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigade claimed that the attack by Riyashi was a joint operation mounted as a response to weeks of Israeli incursions into West Bank cities that had left about 25 Palestinians dead”. – Wikipedia

Photo: Reem Saleh Al-Riyashi, the first woman suicide bomber from Hamas, is shown with her daughter, Duha, in the Gaza Strip. She was married and the mother of two young children. (Photo by Getty Images)

“Stephen John Fry (born 24 August 1957) is an English actor, screenwriter, author, playwright, journalist, poet, comedian, television presenter and film director, and a director of Norwich City Football Club. He first came to attention in the 1981 Cambridge Footlights Revue presentation “The Cellar Tapes”, which also included Hugh Laurie, Emma Thompson and Tony Slattery. With Hugh Laurie, as the comedy double act Fry and Laurie, he co-wrote and co-starred in A Bit of Fry & Laurie, and the duo also played the title roles in Jeeves and Wooster”. – Wikipedia

Photo: English comic Stephen Fry hosts the comedy revue “Hysteria 3” in support of the Terrence Higgins Trust, 1991. (Photo by Dave Hogan/Hulton Archive/Getty Images)

Artist Le Pustra and organiser Else Edelstahl pose for a picture at Simon Dach Strasse, a street filled with many bars, in Berlin, Germany, August 28, 2016. Else Edelstahl organises the party series “Boheme Sauvage”, in which people dress up in 1920s style, celebrating Berlin nightlife of a past era. (Photo by Hannibal Hanschke/Reuters)