A Hindu devotee lies on the banks of river Ganges she worships the Sun god during the religious festival of Chhath Puja, amidst the spread of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19), in Kolkata, India on November 20, 2020. (Photo by Rupak De Chowdhuri/Reuters)

A woman looks on December 10, 2020 at a metal monolith that has popped up on a riverbank of the Vistula in the Polish capital Warsaw, the latest in a string of similar objects that have recently appeared in Europe and the US. Similar-looking objects were found in the United States, Romania and Britain. (Photo by Wojtek Radwanski/AFP Photo)

A child dressed as a New York Fire Department member watches the Veterans Day parade behind a New York Police Department officer on Fifth Avenue in Manhattan, New York City on November 11, 2025. (Photo by Kylie Cooper/Reuters)

In this Thursday, April 11, 2013 photo, an Afghan woman peers through the the eye slit of her burqa as she waits to try on a new burqa in shop in the old town of Kabul, Afghanistan. (Photo by Anja Niedringhaus/AP Photo)

Greyhounds with stuffed and sprung model monkeys strapped to their backs before a hurdle race at Wellinborough. (Photo by E. Bacon). 21st April 1928

These incredible pictures look like a bird's-eye view of a faraway alien planet – but they're actually hot springs. The amazing snaps are up-close shots of Iceland's hot springs, and the point-blank pictures produce a breathtaking array of colors and effects. Here: The amazing snaps are up-close shots of Icelandic hot springs. (Photo by Johann Vilhjalmsson/Caters News)

Organizers of an exhibition of ancient instruments of torture in Huai'an, Jiangsu province, have suggested that children, heart disease patients and people with high blood pressure stay away because of the vivid depictions of shocking cruelty. The exhibition has more than 200 instruments of torture on display in the 50,000-square-meter exhibition halls of a restored ancient building. Wax figures, along with sound and light techniques, are incorporated for scary effect. The local government said the exhibition is for tourists and historians to research ancient torture practices. (Photo by ChinaFotoPress)

“When I was 8 years old, my parents paid a smuggler to take me across the Himalayas, a weekslong walk over the mountains from Tibet to India. It was a trek that tens of thousands of other Tibetans have taken since the Dalai Lama fled a failed 1959 uprising against Chinese rule. My parents must have had their reasons to send me here; they must have had the best of intentions. But 18 years later, I still don't know why they did it. They are not political people. They are small farmers who raise barley and a few yak in a rural area not far from Lhasa, the Tibetan capital. I have not seen them since I left...”. – Tsering Topgyal via The Associated Press. (Photo by Tsering Topgyal/AP Photo)