A snowboarder wears a protective cushion at the Thaiwoo ski resort in Zhangjiakou close to venues hosting the Beijing Winter Olympics next year. China hopes hosting the Games will help the country to become a popular winter sports destination and deliver on a target set by President Xi Jinping to get 300 million Chinese involved in winter sports, with an aim to build a 1 trillion yuan ($157 billion) industry. Locals lead their livestock to safety as Mount Semeru continues to spew ash and smoke in the background after a volcanic eruption, in Lumajang, Indonesia. A man wears a traditional Kankurang mask on the beach in the popular tourist area of Senegambia in Banjul, the capital of Gambia. The Kankurang traditionally is said to be a protector spirit, warding off evil. Todor, 71, works to bring a haul on to his boat from a net, in Varna, Bulgaria. Data shows that water pollution and overfishing have drastically reduced the fish stock in the Black Sea. Workers assembling power lines on a transmission tower in Wuxi, Jiangsu province, China. The Baihetan-Jiangsu transmission project stretches for more than 63 kilometres, passing through 12 towns. It is a vital part of the national 'Transmission of Power from Western to Eastern China' plan, which can effectively enhance Jiangsu's power guarantee capacity and promote the use of clean energy. A hiker walks on Riscas Peak in Ostana, near the French border, in Alpine north-western Italy. A handout picture provided by the Vatican Media shows Pope Francis handing the microphone back to a journalist aboard the papal plane on his return flight to Rome after visiting Cyprus and Greece.