Today's best photos: from polluted Mongolia to stingless bees

'The National' selects the most striking pictures from around the world

Smog hangs over houses on a polluted day in Ulaanbaatar, the capital of Mongolia. AFP

Visitors wear traditional hanbok dress as they walk on the grounds of Gyeongbokgung Palace after snowfall in Seoul. AFP

Snow-covered mountains surround the town of Amadiyah, built at an altitude of 1,400 metres above sea level, about 75 kilometres north of the city of Dohuk in the semi-autonomous Iraqi Kurdistan region. AFP

The gold leaf that coats the pyramidal cap of the Obelisk of Luxor is restored on Place de la Concorde, Paris. AFP

Neighbours skate on the ice rink built across the gardens of three houses in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. Reuters

Marine iguanas fight with each other on Santa Cruz Island. Ecuador has announced the expansion of a marine reserve that will encompass 198,000 square kilometres in its Galapagos National Park. Reuters

The Wolf Moon, the first full moon of the year, is pictured through coloured fairy lights hanging outside a shopping mall in Bangkok, Thailand. AFP

Men shield themselves from the elements in shawls during dense fog and heavy rain in Peshawar, Pakistan. Many cities in the country are experiencing unusually cold conditions of about 5°C during the daytime. EPA

A cat plays in the snow during a huge storm in Mississauga, Ontario, Canada. AP

Stingless bees inside a cultivated honeycomb at a farm in Bitai, a village in Banda Aceh, Indonesia. According to the farmer, cultivating the bees to produce honey is considered to be an environmentally friendly practice because it does not involve destroying the insects’ forest habitat. EPA

More from The National:

Monday's best photos: from the Bird's Nest stadium to a light installation in Battersea

Sunday's best photos: from Uncle Sam at a rally to migrants hampered in Guatemala

Saturday's best photos: from Northern Lights in Finland to elephants in Sri Lanka

Friday's best photos: from a rare snowy owl in the US to a frozen lake in France

Thursday's best photos: from fog over Kuwait City to a giant ice disk in Maine