Retired builder Vasili Sidamonidze, 70, poses for a portrait at his home in Gori, Georgia, December 6, 2016. “Unfortunately, Stalin is not popular nowadays. Our people don't respect him. Only we, members of the (Communist) Party, respect him”, Sidamonidze said. “I always try to attend Stalin's birthday anniversaries in Gori. Unfortunately many people don't want to join us even if they live nearby. They look at us from their windows”. (Photo by David Mdzinarishvili/Reuters)

“Eye of a toad”. Animal Portraits, Łukasz Bożycki, Poland. Early spring sees a pond near Łukasz’s home city of Warsaw, Poland, full of mating frogs and a few toads. On this March day, Łukasz shared the pond with them for an evening, sitting in the icy water in his chest-high waders, keeping as still as possible, despite the numbing cold, so that the amphibians could get used to him. “I wanted to find a fresh way of portraying the amphibians”, he says, “at water level”. Using a telephoto lens, he focused on one lone toad and waited for the sun to dip almost below the horizon before pressing the shutter, using flash to bring out the details in the shadow. His prize was “the glorious pool of sunset colour” and fiery glow of the toad’s eye. Nikon D80 + 70-300mm f4.5-5.6 lens + extension tube; 1/125 sec at f9 (-2.3 e/v); ISO 100; built-in flash. (Photo by Łukasz Bożycki)

“At her job, Maria Torero cares for sick human beings. At home, she lavishes love on slowly dying cats – 175 of them at last count. The 45-year-old nurse has turned her two-story, eight-room apartment into a hospice for cats with feline leukemia, scattering it with scores of feeding dishes and at least two dozen boxes litter boxes. Some have suggested she shelter healthy cats instead. “That's not my role”, she told The Associated Press. “I'm a nurse. My duty is to the cats that nobody cares about”. She said that “people don't adopt adult cats, especially if they are terminally ill”. – Franklin Briceno via Associated Press. (Photo by Martin Mejia/AP Photo)

Photographer Dotan Saguy visited Cuba expecting to find resentment toward Americans, but he says that, instead, “Every Cuban I met was warm and welcoming despite me being an American”. Here: Several groups of locals relax on the Malecon in Old Havana, Cuba May 1, 2016. Some chat and drink rum while others dive into the warm Caribbean Sea. (Photo by Dotan Saguy)

#Resistiré 2020 (# I will resist 2020), the hymn recorded by more than 30 Spanish artists to beat the coronavirus together. Participating in the hymn: Alex Ubago, Andrés Suárez, Álvaro Soler, Blas Cantó, Carlos Baute, Conchita, David Bisbal, David Otero, David Summers, Despistaos, Diana Navarro, Dvicio, Mariposa Effect, Hall Effect, Ele, Georgina, India, Jose Mercé, Josemi Carmona, Manuel Carrasco, Melendi, Mikel Erentxun, Nil Moliner, Pastora Soler, Pedro Guerra, Pitingo, Rosana, Rozalén, Rulo, Sofía Ellar and Vanesa Martín. Promoted by Cadena 100, all these musicians and artists come together under the production of Pablo Cebrián to get this Resistiré, with which all funds will be for the benefit of Cáritas (Caritas Internationalis is a confederation of 165 Catholic relief, development and social service organizations operating in over 200 countries and territories worldwide. Collectively and individually, their claimed missions are to work to build a better world, especially for the poor and oppressed).

Animal rights activists protest in front of the Toennies meatpacking plant and slaughterhouse in Rheda-Wiedenbrueck, Germany, Saturday, June 20, 2020. Hundreds of new coronavirus cases are linked to the large meatpacking plant, officials ordered the closure of the slaughterhouse, as well as isolation and tests for everyone else who had worked at the Toennies site – putting about 7,000 people under quarantiner. (Photo by Friso Gentsch/dpa via AP Photo)

With "Art Eggcident," Dutch artist Henk Hofstra demonstrates what it would look like if God threw giant eggs down at us. The eight large, sunny side up eggs measure almost 100 feet wide in diameter. The installation took place in Leeuwarden, a city in the north of the Netherlands.
"I hope it becomes a meeting place with room for art," says Henk. "Art that is different than a framed picture on the wall or a boring bronze sculpture. Art that shows us a different look, surprises us, or makes us angry or happy. Art that allows photographers to grab their cameras and arouses journalists. Art that evokes emotion, or provokes wild laughter."

Reuters photographer Bobby Yip took a series of portraits of people taking part in the “Occupy Central” protests in Hong Kong, and asked them why they had joined the demonstrations. China rules Hong Kong under a “one country, two systems” formula that accords the territory limited democracy. Tens of thousands of mostly student protesters are demanding Beijing give them full democracy, with the freedom to nominate election candidates. The unrest is the worst in Hong Kong since China resumed its rule over the former British colony in 1997. (Photo by Carlos Barria/Reuters)