An Israeli soldier gives instruction to a platoon in northern Israel near the border with Lebanon, December 5, 2024. (Photo by Matias Delacroix/AP Photo)

A man waves a flare during a celebratory demonstration following the first Friday prayers since Bashar Assad's ouster, in the central square of Damascus, Syria, December 13, 2024. (Photo by Leo Correa/AP Photo)

Bulgarian Pomak (Bulgarian speaking Muslims) bride Selve Kiselova , 21, has gelina make-up applied to her face ahead of her wedding ceremony in the village of Ribnovo, on December 29, 2024. The people of this Bulgarian mountain village are famous for performing their unique wedding ceremonies in winter time only. Muslim bulgarians are descendants of Christian bulgarians who were forcibly converted to Islam by the Turks, during the 14th, 16th and the 18th century. (Photo by Nikolay Doychinov/AFP Photo)

A reveler takes part in the unofficial kick off of Rio's Carnival with the weed block parade performance by “Bloco Planta na mente”, in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil on January 5, 2025. (Photo by Aline Massuca/Reuters)

Motorcycle rider Daniel Sanders of Australia celebrates winning the Dakar Rally after the twelfth stage in Shubaytah, Saudi Arabia, Friday, January 17, 2025. (Photo by Christophe Ena/AP Photo)

A woman takes a dip in an ice hole to celebrate the Orthodox Epiphany in Leninskoye village, near Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan, 19 January 2025. People believe that bathing in holy water on the Epiphany holiday strengthens the spirit and body. (Photo by Igor Kovalenko/EPA)

An Akhada member takes “Amrit Snan” at Triveni Sangam on the occasion of “Basant Panchami”, during the ongoing Mahakumbh 2025, in Prayagraj, India on Monday, on February 3, 2025. (Photo by ANI Photo/Ishant)

From Tibetan monks playing basket ball with ice thawing high up in the Himalayas, to the pollution that hides behind the Taj Mahal, here’s pick from 60 exceptional environmental photographs, by photographers and filmmakers from 70 countries, that will go on show at the Royal Geographical Society in London from 29 June to 21 August. The winners will be announced on 28 June. Here: Gravel Workmen of Chittagong, Bangladesh, by Faisal Azim. Gravel workmen look through a glass window at a gravel-crushing yard in Chittagong. Full of dust and sand, it is an extremely unhealthy environment for working, but still hundreds of people work here for their livelihoods. (Photo by Faisal Azim/2016 Atkins CIWEM Environmental Photographer of the Year)