Wearing a protective mask to curb the spread of the new coronavirus a man attends a memorial for those who have died from COVID-19 worldwide, at Rio's Christ the Redeemer statue in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Wednesday, July 1, 2020. (Photo by Leo Correa/AP Photo)

A dramatic rise in owning exotic pets in China is fuelling global demand for threatened species. The growing trade in alligators, snakes, monkeys, crocodiles and spiders is directly linked to species loss in some of the world’s most threatened ecosystems. Here: A fennec fox (Vulpes zerda) is groomed in a pet store in central Beijing. Native to the Sahara in North Africa, the species became a popular pet after being depicted as a character in Disney’s 2016 animated movie Zootopia. Individuals can cost between $2,000–$3,000. (Photo by Sean Gallagher/The Guardian)

In this June 12, 2017 photo, a woman stands in front of a mural on the slope in Central district, Hong Kong. Once known as Victoria after the British queen, Hong Kong island's waterfront formed the core of the British settlement after Hong Kong island was handed over as a colony in 1842. Today as Hong Kong approaches the 20th anniversary of its return to China, it remains a bustling commercial and financial center as well as the location of the main government offices. However, along the streets that angle sharply upward toward the mountains above, a more relaxed pace of life endures. (AP Photo/Kin Cheung)

Fireworks from Japan light up the sky at the start of the 6th Pyro musical competition Saturday, February 7, 2015 at the Mall of Asia shopping complex at suburban Pasay city south of Manila, Philippines. The fireworks competition, which runs for six consecutive weekends, features entries from 11 countries as host country the Philippines, Canada, United States, Japan, United Kingdom, Brazil, Portugal, China, Mexico, Italy, The Netherlands and Sweden, with Canada winning the championship last year. (Photo by Bullit Marquez/AP Photo)

A niqab-wearing Salafist protester takes a selfie as she attends a demonstration against the ban on the sale and manufacturing of the full-burqa in Rabat January 15, 2017. (Photo by Reuters/Stringer)

The Longsheng Rice Terraces are located in Longsheng County, about 100 km (2 hours drive) from Guilin, Guangxi, China. The most popular are Ping An Rice Terrace and Jinkeng Rice Terrace. The terraced fields are built along the slope winding from the riverside up to the mountain top, the highest part being 880 m in elevation while the lowest part is 380 m[citation needed]. The coiling line that starts from the mountain foot up to the mountain top divides the mountain into layers of water glittering in the sun in spring, layers of green rice shoots in summer, layers of golden rice in fall, and layers of silvery frost in winter. The terraced fields were mostly built during the Ming Dynasty, about 500 years ago.

“A team of expert cavers and photographers had been exploring caves in the Chongquing province of China – when they were amazed to discover the entrance to a hidden cave that was previously undiscovered. And they were stunned when they managed to enter the ginormous cave – and found that it was so large there was even a cloud inside it – a cave so large it has its own weather system. Photographer and caver Robbie Shone, from Manchester, was part of a team of 15 explorers on a month-long expedition who stumbled across the natural wonder”. – Caters News

A humanoid robot named Kansei, meaning “sensibility” in Japanese, makes a facial expression depicting “happiness”, next to the word “Love” during a demonstration at a laboratory of Meiji University's Robot and Science Institute in Kawasaki, south of Tokyo in this June 4, 2007 file photo. Three-fourths of robot installations over the next decade are expected to be concentrated in four areas: transportation equipment, including the automotive sector; computer and electronic products; electrical equipment and machinery. Labor costs have climbed in countries such as China that have been popular for outsourcing production, while technological advances for robots allow them to be more flexible and perform more tasks. (Photo by Yuriko Nakao/Reuters)