It is said that Torajans are people who “live to die”. For this Indonesian ethnic group, funerals are such extravagant events that they sometimes attract tourists. Families can postpone burials years (and the deceased are considered sick and hosted at home until the funeral) until the family can raise enough money and gather as many relatives as possible. And then it’s a jubilant multiday social event with a parade, dances and animal sacrifices. Agung Parameswara photographed these funerary practices when he traveled to South Sulawesi province, where the Torajans live. (Photo by Agung Parameswara/The Washington Post)

The Borealis in the second decade of December 2023 gets ready to leave Liverpool for the Classic Christmas Markets cruise. It will call at Zeebrugge, Amsterdam and Hamburg to take in some of Europe’s best festive markets. (Photo by Bav Media)

This image was taken purely by chance, when Fujioka happened to pass a group of schoolgirls striking a popular social media pose in Hiroshima in 2017. “I didn’t even notice the Atomic Bomb Dome (war memorial) behind them when I photographed this image – the girls probably didn’t either. The past and present of Hiroshima co-exists here, with a river running between”. (Photo by Aya Fujioka)

When the city is in need, these superhero cats will do everything they can to help (i.e. look on indifferently then passive-aggressively poop on the bed).

Ionel Istrati – Eu Numai, Numai. Songs of the Western Slavs. Very cheerfully.