Shepherds from the north wear their traditional heavy woollen mantles as they stand ready to shear sheep with sycthe-like shears. (Photo by Three Lions/Getty Images). Circa 1952
Actors, clowns and mime artists celebrate “Humor Day” in St Petersburg on April 1, 2022. April 1 is also referred to as “April Fool’s Day” and is a time for playing pranks in the country. (Photo by Anatoly Maltsev/European Press Photo Agency)
Natural world and wildlife shortlist. Lop Buri in Thailand is home to hundreds of macaques, which local residents consider to be disciples of the Hindu god Hanuman. While some people love them, others fear or even hate them. Despite the inconvenience they often cause, the macaques are generally respected and considered sacred. (Photo by Joan de la Malla/Sony World Photography Awards)
Clash of the storms, New Mexico, US by Camelia Czuchnicki. “A clash between two storm cells in New Mexico, US, each with its own rotating updraft. The curved striations of the oldest noticeable against the new bubbling convection of the newer. It was a fantastic sight to watch and it’s the rarity of such scenes that keep drawing me back to the US Plains each year”. (Photo by Camelia Czuchnicki/Weather Photographer of the Year 2016)
An American flag is visible in the windows of the cupola aboard the International Space Station. Thanks to a bill passed by Texas legislators in 1997 that put in place technical voting procedure for astronauts – nearly all of whom live in Texas – they have the ability to vote from space through specially designed absentee ballots. To preserve the integrity of the secret vote, the ballot is encrypted and only accessible by the astronaut and the county clerk responsible for casting the ballot. (Photo by NASA)
Militants loyal to Yemen's exiled government ride on the back of a pick-up truck in the country's central city of Taiz August 19, 2015. Militia forces loyal to Yemen's exiled government fought their way deep into the central city of Taiz this week, local officials said, largely pushing out Houthi militiamen from the country's third largest city. (Photo by Reuters/Stringer)
A model displays a creation by designers members of the Carabobo Sostenible program who present a collection made of corn cob husks, plastic, and paper in front of the facade of the Virgen del Carmen church in the town of Mariara, Carabobo state, Venezuela, on August 3, 2023. (Photo by Juan Carlos Hernandez/AFP Photo)
A Christmas Tree goes up in flames in a controlled-setting demonstration by the Glendale Fire Department on December 13, 2023, in Glendale, California. Firefighters showed how quickly a dried-out tree can ignite. According to the National Fire Protection Administration, Christmas trees account for hundreds of fires each year, often ignited by shorts in electrical lights or open flames from candles, lighters or matches. (Photo by Frederic J. Brown/AFP Photo)