Kea are the only true alpine parrots in the world and thrive as cunning opportunists in the freezing conditions of the Southern Alps. Kea are thought to have developed their wide array of food-finding strategies during the last great ice age, where they learned to adapt using their unusual powers of curiosity. (Photo by Tom Walker/BBC Pictures/The Guardian)

Bus hostesses adjusts their hair before photos outside the Great Hall of the People the eve of the opening session of the annual meeting of China's National People's Congress (NPC) in Beijing, Saturday, March 4, 2023. (Photo by Ng Han Guan/AP Photo)

Robbie Lee of Team Great Britain competes in the Men's 10m Platform Preliminaries on day 23 of the Singapore 2025 World Aquatics Championships at OCBC Aquatic Centre on August 02, 2025 in Singapore. (Photo by Adam Pretty/Getty Images)

The city of Meroë laid undiscovered for two millennia before British archaeologist John Garstang excavated it in the early 20th century. Garstang took the radical decision to document his discoveries with photography – and immortalised an ancient world. “Meroë: Africa’s Forgotten Empire” is being shown until 14 September at Garstang Museum of Archaeology, Liverpool. Here: A group visiting the excavations at Meroë, including (from left) Midwinter Bey, director of Sudan Railways; Lord Kitchener; General Sir Francis Reginald Wingate, Sirdar of the Egyptian Army; Professor Archibald Sayce; John Garstang; and Lady Catherine Wingate, 1911. (Photo by Garstang Museum of Archaeology)

Some lost at sea memorials are touched by genius. The images they convey are timeless and universal – like all great art. The designer and sculptor of this unforgettable memorial in Wales is Brian Fell.

Zhu Jianqiang, or “strong-willed pig”, famous for surviving more than a month buried in the ruins after the magnitude-8.0 Wenchuan earthquake in 2008, feeds on food sent by admirers wishing it a safe winter in Jianchuan Museum, Chengdu city, southwest China's Sichuan province, 11 January 2021. (Photo by Rex Features/Shutterstock)