First place, The Beauty of Plants. “There are many stages of lotus growth on display at the Aquatic Gardens, but to come across twotwisted dancing stems of nelumbo nucifera was unexpected and quite magical”. (Photo by Kathleen Furey/The Guardian)

Belgium's Crown Princess Elisabeth poses with dancers and youth after a ceremony on the occasion of her 18th birthday, outside the Royal Palace in Brussels, Belgium on October 25, 2019. (Photo by Yves Herman/Reuters)

A craftman poses with a bamboo miniature sculpture in Hanoi on November 25, 2020. (Photo by Nhac Nguyen/AFP Photo)

A Russian Rosguardia (National Guard) soldier stands at a central avenue in front of a restaurant promoter, a day before Sunday's protest in St. Petersburg, Russia, Saturday, January 30, 2021. (Photo by Dmitri Lovetsky/AP Photo)

A drone photo shows fall folaige wih tones of yellow, red and brown colors of Uludag Mountain, one of the most significant winter tourism destination of Turkey, on November 29, 2020 in Bursa, Turkey. (Photo by Sergen Sezgin/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)

People are walking with umbrellas on a snow-covered street during the first snowfall of the year in Tokyo, Japan, on February 5, 2024. (Photo by Jerome Gilles/NurPhoto/Rex Features/Shutterstock)

Revellers are sprayed by a water cannon during a street party called “Bloco Das Barbas” in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil on February 18, 2023. Hundreds of street parties traditionally take place every year in the city before and during Rio de Janeiro's carnival. (Photo by Carl de Souza/AFP Photo)

This handout picture released by the Israeli army on May 31, 2024 shows Israeli soldiers during operations in the Gaza Strip amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and the Palestinian militant group Hamas. (Photo by Israeli Army/AFP Photo)