Performers dressed with flower pots on their heads perform during a media preview of the Pacific National Exhibition Fair in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, August 15, 2024. Marking its 114th year, the Pacific National Exhibition (PNE) Fair, one of the longest running events in Canada, runs from Aug. 17 to Sept. 2 here this year. (Photo by Xinhua News Agency/Rex Features/Shutterstock)

Originally known to the First Nations of the Okanagan Valley as Khiluk, which was- and remains today revered as a sacred site producing therapeutic waters. During World War I the minerals of Spotted Lake were used in manufacturing ammunition. Later the area came under the control of the Ernest Smith Family, for a term of about 40 years. In 1979 Smith attempted to create interest in a spa at the lake. The First Nations responded with an effort to buy the lake; in October 2001 they finally struck a deal. First Nations arranged the purchase of 22 hectares of land for a total of $720,000, and contributed about 20% of the cost. The Indian Affairs Department paid the remainder.

Pole dancers in Mexico have taken to the streets to celebrate their sport and show others the skills involved. The Pole Dance National Day celebration saw pole dancers gather in parks, outdoor gyms and on streets, using street lamps, sign posts and other objects to put on displays across Mexico City. Photo: A woman performs a pole dancing routine on a pedestrian bridge during the national day celebration of “Urban Pole” dance in Monterrey June 8, 2014. (Photo by Tomas Bravo/Reuters)

National Geographic photographer Steve Winter has spent most of his adult life shooting wild cats. Photo: A 14-month-old cub, cooling off in a pond, is riveted by a deer that appeared near the shore. Tigers are powerful swimmers; they can easily cross rivers four to five miles wide and have been known to swim distances of up to 18 miles. (Photo by Steve Winter/National Geographic)

The “Paolo Di Paolo: Lost World” exhibition presents more than 250 largely unseen images from the photographer’s archive. Di Paolo chronicled life in his country as an economic boom followed the destruction of the second world war. Although those were the years of la dolce vita he was an anti-paparazzo – he shunned the salacious and respected his subjects. The exhibition is at MAXXI, the National Museum of 21st Century Arts in Rome until 30 June. Here: Viareggio in 1959. (Photo by Paolo Di Paolo/National Museum of 21st Century Arts)

An animal sprints across a road as the Sugar Fire, part of the Beckwourth Complex Fire, burns in Plumas National Forest, Calif., on Thursday, July 8, 2021. (Photo by Noah Berger/AP Photo)

Mongolian Chinese performs a traditional Chinese dance in front of the Olympic Rings located near the National Stadium, the main stadium for the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games in Tokyo, Japan July 29 2021. (Photo by Androniki Christodoulou/Reuters)

Firefighters take part in the bodybuilding event during a firefighting skills contest at the National Fire Service Academy in Gongju, South Korea on June 13, 2023. (Phoot by Yonhap/EPA)