A lightning strikes St Peter's dome at the Vatican on February 11, 2013. Pope Benedict XVI announced today he will resign as leader of the world's 1.1 billion Catholics on February 28 because his age prevented him from carrying out his duties – an unprecedented move in the modern history of the Catholic Church. (Photo by Filippo Monteforte/AFP Photo)

Adrienne Yip takes a picture of her Burmese mountain dog named “Walter”, beneath the cherry blossoms in peak bloom at the Tidal Basin with the Washington Monument seen behind, in Washington, DC, USA, 18 March 2024. Peak bloom, as defined when seventy percent of the cherry blossoms are open, is occuring this week. This year's peak bloom, beginning the 17th of March, is tied for the second earliest in history and is seen as a reflection of warming temperatures. (Photo by Michael Reynolds/EPA/EFE/Rex Features/Shutterstock)

A woman passes Members of historical clubs dressed in the uniform of French soldiers during ceremony of repatriation of the remains of French General Charles-Etienne Gudin de la Sablonniere, participant in the French Revolutionary wars and Napoleonic wars, to France in Moscow airport Vnukovo-3, Russia, 13 July 2021. (Photo by Sergei Ilnitsky/EPA/EFE)

Bouwe Brouwer: Postcards from Fryslân (series finalist). “People from Fryslân are looked upon by the rest of the Netherlands as stubborn people. Going back as far as the Spanish occupation, they have a history of resisting authority. Postcards from Fryslân is still an ongoing project – hopefully a lifelong one. When it started, it represented only a collection of places that seemed interesting. Currently, the hope is to cover most of the province, as you never know in advance where the best narratives are. But still, it is all candid, unposed and in the public realm”. (Photo by Bouwe Brouwer/Street Photographers Awards 2021)

These images, scanned from old glass negatives which had surfaced in northern France, were believed to have been taken by a local amateur photographer in 1916. They showed British and a few Australian soldiers, in formal or informal poses, during or just before the most murderous battle in the history of the British Empire – Battle of the Somme. Who are these British and British Empire soldiers? The identity of the soldiers is, and may always remain, a mystery... (Property of Bernard Gardin/Dominique Zanardi/Joel Scribe/The Independent Magazine)

Travel photographer Amos Chapple recently crossed into Turkmenistan on a three-day transit visa and was able to photograph many of the sights and monuments in Ashgabat, the capital and largest city. Turkmenistan is a single-party country, a former Soviet state, run by a president at the center of a cult of personality.

Photo: A young couple leave the Alem Entertainment Center in Ashgabat. The current president has a history of breaking obscure records. In 2012 the wheel atop this complex was entered into the Guinness Book of World Records as the world's largest enclosed Ferris wheel. The structure was built at a cost of $90m. (Photo by Amos Chapple via The Atlantic)

Participants in traditional dress ride on horseback as they enjoy the atmosphere at the Feria de Abril (April's Fair) on April 12, 2016 in Seville, Spain. The Feria de Abril has a history that dates back to 1857 and takes place a fortnight after Easter each year. The origin of the fair was a cattle market but the event quickly turned its goal from commerce to having fun. More than 1 million local and international participants are expected to attend the Feria de Abril. (Photo by David Ramos/Getty Images)

A man in “Red Army” garb hits the pavement during a simulated attack during a re-staging of part of the Long March in Jinggangshan September 14, 2017. The scene brings alive an extraordinary chapter in China's history that established the supremacy of Chairman Mao Zedong and the Communist Party. Deep in the mountains of Jinggangshan in the southeastern province of Jiangxi, a classroom of bank tellers participates in an ideological boot camp that plays into Chinese President Xi Jinping's drive to further consolidate his grip on power. (Photo by Thomas Peter/Reuters)