An employee holds a plant with roots at the Plant Advanced Technologies (PAT) company greenhouse in Laronxe near Nancy, Eastern France, June 19, 2015. The farmers employed at the site in Laronxe are growing plants in a special way with a view to “milking” them for use in medicines, cosmetics and agrochemicals. Several major brands, including Germany's BASF and France's Chanel, have teamed up with Plant Advanced Technologies (PAT) in the hope of securing privileged access to the so-called “biomolecules” it extracts through the use of a patented technique. (Photo by Vincent Kessler/Reuters)

An elephant mahout (trainer) lies on his elephant his feet resting on its ears as it rests and eats prior to opening day's play at the King's Cup Elephant Polo Tournament 2014 held near Bangkok, in Samut Prakan province, Thailand, 28 August 2014. The annual charity tournament runs until 31 August and involves 51 elephants who normally live on the streets and are used for begging. Sixteen competing elephant polo teams from 40 different nations take part in the charity event directed at raising funds to improve the lives of the elephants and elephant conservation in general. (Photo by Barbara Walton/EPA)

A parrot stuck on a roof for three days greeted firefighters sent to its aid on August 13, 2018 with a four-letter tirade. Jessie, the multi-lingual Macaw, flipped the bird after escaping from her owner's home in Edmonton, north London, UK. When she could not be lured down from a neighbour's roof, firefighters were called out and told to tell the bird “I love you” – to which Jessie replied “I love you back”. But she then ruffled her would-be rescuers' feathers by telling them to “f**k off” before flying off to another nearby rooftop. The foul-mouthed pet also speaks Turkish and Greek according to its owner, but had its own choice words in English for the rescue team. As Jessie wasn't injured, the firefighters, who had been called in by the RSPCA, left her on her perch. The parrot was later reunited with its owner. (Photo by Rex Features/Shutterstock)

Wednesday March 8 marks International Women's Day, with festivals, concerts and exhibitions among the numerous events planned around the world to celebrate the achievements of women in society. The annual event has been held since the early 1900s and traditionally promotes a different theme each year, with this year's edition calling on people to #BeBoldForChange and push for a more gender-inclusive working world. Reuters photographers have been speaking with women in a range of professions around the world about their experiences of gender inequality. Here: Yolaina Chavez Talavera, 31, a firefighter, poses for a photograph in front of a truck at a fire station in Managua, Nicaragua, February 22, 2017. (Photo by Oswaldo Rivas/Reuters)

A participant is hit by an orange during an annual carnival battle in the northern Italian town of Ivrea February 7, 2016. Dressed up as Middle Age kings' guards, a group of men ride in a horse-drawn carriage and pelt “foot soldiers” with oranges as thousands of people gather to re-enact a Middle Age battle when the townsfolk of Ivrea overthrew an evil king. In a strange twist, instead of swords and cross bows, these days the weapons of choice are oranges. (Photo by Stefano Rellandini/Reuters)

Poland's Piotr Lisek reacts after competing in the men's pole vault qualification during the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games at the Olympic Stadium in Tokyo on July 31, 2021. (Photo by Aleksandra Szmigiel/Reuters)

Hannah Prock, of Austria, prepares to start the luge women's singles run 1 at the 2022 Winter Olympics, Monday, February 7, 2022, in the Yanqing district of Beijing. (Photo by Thomas Peter/Reuters)

Final match Soccer Humanoid Kid Size between DARwIn vs. AUTMan at the World Championship finals of RoboCup 2013 in Eindhoven (NL). (Photo by Bart van Overbeeke)