For her series “Japanese Whispers”, Belgian photographer Zaza Bertrand headed inside the intimate world of rabuhos – Japanese love hotels. Love hotels became popular in Japan from the 1960s onwards, due to a lack of privacy in many family homes. There are now around 37,000 of these hotels in Japan, allowing short daytime “rests” or overnight stays. (Photo by Zaza Bertrand/The Guardian)

“Cassowaries are large, flightless birds related to emus and (more distantly) to ostriches, rheas, and kiwis”, writes Olivia Judson in the September issue of National Geographic magazine. How large? People-size: Adult males stand well over five foot five and top 110 pounds. Females are even taller, and can weigh more than 160 pounds. Dangerous when roused, they’re shy and peaceable when left alone. But even birds this big and tough are prey to habitat loss. The dense New Guinea and Australia rain forests where they live have dwindled. Today cassowaries might number 1,500 to 2,000. And because they help shape those same forests – by moving seeds from one place to another – “if they vanish”, Judson writes, “the structure of the forest would gradually change” too. (Photo by Christian Ziegler/National Geographic)

“As you can see I love the Icelandic Horse. Born and raised with them, I love to work with them and watch them ... they have unbelievable network of communication and energy I can´t explain with words”. – Gigja Einarsdottir. Photo: “Runners”. (Photo by Gigja Einarsdottir)

A participant covered in coloured powder gestures as she stands near a Syrian army soldier during “I Love Damascus” marathon at Umayyad Square in Damascus, Syria October 7, 2016. (Photo by Omar Sanadiki/Reuters)

Former UK Love Island contestant Megan Barton-Hanson teams up with British fashion model Lottie Moss, half-sister of model Kate Moss for this sizzling new shoot in the middle of July 2021. (Photo by AARONAMOUS)

The 21-year-old UK Love Island’s star Rebecca Gormley stunned in a plunging crop top during a shopping trip in Newcastle, England on March 23, 2020. (Photo by Backgrid UK)

English actress Lily James treats herself to a bougie beverage while getting ready for the London premiere of her new film “What's Love Got to Do With It?” in the second decade of February 2023. (Photo by Instagram)

Love Island babe Jessica Hayes has wild night out with Ryan Mira at Bubbles Beach Club and SoHo nightclub in Liverpool, England on September 8, 2016. (Photo by Danny Ryan/iCelebTV)