Photo of the day

March of the Lonach Highlanders and the Lonach Gathering, Strathdon, Scotland.

Monks of the Yellow Hat sect of Tibetan Buddhism gather for prayers at the Lebrang Monastery, Xiahe.

Tuareg guide Yahya in twilight.

A sedated juvenile rhesus macaque yields biological samples in Dhamrai.

Buddhist novices chant prayers at a temple, Bayan-Ovoo.

Novice nuns play ball at the Santa Catalina Monastery, Arequipa.

Portrait of a newborn baby, only minutes old.

A team of department store Santas wait for the New York City Subway, New York City.

Collecting honey from a honeycomb of the giant honeybee using smoke, Khulna Province.

A Denise's pygmy seahourse, Raja Ampat Island.

Inuit infant in traditional parka, North Slope.

A lioness launches onto the back of a Cape Buffalo, Okavango Delta.

Mbuti Pygmy boys participating in manhood initiation rites, Ituri Forest.

On this day in 1901 the Hay Pauceforte Treaty for the building of Panama Canal was signed. Here a young Panamanian dons body paint at a Carnival celebration.

A young girl, dressed in traditional finery, blows a pink bubble in Garoke.

A male jawfish protects a brood of eggs in his mouth, Lambeth Strait.

Cowhands on mule and horseback during Pantanal's flood season.

Some rodeo cowboys are Indians, and the Pendleton Round-Up in Oregon celebrates them with a tepee village, where Acosia Red Elk, American Indian Beauty Pageant winner, waits for a parade. USA.

A colourful nudibranch, Nembrotha species, in Komodo National Park, Komodo Island. Indonesia.

An African woman protects her face from the equitorial sun with cream made from ground bark in the coastal city. Mozambique.

A "razeteur" jumps for safety ahead of a charging bull in Saint Remy de Provence. France.

Evening prayer at the camp of the Hamad Haraiz Harsousi Bedouins, Jiddat al Harasis. Oman.

Merchants at Saqqara's market carry many trays of dates on their heads. Egypt.

Gobi Desert dwellers listen intently to a visitor in the Gobi Desert. Mongolia.

Close up of the coat of a Shetland Pony on South Ulst Island, Scotland. UK.

Remnants of a giant Buddha statue blown out of the Bamian cliff face. Afghanistan.

A tourist bus packed with people splinters a wooden bridge on the Transpantaneira Highway, Pantanal. Brazil.

Despite government pressure to modernise, the proud, pastoral Masai cling to traditional dress and customs. Ngorongoro Conservation Area is a World Heritage site. Tanzania.

A southern white rhino at the San Diego Wild Animal Park. Often referred to as the "zoo of the future", the park allows animals to roam freely on 2,000 acres around the foothills of San Diego County, California. The park houses 325 species of birds and 12

A Chinese child peers through the window of a cut rate dental shop in Hong Kong. People's Republic of China.

The world Wide Web may have been created on this day in 1990 but nature is sometimes too hot for technology. Here a rancher must keep his telephone in the refridgerator because of the heat in Drysdale River Station, Wyndham. Australia.