Best photos of May 19: Iraq's Hawizeh Marshes to a Libyan housing project

The National picks the most striking images from around the world

A fisherman shows his catch on Iraq's receding marshes of Hawizeh, which straddle the border with Iran, in the southeastern Missan province on April 25, 2025. Plans to drill for oil in the protected Mesopotamian Marshes of southern Iraq have galvanised villagers and activists determined to save the mythical wetlands already battered by years of drought. (Photo by Asaad NIAZI / AFP)

Directors Tarzan Nasser and Arab Nasser attend the photocall for their film Once Upon a Time in Gaza, at the 78th annual Cannes Film Festival. EPA

Palestinian children injured in an Israeli strike, at Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis. Reuters

A demonstration of a cognitively controlled robotic hand at the Make it in The Emirates 2025 event at Abu Dhabi National Exhibition Centre. Antonie Robertson/The National

A Chelsea Pensioner examines a punk's head display at the RHS Chelsea Flower Show in London. AP

Shoppers take a nap on massage chairs in a supermarket in Beijing. According to National Bureau of Statistics data, China's unemployment rate was down to 5.1 percent in April 2025. EPA

Pope Leo XIV meets US Vice President JD Vance and US Secretary of State Marco Rubio at the Vatican. Reuters

The construction site of 20,000 housing units in the Libyan coastal city of Benghazi. The project is part of a national strategy for modern housing in several cities. AFP