A playful giant panda — and other news in pictures

, The TimesThe plughole of Ladybower Reservoir overflowing due to heavy rain.

One of two plugholes at Ladybower Reservoir in Derbyshire, helping to remove the overflow after weeks of heavy rain across the UK

TIMES PHOTOGRAPHER JAMES GLOSSOP

Men in loincloths and headbands splash water at the Konomiya Naked Festival.

10,000 men dressed in loincloths participate in the 1,250-year-old Konomiya Naked Festival in Japan on Sunday

FRED MERY/REUTERS

An Honor prototype robot dances alongside performers at the Mobile World Congress trade show.

The tech company Honor’s first humanoid service robot prototype dances with performers at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, Spain

BRUNA CASAS/REUTERS

A large group of king penguins gathered on a sandy beach under a dramatic sky with sun rays breaking through heavy clouds, looking out at the turquoise sea.

Nature’s most disciplined beach party: king penguins line up at Volunteer Point, Falklands Islands, before a perfectly-timed waddle into the sea

SARA JENNER/TWOPOINTO MEDIA

The Seagull Nebula, NGC 2032, appearing as golden and turquoise clouds against a dark, star-filled sky.

NGC 2032, also known as the Seagull Nebula, captured from Monterrey, Mexico — the swirling gold and turquoise clouds form a majestic cosmic bird in deep space

DANIEL BORJA/TWOPOINTO MEDIA

A large flying fox bat, with its wings fully extended, flies against a clear light blue sky.

An Indian flying fox stretches its wings mid-flight at the Royal Botanical Gardens near Kandy, Sri Lanka

ROLF HELFENSTEIN/TWOPOINTO MEDIA

Jager Burton (10) performing a drill at the NFL football scouting combine.

Kentucky offensive lineman Jager Burton (10) participates in drills at the NFL scouting combine in Indianapolis, an invite-only event where personnel directors evaluate prospective athletes ahead of the NFL draft

ERIC GAY/AP

A large waxing moon is seen behind a pod of The London Eye, with people visible inside the pod.

A waxing moon rises behind the London Eye

LUKE MILLER/ STORY PICTURE AGENCY

Beau Reddick, son of Tyler Reddick, leaps from the #45 Chumba Casino Toyota in victory lane.

Beau Reddick, six, leaps from his dad’s Chumba Casino Toyota after Tyler Reddick secured his third straight NASCAR win at the DuraMax Grand Prix at the Circuit of The Americas in Austin, Texas

LOGAN RIELY/GETTY IMAGES

Curator Alexandra Loske carrying a nightgown up the stairs of Preston Manor.

Alexandra Loske, curator at the Royal Pavilion, carries a nightgown as she prepares the bedrooms of Preston Manor in Brighton, where the upstairs-downstairs life of Edwardian society comes alive, ahead of its reopening on March 14

DAVID MCHUGH/BRIGHTON PICTURES

Beau the bloodhound puppy licks the face of his handler, North Dakota Highway Patrol Trooper Dustin Pattengale.

Beau, a bloodhound puppy, licks the face of his handler, North Dakota Highway Patrol Trooper Dustin Pattengale

JACK DURA/AP

Daniel Hillier of New Zealand being sprayed with champagne after winning the New Zealand Open.

Daniel Hillier celebrates winning the 105th New Zealand Open at Millbrook Resort — eight days after getting married!

HANNAH PETERS/GETTY IMAGES

Artist Alice Carter kneels beside her "Good Friday" oil painting, part of the "Ashes to Fire" series displayed in Chichester Cathedral with stained glass windows in the background.

Ashes to Fire: artist Alice Carter’s seven large oil paintings, suspended beneath Chichester Cathedral’s south transept stained glass, tell the Easter story from salvation to resurrection. Free until April 5 (Easter Sunday)

RUSSELL SACH

A woman smiles, her face covered in multi-colored powder during the Holi festival.

A woman covered in coloured powder celebrates Holi, the Hindu spring festival of colours, in Kathmandu

TAUSEEF MUSTAFA/AFP/GETTY IMAGES

A young boy in a yellow hardhat surrounded by stacks and piles of colorful plastic sweet tubs.

Eco-warrior Teddy Michaelides, 7, stands proudly among his collection of 11,233 chocolate tubs, rescued for recycling to protect the environment

SOLENT

Teyana Taylor and Rue Rose Shumpert pose on the red carpet during the Actor Awards.

The singer Teyana Taylor poses on the red carpet at the Actor Awards in Los Angeles with her five-year-old daughter, Rue Rose Shumpert

CAROLINE BREHMAN /REUTERS

A red-winged blackbird appears to hitch a ride on the back of a great horned owl mid-flight.

A red-winged blackbird hitches a ride on a great horned owl near Boulder, Colorado

MATT CROSSLEY/SOLENT

Thousands of cross-country skiers lined up at the start of the Vasaloppet race in Salen, Sweden.

Going the distance: thousands of skiers tackle the 90km Vasaloppet from Salen to Mora, the world’s oldest and most prestigious cross-country race

TT NEWS AGENCY/REUTERS

People enjoy cherry blossoms at Luolong Park in Kunming, China.

Visitors to Luolong Park marvel at the flowering trees during the annual Cherry Blossom Festival in Chenggong, Kunming, China

LIU RANYANG/CHINA NEWS SERVICE/VCG/GETTY IMAGES

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