Today's best photos: from a flowering desert phenomenon to an Israeli sunset

'The National' picks the most striking images from around the world

Handout picture released by Imagen Chile showing flowers in bloom in the Atacama Desert near Copiapo, Chile, on September 23, 2022. - Chilean President Gabriel Boric announced on October 2, 2022, the creation of a national park in the southern part of the Atacama Desert, the most arid region of the world, to protect the flowering phenomenon that occurs exceptionally in the Copiapo region, about 500 km north of Santiago. (Photo by Sebastian OJEDA / Imagen Chile / AFP) / RESTRICTED TO EDITORIAL USE - MANDATORY CREDIT "AFP PHOTO / IMAGEN CHILE / SEBASTIAN OJEDA" - NO MARKETING - NO ADVERTISING CAMPAIGNS - DISTRIBUTED AS A SERVICE TO CLIENTS

The aftermath of Hurricane Ian in Matlacha, Florida. AFP

Europe's first female commander of the International Space Station, ESA astronaut Samantha Cristoforetti, with her lookalike Barbie doll. Reuters

The Pont de pierre bridge over the Garonne river in Toulouse, southern France. AFP

British artist Sam Cox, aka Mr Doodle, and his wife Alena pose for a photo in the Doodle House in Kent, England. AP

A man wears a costume decorated with oil lamps on Ashtami, the eighth day of the Navtratri Hindu festival, in Ahmedabad, India. AP Photo

A horse owned by the Kuhail family is tied to a grave in the Sheikh Shaban cemetery where the family lives, in Gaza city. Reuters

Eric Adams, Democratic candidate for New York mayor, at the opening of the SUMMIT observation deck atop the One Vanderbilt tower in New York. Reuters

Ultra-Orthodox Jewish men perform the 'Tashlich' ritual, during which 'sins are cast into the water to the fish', ahead of the Day of Atonement in Netanya, Israel. AFP

More from The National:

Monday's best photos: from Spain's kings of the castells to Yom Kippur in Israel

Sunday's best photos: from Gandhi impersonators to a blessed dog - in pictures

Saturday's best photos: from West Bank conflict to Hurricane Ian - in pictures

Friday's best photos: from fall foliage in Maine to drying corn in Syria

Thursday's best photos: from Hurricane Ian to a Kamala Harris selfie

Wednesday's best photos: from the Princess of Wales to Sebastian Sosa's tattoo