MOSCOW, February 17. /TASS/. The jury of the News Photo Awards. A Changing World photo contest, which is held by TASS Russian News Agency, has published the shortlist of images after the vote on the official website.

"We have received thousands of photos from around the world, which reflect all of last year’s key events. The contestants have demonstrated in what challenging and dangerous conditions photojournalists have to work at times. A lot of brilliant works have been submitted for the contest and it was rather difficult to choose the best ones for the shortlist. I’m thankful to all members of our huge international jury for their time and professional assessments," said the jury’s chair, Grigory Dukor, who heads the Photo and Video Service at the TASS Russian News Agency.

The contestants will vie for the Grand Prize and victory in four categories - News, People & Lifestyle, Healthcare and Environment.

The pictures were selected by the international jury made up of 12 photojournalism experts from world-class mass media outlets such as Action Press, AFP, Anadolu Agency, ANSA, DPA, EFE, Kyodo News, Yonhap News Agency, Xinhua and TASS.

Nearly 5,000 entries from 74 countries have been submitted by photographers for the contest. Among them are reporters from Anadolu Agency, Associated Press, EFE, Kyodo News, Metropoles, Reuters, Saudi Press Agency (SPA) and Xinhua.

The countries most actively participating in the competition are China, the United States, India, Turkey, Brazil, Spain and Russia.

The ceremony to announce the winners will be held online on March 24.

The best photo will be awarded the Grand Prize - its creator will receive $10,000 and the winners of the categories News, People & Lifestyle, Healthcare and Environment will get $3,000 each.

This year, the Mastercard international payment system is the general partner of the News Photo Awards. A Changing World contest.

News Photo Awards. A Changing World is the second press photography contest organized by TASS Russian News Agency. The first one was entitled Overcoming COVID and focused on combating the coronavirus pandemic.