A girl rides a broomstick in front of a green screen at the new Harry Potter Studio Tour at Warner Brothers Leavesden Studios on March 23, 2012 in London, England. The studio, which includes the actual sets and special effects departments where the films were created and shot, goes on public display on March 31, 2012. (Photo by Dan Kitwood/Getty Images)

“The Carnival Triumph finally made port on Thursday night, after what should have been an idyllic four-day cruise turned into a grueling week-long ordeal for more than 3,000 passengers and 1,000 crew. Some kissed the ground as they disembarked the ship, while others swore never to go on another cruise again. Many spoke of the well-documented unsanitary conditions on board the 272-metre Triumph, which lost power in the Gulf of Mexico on Sunday”. – Tom Dart and Adam Gabbatt via Guardian

Photo: Kendall Jenkins of Houston kisses the ground after stepping off the Carnival ship Triumph (Photo by AP Photo)

They say a picture is worth a thousand words, and these striking images of 2017 are no exception. The photo highlights include incredible snapshots of the natural world as well as some awesome animal and human encounters. The vibrant gallery also shows thrill-seekers pushing themselves to the limit with breathtaking stunts captured in perfect clarity. The pictures have been taken by a host of photographers from around the world. Here: The two lion cubs singing their hearts out at Antelope park in Zimbabwe. (Photo by David Jenkins/Caters News Agency)

“Patricia Piccinini (born in 1965 in Freetown, Sierra Leone) is an Australian artist and hyperrealist sculptor. Her art work came to prominence in Australia in the late 1990s. Her major artworks often reflect her interests in issues such as bioethics, biotechnologies and the environment”. – Wikipedia

Ukraine's Leonid Stadnyk, who stands at a height of 2.53 metres (eight feet four inches) and may be considered the world's tallest living man, near his house in the village of Podolyantsi in Ukraine's Zhytomyr region, about 200 km (124 miles) from the capital Kiev, 2005. (Photo by Reuters/Stringer)

A huge colony of Pacific Walrus on Arakamchechen Island in the Northern Bering Sea. (Photo by Francois Gohier/Ardea/Caters News)

“I started photography in June 2009. At the time, I was searching for a way to express both the rigorous scientist and the creative artist in me. There are few hobbies that let these two approaches work together, so I really was enthusiastic about it: I am now spending all my free time studying various techniques, contemplating others' fantastic work, and of course, making pictures”. – Christophe Kiciak. Photo: “The Hero”. (Photo by Christophe Kiciak)

“Rosslyn Chapel, properly named the Collegiate Chapel of St. Matthew, was founded on a small hill above Roslin Glen as a Roman Catholic collegiate church (with between four and six ordained canons and two boy choristers) in the mid-15th century. Rosslyn Chapel and the nearby Roslin Castle are located at the village of Roslin, Midlothian, Scotland”. – Wikipedia

Photo: The interior of Rosslyn Chapel on February 9, 2012 in Roslin, Scotland. Built between 1446 and 1484 it is a category A listed building, covered in ornate stonework and carvings of individual figures and scenes. People travel from all over the world to visit the chapel which many have described as an architectural wonder and a library in stone. Many theories, myths and legends associated with the Chapel have given it a unique sense of mystery and wonder. (Photo by Jeff J. Mitchell/Getty Images)