People sit near a fully loaded in Madama near the border with Lybia on January 1, 2015. French Defence Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian paid a surprise visit to northern Niger on January 1, to visit a base being built to combat the growing flow of weapons and jihadists from neighbouring Libya. Le Drian travelled from Chad to Madama, a desert outpost about 100 kilometres from Libya, where he saw in the New Year with troops at a French base. Madama is situated on the route used by jihadists and arms smugglers in southern Libya to reach northern Mali and Niger. (Photo by Dominique Faget/AFP Photo)

Balinese Hindu people take part in a cleansing ceremony called “Melasti”, in Denpasar, Bali, Indonesia, 25 March 2025. Melasti is a purification ritual where Balinese Hindus cleanse themselves and their sacred objects in the ocean to purify and renew spiritually, symbolizing the washing away of impurities and starting anew. It typically precedes Nyepi, the Day of Silence, marking the Balinese New Year. Balinese will celebrate Nyepi Day on 29 March 2025, during which Hindus on the island of Bali are not allowed to travel, work, light lamps, cook, or do any other activities. (Photo by Made Nagi/EPA)

The Arcaid awards highlight the best architectural photographs of the year – pictures of everything from giant arenas to tiny huts. The shortlisted photographs will be exhibited at the World Architecture Festival in Berlin, from 16 to 18 November, with an overall winner announced during the event’s gala dinner. Here: The stage for Haduwa Arts & Culture Institute, Ghana. Architect: (applied) Foreign Affairs. Nominated in the Sense of Place category. The open-air auditorium of this arts institute in Apam, Ghana, is built from ultra-strong curved bamboo. (Photo by Julien Lanoo)

Joshua Patino stands on a ladder to put finishing touches on a giant dinosaur exhibit at PAX East in the Boston Convention and Expo Center, Thursday, April 21, 2016, in Boston. PAX East, an annual celebration of gaming culture, is expected to draw tens of thousands of visitors Friday through Sunday. It's a place where serious gamers can preview unreleased video games and devices, compete in tournaments, hear live music and meet others for whom gaming is a way of life. (Photo by Elise Amendola/AP Photo)

Passengers wear no trousers as they ride the London Underground in London, Britain, 07 January 2018. The No Pants Subway Ride is an global annual event where people take the public transport while they are not wearing trousers to surprise other passengers. This event takes place on the first Sunday of every year in the world's major cities. (Photo by Tolga Akmen/EPA/EFE/Rex Features/Shutterstock)

A spectator shows off her green, white and gold eyelashes as the annual Saint Patrick's day parade takes place on March 17, 2018 in Dublin, Ireland. Dublin hosts the largest Saint Patrick's day parade in the world with a route spanning 2.5 km. The Irish annals for the fifth century date Patrick's arrival in Ireland in the year 432 with the patron saint of Ireland's remains believed to be buried at Down Cathedral in County Down. (Photo by Charles McQuillan/Getty Images)

“Himalayan Dog”. This dog just appeared out of nowhere and followed us for an entire week during our trekking trip in the Himalayan outback. He always used to sleep in front of our tent and guarded us in the nights. When I decided to get up at 4 a.m. to climb the next 5000 m peak for sunrise he accompanied me as well. On the top he was sitting for the entire 30 minutes on this place looking straight into the countryside. Photo location: Ladakh, India. (Photo and caption by Sebastian Wahlhuetter/National Geographic Photo Contest)

Elaborately dressed monks costumed as wrathful guardian spirits perform ceremonial dances during the Tenchi Festival on May 25, 2014 in Lo Manthang, Nepal. The Tenchi Festival takes place annually in Lo Manthang, the capital of Upper Mustang and the former Tibetan Kingdom of Lo. Each spring, monks perform ceremonies, rites, and dances during the Tenchi Festival to dispel evils and demons from the former kingdom. (Photo by Taylor Weidman/Getty Images)