A law enforcement officer stands guard near a damaged multi-storey residential building following an alleged Ukrainian drone attack in the course of Russia-Ukraine conflict, in Ramenskoye in the Moscow region, Russia on September 10, 2024. (Photo by Maxim Shemetov/Reuters)

Scientists trekking for days to the undisputed furthest north land point on the planet, in October 2024 were greeted by an unexpected welcoming party: a stoat, whom they named Randall. The team were heading to Kaffeklubben Island, also known as Inuit Qeqertaat, off the northern tip of Greenland, about 440 miles from the North Pole, when Randall emerged from a cairn of rocks, showing no fear as he went to investigate them. (Photo by Jeff Kerby/Magnus News)

Believers offer tribute to Iemanja, the Goddess of the Sea of the Afro-American religion Umbanda, at Ramirez beach in Montevideo on February 2, 2025. (Photo by Eitan Abramovich/AFP Photo)

Germany's Darja Varfolomeev competes with a ribbon during the individual apparatus final at the 41st FIG Rhythmic Gymnastics World Championships at Carioca Arena, in Rio de Janeiro, Sunday, August 24, 2025. (Photo by Bruna Prado/AP Photo)

Beautiful, strange and occasionally alarming pictures from the shortlist for this year’s Wellcome image awards – which celebrate the very best in science photography and imaging – from an x-ray of a bat to a micrograph of a kidney stone. The exhibition opens on 12 March at three science centres and the Museum of Science and Industry in Manchester. Photo: Scanning electron micrograph (SEM) of an Arabidopsis thaliana flower, also commonly known as thale cress. Some of the anthers are open, revealing pollen grains ready for dispersal. Arabidopsis was the first plant to have its entire genome sequenced and is widely used as a model organism in molecular and plant biology. Horizontal width of image is 1200 microns. Magnification 100x. (Photo by Stefan Eberhard/Wellcome Images)

This artist image released from Japan's airline All Nippon Airways (ANA) on April 17, 2015 shows ANA's Boeing 787-9 aircraft into the colors of R2-D2 robot of Star Wars. Japanese air carrier ANA will place the special colored jetliner in service in this autumn. (Photo by AFP Photo/All Nippon Airways)

A frog appears to have a big smile for the camera, Russia. Things are heating up at the Comedy Wildlife Photography Awards as the shortlisted final 40 entries are revealed. This year's competition has featured over 2200 hilarious entries from around the world with photos including a fox face planting in the snow, a dancing brown bear and a pair of seemingly headless penguins – all beautifully photographed with perfect comedy timing and a strong conservation message. (Photo by Artyom Krivosheev/Barcroft Images/Comedy Wildlife Photography Awards 2016)

Members of a cheerleading team warm- up during the Russian Cheerleading Championship of students in Moscow on November 20, 2016. (Photo by Natalia Kolesnikova/AFP Photo)