People help a wounded man following an Israel airstrike in central Tehran, Iran, 15 June 2025. Israel and Iran have been exchanging fire since Israel attacked Iran on 13 June 2025 as part of operation “Rising Lion”. (Photo by Majid Khahi/EPA/EFE)

This view shows giant hot air balloons of various shapes being lifted to begin flights from the Metropolitan Park over the city of Leon during the 2025 International Balloon Festival (FIG) in the state of Guanajuato, Mexico on November 15, 2025. (Photo by Mario Armas/AFP Photo)

A dragon dance takes place at Stonehenge, Wiltshire, where people celebrate the Chinese Moon Festival, or Mid-Autumn Festival, one of the most cherished traditional festivals in Chinese culture, symbolising family reunions, gratitude, and the appreciation of the full moon on Sunday, September 15, 2024. (Photo by Ben Birchall/PA Images via Getty Images)

Several new species of peacock spider – just a few millimetres long and featuring extraordinary colours – have been discovered in Western Australia and South Australia. Jürgen Otto, a biologist from Sydney, has been researching the arachnids since 2005, and has gained a significant following online with his footage. He believes there are now 48 confirmed species of peacock spider within the Maratus genus, found across Australia but particularly in Western Australia – and many more awaiting confirmation. Here: Maratus Tasmanicus, one of seven new species of peacock spiders studied by the Sydney biologist Jürgen Otto. (Photo by Jürgen Otto)

Jorge, an immigrant from Mexico, dressed as the Sesame Street character Elmo rests in Times Square, New York July 29, 2014. Elmo and Cookie Monster have long delighted young viewers on TV's “Sesame Street”, but the recent antics of New York street performers dressed as the beloved characters have drawn the ire of city officials and now the show's producers. Sesame Workshop, which owns the rights to Big Bird, Ernie and the assorted puppet monsters on the 45-year-old program, said on July 29, 2014 it was drafting plans to stop performers who dress up as the characters from appearing in Times Square, where they pose for photos with tourists and then demand tips. (Photo by Eduardo Munoz/Reuters)

Michael Fröhlich's Jowett Javelin rotting car in his forest sculpture park in Neandertal Germany, September 11, 2016. An eccentric artist has collected fifty vintage cars and left them to rot in a forest – and now they're worth over $1 million. Former racing driver Michael Fröhlich, from Dusseldorf, Germany, has purposely crashed the cars into trees, buried them in mud and parked them on cliff faces in his estate's garden in the middle of the German Neanderthal. His collections includes a Jaguar XK120 worth $170,000, a Porsche 356 racer and a Buick worth $17,000. (Photo by Christoph Hagen/Barcroft Images)

In this Tuesday, September 12, 2017 photo, Amornrat Simapsaisan, a local shop manager, watches before she ate watermelon salad with bamboo worms, at Inspects in the Backyard restaurant, Bangkok, Thailand. Tucking into insects is nothing new in Thailand, where street vendors pushing carts of fried crickets and buttery silkworms have long fed locals and adventurous tourists alike. But bugs are now fine-dining at the Bangkok bistro aiming to revolutionize views of nature’s least-loved creatures and what you can do with them. She tucked in quite happily to her watermelon and cricket salad on a recent evening. “It’s tasty. It’s munchy”, she said. (Photo by Sakchai Lalit/AP Photo)

Winner – Animal Portraits: The pose by Mogens Trolle, Denmark. A young male proboscis monkey cocks his head slightly and closes his eyes. Unexpected pale blue eyelids now complement his immaculately groomed auburn hair. He poses for a few seconds as if in meditation. He is a wild visitor to the feeding station at Labuk Bay Proboscis Monkey Sanctuary in Sabah, Borneo – “the most laid-back character”, says Trolle, “quite unlike anything I’ve ever seen on another monkey” – connects us, he hopes, with a fellow primate. (Photo by Mogens Trolle/Wildlife Photographer of the Year 2020)