Grand title winner: Environmental photographer of the year. The Bitter Death Of Birds by Mehdi Mohebi Pour. This photo shows the efforts of the environmental forces to collect the bodies and prevent the spread of this disease. The Miankaleh wetland is being destroyed by changes in the climate and it is my duty as a photographer to highlight these problems and create a record for history. I want to prevent the complete destruction of the wetland and the potential environmental disaster by showing the issues and threats to these beautiful natural places. (Photo by Mehdi Mohebi Pour/Environmental Photographer of the Year)

Pedra da Gavea highline, 850 meters above the city, 100 meters direct exposure, March 24, 2013. Brian Mosbaugh on the line. Carefully tiptoeing almost 3000 metres above Rio de Janeiro on a thin wire got a bit too much for this adrenaline junkie – so he decided to have a LIE DOWN. Fearless Brian Mosbaugh is so used to the perilous heights he decided he deserved a short break and proceeded to kick back and relax over the famous Brazilian city. (Photo by Scott Rogers/Caters)

P.S. All pictures are presented in high resolution. To see Hi-Res images – just TWICE click on any picture. In other words, click small picture – opens the BIG picture. Click BIG picture – opens VERY BIG picture (if available; this principle works anywhere on the site AvaxNews).

Two female soldiers have their picture taken by an army colleague at Mangyongdae. (Photo by Gavin John/Mediadrumworld.com)

Toyota's driver Nasser Al-Attiyah of Qatar (R) and his co-driver Mathieu Baumel of France compete during the prologue of the Dakar 2023 by the Red Sea in Yanbu, Saudi Arabia, on December 31, 2022. Swedish driver Mattias Ekstrom and his co-driver Emil Bergkvist of Sweden won the prologue ahead of French driver Sebastien Loeb and Belgian co-driver Fabian Lurquin. (Photo by Franck Fife/AFP Photo)

A juvenile blackcap is recorded in the soft light of morning at Minorca, UK, a former open-cast mine near Moira in the National Forest on June 18, 2025. Dr Heather Gilbert, research and evidence manager, checks mist nets among wildflowers and young trees as part of long-term monitoring that shows bird numbers have increased by 48 per cent over 30 years. (Photo by Rod Kirkpatrick/RKP Photography)

Couples dance samba as smoke rises from a burning pyrotechnics warehouse in Moscow on June 19 2021. (Photo by Dimitar Dilkoff/AFP Photo)

From house breaking in Johannesburg to hippos on the loose in Tbilisi to rioters attacking a policewoman in Burundi, Reuters photographers tell the story behind some of the most iconic pictures of the year. Here: Protesters drag a female police officer accused of shooting a protester in the Buterere neighbourhood of Bujumbura, Burundi, May 12, 2015. Goran Tomasevic: Protesters started throwing stones at a group of police, who then started to run away. The policewoman in the photo, Medikintos Inabeza, 33, got left behind and then some protesters started to push her, saying that she had shot a female protestor in the stomach with an AK47 rifle. I didn't see anything of that. There were 5 or 10 protesters pushing the policewoman at first, then others came and joined in. Up to 20 or 30 protesters were surrounding her at one point. The protesters kicked and beat her very badly; I also saw a couple of knives. I thought they were going to kill her... (Photo by Goran Tomasevic/Reuters)

People take cover outside the Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International airport after a shooting took place near the baggage claim on January 6, 2017 in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. Officials are reporting that five people were killed and 8 wounded in an attack by a single gunman. (Photo by Joe Raedle/Getty Images)