“The power of nature”. Magma, ash and gas erupt from Mount Etna in December 2015, rising to a height of several kilometres. Winner: Nature. (Photo by Giuseppe Mario Famiani/SIPA Contest)
People walk through Ginza’s shopping district in Tokyo, Japan, 15 December 2025. Japan’s economic focus is on the upcoming Bank of Japan (BOJ) meeting where the central bank is expected to raise its policy rate to combat inflation. The BOJ signaled a rate hike bar is cleared with the wage momentum still intact. (Photo by Franck Robichon/EPA)
Farmer Zhang Xianping rides his pig "Big Precious" during an interview with the media, in Zhangjiakou, Hebei province, China, November 2, 2015. Zhang, a pig breeder, instead of killing it, decided to keep the two-year-old "Big Precious" as pet when its weight reached 600 kg, according to local media. (Photo by Reuters/China Daily)
Oded Balilty is an Israeli documentary photographer. He is an Associated Press photographer and won the Pulitzer Prize for Breaking News Photography in 2007. Photo: A Jewish settler struggles with an Israeli security officer during clashes that erupted as authorities evacuated the West Bank settlement outpost of Amona, east of the Palestinian town of Ramallah, in this February 1, 2006, file photo. (Photo by Oded Balilty/AP Photo)
Animals destined for the stage of Radio City Music Hall in New York on November 13, 1986 are led to the stage door by their co-stars, the Rockettes dancers. A variety of animals, including camels, sheep and donkeys, will star in an annual Christmas production. (Photo by G. Paul Burnett/AP Photo)
A Filipino worker arranges roasted pigs which they sell in suburban Quezon city, Philippines on Tuesday, December 23, 2014. Roasted pig is popular during Filipino celebrations and traditionally served during a Christmas eve dinner called “Noche Buena” in this predominantly Roman Catholic nation. (Photo by Aaron Favila/AP Photo)
Pedestrians have a snowball fight in Times Square following a mandatory shutdown of the streets at 11 p.m. on January 26, 2015 in New York City. New York, and much of the Northeast, is bracing for a major winter storm which is expected to bring blizzard conditions and 10 to 30 inches of snow to the area. (Photo by Alex Trautwig/AFP Photo)
Two revelers dressed as toy soldiers gesture toward a police officer in a patrol car during the traditional carnival parade in Wuerzburg, Germany, 15 February 2015. Under the motto “Carnival Parade is cool” about 160 groups with over 3,000 members took part in one of the biggest carnival parades in southern Germany. (Photo by Daniel Karmann/EPA)