On September 1, 2004, Chechen militants stormed an elementary school in the town of Beslan in the Russian republic of North Ossetia. They took 1,100 teachers, children, and their relatives hostage, demanding the withdrawal of federal forces from Chechnya as a condition for their release. On September 3, 2004, Russian security forces stormed the building, resulting in a battle in which more than 330 hostages died, including 186 children. Here: A man assists two young hostages who managed to escape from the school building after special forces entered the school in Beslan, North Ossetia, Friday 03 September 2004. (Photo by Yuri Kochetkov/EPA)

An American flag is visible in the windows of the cupola aboard the International Space Station. Thanks to a bill passed by Texas legislators in 1997 that put in place technical voting procedure for astronauts – nearly all of whom live in Texas – they have the ability to vote from space through specially designed absentee ballots. To preserve the integrity of the secret vote, the ballot is encrypted and only accessible by the astronaut and the county clerk responsible for casting the ballot. (Photo by NASA)

Iraqi pro-government forces fire an anti-tank cannon near al-Sejar village, north-east of Fallujah, on May 25, 2016, as they take part in a major assault to retake the city from the Islamic State (IS) group. Iraqi forces, consisting of special forces, soldiers, police, paramilitary-fighters and pro-government tribesmen, launched a major assault to retake Fallujah, the scene of deadly battles during the US occupation and one of the toughest targets yet in Baghdad's war on the Islamic State group. (Photo by Ahmad Al-Rubaye/AFP Photo)

Todd Bretl specializes in underwater photography, and is able to capture striking photos of aquatic life big and small. His photos of sharks are particularly striking; though he rarely faces hostility from the animals, he tries not to spend too much time looking through his viewfinder and many shots are framed by educated guesses and impeccable timing. What follows are photographs taken over the past several years on trips to the Bahamas and Isla Guadalupe, an island off the coast of the Baja California peninsula in Mexico. (Photo by Todd Bretl)

Handlers control the giant puppet MOCCO during a special training session in Takamori, Nagano prefecture, Friday, April 23, 2021. Tokyo 2020 organizers created about 10 meter-tall puppet to symbolize the spirit of the people from the regions affected by the 2011 earthquake and tsunami. The puppet will travel from Tohoku to Tokyo in May to be in place for the games scheduled to open in July. (Photo by Koji Ueda/AP Photo)

Special Merit Award. Mallory Franklin (2019). The British slalom canoeist has competed internationally since 2009 and won nine medals in total at the ICF Canoe Slalom World Championships with four golds, four silvers and a bronze. She has also won eleven medals at the European Championships. (Photo by Richard Pelham/World Sports Photography Awards 2021)

Russian servicemen display military camouflage equipments during the joint military anti-terrorist command and staff exercise of the armed forces of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization member states Peace Mission-2021 at the Donguz training ground in the Orenburg region, Russia, 23 September 2021. More than 3.4 thousand servicemen from Russia, India, China, Pakistan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and more than 600 units of weapons, military and special equipment are involved in the exercise Peace Mission-2021. (Photo by Maxim Shipenkov/EPA/EFE)

Natalia Lage Rainha de Drums of the Escola de Samba Inocente de Belford Roxo during a presentation in the parade of the Special Group of Carnival in Rio de Janeiro at Avenida Marques de Sapucai, Sambadrome in Rio de Janeiro on April 21, 2021. The Carnival parades that take place in February were postponed to this month of April due to the high number of cases caused during the pandemic caused by COVID-19 (Coronavirus). (Photo by Thiago Ribeiro/AGIF via AFP Photo)