A boy and a woman run across a railway track as a train approaches in Chengdu, Sichuan province, China, October 8, 2015. Many residents disregard sign prohibiting this kind of illegal crossing and choose to do so to save time, local media reported. (Photo by Hao Fei/Reuters/Western China Metropolis Daily)

Shortlisted: Pooyan Shadpoor, Houcheraghi. While walking along the shore of Larak, Iran – an island in the Persian Gulf – Shadpoor came across this luminous scene. The “magical lights of (the) plankton ... enchanted me so that I snapped the shot”, he writes. (Photo by Pooyan Shadpoor/2016 EPOTY)

Chocolate is the greatest gift the Earth has given us. The dessert table would be a sad sight without it. It’s so beloved, so appreciated, that the Swedish scientist who named the cocoa plant that gives us chocolate called it Theobroma cacao, which means “food of the gods”. Here: Farmer holding a freshly cut cocoa bean pod, revealing the pulp and seed inside on a rainforest farm. (Photo by Doug McKinlay/Getty Images)

The Bahamas, the Commonwealth nation of hundreds of islands roughly the size of Connecticut and with population of just a bit over Anaheim, is known for its crystal waters and pristine beaches. This is possibly one of the world’s most beautiful havens of nature, yet people are coming here to see pigs. It is unclear when the pigs first appeared on Exuma Island or where they come from. There’s talk about a daring escape from a shipwreck, or sailors releasing the swine on purpose. In all probability, there were no pigs on this tropical paradise before European settlers came, so their mere presence is the work of human. The intriguing feat of nature, however, is that this population of pigs developed a fine aptitude for swimming. Here: “So you're on a boat in Bahamas and then this pig swims by begging for food”. (Photo and caption by Lisa Larsen/Public Domain)

Young Japanese women dressed in colourful Kimonos take a photo of themselves as they gather for a ceremony marking the “Coming of Age Day” at the Toshimaen Amusement Park in Tokyo, Japan, 11 January 2016. The Coming of Age Day is the day to celebrate young people who turn 20 years old while the age of 20 is considered the beginning of adulthood and is the minimum legal age for voting, drinking and smoking in Japan. (Photo by Kiyoshi Ota/EPA)

This year's Republican National Convention and Democratic National Convention both saw passionate delegates in outrageous costumes – but that's where the similarities mostly end. Reuters photographer Jim Young gives a look at what it's like to be on the convention floor and talks to the delegates who make the conventions memorable. (Photo by Jim Young/Reuters)

Young women dressed in traditional Japanese clothing celebrate Coming of Age Day at Buddhism temple in Tokyo on January 9, 2023. It is a day to recognize and congratulate individuals who have reached the age of majority (20 years old). On this day, young people who have turned 20 are officially recognized as adults and on the responsibilities and duties of adulthood. (Photo by Taidgh Barron/ZUMA Press Wire/Rex Features/Shutterstock)