Dressed up participants run at the “Course de la Marmite” during the 46th Escalade Race (Course de l'Escalade) in Geneva, Switzerland, 07 December 2024. (Photo by Martial Trezzini/EPA/EFE)
A Sadhu or a Hindu holy man sits on the banks before taking a holy dip at Sangam, the confluence of the Ganges and Yamuna rivers with the mythical, invisible Saraswati river, during the “Maha Kumbh Mela”, or the Great Pitcher Festival, in Prayagraj, India, on January 13, 2025. (Photo by Adnan Abidi/Reuters)
During a jungle survival program February 20, 2013 taught by Royal Thai Special Forces in Sannapit, Thailand, U.S. Marines learned to catch cobras and drink their fresh blood, not to mention eat forest insects and pull the heads off of chicken. The training was part of Operation Cobra Gold 13, the 32nd edition of international military exercises hosted by the Thai. According to a U.S. Marines press release, Cobra Gold is the largest exercise of its kind in Asia and incorporates troops from five other nations in addition to the U.S. and Thailand. The Daily Mail reports that the Marines were invited to experience the local custom of drinking cobra blood after being taught to catch and kill cobras in the wild. As CNN notes, Cobra blood is believed to be a panacea and aphrodiasic in parts of Southeast Asia. In Jakarta, vendors can earn over $100 a night selling shots of cobra blood mixed with liquor. (Photo by Pornchai Kittiwongsakul/AFP Photo)
Young Slovaks dressed in traditional costumes throw a bucket of water at a girl as part of Easter celebrations in the village of Trencianska Tepla, Slovakia, April 9, 2012. Slovakia's men splash women with water to symbolize youth, strength and beauty for the upcoming spring season. (Photo by Samuel Kubani/AFP)
A resident walks past big waves spilling over a wall onto a coastal road in the city of Legaspi in Albay province, south of Manila on December 14, 2015, as typhoon Melor approaches the city. More than 700,000 people fled the central Philippines amid threats of giant waves, floods and landslides as powerful Typhoon Melor approached the archipelago nation, officials said December 14. (Photo by Charism Sayat/AFP Photo)
Italy's Mount Etna, Europe's tallest and most active volcano, spews lava as it erupts on the southern island of Sicily, Italy, February 28, 2017. (Photo by Antonio Parrinello/Reuters)
Rohingya refugee sisters Nur Kaida (R) and Ruhana hug each other at their shelter at the Palongkhali refugee camp near Cox's Bazar, Bangladesh December 21, 2017. (Photo by Marko Djurica/Reuters)