Pangolins in Crisis: Brent Stirton, South Africa; 1st place, Natural world and wildlife. “Pangolins are the world’s most illegally trafficked mammals, with an estimated one million trafficked to Asia in the last 10 years. Their scales are used in traditional Chinese and Vietnamese medicine, and their meat is sold as a high-priced delicacy. As a result, pangolins are listed as critically endangered and anyone who trades or consumes them is breaking the law. This body of work exposes the trade, while exploring aspects of illegality and celebrating the people who are trying to save these animals”. (Photo by Brent Stirton/Sony World Photography Awards 2020)

People splash mud water in a paddy field on National Paddy Day in Tokha village, on the outskirt of capital Kathmandu, Nepal, 29 June 2021. Nepal is celebrating National Paddy Day with various events on 29 June. On this day, known as Asar Pandra, farmers begin the annual rice planting season and mark the day with various festivities such as preparing rice meals with muddy water, mud being a symbol for a prosperous season. Sixty percent of Nepal's agriculture industry relies on monsoon rain while 40 percent is carried out through irrigation. Agriculture is a major contributor to the country's GDP. (Photo by Narendra Shrestha/EPA/EFE)

Balis Chinese community perform the dragon dance during Chinese New Year called Ngelawang ceremony on January 21, 2023 in Kuta, Bali, Indonesia. The Chinese diaspora of Southeast Asia is celebrating Lunar New Year, as COVID-19 restrictions have been removed, it is traditionally a time for people to meet their relatives and take part in celebrations with families. In Indonesia, ethnic Chinese families visited temples to celebrate the Year of the Rabbit on January 22. (Photo by Agung Parameswara/Getty Images)

People take part in a military exercise for civilians conducted by veterans of the Ukrainian National Guard Azov battalion, amid threat of Russian invasion, in Kyiv, Ukraine on January 30, 2022. According to a survey conducted by the Kiev International Institute of Sociology (KIIS) from December 2021, 50.2 percent of Ukrainians said they would resist in case of a Russian military intervention into their city, town or village. Every third respondent to the poll said they were ready to engage in armed resistance, and 21.7 percent said they were ready to participate in civil resistance actions. (Photo by Gleb Garanich/Reuters)

People take part in a water gun battle as part of the annual Songkran festival, also known as water festival, the traditional Thai New Year celebrations, at the tourist spot of Khao San Road in Bangkok, Thailand, 13 April 2023. Thailand celebrates its first water-splashing Songkran festival following a three-year pause due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Songkran is celebrated with splashing water and putting powder on each other's faces as a symbolic sign of cleansing and washing away the sins from the old year. (Photo by Rungroj Yongrit/EPA)

Lilith interacts with spectators in the streets of Toulouse. French street show creator Francois Delaroziere, director of the art company “La Machine”, creates a show in the streets of Toulouse. The new show displays giant characters: Asterion, the Minotaur; Lilith, the scorpion woman; and Ariane, the spider woman. Lilith is fond of the Minotaur and wants to take Asterion to hell with her. Ariane protects Asterion and tries everything to keep Asterion safe. The show is displayed over three days and is attended by dozens of people. During the three days, the giant characters appear in the streets of Toulouse. (Photo by Alain Pitton/NurPhoto)

Devotees of the small farming village of Bibiclat celebrate the Feast of Saint John the Baptist while covered in banana leaves and mud on June 24, 2025 in Aliaga, Philippines. Known as the “Taong Putik” (mud people), the ritual happens yearly in this small farming village as their own version of expressing their faith and celebrating the feast of Saint John the Baptist whom the survivors of the Japanese occupation in 1944 in their area prayed to for rain to save their fellow villagers. (Photo by Ezra Acayan/Getty Images)

A demonstrator wearing a The Martians from Sesame Street costume holds a placard depicting U.S. President Donald Trump, U.S. Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth, U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi, U.S Vice President JD Vance, U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, White House Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller and U.S. House Speaker Mike Johnson as people march down the National Mall to take part in a “No Kings” protest against U.S. President Donald Trump's policies, in Washington, D.C., U.S., October 18, 2025. (Photo by Leah Millis/Reuters)