An Iraqi Kurdish Peshmerga female officer bites a snake while demonstrating skills during a graduation ceremony in the Kurdish town of Soran, about 100 kilometres northeast of the capital of Iraq's autonomous Kurdish region Arbil, on February 12, 2020. (Photo by Safin Hamed/AFP Photo)

Snow falls as a woman walks her dog in the village of Podolye, 70 kilometers (43 miles) east of St. Petersburg, Russia, early Thursday, May 11, 2017. North winds brought snow to the east of the St. Petersburg region. (Photo by Dmitri Lovetsky/AP Photo)

The Leshan Giant Buddha, a 71-metre tall stone statue, is carved out of a cliff face in the southern part of Sichuan province in China. (Photo by Suchet Suwanmongkol/500px)

MSP Ash Regan and Lexie take part in Holyrood Dog of the Year on June 26, 2023 in Edinburgh, Scotland. At the annual contest, jointly organised by the Kennel Club and Dogs Trust, members of the Scottish Parliament compete with their dogs and Dogs Trust rescue dogs for the title of “Holyrood Dog of the Year”. (Photo by Jeff J. Mitchell/Getty Images)

Professor Xie Yong works on an art installation of a beaver, which is made out of plastic and around 300,000 needles, in Shenyang, Liaoning province, July 23, 2013. The needles, according to Xie, represent the pain felt by animals when their fur is taken off to produce clothing. (Photo by Reuters/Stringer)

The 26th annual National Geographic Traveler Photo Contest is now accepting submissions. Official categories include: “Travel Portraits”, “Outdoor Scenes”, “Sense of Place” and “Spontaneous Moments”. The contest is accepting entries until June 30. Photo: “Forest lights”. Aurora Borealis over the forest of the Pyhae Luosto National Park, Finland. (Photo and caption by Nicholas Roemmelt/National Geographic Traveler Photo Contest)

“The fantastic landscape of Bagan in Myanmar features hundreds of temples and pagodas as far as the eye can see. Experiencing this sight at dawn from the basket of a hot air balloon will remain engraved in my memory for ever. Mick Ryan, judge – What a magical photograph and place. The Buddhist temples and pagodas fill the plains of Bagan in Myanmar at sunrise… the golden hour providing beautiful light to illuminate the retrogression of the temples and balloons toward a misty, mountainous distance. An excellent, exotic photograph that makes you want to book a flight”. (Photo by Alastair Swan/The Guardian)

The Queen Elizabeth Tower (Big Ben) is reflected in a puddle as a cyclist rides by in London, on 27 June 2016. Britain began preparations to leave the European Union on Monday but said it would not be rushed into a quick exit, as markets plunged in the wake of a seismic referendum despite attempts to calm jitters. (Photo by Leon Neal/AFP Photo)