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)

Shi'ite Muslim girls take part in a mourning procession to mark Ashura, the holiest day on the Shi'ite Muslim calendar, in Istanbul, Turkey, on July 16, 2024. (Photo by Dilara Senkaya/Reuters)

Folk dancers from Chile participate in a folk dance festival in Bitola, North Macedonia on July 26, 2023. (Photo by Ognen Teofilovski/Reuters)

Chinese-American actress Bai Ling is seen on October 15, 2018 in Los Angeles, CA. (Photo by Hollywood To You/Star Max/GC Images)

104-year-old John Faulkner of Appleford, Berkshire enjoys a pipe and a glass of beer as he remembers his considerable past. A former jockey, he has been married twice and fathered 32 children. (Photo by Fox Photos/Getty Images). 17th March 1932

Leon Samson, 24-year-old showman, grimaces as an automobile is driven across his chest at Perth, Australia on October 9, 1960. Samson said the towel on his chest is to prevent the wheel from tearing his flesh. (Photo by AP Photo)

Maria Menounos and Derek Hough sit courtside as the Celtics play the Lakers in Los Angeles, March 2012. (Photo by Lucy Nicholson/Reuters)

Australian ballet dancer Marilyn Rowe prepares to perform Swan Lake with the Australian Ballet at the Canberra Theatre in 1978. Rowe was appointed director of the Australian Ballet School in 1999. (Photo by John Crowther/The Guardian)