Abbas (1944 – 25 April 2018) was an Iranian photographer known for his photojournalism in Biafra, Vietnam and South Africa in the 1970s, and for his extensive essays on religions in later years. He was a member of Sipa from 1971 to 1973, a member of Gamma from 1974 to 1980, and joined Magnum Photos in 1981. Here: Kuwait, 1991. (Photo by Abbas Attar/Magnum Photos)

These kaleidoscopic images showcase the sheer beauty of the mammoth firework displays held across Japan every summer. The Japanese word for fireworks, hanabi, means fire flower, and each year, local governments in Japan throw around 7,000 festivals, or hanabi taikai. Here: Tsuchiura National Fireworks Competition, Tsuchiura City, Ibaraki Prefecture. (Photo by Makoto Igari/Caters News Agency)

A man sits on a park bench in a flooded park as the Cape Fear River rises above its usual height in Wilmington, North Carolina, September 14, 2018. (Photo by Jonathan Drake/Reuters)

During rehearsals, colourful puppets bring the Loch Ness monster to life on March 27, 2025 for the new musical Nessie, which transforms the mystery of the loch into a vibrant stage production. The show runs from March 28 to April 5 at The Studio, Edinburgh, before moving to Pitlochry Festival Theatre. (Photo by Fraser Band/Jam Press)

In more “raccoons are getting more like us” news, a drunk raccoon was found in a liquor store in Virginia, US in the first decade of December 2025. The animal had got into the shop via some loose ceiling tiles, knocked bottles of spirits off the shelves, lapped up the contents and passed out in the toilets. Once it had sobered up, it was released back into the wild – no doubt with a crashing hangover. (Photo by AP Photo)

Migrant Haya from Artoz, Syria, shows a picture of her town as she waits to cross the Slovenia-Austria border in Sentilj, Slovenia October 25, 2015. (Photo by Srdjan Zivulovic/Reuters)

A participant, surrounded by red chilli peppers, takes part in a chilli-eating competition at a hot spring in Yichun, Jiangxi province, China on December 9, 2018. (Photo by Chen Fei/China News Service via Reuters)

A woman walks past servicemen of the self-proclaimed Donetsk People's Republic (DNR), who take part in a rehearsal for the Victory Day parade in Donetsk, Ukraine on May 3, 2018. (Photo by Alexander Ermochenko/Reuters)