A man looks out of a window as Palestinians inspect the site and search for casualties of an overnight Israeli air strike on a house at al-Shati (Beach) refugee camp, in Gaza City, on July 15, 2025. (Photo by Mahmoud Issa/Reuters)

Midnight at the Palace, at Big Yin at Gilded Balloon Patter House during Edinburgh fringe 2025 in the first decade of August 2025. (Photo by Damian Robertson/The Guardian)

They say a picture is worth a thousand words, and these striking images of 2017 are no exception. The photo highlights include incredible snapshots of the natural world as well as some awesome animal and human encounters. The vibrant gallery also shows thrill-seekers pushing themselves to the limit with breathtaking stunts captured in perfect clarity. The pictures have been taken by a host of photographers from around the world. Here: The two lion cubs singing their hearts out at Antelope park in Zimbabwe. (Photo by David Jenkins/Caters News Agency)

The Boeing 747-8 cargo plane pilot has seen thunderstorms, shooting stars and sunsets from up above the clouds and has looked down on mountaintops, carpets of cloud and cities lit up at night. The incredible pictures give a glimpse of the view from the pilots are treated to every day. Here: Shooting stars over India. (Photo by Christiaan van Heijst/Caters News Agency)

The amazing images, which show the balls of water reflecting an array of colours and even other insects, were snapped by photographer Uda Dennie in his garden. One of the massive droplets even stayed in shape for about a minute before the spider scurried off. Dennie, 33, from Batam Island, Indonesia, said: “I was really surprised to get such amazing pictures – it was really wonderful. I have a real passion for macro photography and after lots of trial and error I'm now able to produce good images – perseverance really paid off”. (Photo by Uda Dennie)

Andreas Preis is a Berlin-based German artist who studied communications design in Nuremberg.
Following an advertising internship with Springer & Jacoby he turned his attention toward freelance design and illustration. Andreas’ style mixes digital and traditional art, combining hand-drawings, cross-hatching, and color with digital media. In his latest project entitled Grow, Andreas Preis creates an incredible series of animal crests using his unique style to create these wonderful works of art.

“These are the mind-bending sculptures that take up to 40 hours to create – as they're made entirely from pipe cleaners. The fuzzy flexible figures are made entirely from the tobacco cleaning tools – which are now more commonly found strewn across nurseries and art classrooms – to construct the incredible life-like animals”. – Caters News. Photo: New Pipe Cleaner Wolf. (Photo by Lauren Ryan)

“A British photographer has captured incredible images of Italys most beautiful derelict buildings – by sneaking into abandoned structures. The stunning shots of hospitals, churchs and deserted buildings show abandoned beds, overgrown arches and staggering staircases. Gaz Mather, 40, is a dedicated urban explorer who takes stunning photographs of deserted buildings – documenting their haunting decay. Gaz from Manchester spent a long weekend touring deserted buildings in the Northern region of Italy”. – Caters News. Photo: Abandoned Villa. (Photo by Gaz Mather/Cater News)