Nature – first prize, stories. Pandemic Pigeons – A Love Story. The photographer’s daughter, Merel, cowers after Dollie flies past and perches on the balcony before entering the house in Vlaardingen in the Netherlands on 6 April 2020. “She’s still frightened when Dollie suddenly lands on the balcony railing. I hide my smile behind the camera, as I try to comfort her by saying they won’t hurt you. “I thought he was going to attack me”, she replies. As the nesting pigeons keep coming back to our place, slowly my girls have started to appreciate them – perhaps not as much as I do, but it’s a start”. (Photo by Jasper Doest/World Press Photo 2021)

A robot takes part in what is billed as the world's first robot half marathon during the Humanoid Robot Half-Marathon held in Beijing on Saturday, April 19, 2025. (Photo by Ng Han Guan/AP Photo)

Elaine Vandiver shares a moment with a two-year old alpaca as they touch noses as she washes him at her farm at 1560 Stateline Road Monday, May 11, 2015, in Walla Walla, Wash. (Photo by Michael Lopez/Walla Walla Union-Bulletin via AP Photo)

People stand in the middle of the graves and in front of giant kites in the cemetery of Santiago Sacatepequez, Guatemala, November 1, 2015. Dating back 116 years, the tradition of flying kites in the cemetery of of Santiago Sacatepequez, integrates the Catholic feast of All Saints with ancient Mayan practices of honouring the dead. It is believed that the kites connect the living and the dead during the all saints day celebration. (Photo by Jorge Dan Lopez/Reuters)

Monaco's Princess Charlotte Casiraghi arrives to attend a mass at the Saint Nicholas Cathedral during the celebrations marking Monaco's National Day, on November 19, 2016 in Monaco. (Photo by Valery Hache/Reuters)

Sport category, winner: Yuan Peng. Liu Bingqing and Liu Yujie are twin sisters who have studied and trained in gymnastics since their early childhood in Jining, China. (Photo by Yuan Peng/Sony World Photography Awards)

US MotoGP rider Nicky Hayden of the Aspar MotoGP team performs a wheelie during third free practice session for the motorcycle GP in Montmelo, Spain, Saturday, June 13, 2015. The Catalunya Grand Prix will take place on Sunday in Montmelo. (AP Photo/Manu Fernandez)

A dog dressed as a Zoltar fortune telling machine participates in the Halloween Dog Parade in New York. (Photo by Timothy Clary/Getty Images)