A tattoo of a weapon covers the arm of a female inmate waiting to compete in the annual beauty contest at Talavera Bruce penitentiary in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, early Thursday, November 23, 2017. Jail authorities say they organize the annual contest to encourage self-esteem, fight idleness and promote integration among women prisoners. (Photo by Silvia Izquierdo/AP Photo)

A female is doused with wine as people take part in a wine battle, in the small village of Haro, northern Spain, Friday, June 29, 2018. La Batalla de Vino is held each June in the town of Haro on the feast of St Peter, an event organizers say draws thousands of people. On Friday, participants soaked each other with buckets and toy spray guns, turning their clothes a shade of purple. (Photo by Alvaro Barrientos/AP Photo)

A man walks by as tourists take selfies on the French Riviera city of Nice on June 24, 2019, as temperatures soar to 33 degrees Celsius. Forecasters say Europeans will feel sizzling heat this week with temperatures soaring as high as 40 degrees Celsius (104 degrees Fahrenheit) in an “unprecedented” June heatwave hitting much of Western Europe. (Photo by Valery Hache/AFP Photo)

Sandrine Kerfante has had a fascination with “doubles” ever since meeting her mother’s twin as a child. In 2012, this lifelong captivation inspired her to create a blog called twin-niwt, which celebrates photographs of doubles in all their forms. “I’m fascinated by the idea of the duo, repetition, symmetry, reflection, mirror games and all the symbolism associated with it”, she says. “I think it’s a topic often present in photography, more or less consciously”. (Photo by Sandrine Kerfante/The Guardian)

Group of clowns protested in the old center of Sao Paulo, Brazil on October 24, 2016. They are against false clowns scare people. They say they are clowns good and that people who dress to scare clown clowns are false. The wave of evil clowns started in the US and has spread to many countries. (Photo by Cris Faga via ZUMA Wire)

A driver steers a lorry laden with bags of plastic bottles across a recycling yard at the outskirts of Beijing, China, August 19, 2016. As authorities try to control Beijing's burgeoning population and capitalize on skyrocketing land prices, scrap collectors say they are being pushed out despite playing a vital role in China's unique recycling ecosystem. (Photo by Thomas Peter/Reuters)

Smoke and flames rise over a warehouse storing ammunition for multiple rocket launcher systems at a military base in the town of Kalynivka in Vinnytsia region, Ukraine September 27, 2017. Ukrainian officials say they have evacuated more than 30,000 people after a fire and ammunition explosions, at the military base on Tuesday. (Photo by Gleb Garanich/Reuters)

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)