US surfer Koa Rothman rides a huge swell in training for the Da Hui Backdoor Shootout 2025 event held annually at Pipeline on the North Shore of Oahu, Hawaii, on December 26, 2024. The “Da Hui Backdoor Shootout” in 2025 is an invitation-only surfing competition held on the North Shore of Oahu, Hawaii, during a holding period from January 4 to 16, 2025. (Photo by Brian Bielmann/AFP Photo)

Soldiers take a selfie on the plateform at a metro station in Ho Chi Minh City on December 22, 2024. Thousands of selfie-taking Ho Chi Minh City residents crammed into train carriages on December 22, as the traffic-clogged business hub celebrated the opening of its first-ever metro line after years of delays. (Photo by Nhac Nguyen/AFP Photo)

Girl in newari attire makes a funny face to her friend as she performs a Mass Bel Bibaha (marriage) ceremony in Bhaktapur, Bagmati, Nepal on December 7, 2021. The two-day ceremony, usually held several times a year, sees pre-adolescent “marry” the Hindu deity, Vishnu, symbolised by the local “bael” (wood apple) fruit. Normally Newar girls marry thrice time in there life as first marriage with Bael fruit, second with sun and third with human. (Photo by Amit Machamasi/ZUMA Wire/Alamy Live News)

A girl carries breads on her head as she walks in the snow, in Kabul, Afghanistan, Tuesday, February 8, 2022. (Photo by Hussein Malla/AP Photo)

Archer Sheetal Devi from India prepares to fire during the Paralympic Games in Paris on Thursday, August 29, 2024. (Photo by Felix Scheyer/AP Photo)

Natalia Grossman of the United States competes in the women's boulder lead climbing final at the Pan American Games in Santiago, Chile, Tuesday, October 24, 2023. Six new venues were built for 30 sporting events, an investment of $507 million. (Photo by Esteban Felix/AP Photo)

Participants race during the Red Bull Box Cart Race challenges in Bo Kaap, one of the iconic neighbourhoods in Cape Town, South Africa on November 6, 2022. (Photo by Esa Alexander/Reuters)

An alien-shaped hot air balloon flies during a mass launch at the annual Bristol International Balloon Fiesta, near Bristol, Britain, on August 8, 2025. (Photo by Toby Melville/Reuters)