School girls stand next to a ballot box at a polling station during the municipal elections in Havana April 19, 2015. Cuba held its first local elections since a historic thaw in relations with the United States with an unusual wrinkle in the single-party system: two of the 27,000 candidates openly oppose the government. (Photo by Reuters/Stringer)

Phuket, Thailand. The girl is in the pool, which is higher than the land, and the elephant is on the land behind the pool. The photographer used an underwater bag to get a half submerged image. (Photo by Justin Mott)

A girl holds onto a pole as as she stands in floodwaters flowing from the swollen Bagmati River caused by heavy rainfall in Kathmandu, Nepal August 17, 2015. (Photo by Navesh Chitrakar/Reuters)

A Tibetan girl reacts as she gets ready to perform in a function organised to mark “Losar” or the Tibetan New Year in Kathmandu, Nepal, February 11, 2016. (Photo by Navesh Chitrakar/Reuters)

A shepherd, holding a lamb, is seen in Gurpinar district of Van, Turkiye on March 30, 2022. Norduz sheep, which are among the significant germplasm of Turkiye and therefore the number of which is aimed to be increased with the state-funded projects. Directorate of Agriculture and Forestry of Van has started work to protect the breed and increase the number of Norduz sheep, which have one more rib than regular sheep and have higher meat and milk yield. Projects are impelling to rise the number of small cattle and to protect local breeds due to the fact that Van ranks first in Turkiye in terms of small cattle. (Photo by Ozkan Bilgin/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)

The Nicobar pigeon (Caloenas nicobarica) is a pigeon found on small islands and in coastal regions from the Nicobar Islands, east through the Malay Archipelago, to the Solomons and Palau. It is the only living member of the genus Caloenas and the closest living relative of the extinct dodo.

Shooting star by Tony Wu, US/Japan. Winner, underwater. The electrifying reproductive dance of a giant sea star. As the surrounding water filled with sperm and eggs from spawning sea stars, Wu faced several challenges. Stuck in a small, enclosed bay with only a macro lens for photographing small subjects, he backed up to squeeze the undulating sea star into his field of view. The dancing posture of spawning sea stars rising and swaying may help release eggs and sperm, or may help sweep the eggs and sperm into the currents where they fertilise together in the water. Kinko Bay, Japan. (Photo by Tony Wu/Wildlife Photographer of the Year)