“Attacking Howler Monkey”. Due to a major tropical rainstorm my wife and I were forced to stay overnight in a Howler Monkey Rescue center in Panama. I used the time to explore the area and to take photos of the monkeys. Just after the rain finally stopped, I ran into this monkey that tried to mock attack me. I quickly took a couple of photos before retreating to a (more) safe distance. (Photo and caption by Christian Mueller-Planitz/National Geographic Traveler Photo Contest)

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The best man in a wedding party, who all declined to be identified, stands near the bride and groom as he holds an AR-10 rifle he was handed while the party was having their pre-wedding portraits taken on the steps of the capitol before a rally nearby by gun-rights advocates to protest a new expanded gun background check law in Washington state Saturday, December 13, 2014, in Olympia, Wash. The wedding party was not part of the protest, but posed for pictures with it after being handed it by gun activist Brandon Lyons, who said “we've all just broken the law”, by handing the gun over. Saturday's protest was called the “I Will Not Comply” rally, and those attending said they will openly exchange firearms in opposition to the state's new voter-approved universal background check law, Initiative 594. The law, which took effect on December 4, requires background checks on all sales and transfers, including private transactions and many loans and gifts. (Photo by Elaine Thompson/AP Photo)

Artist Princess Tarinan von Anhalt throws paint into the flow of air coming from the engine of Flexjet’s Learjet 40 XR engine to create a painting on a canvas at Signature Flight Support in West Palm Beach, Florida. The artist associated with the Jet Art Group used the help of Flexjet and their plane to spray paint on a canvas to create distinctive paintings to celebrate the 50th anniversary of Learjet. (Photo by Thomas Cordy/The Palm Beach Post)

“YagYang”. The Apatani are tribal people living in north east of India in the region of Arunachal Pradesh. Tattooing and stuffing of large nose plugs is the particularity of these women. YagYang 75 years old, her husband passed away few months ago and she feels very alone, during my visit I was very fond of this woman and I wanted to spend some more time with her, so I asked her which was her favorite dish. The next day i returned with the fresh fish, as she mentioned, and when she saw me she was very happy and welcomed me with a big smile. Photo location: India. (Photo and caption by Passarini Mattia/National Geographic Photo Contest)

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)

For more than three years, Ukraine has been plagued by a conflict between the eastern secessionist territories and the Kiev government. Demonstrations by pro-Russian parties that oppose the current government first began in 2014 - and now, over 10,000 people have died, many of them civilians. These images portray a generation caught between war and peace. Many of them were born into the civil conflict dominating the country and are disorientated about their place in the world. Here: Youths during a party organised on a decommissioned bridge in Kiev. (Photo by Aude Osnowycz/The Guardian)

Young dancers from the Style Dance Academy perform during a Mother's Day block party in Caracas, Venezuela, Sunday, May 19, 2019. Although Mother's Day was officially celebrated the previous weekend, people in the Petare area organized the neighborhood party to celebrate the mothers of their community. (Photo by Rodrigo Abd/AP Photo)

A female Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) fighter stands near a security position in Sinjar, March 13, 2015. Women fighters at a Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) base on Mount Sinjar in northwest Iraq, just like their male counterparts, have to be ready for action at any time. Smoke from the front line, marking their battle against Islamic State, which launched an assault on northern Iraq last summer, is visible from the base. Many of the women have cut links with their families back home; the fighters come from all corners of the Kurdish region. (Photo by Asmaa Waguih /Reuters)