A visitor poses for pictures at the Harbin International Ice and Snow Festival in Harbin, Heilongjiang province, China on January 5, 2025. (Photo by Xiaoyu Yin/Reuters)
An otter reaches for a snack from a customer at an otter cafe in Tokyo. Asian small-clawed otters are increasingly popular as novelty pets, particularly in Japan. Now international trade in the species may be banned. (Photo by Noriko Hayashi/The New York Times)
A walker has left a handprint on a snow- covered tree trunk on Grosser Feldberg mountain in the Taunus mountain range, Germany, 16 January 2017. (Photo by Frank Rumpenhorst/DPA)
A vampire poses for a photograph as she arrives at Whitby Abbey ahead of a Guinness world record attempt to gather the largest number of vampires together in one place, in Whitby, north-east England on May 26, 2022. (Photo by Christopher Thomond/The Guardian)
Clemence Vieira of France saves the ball during the women's pool C beach volleyball match between Germany and France at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games in Paris, France, on July 28, 2024. (Photo by Xinhua News Agency/Rex Features/Shutterstock)
An important historic event: For the first time a container ship sailed the Northern Sea Route through the Russian Arctic, traveling from China to Amsterdam. The journey, which began on August 15 and was completed on September 10, is only now possible due to high levels of Arctic sea ice melt that have occurred in the past several years.