“Old Mursi woman”. Old woman by the huts of her village. Location: Marenke, Omo valley, Ethiopia. (Photo and caption by Jorge Fernandez/National Geographic Traveler Photo Contest)

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A man dressed as a “Trapajon”, representing entities of nature, poses for a picture after taking part in the Vijanera Festival in Silio, northern Spain, Sunday, Jan. 6, 2013. The Vijanera masquerade, of pre-Roman origin, is the first carnival of the year in Europe symbolizing the triumph of good over evil and involving the participation of crowds of residents wearing different masks, animal skins and brightly colored clothing with its own complex function and symbolism and becoming the living example of the survival of archaic cults to nature. (Photo by Daniel Ochoa de Olza/AP Photo)

During a break from the rain of Storm Aileen, the leaves of the Virginia creeper begin to take on their Autumn colour at the Tu Hwnt i'r Bont tea room on the banks of the River Conwy at Llanrwst in north Wales on September 13, 2017 in Llandudno, Wales. The cottage named Tu Hwnt i'r Bont (Beyond the Bridge) was built in 1480 and has become a magnet for phtographers and tourists from across the world during Autumn. (Photo by Christopher Furlong/Getty Images)

Uzbekistan's Javokhir Sindarov in action against Hans Niemann of the U.S. during the Diving Chess Competition in Cape Town, South Africa, on December 4, 2025. (Photo by Esa Alexander/Reuters)

Marines finish a 10 kilometer training hike carrying 55 pound (25 kg) packs during Marine Combat Training (MCT) on February 22, 2013 at Camp Lejeune, North Carolina. Since 1988 all non-infantry enlisted male Marines have been required to complete 29 days of basic combat skills training at MCT after graduating from boot camp. MCT has been required for all enlisted female Marines since 1997. About six percent of enlisted Marines are female. (Photo by Scott Olson/AFP Photo)

Lindsay Knutson plays in the heavy snow with her family dog, Aspen, and daughter Flora Bejblik, 4, cq, as her husband Bob Bejblik, rear left, shovels, Tuesday, March 5, 2013 in southwest Minneapolis. The National Weather Service predicted a two-day snow total of 8 to 12 inches for much of southeastern and east-central Minnesota, including the Twin Cities. (Photo by Elizabeth Flores/AP Photo/The Star Tribune)

Revellers celebrate "Ash Monday" by participating in a colourful "flour war", a traditional festivity marking the end of the carnival season and the start of the 40-day Lent period until the Orthodox Easter,in the port town of Galaxidi, some 215 km (134 miles) north west of Athens, March 18, 2013. The revellers "fight" by throwing coloured flour, charcoal dust and powder painting until they essentially run out of supplies. (Photo by Yannis Behrakis/Reuters)

“What did I know about Chechnya before last week? For someone who grew up in the 1990s the very word Chechnya meant a string of grainy images on TV showing people in battered camouflage outfits, shooting at each other amid destruction and ruin. Fear, wahhabis, Shamil Basayev, terrorism, mountains: these were the words that used to spring to my mind when someone mentioned Chechnya”. – Maxim Shemetov. Photo: Special forces officers stand guard during a government-organised event marking Chechen language day in the centre of the Chechen capital Grozny April 25, 2013. (Photo by Maxim Shemetov/Reuters)