US rapper Megan Thee Stallion performs on the main stage of the Rock in Rio music festival at the Rio 2016 Olympic Park in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, on September 11, 2022. (Photo by Mauro Pimentel/AFP Photo)

Guardian of the Mangroves – Overall Winner. Tanya Houppermans, Cuba. A curious American crocodile (Crocodylus acutus) swims right up to Tanya, at Gardens of the Queen (Jardines De La Reina), an archipelago off the coast of Cuba. It has been strictly protected since 1996, and is one of the most untouched marine ecosystems in the world. ‍ “The healthy population of American crocodiles is down to the pristine condition of the mangroves and I wanted to capture close ups of this gentle giant in its natural habitat. I hope this image can illustrate that protecting areas like this is so critical”. (Photo by Tanya Griffin Houppermans/Mangrove Photographer of the Year)

Vendor Yegor Dyachkovsky, 45, poses for a picture at an open-air market on a frosty day in Yakutsk, Russia, January 15, 2023. Yakutsk, one of the Russia's north-most cities, is hit by an extreme cold snap as the air temperature on Sunday (January 15) plunged as low as minus 51 degrees Celsius (minus 59.8 degrees Fahrenheit). (Photo by Roman Kutukov/Reuters)

When a French politician remarked that a monument should be raised in honour of American independence at a dinner party in 1865 he probably didn't imagine that the result would become an international icon of freedom. ...

Women welcome the people coming back to Tyre, after a ceasefire between Israel and Iran-backed group Hezbollah took effect, in Lebanon on November 27, 2024. (Photo by Adnan Abidi/Reuters)

Mount Lewotobi Laki-laki volcano spews vulcanic materials during an eruption as seen from Pululera village in East Flores Regency, East Nusa Tenggara province, Indonesia, on April 27, 2025. (Photo by The Centre for Volcanology and Geological Hazard Mitigation (PVMBG)/Handout via Reuters)

Crocodile skin is seen at a workshop in the old Medina of Marrakesh December 13, 2014. (Photo by Youssef Boudlal/Reuters)

Afghanistan's interior ministry special forces demonstrate their skills during a military exercise in Kabul, Afghanistan, Thursday, April 2, 2015. Afghanistan's security forces took over full responsibility for the country's security on January 1, 2015. (Photo by Massoud Hossaini/AP Photo)