A female rebel in Kabul, Afghanistan, circa 1979. Photo taken at a parade in Kabul in honor of the pro-Communist Saur Revolution. She was from the women’s battalion of the people’s militia (one of the anti-imperial groups that participated in the coup d’etat). (Photo by Viktor Khabarov)

A boy sits next to sacrificial goats resting during Eid al-Adha in New Delhi, India, 29 June 2023. Muslims around the world celebrate Eid al-Adha or feast of sacrifice, by slaughtering sheep, goats and cows to commemorate Prophet Abraham's willingness to sacrifice his son Ismail at God's command. (Photo by Harish Tyagi/EPA)

Global wildlife populations will decline by 67% by 2020 unless urgent action is taken to reduce human impact on species and ecosystems, warns the biennial Living Planet Index report from WWF (World Wide Fund for Nature) and ZSL (Zoological Society of London). From elephants to eels, here are some of the wildlife populations most affected by human activity. Here: The maned wolf is among the large mammals in the Brazilian Cerrado that are threatened by the increasing conversion of grasslands into farmland for grazing and growing crops. (Photo by Ben Cranke/Nature Picture Library/Alamy Stock Photo)

From Britain to China to Mali, new maps showing travel times to the nearest urban centre reveal huge differences between countries. Using Open Street Map and Google, a University of Oxford team have created a visual breakdown that suggests major inequalities when it comes to commuting. Here: China. The dataset used for China was unique as it relied solely on Open Street Map, due to restrictions on accessing Google data. The population is densely concentrated in the east and accessibility is increased, whereas rural provinces in the west remain remote. (Photo by Daniel Weiss/Jennifer Rozier/Malaria Atlas Project/University of Oxford)

From Tibetan monks playing basket ball with ice thawing high up in the Himalayas, to the pollution that hides behind the Taj Mahal, here’s pick from 60 exceptional environmental photographs, by photographers and filmmakers from 70 countries, that will go on show at the Royal Geographical Society in London from 29 June to 21 August. The winners will be announced on 28 June. Here: Gravel Workmen of Chittagong, Bangladesh, by Faisal Azim. Gravel workmen look through a glass window at a gravel-crushing yard in Chittagong. Full of dust and sand, it is an extremely unhealthy environment for working, but still hundreds of people work here for their livelihoods. (Photo by Faisal Azim/2016 Atkins CIWEM Environmental Photographer of the Year)

Derrick Campana kneels beside Angel Marie, a three legged mini horse who wears a prosthetic leg made by Campana, at Animal Ortho Care in Sterling, Virginia, U.S., March 27, 2017. (Photo by Kevin Lamarque/Reuters)

A woman watches the rain from inside a stranded vehicle on a flooded street in Mianyang, Sichuan, China on July 11, 2018. (Photo by China News Service via Reuters)

Participants at the Dubai Run at Sheikh Zayed Road in Dubai, United Arab Emirates on November 26, 2021. (Photo by Ruel Pableo for The National)