More than 97,000 images from 131 countries were submitted in 2014, with a touching image of a gay Russian couple in a tender embrace winning first prize. 

Jon and Alex by Danish photographer Mads Nissen was selected as the Press Photo of the Year 2014. The photograph's poignancy lies in recent anti-gay legislation driving homosexual couples in the communist country further underground. 

Among winners in other categories are images of a kitchen in war-ravaged Donetsk, African warriors stroking a rhino, and the heartbreaking site of the lost uniforms of 200 schoolgirls kidnapped by Boko Haram extremists in Nigeria. 

Below, a selection of images from this year's list of winners, found in full on the World Press Photo website.

(dailymail.co.uk)