Planned improvements to Rio’s favelas have meant increases in rent, forcing the poorest families into squatting in unoccupied buildings. Photographer Tariq Zaidi visits the Mangueira community favela, less than 1km from the showpiece Maracanã stadium, to see what life is like for the women living there. Here: Victoria, 12, at her home in Mangueira. (Photo by Tariq Zaidi/The Guardian)

Low economic conditions in China’s urban areas have sparked an increase of beggars faking disabilities in an attempt to gain more money. Cities like Shanghai and Hong Kong are littered with naive tourists who are more than willing to hand over a few yen to anyone appearing to be handicapped in anyway.

These beautiful shots may look like works of modern art – but they are actually close-ups of chemical reactions. The works were snapped with the help of a group of scientists from the University of Science and Technology of China (USTC) in Anhui, China. Here: Zinc reacting with lead nitrate in a soft gel to form lead crystals. (Photo by Yan Liang/Caters News)

Tattoo artists and body art fans from across the globe have descended on London for one of the biggest and most prestigious tattoo conventions. “This is like the Premier League of tattoo artists from all over the world who come here to show their work”, organiser Marcus Beriman said. Photo: Bugz Bonniie displays some of her tattoos. (Photo by Oli Scarff)

This awesome book sculpture is by Thomas Wightman and is the most recent of the series, if you would like to see his two previous sculptures do so via his website.

Andre Ermolaev is a photographer from Moscow, Russia (featured previously). In an ongoing series of aerial photos, Andre captures Iceland’s incredible landscape like you’ve never seen. Many of his images focus on capturing glacial rivers flowing through Iceland’s volcanic areas and the patterns and colours that emerge from the resulting flow.

Toyota revealed its i-Road concept, a three-wheeled all-electric motorcycle of sorts that seats two. The unique design is only 33 inches wide, which would make it tops in buzzing in through and around traffic. An Active Lean system tilts the i-Road through corners like a motorbike, while the cabin (which seats two in a tandem layout) is fully enclosed. Maximum range is about 30 miles. (Photo by Luis Fernando Ramos/G1)

Photos of Edward Snowden, a contractor at the National Security Agency (NSA), and U.S. President Barack Obama are printed on the front pages of local English and Chinese newspapers in Hong Kong in this illustration photo June 11, 2013. Snowden, who leaked details of top-secret U.S. surveillance programs, dropped out of sight in Hong Kong on Monday ahead of a likely push by the U.S. government to have him sent back to the United States to face charges. (Photo by Bobby Yip/Reuters)