A painting of Chinese President Xi Jinping holding an umbrella is seen on the toilet wall in a guesthouse in Hong Kong December 30, 2014. Set up in a small apartment in the Causeway Bay shopping district, the guesthouse that gives what it calls “Umbrella Revolution Occupation Experience” charges guest HK$100 (US$13) a night to stay in a tent surrounded by pro-democracy banners, a cardboard cutout of President Xi Jinping holding a yellow umbrella, and serve toilet paper printed with the face of embattled leader of Hong Kong chief executive Leung Chun-ying. (Photo by Tyrone Siu/Reuters)

Twenty-four-year-old Maryam Aghayee makes hyper-realistic baby dolls acting as surrogates for some Iranian families who are apprehensive of having more children. “It has been about three or four months since I started this work”, says Maryam in Tehran, Iran on October 7, 2020. “After making my second doll, many orders have been coming in. The second doll was much more realistic than the previous one. After making my second doll, I said that from now on I can take customer orders. I did not intend to start a business from the beginning because it was a hobby, but after the second doll, the demand for these kinds of dolls increased, customers want to have such dolls”. (Photo by Majid Asgaripour/WANA (West Asia News Agency) via Reuters)

“Muhammed’s work has received many international awards, among others Breaking News Pulitzer Prize of 2005 for covering war in Iraq, POYI, Picture of the year 2007, of Saudi Arabia of the Annual Muslim pilgrimage, best Multimedia of the Annual Israeli photo contest of 2007, honorable mention Atlanta photojournalism seminar of 2008 and photo of the year of the Annual Israeli photo contest of 2008 with two first prizes and two second prizes in different categories, two prizes in the Atlanta photojournalism seminar of 2009, 6 prizes in the Annual Israeli photo contest of 2009”. – Associated Press

Just a week before Rio de Janeiro hosts South America's first Olympics, city residents expressed mixed feelings about the cost and security of the Games, while holding out hope they will bring joy to a nation facing economic and political crises. The conflicted thoughts mirror a recent survey by the Datafolha polling group showing that half of Brazilians were opposed to holding the Games, while 63 percent think the costs of hosting the event will outweigh benefits. (Photo by Pilar Olivares/Reuters)

In his series “Ballerinas of Cairo”, photographer Mohamed Taher documents Egyptian dancers making the city streets their stage – pirouetting, leaping and posing their way through their country’s sprawling capital. The photos are, at first glance, stunning snapshots of a city’s vibrant culture in motion. (Photo by Mohamed Taher/Ballerinas of Cairo)

A Russian soldier takes part in drills at the Kadamovskiy firing range in the Rostov region in southern Russia, Wednesday, December 22, 2021. Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov says that Russian and U.S. negotiators will sit down for talks early next year to discuss Moscow's demand for Western guarantees precluding NATO's expansion to Ukraine. (Photo by AP Photo/Stringer)

Artist Vik Muniz is known for his gigantic composite installations and sculptures created from thousands of individual objects. In this new collaboration with artist and MIT researcher Marcelo Coelho, Muniz takes the opposite approach and explores the microscopic with a new series of sandcastles etched onto individual grains of sand.

A plane carrying a wing walker crashed at an air show and exploded into flames Saturday, killing the pilot and stunt walker, authorities said. The crash of the 450 HP Stearman happened at around 12:45 p.m. at the Vectren Air Show near Dayton in front of thousands of horrified spectators. No one else was hurt.

Photo: A wing walker performs at the Vectren Air Show just before crashing, Saturday, June 22, 2013, in Dayton, Ohio. The crash killed the pilot and the stunt walker instantly, authorities said. (Photo by Thanh V. Tran/AP Photo)