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)

Sandrine Kerfante has had a fascination with “doubles” ever since meeting her mother’s twin as a child. In 2012, this lifelong captivation inspired her to create a blog called twin-niwt, which celebrates photographs of doubles in all their forms. “I’m fascinated by the idea of the duo, repetition, symmetry, reflection, mirror games and all the symbolism associated with it”, she says. “I think it’s a topic often present in photography, more or less consciously”. (Photo by Sandrine Kerfante/The Guardian)

“Snailpimp” is a project by artist Stefan Siverud, who is having fun decorating living snails with the most varied designs, from the McDonald’s logo to the miniature lighthouse through Pac-Man, Ikea and Adidas. A funny and interesting project, achieved with non-toxic paints, which of course raises the question of the impact on these living animals. If some people ironize that these highly visible snails are less likely to be inadvertently stepped on by people, others point out that they are more easily spotted by predators… A project in line with the Inner City Snail artist Slinkachu.

The Florida Keys are famous for their diving, but they are less well known for another quirky attraction: the mailboxes residents use to decorate their driveways. From a fiberglass manatee in lipstick to a small white church, Reuters photographer Wolfgang Rattay documented this unusual aspect of local culture as he drove along the Ocean Highway that connects the islands. Photo: A mailbox in the shape of a fire truck is seen along the highway US-1 in the Lower Keys near Marathon in Florida, July 11, 2014. (Photo by Wolfgang Rattay/Reuters)

Taken by photographer, Denis Budkov, 33, the Plosky Tolbachik is one of a cluster of volcanoes located in the Kamchatka Peninsula in the far east of Russia. After taking a lucky group of tourists to the crater of the flat volcano, the Russian photographer managed to get less than 300 metres away from the spurting jets of lava. Photo: The underground entrance to the volcano resembles a scene from the latest Hobbit movie. (Photo by Denis Budkov/Caters News)

Sun Jifa, a farmer in China, had his life changed forever when an explosive he planned on using for fishing went off prematurely. He lost his arms and when he couldn’t afford high-end, hospital-made prosthetics he opted for a cheaper set. Finding those to be less than acceptable, Sun started building his own pair of arms, which he currently wears. It’s an incredible story of ingenuity and personal strength.

“In the ongoing epics of the Pakistani Starfleet in their ever lasting quest to embrace and protect the freedoms of all humanity and life elsewhere in the cosmos we explore the future of Pakistan as a leader in advanced technology, diverse culture, exploration, helping to preserve peace & help those in need from the less than benign that reside in the darkest reaches of the cosmos to those who share & cherish kinship with all of humanity from the brightest reaches of the cosmos”. – Kenny Hassan Irwin

Mingora Hovoped Takes No Ordinary Rider. (Photo by Kenny Hassan Irwin)

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Lake Natron is a salt lake located in northern Tanzania, close to the Kenyan border, in the eastern branch of the East African Rift. The lake is fed by the Southern Ewaso Ng'iro River and also by mineral-rich hot springs. It is quite shallow, less than three meters (10 feet) deep, and varies in width depending on its water level, which changes due to high levels of evaporation, leaving concentrations of salt and other minerals, notably sodium carbonate (natron).