Young Lebanese women wearing protective masks and gloves against the coronavirus pandemic, stand on August 5, 2020 amid the rubble in Beirut's Gimmayzeh commercial district which was heavily damaged by the previous day's powerful explosion that tore through Lebanon's capital, resulting from the ignition of a huge depot of ammonium nitrate at the city's main port. Rescuers searched for survivors in Beirut after a cataclysmic explosion at the port sowed devastation across entire neighbourhoods, killing more than 100 people, wounding thousands and plunging Lebanon deeper into crisis. The blast, which appeared to have been caused by a fire igniting 2,750 tonnes of ammonium nitrate left unsecured in a warehouse, was felt as far away as Cyprus, some 150 miles (240 kilometres) to the northwest. (Photo by AFP Photo/Stringer)

A government employee reacts as she is sprayed with disinfectant before entering a government office building to curb the spread of COVID-19 on March 19, 2020 in Pasig city, Metro Manila, Philippines. The Philippine government has sealed off Luzon, the country's largest and most populous island, to prevent the spread of COVID-19. Land, sea, and air travel has been suspended, while government work, schools, businesses, and public transportation have been ordered shut in a bid to keep some 55 million people at home. The Philippines' Department of Health has so far confirmed 217 cases of the new coronavirus in the country, with at least 17 recorded fatalities. (Photo by Ezra Acayan/Getty Images)

Beautiful, strange and occasionally alarming pictures from the shortlist for this year’s Wellcome image awards – which celebrate the very best in science photography and imaging – from an x-ray of a bat to a micrograph of a kidney stone. The exhibition opens on 12 March at three science centres and the Museum of Science and Industry in Manchester. Photo: Scanning electron micrograph (SEM) of an Arabidopsis thaliana flower, also commonly known as thale cress. Some of the anthers are open, revealing pollen grains ready for dispersal. Arabidopsis was the first plant to have its entire genome sequenced and is widely used as a model organism in molecular and plant biology. Horizontal width of image is 1200 microns. Magnification 100x. (Photo by Stefan Eberhard/Wellcome Images)

Michael Grant, 28, “Philly Jesus”, carries a 12 foot cross 8 miles through this blighted area of North Philadelphia towards LOVE Park in Center City as part of a Christmas walk to spread the true message of the holiday in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania December 20, 2014. As many as a half dozen others joined him for numerous miles as he trekked southward down Broad Street. Some shouted “Praise Jesus!” and “Thank you for doing this!” at the sight. Nearly everyday for the last 8 months, Grant has dressed as Jesus Christ, and walked the streets of Philadelphia to share the Christian gospel by example. He quickly acquired the nickname of “Philly Jesus”, which he has gone by ever since. (Photo by Mark Makela/Reuters)

An astonishing set of snaps of a thrill-seeker's sky-high catwalk show on the edge of some of the world's tallest buildings has turned her into a social media sensation. Daredevil Angelina Nikolau, 23, from Russia, has spent weeks travelling around China and Hong Kong posing for jaw-dropping skyscraper selfies hundreds of feet above the ground. Her vertigo inducing results – uploaded to Instagram – have made her an instant star on the internet. (Photo by Kirill Oreshkin/CEN)

Elephant polo players in action during the King's Cup Elephant Polo event 2016 final between teams King Power (blue) and The Elephant Story, in Bangkok, Thailand, March 13, 2016. Team King Power won the annual charity event, which is now in its 14th edition. This year's edition involved 18 elephants brought from tourist trekking camps in Pattaya as well as some unemployed in Surin, and a total of 10 teams encompassing over 40 players, in this event directed at raising funds to improve the lives of elephants and elephant conservation. (Photo by Diego Azubel/EPA)

Behaviour: Mammals category. Giant Gathering by Tony Wu, USA. Dozens of sperm whales mingled noisily off Sri Lanka’s northeast coast, stacked as far down as Tony could see. This was a congregation of dozens of social units, like a gathering of the clans. Aggregations like this could be a critical part of the whales’ rich social lives but are rarely reported. Some two thirds of the population was wiped out before commercial whaling was banned in 1986. This kind of major gathering could be “a sign that populations are recovering”, says Tony. (Photo by Tony Wu/Wildlife Photographer of the Year 2017)

A soldier from the African Union (AU) peacekeeping force stands guard at the site where a cargo plane carrying supplies for AU troops crash-landed outside Somalia's capital, on October 13, 2015 at Abirska, some 18 kilometres outside Somalian capital, Mogadishu. The officials said the Egyptian-owned transport plane went down after making several unsuccessful passes over the seafront airport. Two of the six crew members suffered light injuries in the crash, the officials said, but added that the plane and those on board were safe having landed in an area controlled by the Somali government and the African Union's AMISOM force. (Photo by Mohamed Abdiwahab/AFP Photo)