A Syrian Kurdish ballet dancer performs in an empty market during a lockdown to curb the spread of the Covid-19 coronavirus in Syria's northeastern city of Qamishli on April 7, 2021. (Photo by Delil Souleiman/AFP Photo)

A Somali police officer arrests a suspected rebel member of the al Qaeda-affiliated al Shabaab among beach goers in Mogadishu. Al Shabaab claimed responsibility for today's pre-dawn attack on a Kenyan university campus near the Somali border. The following gallery examines who is al Shabaab. Here: Somali police officer (R) arrests a suspected rebel member (L) of the Al Qaeda-affiliated al Shabaab among beach goers at the Lido beach north of Somalia's capital Mogadishu March 23, 2012. (Photo by Feisal Omar/Reuters)

Guests attend the Haute Couture Spring-Summer 2024 collection show for Giorgio Armani Prive by designer Giorgio Armani in Paris, France, on January 23, 2024. (Photo by Benoit Tessier/Reuters)

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)

Spanish lamb march during a military parade on the national holiday known as “Hispanidad” or Hispanic Day in Madrid, Spain on October 12, 2022. (Photo by Burak Akbulut/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)

A father and son spend all day fishing in Naogaon, northern Bangladesh in the first decade of December 2024, before heading to market to sell their 3kg catch for the equivalent of a few pounds. The vibrant green algae makes conditions difficult but that does not deter them. (Photo by Estiak Ahmed Munna/Solent News)

The first seal pup to be born this season at a major colony of grey seals on the Farne Islands sits beside its mother on Brownsman Island, England on September 30, 2015. (Photo by Owen Humphreys/PA Images)

Shaolin boys practice kung fu in the sweltering heat during the zen shaolin music ceremony at shaolin temple, Dengfeng, Henan province, China on August 4, 2019. Shaolin unique skills include: shaolin arhat formation, three gun sashimi, shaolin stick, shaolin stone lock skill, iron hand splitting bricks, water training, fist and foot sparring. (Photo by Sipa Asia/Rex Features/Shutterstock)