The annual calendar features stunning shots of lighting, cloud formations and the aurora australis. Hundreds of photographers from every Australian state and territory submitted images to the Bureau of Meteorology for selection in the year’s calendar, with only the best chosen to represent the full spectrum of Australian weather. Here: April. A path through the clouds between Townsville and Richmond, Queensland. (Photo by Captain Victoria Harrison/Australian Bureau of Meteorology)

“The popularity of the Internet in China has driven the explosive growth of profitable Web companies and made fortunes for some Chinese entrepreneurs despite government controls on what the public can see online. The number of mainland Internet users rose to 513 million in December, up 12 percent from a year earlier, the government-sanctioned China Internet Network Information Center said”. – AP Business Writer

Photo: Shi Yongxin, abbot of the Shaolin Temple, works on the computer April 8, 2005 in Dengfeng, Henan Province, China. (Photo by Cancan Chu/Getty Images)

A person watches Mount Etna, Europe's most active volcano, light up the night sky with eruptions, as seen from Piazzale Funivia dell'Etna, Italy on December 1, 2023. (Photo by Etna Walk/Giuseppe Distefano/Handout via Reuters)

Revellers take part in an annual block party before Carnival in downtown Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, January 16, 2016. The Rio de Janeiro Carnival will be held from February 5 to February 9. (Photo by Pilar Olivares/Reuters)

Members of Imperio Serrano samba school get ready prior to their entrance during 2023 Carnival parades at Marquês de Sapucaí Sambodrome on February 19, 2023 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. (Photo by Buda Mendes/Getty Images)

Inspired by traditional Indian travelling photography studios, Arthur Crestani photographed the inhabitants of Gurgaon, a city built almost entirely by private companies. Arthur Crestani’s “Bad City Dreams” contrasts the glossy ideal sold by developers with urban reality. Here: Luxury Living Bhiwadi: “Sky Club on 18th Floor”. (Photo by Arthur Crestani/The Guardian)

Visitors gather outside Ark Encounter, a 100 million USD, 510-foot-long re-creation of Noah's Ark in Williamstown Kentucky, USA, 05 July 2016. Ark Encounter is the brainchild of Australian-born creationist Ken Ham; it was built with the help of state tax incentives and the sale of 62 million USD in junk bonds. (Photo by Jim Lo Scalzo/EPA)

Hindu priests wash the head of a buffalo calf which was sacrificed as part of a ritual at a temple during the Durga Puja festival in Agartala, India, October 10, 2016. (Photo by Jayanta Dey/Reuters)