It’s a classic tale of dictatorship gone wrong and the fight for freedom. Like in any good battle, there’s fire, albeit from firecrackers, but the ammunition in this one is – flour. It takes place in a Hemingway-esque Spanish village. The battle of “Enfarinats” in celebration of the Els Enfarinats festival, rages on on December 28, 2012 in Ibi, Spain. Citizens of Ibi annually celebrate the festival with a fight using flour, eggs and firecrackers. The battle takes place between two groups, a group of married men called “Els Enfarinats” who take the control of the village for one day pronouncing a number of ridiculous laws and fining the citizens that infringe them and a group called “La Oposicio” who try to restore order. At the end of the day the money collected from the fines is donated to charitable causes in the village. The festival has been celebrated since 1981 after the town of Ibi recovered the tradition but the origins remain unknown.

Photo: A Reveller smokes during the battle of “Enfarinats”, a flour fight in celebration of the Els Enfarinats festival. (Photo by David Ramos)

“A fter the former Soviet Union conducted its first nuclear test in August 1949, the US reevaluated its postwar defense policies. With the US monopoly on atomic weapons broken, military and political leaders chose to diversify the American stockpile by developing thermonuclear and tactical nuclear weapons. One of the more interesting concepts to come out of this period was atomic artillery, which was successfully tested at the Nevada Proving Grounds (now the Nevada Test Site) in May 1953”. – Alan Carr. Photo: Atomic Annie at work during the Upshot-Knothole test series, 1953. (Photo by Los Alamos National Laboratory/US Army)

China has sent its first woman into space on a mission to dock with an orbiting station, the latest step in an ambitious programme to go to the moon and on to Mars.

Photo: China's first female astronaut Liu Yang, waves during a sending off ceremony before she departs for the Shenzhou 9 spacecraft rocket launch pad at the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in Jiuquan, China, Saturday, June 16, 2012. China will send its first woman and two other astronauts into space Saturday to work on a temporary space station for about a week, in a key step toward becoming only the third nation to set up a permanent base in orbit. (Photo by Ng Han Guan/AP Photo)

“Body blading (also known as buggy rollin') is an extreme sport that involves descending down a slope while wearing a flexible aerodynamic plastic roller suit that has wheels on the feet, knees, torso, and arms. This suit was created by Jean-Yves Blondeau, and he is one of the premier body bladers. Body blading is similar to roller blading, and in fact a body blader often starts out using the rollers on their feet in the same fashion as roller blades in order to gain initial speed, but then the rider generally assumes a position laying on the stomach facing down the hill. A body blader is capable of reaching very high speeds. Maneuverability is achieved by moving the body into various positions to change direction”. – Wikipedia

Photo: French designer Jean-Yves Blondeau demonstrates his “Buggy Rollin” suit during a performance on August 16, 2007 in Beijing, China. Blondeau is able to roll along in any position and can achieve high speeds wearing the suit. (Photo by China Photos/Getty Images)

Astronomer, space scientist and meteorologist Andrea Opitz, senior research associate of the Space Physics and Space Technology Department of Hungarian Academy of Sciences (MTA) Wigner Research Centre for Physics (2R) wears a space suit during a cosmology exhibition in Budapest, Hungary, 03 March 2016. The photo series was created to mark the International Women's Day (IWD), which was marked for the first time in 1911 and is celebrated on 08 March since 1913. (Photo by Bea Kallos/EPA)

Throughout the course of the long war in Afghanistan, Coalition troops have relied on thousands of military working dogs to help keep them safe, and make their jobs easier. The dogs are trained to detect explosives, to find illegal drugs, to search for missing comrades, or target enemy combatants. Not only are they active on the front lines, but behind the lines they serve as therapy dogs, service dogs, and loyal companions. They also share the same risks as the ground troops, suffering injuries and sometimes death on the battlefields. Gathered here are images of these dogs and their handlers in Afghanistan and back home, from over the past several years, part of the ongoing series here on Afghanistan.

Vanessa, thirty-five, had three children with an abusive husband. She “lost her mind, started doing heroin”, after losing the children, who were taken away and given to her mother. The drugs led to homelessness and prostitution. She grew up on Arthur Avenue in the Bronx, but now spends her time in Hunts Point, “trying to survive everyday. Just doing whatever it takes”.

A masquerader from the Paramin Blue Devils parades before judges during the traditional mas competition held by the National Carnival Commission at Victoria Square, in the capital Port-of-Spain, February 12, 2015. (Photo by Andrea De Silva/Reuters)