A masked reveller hangs from an inflatable balloon during the first day of the carnival in Venice, Italy, January 23, 2016. (Photo by Manuel Silvestri/Reuters)

Some are in it just for the money, others to help buy a meal. Then there are those who trade for fun or to spend time among friends. Millions of investors – pensioners, security guards, high-school students – dominate China's stock markets, conducting about 80 percent of all trades. Retirees gather in brokerage houses dotted around China also to enjoy some company and savour the air conditioning on hot days. Some start as young as 13, trading from home with an eye on future careers in finance. Winning isn't guaranteed. This year, among the most turbulent in China's financial history, its stock markets more than doubled in the six months to May, only to crash amid concerns that growth in the country, which makes everything from cars to steel, is slowing faster than previously thought. (Photo by Aly Song/Reuters)

Ecuador-based illustrator and art director Javier Pérez has been posting a fun series of photo illustrations over on his Instagram account. The simple ideas mix everyday objects with line drawings, creating balloons out of grapes, porcupine quills out of nails, or light bulbs out of balloons

Children with balloons play beside the statue of British comedy legend Eric Morecambe on January 16, 2012 in Morecambe, England. According to scientists January 16, 2012 was “Blue Monday”, the most depressing day of the year. (Photo by Christopher Furlong/Getty Images)

An Afghan hawker selling balloons walks along a path in a ground in Chaman-e-Hozori area in Kabul on December 10, 2021. (Photo by Ahmad Sahel Arman/AFP Photo)

A woman jumps with balloons while she poses for a picture at a park in Kiev, Ukraine May 6, 2018. (Photo by Valentyn Ogirenko/Reuters)

Afghan balloon vendors walk with their bicycles to look for customers, near a market in Kabul on January 8, 2025. (Photo by Wakil Kohsar/AFP Photo)

Indian Air Force personnel parade during the 85th Air Force Day celebrations at Hindon Air Force base in Ghaziabad on October 8, 2017. (Photo by AFP Photo/Stringer)