Migrants climb through the windows of a train bound for Serbia at the train station in Gevgelija, The Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, 19 July 2015. Thousands of migrants who crossed Greece are on their way through Macedonia towards Serbia in order to access other European countries. Hungary in mid-July started to put up a fence on its border with Serbia, which makes the situation with the migrants in the transit countries even more complicated. The European countries on 20 July will discuss the quota of how many migrants each country should accept. (Photo by Georgi Licovski/EPA)

“Exactly one year before the long awaited Sochi Olympics, Vladimir Putin went to Sochi personally to see how the construction is going. After receiving a report saying the ski jumps that were supposed to be ready in 2011, are not completed still, while their price has sky-rocketed from 1.2 billion to 8 billion roubles, he commented, “Good for you. Good job”, and then fired the vice president of the Olympic committee. Russian artist Vasily Slonov painted his view of the upcoming games, giving a new interpretation to the adored Russian mascot Cheburashka, and combining officially endorsed stereotypes of Russia with grimmer and less accepted ones”. – Ruskie.info. (Photo by Vasily Slonov)

“I was born in the United States in 1985. As early as I can remember I’ve been a “doodler”. From even the early days I’ve always loved strange, offbeat, beautiful, and slightly melancholy things. Something about the mixed grabbed me. My love for sketching carried on throughout my high school days. Which is when I took a small class on watercolor. Watercolor is what birthed my passion for mixing colors and how a color can tell a story. In year 2009 I discovered digital painting and my new found passion for the medium. It’s been the favored medium for the past years since. I’ve used online tutorials and videos to help me learn along the way and then in late 2011 I took a workshop called Becoming a Better Artist. The beginning of 2013 I won a class from The Art Department which will start this spring.”

“Cassowaries are large, flightless birds related to emus and (more distantly) to ostriches, rheas, and kiwis”, writes Olivia Judson in the September issue of National Geographic magazine. How large? People-size: Adult males stand well over five foot five and top 110 pounds. Females are even taller, and can weigh more than 160 pounds. Dangerous when roused, they’re shy and peaceable when left alone. But even birds this big and tough are prey to habitat loss. The dense New Guinea and Australia rain forests where they live have dwindled. Today cassowaries might number 1,500 to 2,000. And because they help shape those same forests – by moving seeds from one place to another – “if they vanish”, Judson writes, “the structure of the forest would gradually change” too. (Photo by Christian Ziegler/National Geographic)

Hooded penitents from “La Borriquita” brotherhood take part during a Holy Week procession in Cordoba, Spain, Sunday, March 29, 2015. Hundreds of processions take place throughout Spain during the Easter Holy Week. (Photo by Manu Fernandez/AP Photo)

Servicemen of “Kiev 12” military defence battalion react as they take part in a welcoming ceremony in central Ukrainian capital Kiev December 6, 2014. Servicemen of the battalion returned to Kiev after taking part in fighting in eastern Ukraine. (Photo by Gleb Garanich/Reuters)

Bathers brave the cold waters of the North Sea as they take part in the annual Boxing Day dip at Redcar Beach on December 26, 2023 in Redcar, England. The event attracts hundreds of people each year, with many wearing fancy dress, who take to the water to help raise money for a number of charities. (Photo by Ian Forsyth/Getty Images)