“Nicholas II (Russian: Николай II, Николай Александрович Романов, tr. Nikolay II, Nikolay Alexandrovich Romanov) (18 May [O.S. 6 May] 1868 – 17 July 1918) was the last Emperor of Russia, Grand Prince of Finland, and titular King of Poland. His official title was Nicholas II, Emperor and Autocrat of All the Russias and he is known as Saint Nicholas the Passion-Bearer by the Russian Orthodox Church. Nicholas II, his wife, his son, his four daughters, the family's medical doctor, the Tsar's valet, the Empress' lady-in-waiting and the family's cook were murdered in the same room by the Bolsheviks on the night of 16/17 July 1918”. – Wikipedia

Photo: Tsar Nicholas II (1868–1918) with his wife. (Photo by W. & D. Downey/Getty Images). Circa 1900

Vivian Odhiambo, 24, frys samosas in the trading centre of Kogelo, west of Kenya's capital Nairobi, July 14, 2015. Odhiambo said, “Obama is our hero and we wait to welcome him back home again. We in Kogelo have witnessed general growth and we are proud of being associated with the Obamas”, she added. As U.S. President Barack Obama visits Kenya, a personal connection to his father's birthplace of Kogelo dominates a trip that Kenyans view as a native son returning home. Residents from a herdsman to a housewife share their views on what Obama has achieved and what they would like to see next. (Photo by Thomas Mukoya/Reuters)

Queenie Liao is an artist but first of all a mother and she wanted to show that you can be both… at the same time. With her creative photography she caught the dreams of her child during his sleeps: the result is a brilliant compilation of photos where her baby is the absolout protagonist. Pacific as if nothing happens around him, his daily sleeps are transformed by Queenie Liao into fascinating fairy tales by using plain cloths, stuffed animals, and other common household . A brillaint work that makes us remember our childhood, where our dreams were full of magic.

A baby Jack Russell and Chihuahua mix has defied the odds by surviving despite its tiny size and being abandoned by its mother. The owners of named the puppy “Miracle” and have taken over the feeding and care of the baby after its four siblings passed away shortly after being born. Owner Kayley-May Coles, age 10, said, “Everyone thinks she is absolutely beautiful. My friends absolutely love her. My teacher thought she might be the smallest dog ever to be born. She is just perfect”.

In one of the best collaborations this blog has seen in ages, professional illustrator Mica Angela Hendricks has been collaborating with her 4-year-old daughter on a series of wonderful drawings that pass back and forther between mother and daugher until reaching an always unexpected final form. Each drawing begins with Hendricks drawing a detailed retro-ish head, after which her daughter snatches away the sketchbook to create rudimentary body (or animal!) parts as well as other random details. Afterward Hendricks goes back in to polish things up a bit and behold: dinosaur women, slug ladies, and beaver astronauts are born.

For more than 2,000 years, women from the Baiga tribe in the highland district of Dindori, in central India’s Madhya Pradesh state, have been tattooed. Sumintra, 25, from Bona village, has the markings across her forehead, legs and arms. The women who work as tattoo artists are knowledgable about the different types of designs and pigments preferred by various tribes, and their meanings are passed to them by their mothers. The tattooing ‘season’ begins with the approach of winter. (Photo by Ronny Sen/WaterAid/The Guardian)

Men transport a sheep on their motorcycle after buying it at an old cattle market named “Al Emam Market” ahead of the Muslim festival Eid al-Adha in Cairo, Egypt, September 19, 2015. Muslims across the world are preparing to celebrate the annual festival of Eid al-Adha or the Festival of Sacrifice, which marks the end of the annual hajj pilgrimage, by slaughtering goats, sheep, cows and camels in commemoration of the Prophet Abraham's readiness to sacrifice his son to show obedience to Allah. (Photo by Amr Abdallah Dalsh/Reuters)

A child dressed in an imitation dress of army soldier enjoys a cold drink during a religious procession in Amritsar, India, 15 December 2015. The religious procession was taken out on the eve of the martyrdom day of the 9th Guru or Master of the Sikhs Sri Guru Tegh Bahadur Ji. Guru Tegh Bahadur was executed for not converting to Islam on the orders of Mughal Emperor Aurangzeb in Delhi in 1675 AD. The place of this occurrence is called Gurudwara Sis Ganj at Delhi. Guru Tegh Bahadur the youngest of the five sons of Guru Hargobind was born in Amritsar in 1621. (Photo by Raminder Pal Singh/EPA)