Zhao Qiang walks across a street in Shenyang, Liaoning province, April 14, 2014. Zhao, a community officer of the China Disabled Persons' Federation, was diagnosed with multiple when he was two, with the resulting tumour affecting the growth of his left leg, his grandmother told local media, citing a doctor's diagnosis. His uncle modified his shoes, fitting them with stools, to allow Zhao to stand and walk. (Photo by Reuters/Stringer)

Liu Chunxia, a supporter of Xu Zhiyong, one of China's most prominent rights advocates, is detained by policemen while she gathers with other supporters nearby a court where Xu's trial is being held in Beijing January 22, 2014. When dozens of activists unfurled banners across the country last March and April calling for officials to disclose their assets, they did so at the urging of one of China's most prominent rights advocates, Xu Zhiyong. Xu, 40, stands trial on Wednesday on a charge of “gathering a crowd to disturb public order” punishable by up to five years in prison. His case will almost certainly spark fresh criticism from Western governments over Beijing's crackdown on dissent. (Photo by Kim Kyung-Hoon/Reuters)

Nature – first prize, stories. Pandemic Pigeons – A Love Story. The photographer’s daughter, Merel, cowers after Dollie flies past and perches on the balcony before entering the house in Vlaardingen in the Netherlands on 6 April 2020. “She’s still frightened when Dollie suddenly lands on the balcony railing. I hide my smile behind the camera, as I try to comfort her by saying they won’t hurt you. “I thought he was going to attack me”, she replies. As the nesting pigeons keep coming back to our place, slowly my girls have started to appreciate them – perhaps not as much as I do, but it’s a start”. (Photo by Jasper Doest/World Press Photo 2021)

Horrified animal welfare groups fear baby sharks kept as a bizarre attraction in a brothel have been eaten – by the landlord. Shocking videos show the the fish crammed into an aquarium illuminated with red lights hanging above s*x works at a seedy “gentlemen's club” in, Bangkok Thailand. Five exotic black tip sharks – which can grow up to 8.5ft – float in the filthy water while holidaymakers take their pick of women in skimpy dresses. The deadly fish were just one form on entertainment employed by the establishment in the Thai capital Bangkok. (Photo by SWNS.com)

“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)

A picture made available on 17 September 2014 shows extreme athletes resting in hammocks on webbings stretched between rocks during the International Highline Meeting in Monte Piana, near Misurina, in the northern Italian Alps, Italy, 08 September 2014. (Photo by Balazs Mohai/EPA)

A doctor performs surgery on an injured man with a part of an aluminium alloy fence through his chest after a car accident in Zhumadian, Henan province, China, September 15, 2014. The doctor managed to surgically remove the piece. (Photo by Reuters/Stringer)

BASE jumper Luke Denniss of Australia gestures as he dives in the air from the Kuala Lumpur Tower during the KL Tower International Jump in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, Saturday, September 27, 2014. BASE stands for the places such jumpers usually jump from: buildings, antennas, spans (bridges) and earth (cliffs). (Photo by Lai Seng Sin/AP Photo)