In this handout provided by Maritime New Zealand, MV Rena is battered by strong seas as it is stuck on Astrolabe Reef, on November 2, 2011 in Tauranga, New Zealand. The stricken vessel encountered a three metre swell, which led authorities to fear it may finally break up. Rena struck the reef on October 5, and has spilled 350 tonnes of oil, and almost 100 shipping containers. (Photo by Graeme Brown/Maritime New Zealand via Getty Images)

People look at revellers (L) waiting to take part in a LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender) pride parade to mark Gaijatra Festival, also known as the festival of cows, in Kathmandu, Nepal, August 30, 2015. Hundreds of lesbians, gays, bisexuals and transvestites paraded through Nepal's capital Sunday to demand that rights for sexual minorities be included in the country's new constitution that is being finalized. (Photo by Navesh Chitrakar/Reuters)

A woman dressed as a cleaning lady laughs during “Weiberfastnacht” (Women's Carnival) in Cologne February 12, 2015. Women's Carnival marks the start of a week of street festivals, the highlight of the event being “Rosenmontag” (Rose Monday), the final day of the carnival where mass processions are held. (Photo by Ina Fassbender/Reuters)

Buzludzha is a historical peak in the Central Stara Planina, Bulgaria and is 1441 metres high. In 1868 it was the place of the final battle between Bulgarian rebels led by Hadji Dimitar and Stefan Karadzha and the Ottoman Empire. The Buzludzha Monument on the peak was built by the Bulgarian communist regime to commemorate the events in 1891 when the socialists led by Dimitar Blagoev assembled secretly in the area to form an organised socialist movement with the founding of the Bulgarian Social Democratic Party, a fore-runner of the Bulgarian Communist Party. The Monument was opened in 1981. No longer maintained by the Bulgarian government, it has fallen into disuse. Buzludzha is reached by a 12 km side road from the Shipka Pass.

A frog appears to have a big smile for the camera, Russia. Things are heating up at the Comedy Wildlife Photography Awards as the shortlisted final 40 entries are revealed. This year's competition has featured over 2200 hilarious entries from around the world with photos including a fox face planting in the snow, a dancing brown bear and a pair of seemingly headless penguins – all beautifully photographed with perfect comedy timing and a strong conservation message. (Photo by Artyom Krivosheev/Barcroft Images/Comedy Wildlife Photography Awards 2016)

At this year’s Venice Bienniale in Italy, the Korean pavilion has a curious exhibit called “Commissions for Utopia”. It includes renderings from North Korea’s top architects and artists (all anonymous), many of whom studied at the Paekho Institute of Architecture, North Korea’s state-run architectural college, and none of whom have ever left the country. They were asked to create a vision of North Korea’s future sustainable architecture for its expanding tourism industry. Their final products are a glimpse into what it would be like to envision the future after being entirely cut off from the present for almost 70 years. (Photo by Nick Bonner/Kyle Vanhemert/Venice Architecture Biennale)

“This is the terrifying moment a diver came head to head with a shark as it swims inches away snatching a bite for dinner. The close encounter, captured off Bimini Island in the Bahamas, shows the hammerhead approaching diver Eli Martinez who bravely stands his ground as the giant beast approaches. Eli, free diving outside of a protective cage, carefully handled the sea creature despite its menacing razor-sharp teeth – but admitted they are extremely shy and need a lot of work to allow divers close to them. After multiple trips and hours of diving nearby they finally got used to Eli in January this year – hammerheads regularly visit these waters during the winter season”. – Caters News. Photo: Eli Martinez with hammerhead shark. (Photo by J. P. Zegarra/Caters News)