“Belarus riot police detained scores of demonstrators at a protest rally against President Alexander Lukashenko. Rallies against Lukashenko's rule are rare in the tightly-policed ex-Soviet republic, but protest calls on social networking sites have multiplied in recent weeks as a severe currency crisis has brought economic hardship. Demonstrators gathered peacefully, simply applauding in a coordinated act of protest”. – Af.Reuters.com (Photo by Anton Motolko; Belarus, Minsk; June 22, 2011)

These spectacular images of the universe are the finalists in the 2016 CWAS “David Malin” awards. The annual competition, which celebrates the best astronomy images taken by Australian photographers, is part of AstroFest 2016. The winners will be announced on 16 July. An associated exhibition opens the following day at the CSIRO Parkes Observatory visitors centre, and a second exhibition will also travel to selected venues around Australia. Here: Mars and its Rival Antares and the Rho Ophiuchi cloud complex. (Photo by Phil Hart/CWAS/The Guardian)

Visitors look on as a man (front) inserts two live snakes through his nose and mouth during a performance at an amusement park to celebrate the 65th anniversary of the founding of the People's Republic of China and the 7-day national day holiday, in Jinhua, Zhejiang province October 1, 2014. (Photo by Reuters/Stringer)

Girls sit inside an empty classroom as they pose for a photograph during a celebration marking the end of the school year in the town of Douma, eastern Ghouta in Damascus, Syria May 21, 2016. (Photo by Bassam Khabieh/Reuters)

A Lowrider rides on three-wheels on Sunset Blvd., in the Echo Park neighborhood of Los Angeles late Sunday afternoon July 18, 2021. (Photo by Damian Dovarganes/AP Photo)

Anissa Barbato from New York looks out over the city as she takes pictures from the Edge, the highest outdoor sky deck in the Western Hemisphere on September 2, 2020 as it reopened to the public in New York. Rising 1,131 feet in the air from the heart of Hudson Yards it offers 360-degree views of New York Citys iconic skyline from the 100th floor outdoor viewing. (Photo by Timothy A. Clary/AFP Photo)

People look at damaged trees after a tornado hit Funing on Thursday, in Yancheng, Jiangsu province, China June 24, 2016. (Photo by Aly Song/Reuters)

(L–R) Unknown, Alan Jones, Chrissie Hynde, Vivienne Westwood and punk fashion icon Jordan at Kings Road fashion shop «Sеx» run by Westwood and Malcolm McLaren in London, United Kingdom, 1976. (Photo by David Dagley/Rex Features/Shutterstock)