Pictures of the Day

[Mohamed]

Astronomers at the European Southern Observatory have captured a new image of the Trifid Nebula, showing just why it is a firm favourite of astronomers. This massive star factory is 5500 light-years away in the constellation of Sagittarius





An alligator that was found by firemen in Sao Paulo in a city drinking water reservoir. Firemen believe the alligator had lost his way and fallen into the reservoir during July's heavy rainfalls





A young man is tossed by a bull during the first 'encierro' or bull run of the San Sebastian de los Reyes fiestas, in Madrid





Two albino skunks who were born without their usual distinctive black and white striped coats, from a litter of four at Knoxwood Wildlife Rescue Centre in Wigton, Cumbria




Migaloo the albino whale is sighted between Hardy Reef and Shute Harbour in the Whitsundays, off Queensland's north coast. Migaloo is on his annual migration north to breed in warmer waters





A wooden hut on legs in the village of Ulyanovka, Russua, which was built by carpenter Vasily Kozin, who was inspired by a wooden house on chicken legs in which a witch character called Baba Yaga lived





Early morning fog enshrouds Cape Town's Green Point 2010 FIFA World Cup Stadium





Tourists visit Tiananmen Square in Beijing as preparations for the country's National Day get underway





A coffee pot filled with water acts as a lens to depict Lumpini Park in Bangkok





Artist Liu Bolin, also known as the Vanishing Artist, is painted by an assistant to look exactly the same as the wall of an old temple in a Hutong in central Beijing





Members of Kashmir's Lakes and Waterways Authority collect weeds on the surface of Dal Lake in Srinagar





A dragonfly sits on a weed in front of the space shuttle Discovery sitting on launch pad 39-A at the Kennedy Space Centre in Florida





Charles Burnett III, financial backer and driver of The British Steam Car Challenge team, celebrates at Rogers Dry Lake in the Mojave Desert, after breaking the land speed record for a steam powered car





A tourist takes pictures as a street musician, name not given, performs from inside a litter bin, in Cambridge, England





A man walks past scattered red-painted shoes at the Our World at War exhibition of the Red Cross in Hong Kong