Photo of the day

An elephant calf finds shelter amid its mother's legs in Samburu National Reserve.

Today Europe's largest street carniva takes place. Here an eleaborate costume forms a swirling tunnel of blue, with the occupant at its core during a parade. Notting Hill, London. UK.

People walking the flooded streets of New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina in 2005, New Orleans. USA.

Young Asaro Mudmen at the annual tribal sing-sing at Garoka. Papua New Guinea.

A giraffe stands in a misty forest in the Ndumu Game Reserve. South Africa.

An aerial view of a river and tributary streams in Northern Terriotory.

A small waterfall is revealed inside the Cathedral in the Desert during Lake Powell's lowest point since 1969, Utah. USA.

A gentoo penguin peeks beneath the water before taking the plunge in Port Lockroy. Antarctica.

A Las Vegas bride in her gown and pink converse, Nevada. USA.

A dog and children of Mongolian herders look through a fence. Mongolia.

A soccer ball flies over the head of a woman who is knitting outdoors. Turkey.

A marbled stargazer partially burried in sand. Indonesia.

A Safari elephant and its Mahout swim together in the Okavango River. Botswana.

Torch-twirling Tahitians stage a dance at a beachfront resort on Tahiti Island. Polynesia.

A conger eel peers wide-eyed through its sandy burrow in the Caribbean Sea. Cuba.

Bushmen armed with bows and arrows cross a salt pan in the Namibian Nyae Nyae Conservatory. Namibia.

Local people help French tourists ashore after a lagoon cruise in an outrigger canoe on Tahiti Island. Polynesia.

A group of Tacana guides bathe at the day ends in the Tuichi River. Bolivia.

Clouds over the Okavango Delta reflect from Qogana Lagoon. Unlike the seasonally dry outer delta, Qogana is "perennial" water; the Okavango keeps the lagoon filled year-round. Botswana.

A colourful mix of houses and the lighthouse of Santa Ana Hill, Barrio Las Penas Guayaquil. Ecuador

The eye of a parrotfish. Red Sea.

A Zulu woman puts on body and facial makeup. In Simunye guests are invited to observe contemporary Zulu culture. South Africa

An elephant matriarch clashes with an intruder near the Chobe River in Chobe National Park. Botswana.

A local resident of Nunivark Island draws a laugh from her daughter by donning the head of a musk ox recently shot by her husband. Sport hunters are allowed to kill approximately 70 of these animals per year, despite the fact that they were once extinct i

Mountain climber Alex Lowe sits on a rock near Tibetan prayer flags on Baffin Island. Canada.

An atom bomb blasts Nagasaki on August 9, 1945, signaling the end of World War II. The heart of the city was turned into a desert and at least 40,000 were killed. On this day, in 1945, the first atomic bomb was dropped on the Japnanese city of Hiroshima b

An adult male common kingfisher dives into the water in Labod. Hungary.

A huge wave gathers power at Sandy Beach on Oahu island. USA.

The Jin Mao Tower looking down from the Grand Hyatt Hotel in Shanghai. People's Republic of China.

Masked young people in a mustard field en route to a summer festival. Masked young people in a mustard field en route to a summer festival in Catalonia.

Today in 2009 was the most popular day to get married in the UK. Here a groom embraces his bride after their wedding in Varese. Italy.