HIDDEN in the middle of the Mojave Desert, a secret oasis awaits intrepid travellers. The 11x5ft pool, located in south-eastern California, was built by Austrian visual artist Alfredo Barsuglia. The free retreat includes a solar-powered filter and chlorination system, but visitors face a challenge if they want to take a dip.
POPE MOBBED BY THOUSANDS OF WORSHIPPERS IN RIO - Thousands of worshippers gather to celebrate the Papal visit on Copacabana beach, Rio de Janeiro ,Brazil .
SAILING peacefully across a river in the early morning light, a fisherman in China keeps a 1000 year old tradition alive .
A BLIND man was battered with a brick in a sickening attack by two thugs .
MESMERIZING night sky photographs offer a spellbinding look at the stars .
An Italian photographer travelled to Chile where he visited several star-gazing sites, home to some of the world's most advanced telescopes, located in the spectacular setting of the Atacama desert .
An Italian photographer travelled to northern India where he visited poverty stricken suburbs and captured ordinary people in a series of intimate and expressive portraits .
PERCHING on top of a gate, this young barn swallow waits patiently for his mum to return with dinner .
MASKED intruders look sinister but really they are a gang of urban exploring pranksters .
RAISING his flipper, this two day old seal pup gives a wave to the camera .
A trout manages to escape the jaws of a hungry cormorant - only to find itself back inside the bird's long beak .
SURROUNDED by a snowstorm, these young polar bears battle the elements - as well as each other .
EXPERTLY camouflaged, this clever panther chameleon knows how to catch its prey by surprise .