Time to travel to the microscopic world of macro photography by the lens of the Slovakian Ondrej Pakan with this impressive shots of small insects full of color and live. In this selection most of the shots appear to take place while of after raining covering the animals with water drops. [43 photos total]

RABAT, Morocco (AP) -- Russia and China's opposition to swift action ending Syria's bloody crackdown on its uprising leaves the West and its Arab allies with few options. The self-proclaimed "Friends of Syria" may have to rely on a slow grind of tightened sanctions, a trickle of humanitarian and military aid smuggled across borders -- and calls for ever-more-diluted U.N. Security Council resolutions. Moscow and Beijing twice vetoed Security Council resolutions that strongly condemned Syria. On Tuesday, French Foreign Minister Alain Juppe announced that Paris was preparing yet another resolution, this time focusing on a cease-fire and humanitarian aid. Yet each attempt to ratchet up international pressure has prompted Russia and China to fight back. [23 photos total]

As a follow-up to my photo collection published in The Pixtale's January 2012 issue, I put out a call for reader photographs with the theme of "America at Work." The response was fantastic. People sent in images from Guam to Massachusetts, and from Florida to California. The photos depict a wide range of jobs, giving a glimpse of what it means to be employed in 21st century America. Many, many thanks to the contributing photographers, and to those who helped spread the word. Both the images and captions come from the photographers. [37 photos total]

It was a busy week in sports. Loads of NBA action including All Stars game, a big diving competition (Gareth Bale just missed the podium), some great football games including Liverpool winning their first trophy in six years and a mish mash of things such as tennis, cricket, NASCAR, NHL and cycling. [56 photos total]

This one is for the ladies and the fashion inclined men amongst us. Handbags and gladrags worn by the celebrity community at the 2012 Oscars. [36 photos total]

Last night to fine and fashionable folks of Hollywood threw a party called The Oscars. They all dressed up in their finest designer wear and some people even got to take home a gold statue. Much fun was had by all. [51 photos total]

Internationally-renowned photojournalist Gerd Ludwig has spent years documenting the aftermath of the Chernobyl nuclear disaster. In 1986, errors at the plant in Ukraine led to an explosion that ultimately caused over a quarter of a million people to permanently evacuate their homes to escape the radiation and radioactive fallout. Over the course of several trips to the site and the region for National Geographic Magazine in 1993, 2005, and 2011, Ludwig has amassed a documentary record of a people and a place irreparably altered by a tragic accident. His 2011 trip was partially funded by a Kickstarter campaign. Now Ludwig has released an iPad app with over 150 photographs, video, and interactive panoramas. Gathered here is a small selection of the work Ludwig has produced over the years of the still-unfolding tragedy. [23 photos total]

Nearly a year after it began, the violence in Syria carries on. Despite tightening international sanctions, Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's troops continue to attack opposition strongholds across the country. As the shelling of the city of Homs continues, fresh offensives have just started in the province of Idlib, where government troops reportedly fired artillery, mortars, and anti-aircraft guns at several towns. Over the weekend, the United States and European and Arab countries held a "friends of Syria" conference in Tunisia to work out a plan to end the violence. Talk of arming the opposition is muted, due to deep divisions within the cluster of groups opposed to Assad's rule. And there are fears that supplying weapons to Assad's disjointed group of opponents might lead to further instability -- and that the unrest might spread to neighboring countries. Meanwhile, thousands have died, international intervention has had little effect, and no end appears in sight. [39 photos total]

We’re moving into one-year-anniversaries territory. The Egyptian protests, the Libyan uprising, the Japan earthquake and tsnumai. It was all happening round about this time last year. In the now and present we’re still being bombarded with GOP debates, which are becoming nastier and nastier, religious festivals and more deaths in Syria, including two esteemed journalists. [62 photos total]

One billion people worldwide live in slums, a number that will likely double by 2030. The characteristics of slum life vary greatly between geographic regions, but they are generally inhabited by the very poor or socially disadvantaged. Slum buildings can be simple shacks or permanent and well-maintained structures but lack clean water, electricity, sanitation and other basic services. In this post, I've included images from several slums including Kibera slum in Nairobi, Kenya, the second largest slum in Africa (and the third largest in the world); New Building slum in central Malabo, Equatorial Guinea; Pinheirinho slum - where residents recently resisted police efforts to forcibly evict them; and slum dwellers from Kolkata, Mumbai and New Delhi, India. India has about 93 million slum dwellers and as much as 50% of New Delhi's population is thought to live in slums, 60% of Mumbai. [55 photos total]