Jul 31, 2013

Chinese water park, Sydney rainbow, Ganges flooding, Ryan Lochte swims and more in today’s daily brief.

: People try to cool off at a water park in Suining, southwest China’s Sichuan province, as a heatwave hit several provinces in China. Much of China is in the grip of a summer heatwave, and the China Meteorological Association issued a high temperature warning for several eastern and central provinces, saying temperatures could reach 41 degrees Celsius (106 Fahrenheit) on July 31. (Getty Images)

: Caitlin, an Australian tourist, enjoys the sun on a beach of the Croisette during a hot summer day in Cannes. (Eric Gaillard/Reuters)

: A passenger ferry navigates past the Sydney Opera House, as a rainbow is seen in the sky, on a sunny winter afternoon in central Sydney. Sydney has experienced one of the warmest Julys on record with average daytime temperature of more than 19 degrees Celsius (66 degrees Fahrenheit), local media reported. (Daniel Munoz/Reuters)

: Czech Republic’s Michal Navratil performs an exhibition dive dressed as Superman at the end of the men’s 27m high diving final during the World Swimming Championships at Moll de la Fusta in Barcelona. (Gustau Nacarino/Reuters)

: A girl plays in a fountain on the banks of the Manzanares river in Madrid. (Dani Pozo/Getty Images)

: A boy jumps into waters of the river Ganges to cool himself in the northern Indian city of Allahabad. (Jitendra Prakash/Reuters)

: A flood-affected man with his bicycle moves to a safer place after the rise in the water levels of the river Ganges at Maner in the eastern Indian state of Bihar. (Krishna Murari Kishan/Reuters)

: US swimmer Ryan Lochte competes in the heats of the men’s 200-metre individual medley swimming event in the FINA World Championships at Palau Sant Jordi in Barcelona. (Pierre-Philippe Marcou/Getty Images)

: Afghan children play on a swing near a cemetery in Kabul. Civilian casualties in the Afghan war rose 23 percent in the first half of this year due to Taliban attacks and increased fighting between insurgents and government forces, the UN said on July 30. (Shah Marai/Getty Images)

: A Free Syrian Army fighter positions a cannon inside a house in Jobar, Damascus. (Mohamed Abdullah/Reuters)

: A Muslim girl learns to read the Koran at a madrassa, or religious school, during the holy month of Ramadan in the old quarters of Delhi. (Mansi Thapliyal/Reuters)

: Muslim children learn to read the Koran at a madrassa, or religious school, during the holy month of Ramadan in the old quarters of Delhi. (Mansi Thapliyal/Reuters)

: Zimbawean Chizema Najika (L), 80, shows her card as she leaves in a pass cart, after voting, a polling station where other people queue up in Harare. Zimbabwean vote today in a general election in Zimbabwe. Zimbabwe was readying for an inadequately prepared yet tight election battle that could see President Robert Mugabe extend his 33-year grip on power. From a list of five candidates, voters will chose who will lead the nation for the next five years after a compromise government forced by a crisis ignited by the 2008 presidential run off. But the real battle is between Mugabe and his perennial rival Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai. (Alexander Joe/Getty Images)

: A Hindu sadhu – holy man – smears colored paste onto his body at the Pashupatinath Temple in Kathmandu. Dozens of sadhus live around the temple devoting their life to Lord Shiva, the Hindu god of destruction. (Prakash Mathema/Getty Images)

: Kashmiri Muslim women prays as an unseen custodian displays a holy relic, believed to be a hair from Prophet Muhammad’s beard, during special prayers to observe the Martyr Day of Hazrat Ali, cousin of Prophet Muhammad, at the Hazratbal Shrine in Srinagar. Hazrat Ali was martyred on the 21st day of the holy month of Ramadan some 1,400 years ago. Muslims all over the world are supposed to fast from dawn to dusk during the month of Ramadan. (Rouf Bhat/Getty Images)

: A Syrian government forces’ tank rolls in the Khaldiyeh district of Syria’s central city of Homs. The Syrian government announced on July 29, the capture of Khaldiyeh, a key rebel district in Homs, Syria’s third city and a symbol of the revolt against President Bashar al-Assad. (Getty Images)

: Mannequins representing missing people are placed in Copacabana Beach during a protest by non-governmental organization (NGO) Rio de Paz (Rio of Peace) in Rio de Janeiro. According to the organizers, 35,000 victims of violence are missing in the Rio de Janeiro state since 2007. (Ricardo Moraes/Reuters)

: Late actor Dennis Farina’s grandchildren serve as pallbearers during his Funeral Service at Assumption Catholic Church in Chicago, Illinois. (Jeff Schear/Getty Images)

: A great gray owl rests in the Rambouillet forest some 50 kms outside of Paris. (Joel Saget/Getty Images)

: Thai soldiers wearing biohazard suits take part as cleaning operations continue at Ao Prao Beach on Koh Samet, Rayong. An oil spill that has blackened beaches at the Thai holiday island of Koh Samet was having an extreme impact on tourism and could spread to the coast of the mainland and affect the fishing industry, officials and an environmental group said on Tuesday. (Athit Perawongmetha/Reuters)

July 31 Photo Brief: Chinese water park, Sydney rainbow, Ganges flooding, Ryan Lochte swims