A WOMAN gracefully defying American police at a Black Lives Matter rally, a drowning migrant struggling for a lifeline, drag artists getting ready to perform and war from the frontline – these are just some of the most iconic photos of 2016 that are ready to go on display at a flagship exhibition in the Scottish Parliament this week.

Fighters of the Libyan forces affiliated to the Tripoli government taking aim at Isis positions, gorgeous wildlife photography, and Eritrean migrants cramped in the hold of a large wooden boat are also among the images at the World Press Photo exhibition

Some 140 photographs will be on display at the free exhibition which starts on Friday and runs until August 26. Other images include residents of Mosul fleeing the city amid fighting between Iraqi forces and the Islamic State. The image captures the desperation of those trying to get out of the city, where by mid-December last year up to one million people were trapped, running low on food and water.

Also on the theme of war an emergency hospital in Kabul is pictured, where a woman holds her two-year-old nephew in her arms after he was injured in a bomb blast which killed his sister. Elsewhere, veterans are seen in a winter snow storm carrying an American and a Mohawk Warrior Society flag, commemorating the 1990 Canadian Oka Crisis, when the military confronted indigenous people in a major armed conflict for the first time in modern history. The exhibits also feature portraits, including one of 41-year-old Hellen Alfred, who suffers from mental health problems, in Juba in South Sudan. There’s also wildlife, with a sea turtle entangled in a fishing net swimming beneath the ocean off the coast of Tenerife. But in a somewhat unusual image, Chinese wildlife officials dress as pandas in the wild, while in another we see an elephant in full splendour.

The images all come from a contest that attracted entries from over 5,000 photographers from 125 countries.

Holyrood’s Deputy Presiding Officer, Christine Grahame MSP, said: “Even for those of us who keep up to date with the news, this outstanding exhibition highlights photojournalism’s power to tell poignant, complex and inspiring stories that influence how we see and understand the world.

“More than ever in this age of social media, photojournalism brings us stories faster and with greater impact than any other medium. This year is no different, with breathtaking images running the gamut from the iconic to the deeply personal. We are once again very proud that the Parliament is the only location in Scotland holding this year’s exhibition and the only Parliament to do so worldwide. World Press Photo has previously attracted visitors to the Parliament in their tens of thousands, and we look forward to welcoming even more visitors to Holyrood this August to take in world photojournalism at its very best.”