SIFTING THROUGH SILT: A worker scoured silt in Wenzao River in Fuzhou, in China’s Fujian province, Thursday. (Liu Tao/China Foto Press/ZUMA Press)
WORK OF ART? A graffiti artist spray-painted on a wall at an old playground in Stockwell Park Estate in London Thursday. Graffiti artists from around the world have been coming to the previously abandoned court to display their works of art. (Dan Kitwood/Getty Images)
IN UNISON: Members of the White Brotherhood movement performed a ritual dance known as Paneurhythmy near Babreka Lake, south of Sofia, Bulgaria, Friday. The movement combines aspects of Christianity and Hinduism. (Stoyan Nenov/Reuters)
BENT OUT OF SHAPE: A man fixed his umbrella in Mumbai Friday. (Rafiq Maqbool/Associated Press)
ON THE TARMAC: A Hurricane Mk I from the Battle of Britain sat at Biggin Hill Airfield in London Friday, the 70th anniversary of Prime Minister Winston Churchill’s tribute to “the few” – the Royal Air Force pilots who defended the country from German attack – in the House of Commons. (Matthew Lloyd/Getty Images)
LOCKS OF LOVE: Padlocks sat on Hohenzollern Bridge in Cologne, Germany, Friday. Couples express their love by placing the padlocks there; someone jokingly placed an angle grinder marked “master key” in their midst. (DPA/ZUMA Press)
SNAP DECISION: A crocodile named Dirty Harry snapped up a piece of chicken attached to a caricature of Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard, but turned down meat attached to a caricature of opposition leader Tony Abbott in Darwin, Australia, Thursday. Voters head to the polls Saturday. (Jano Gibson/ABC News Online/Associated Press)
RED ALL OVER: Men worked at a factory that manufactures fire extinguishers in Kolkata Friday. (Rupak De Chowdhuri/Reuters)
THROUGH THE SLUDGE: Men searched for offerings thrown in by worshipers in the polluted waters of the Sabarmati River in Ahmedabad, India, Friday. (Amit Dave/Reuters)
DROPPING IN: People crowded around a Pakistan army helicopter that delivered much-needed food supplies to a flood-ravaged village in Sindh province, Pakistan, Friday. (Kevin Frayer/Associated Press)
ALL (WOMEN) ABOARD: Women board a women-only carriage of a commuter train on the outskirts of Jakarta, Indonesia, Friday. The state-run train operator established the special cars to address complaints about unwanted groping and advances from men. (Irwin Fedriansyah/Associated Press)
SAFE AND SECURE: American-owned mine-resistant vehicles were transported to an undisclosed U.S. military base in Kuwait Friday after they were pulled out of Iraq along with the last combat brigade on Thursday. (Yasser al Zayyat/Agence France-Presse/Getty Images)
BEACHED: Two dead pilot whales lay on Karikari Beach in New Zealand Friday as people tended to others. About 58 whales died after they washed onto the isolated beach; 15 other whales were still alive. New Zealand frequently sees mass whale strandings around in summer; the cause is unclear. (Carolyn Smith/New Zealand Dept. of Conservation/AFP/Getty)
STUDYING THE QURAN: A young Palestinian woman prayed during Ramadan at a mosque in Jenin, West Bank, Friday. (Saif Dahlah/Agence France-Presse/Getty Images)
SITTING IN SILENCE: A Muslim man sat down for evening prayers during Ramadan in Kathmandu, Nepal, Friday. (Narendra Shrestha/European Pressphoto Agency)
GREEN LAKE: A fisherman waded through water hyacinths in Laguna de Bay in Muntinlupa, Philippines, Friday. (Erik de Castro/Reuters)
ROUND AND ROUND: Children played in a poor community in Kabul, Afghanistan, on Thursday, the country’s Independence Day. (Yuri Cortez/Agence France-Presse/Getty Images)
FACING DEPORTATION: Children of migrant workers waited at an improvised kindergarten in Tel Aviv Wednesday. Under new rules, children of migrants whose parents entered Israel legally may remain if they are enrolled in school, speak Hebrew and have been there longer than five years. (Uriel Sinai/Getty Images)
SHOOTING TEAR GAS: An Indian policeman fired tear gas Thursday in Srinagar, India, as anti-India protesters clashed with paramilitary soldiers. At least three people were wounded. (Altaf Qadri/Associated Press)
ON THE GROUND: President Barack Obama disembarked from Air Force One at Miami International Airport Wednesday as security personnel stood nearby. Mr. Obama’s brief visit brought cheers and protests as he raised $700,000 in donations for Democrats. (Jewel Samad/Agence France-Presse/Getty Images)
GROUP EFFORT: Residents moved a damaged car on a mud-covered street in Zhouqu, Gansu province, China, Wednesday. More rain was expected to fall across China in the coming days. (Associated Press)
REACHING OUT: People displaced by flooding fought for blankets distributed by the Pakistani Air Force at a temporary camp in Sukkar, Pakistan, Thursday. (Kevin Frayer/Associated Press)
BLOATED: A mother and son walked past a puffer fish that washed ashore in Cavite province, Philippines, Thursday. Fishermen and authorities say thousands of fish have washed ashore in the province, but they don’t know why. (Bullit Marquez/Associated Press)
DISMANTLED: At the Ministry of Defense in Mexico City Wednesday, soldiers dismantled weapons seized from alleged drugs traffickers. Meanwhile, business leaders took out full-page ads asking President Felipe Calderón to send more troops to Monterrey to stem violence. (Eliana Aponte/Reuters)
RECOVERED: Military divers retrieved the wreckage Wednesday of a Philippine naval helicopter after it crashed and sank between two islands near the port city of Zamboanga, Philippines. Two passengers and a crewman were rescued; a search was under way for the two missing pilots. (Al Jacinto/Associated Pres)
ON STRIKE: Dozens of public workers rallied Thursday in Cape Town, South Africa, for an 8.6% wage increase and a monthly housing allowance of $137. The government is offering a 7% increase and $96 for housing. (Gianluigi Guercia/Agence France-Presse/Getty Images)
DODGING A BULL: People ran away from a bull at an annual bull run in Falces, Spain, Thursday. In nearby Navarra, 40 people were injured when a bull leapt into the stands Wednesday. The animal was later killed. (Alvaro Barrientos/Associated Press)
ON SHAKY GROUND: Raymond Baker surveyed a road torn apart by flash floods in Cookeville, Tenn., Wednesday. No deaths have been reported. The downpour hit some parts of the state that were inundated with severe flooding in May. (Mark Humphrey/Associated Press)
ROLLING OUT: U.S. Army Spc. Luisito Brooks gave a thumbs-up to the last Stryker armored vehicle to leave Iraq as it crossed the border into Kuwait Thursday. President Barack Obama has set an Aug. 31 deadline for ending U.S. combat operations in Iraq. (Maya Alleruzzo/Associated Press)
DIGGING IN: Soldiers cleaned up sludge from a street in Zhouqu, Gansu province, China, Wednesday. The Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Development said it has begun work on the reconstruction plan for mudslide-hit Zhouqu. (Wang Jing/China Foto Press/ZUMA Press)
LITTLE MISS SUNSHINE: Li Qiuhan prepared to go on stage during a talent competition in Beijing Thursday. About 150 children competed in the pageant. (Xinhua/ZUMA Press)
Competitors line up to compete for the fastest time in the 5K Spartan Race on Sunday at the Floyd Bennet Field in Brooklyn. (Julie Platner for The Wall Street Journal)
The international race takes inspiration from Navy SEAL training and American Gladiators. (Julie Platner for The Wall Street Journal)
Strength and stamina is tested during the race. (Julie Platner for The Wall Street Journal)
Participants try to climb the greasy wall during the race. (Julie Platner for The Wall Street Journal)
Race participants confront obstacles ranging from extreme to absurd. (Julie Platner for The Wall Street Journal)
Participants compete for the fastest time in the barded wire event. (Julie Platner for The Wall Street Journal)
Competitors battle it out for fun after the race. (Julie Platner for The Wall Street Journal)
A runner crosses the finish line. (Julie Platner for The Wall Street Journal)
Race participants after competing for the fast time in the Spartan Races. (Julie Platner for The Wall Street Journal)
FRUITS OF HIS LABOR: An Afghan policeman holding a melon smiled during a joint patrol with U.S. military police in Kandahar, Afghanistan, Wednesday. (Oleg Popov/Reuters)
CAMEL NAP: Camels rested in the Thar Desert on the outskirts of Jaisalmer, India, Tuesday. (Krishnendu Halder/Reuters)
IMPROVISING: A woman displaced by flooding received food at a distribution site in a relief camp in Sukkur, Pakistan, Wednesday. The Organization of the Islamic Conference has called on member states and the international community to supply urgent aid to Pakistan. (Rizwan Tabassum/Agence France-Presse/Getty Images)
STEADY LINE: Rescuers helped people evacuate a flooded village Tuesday in Yingxiu, Sichuan province, China, after torrential rain triggered a landslide that killed at least 15 people. (Agence France Presse/Getty Images)
CAN YOU HEAR ME NOW? A man made a phone call at the Shanghai Stock Exchange in Lujiazui financial district in Shanghai Wednesday. (Aly Song/Reuters)
IN THE FRAY: Students ran away from tear gas released by riot policemen during a rally in downtown Santiago, Chile, Wednesday. Thousands of students marched through the streets to demand the government change the public education system and provide a bigger budget for universities. (Victor Ruiz Caballero/Reuters)
BRACING HIMSELF: A policeman holding a gun wielded a stick against a protester near Agra, India, Tuesday. Farmers were demanding better compensation for their land, which had been acquired by the Uttar Pradesh state government for an upcoming expressway project. (Associated Press)
MAKING DO: A man bathed in his demolished house in Manila, Philippines, Wednesday. A government demolition crew, aided by the police, tore down dozens of shanties. (Erik de Castro/Reuters)
HEAVING LIFTING: Park Yoon Hee of South Korea lifted weights in a women’s competition at the Youth Olympic Games in Singapore Wednesday. (Wong Maye-E./Associated Press)
RAISING THE FLAG: Mourners paid their respects to former U.S. Sen. Ted Stevens by holding flags as his casket was carried by the military honor guard at All Saints’ Episcopal Church in Anchorage, Alaska, Tuesday. Mr. Stevens died in a plane crash last week. (Rick Bowmer/Associated Press)
CENSORED: A man read El Nacional newspaper with the word “censored” in place of content while having breakfast in Caracas, Venezuela, Wednesday. A court ordered two opposition papers to stop publishing photographs depicting blood, guns and violent images in the interest of protecting children. (Jorge Silva/Reuters)
SPLIT DECISION: Former Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich talked with reporters as he left his home to take daughter Annie to camp in Chicago Wednesday. On Tuesday, a jury convicted Mr. Blagojevich of the less serious count of lying to the FBI; a mistrial was declared on 23 other charges. (Paul Beaty/Associated Press)
TRANQUIL SETTING: A fisherman cast his line in the River Coquet near Rothbury, England, at sunset Tuesday. The river runs through Britain’s Northumberland National Park and is best known for the quality of its salmon and sea trout fishing. (Owen Humphreys/Associated Press)
FLOATING ALONG: A flood victim used an inner tube to transport a block of ice across a river after floods washed away bridges in Kabal, Pakistan, Tuesday. About 1,500 people have been killed in flash floods triggered by monsoon rains in Pakistan. (Rashid Iqbal/European Pressphoto Agency)
IN MOURNING: Mourners waited outside a morgue in Baghdad to claim the bodies of people killed in a bombing at an Iraqi army recruitment center Tuesday. At least 61 people were killed and 125 wounded in the blast. (Saad Shalash/Reuters)
SNAPPED: Senior Constable Ross Bartley held up a surfboard that snapped in half during a fatal shark attack at Gracetown Beach in Western Australia Tuesday. A 31-year-old man died from injuries he received in the attack. (Mogens Johansen/European Pressphoto Agency)
SNIFF TEST: Gary Lopinto, a commercial seafood inspector for the Louisiana Department of Health and Hospitals, smelled a fish filet in New Orleans Tuesday. Seafood caught in Louisiana waters is being randomly checked, both by smell and chemical testing, after the massive BP Gulf of Mexico oil spill. (Win McNamee/Getty Images)
TRAIN VS. TRUCK: Passengers looked out the door of an express train that collided with a garbage truck near Lambrecht, Germany, Tuesday. At least one passenger was seriously hurt. Officials said the truck slid down a wet slope into the InterCityExpress high-speed train. (Horst Welke/DDP/Associated Press)
SHOOTOUT SCENE: A masked police officer stood at the scene of a shootout Tuesday in Makhachkala, Russia. Two gunmen were killed during the police operation. (Ruslan Alibekov/NewsTeam/Associated Press)
SHATTERED: An Israeli soldier stood where mortar, fired by Palestinian militants from the Gaza Strip, injured two Israeli soldiers near the Gaza border in southern Israel Tuesday. The incident came a day after Israeli troops killed a Palestinian who the military said was planting a bomb along the border. (Tsafrir Abayov/Associated Press)
LYING LOW: A soldier participated in an antiterrorism drill in front of a department store in Incheon, South Korea, Tuesday. The drill was held as part of U.S. and South Korean forces’ annual “Ulchi Freedom Guardian” drills. (Ha Sa-hun/Yonhap/Reuters)
WOUNDED: A boy with gunshot wounds to the head lay in a U.S. Army medevac helicopter en route for treatment near Marjah, Afghanistan, Tuesday. (Bob Strong/Reuters)
WASHED UP: A man walked past cars washed downstream by flood waters Tuesday in Aguilar de la Frontera, Spain. At least three people were killed and two injured in flash floods. Two people were found dead in vehicles; the third was killed when an exterior wall of his house collapsed on top of him. (Manu Fernandez/Associated Press)
BURYING THEIR OWN: Kashmiri mourners buried the body of Mohammad Abbas Dhobi, 32, in Mattan, India, Tuesday. Mr. Dhobi succumbed to injuries he got during clashes last week. (Altaf Qadri/Associated Press)
ROOM TO BREATHE: Construction workers covered their faces as a New Delhi Municipal Council fumigated the under-construction Shivaji Stadium in New Delhi Tuesday. Authorities are trying to prevent mosquitoes from breeding ahead of the Commonwealth Games. (Manan Vatsyayana/Agence France-Presse/Getty Images)
CRYING AND COMFORT: A woman cried over the body of a dead man as another woman comforted her in Juarez, Mexico, Monday. According to local media, 20 people were killed Monday and 51 people were reported killed over the past weekend. (Claudia Daut/Reuters)
A MAN AND HIS QURAN: A Palestinian Muslim man reads from the Quran at al Omari Mosque in Gaza City Tuesday. Muslims throughout the world are celebrating the holy month of Ramadan, during which observers fast from dawn till dusk. (Khalil Hamra/Associated Press)
BACK TO THE COOP: A worker chased chickens out of a grain-storage room in the village of Tsentralnaya, Ukraine, Tuesday. (Gleb Garanich/Reuters)
BASKING IN THE SUN: People took a break to soak up the sun in the seaside area of Blackpool, England, Monday. (Christopher Furlong/Getty Images)
UNDER COVER: A girl took cover during a downpour at the Shanghai Expo Tuesday. According to local newspapers, 40 million people have visited the expo since it started on May 1. Organizers expect about 70 million visitors through the end of October. (Eugene Hoshiko/Associated Press)
AT HOME: A resettled Tamil refugee sat next to his house, which was damaged in the war between Tamil Tigers and the government, in Vavuniya, Sri Lanka, Saturday. The government has gradually been resettling around 300,000 displaced ethnic Tamils since the end of the conflict in 2009. (Dinuka Liyanawatte/Reuters)
SEEKING HELP: Flood victims jostled for food distributed by volunteers in Shekarpur, Pakistan, Monday. Angry flood survivors blocked a highway to protest what they say is the slow delivery of aid. U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon urged donors to speed up assistance to the 20 million Pakistanis affected. (Shakil Adil/Associated Press)
BRINGING DOWN A WALL: An Israel army engineer removed cement blocks Monday that formed a barrier erected in 2001 to separate Gilo, Jerusalem, from Palestinian gunfire in West Bank towns. Israel said it’s dismantling the wall because the threat no longer exists. (Jim Hollander/European Pressphoto Agency)
GUSHING OUT: Water gushed from the Xiaolangdi Dam in Jiyuan, Henan province, China, Monday. (Miao Qiunao/ChinaFotoPress/ZUMA Press)
BABY BREAK: A laborer’s child slept in a hammock outside the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium, which is being constructed for the 2010 Commonwealth Games, in New Delhi Monday. (Adnan Abidi/Reuters)
NAP TIME: A worker slept on a handcart at a wholesale poultry market in Mumbai Monday. (Danish Siddiqui/Reuters)
OFFERING PRAYERS: Buddhist monk Thupten Dhargyes prayed as villagers began to reconstruct a home in Chuglamsar, near Leh, India, Monday. Close to 200 people have been reported dead and hundreds remain missing after flooding there earlier this month. (Tengku Bahar/Agence France-Presse/Getty Images)
HAULING RICE: A worker carried a sack of rice at the National Food Authority Warehouse in Quezon, Philippines, Monday. (Rouelle Umali/Xinhua/ZUMA Press)
HIDING OUT: Members of a government demolition crew took cover under scrap wood to avoid rocks being thrown by residents whose houses they were tearing down in Manila Monday. The Philippine government has been demolishing informal housing for the past few days. (Erik de Castro/Reuters)
FIREWORKS FIRE: Firefighters extinguished a blaze after an explosion at a fireworks factory in Yichun, Heilongjiang province, China, Monday. At least 13 people were killed and 148 injured. (Xinhua/ZUMA Press)
DRYING NOODLES: In Hyderabad, India, on Monday, a young boy dried seviyan, thin vermicelli, which is used to make sheer korma, a traditional sweet dish prepared by the Muslim community during the holy month of Ramadan. (Noah Seelam/Agence France-Presse/Getty Images)
STOP, DROP AND PRAY: Palestinian security officers offered Ramadan prayers in the street in Nablus, West Bank, Monday. (Nasser Ishtayeh/Associated Press)
POSTER BLITZ: Election posters lined a street in Jalalabad, Afghanistan, Monday. Afghans head to the polls for parliamentary elections in September. (Rahmat Gul/Associated Press)
Ramadan in New York City
Muslim men perform Tarawih prayers during the first night of Ramadan at Madina Masjid in the East Village in New York City on August 11. (Mustafah Abdulaziz for The Wall Street Journal)
Shoes at Madina Masjid. (Mustafah Abdulaziz for The Wall Street Journal)
Men pray during the first night of Ramadan at Madina Masjid. (Mustafah Abdulaziz for The Wall Street Journal)
The entryway at Madina Masjid. (Mustafah Abdulaziz for The Wall Street Journal)
The scene outside Madina Masjid. (Mustafah Abdulaziz for The Wall Street Journal)
Without a mosque to go for his preparations, Abdul Aziz Ba uses a water bottle to perform a pre-payer washing ritual known as wudu while seated on a bench at Liberty Plaza in Lower Manhattan on Aug. 12. (Mustafah Abdulaziz for The Wall Street Journal)
Metin Kilic performs dhur, the afternoon prayer, on Cedar Street in Manhattan. “Not a nice place,” Mr. Kilic says of the sidewalk, “but I don’t have any place to pray.” (Mustafah Abdulaziz for The Wall Street Journal)
Katab Atom performs the afternoon prayer on the sidewalk near Cedar Street in Manhattan. (Mustafah Abdulaziz for The Wall Street Journal)
Sheikh Imadudeen, center, spoke to Muslim converts on Aug. 12 during the iftar dinner, the meal at which those observing Ramadan break their fast. The Muslim Education and Converts Center of America (MECCA), located in Midtown, helps teach new converts to Islam about their religion. (Mustafah Abdulaziz for The Wall Street Journal)
Delma Oliveras, center, 41, breaks her fast at MECCA. This is her first Ramadan fasting after converting from Catholicism in 2009. (Mustafah Abdulaziz for The Wall Street Journal)
A Muslim woman picks up the white sheet where the group of women ate. (Mustafah Abdulaziz for The Wall Street Journal)
The food served included lamb, chicken and rice with a dessert of baklava, grapes and assorted fruit. (Mustafah Abdulaziz for The Wall Street Journal)
Nur Aisha takes away finished plates of food after the iftar dinner. (Mustafah Abdulaziz for The Wall Street Journal)
NYPD officers respond to an Aug. 16 accident in Park Slope, Brooklyn, where a car drove into a Rite Aid store. (Michael Nagle for The Wall Street Journal)
Participants try to climb the greasy wall during the 5K Spartan Races at Floyd Bennett Field in Brooklyn on August 15. (Julie Platner for The Wall Street Journal)
Jair Brown holds up a syringe during the Rockaway Waterfront Alliance’s Norton Bay clean up. (Paul Quitoriano for the Wall Street Journal)
A locally-sourced lobster at Montauk’s Clam Bar, a wooden shack of a kitchen with outdoor umbrella-covered tables. (Mimi Ritzen Crawford for The Wall Street Journal)
Sarah Albert, 8, in striped tank top and bandana, practices acrobatics during Circus Art Camp in Hartsdale, N.Y. (Gabriele Stabile for The Wall Street Journal)
Moving men delivering 17 grand pianos to the Manhattan School of Music. (Mae Ryan for The Wall Street Journal)
Annie De Chung makes her way down a makeshift slip and slide at the at the Recess studios. The slide is a public art project created by Siebren Versteeg and David Hardy. (Keith Bedford for The Wall Street Journal)
89-year-old pianist and vocalist Stephanie Stone outside the Stone before a performance. She has been performing since the 1940s and is an icon of the downtown jazz scene. (Radhika Chalasani for The Wall Street Journal)
Hip-hop dancers perform a site-specific piece called “Centrifugal Force: Hip Hop Generations” at Lincoln Center. (Bryan Derballa for The Wall Street Journal)
Two girls compete in the Double Dutch jump rope event during the Police Athletic League Sports Day 2010, held at Riverbank State Park. (Suzy Allman for The Wall Street Journal)
Demolition applications were submitted last week to tear down the Bank of Coney Island and Shore Hotel buildings. The preservation group Save Coney Island had previously made efforts to landmark both buildings. (Joe Buglewicz for The Wall Street Journal)
A police car involved in accident on Staten Island. (Rod Morata for the Wall Street)
Mystery Tour
STATEN ISLAND, NY – August 21, 2010: Tour Participants walk through brush to an undisclosed location. The Ghost Ships of the Kills tour, led by artist Marie Lorenz, took participants by bus to climb empty and never used natural gas tanks and decrepit boats next to the Fresh Kills, a stream and freshwater estuary, next to the Fresh Kills Landfill. During the summer months, artist-innovated mystery tours supported and curated by Flux Factory take participants to undisclosed locations – with each tour having a theme – around the five boroughs and beyond. (Julie Platner for The Wall Street Journal)
Participants walk up the rusty stairwell of an enormous natural gas tank. (Julie Platner for The Wall Street Journal)
A participant walks on the roof of an enormous natural gas tank looking over the the Fresh Kills estuary of Staten Island. (Julie Platner for The Wall Street Journal)
Participants look over the side of the roof of an enormous natural gas tank. (Julie Platner for The Wall Street Journal)
A participant holds up a piece of broken bowling ball that was previously dropped from the top of the natural gas tank. (Julie Platner for The Wall Street Journal)
Jean Barberis, a Flux Factory Artistic Director and Curator of the tour (left) organizes tour participants onto the boats to go explore the “Ghost Ships of the Kills.” (Julie Platner for The Wall Street Journal)
Stephan rows a boat taking part of the tour group to the “Ghost Ships of the Kills.” (Julie Platner for The Wall Street Journal)
Decrepit boats in the Fresh Kills. (Julie Platner for The Wall Street Journal)
Participants, led by Jean Barberis, get ready to explore a decrepit boat. (Julie Platner for The Wall Street Journal)
The inside of one of the boats on the “Ghost Ships of the Kills” tour. (Julie Platner for The Wall Street Journal)
Participants walk around the deck of an old boat. (Julie Platner for The Wall Street Journal)
Looking out the porthole of an old boat. (Julie Platner for The Wall Street Journal)
Tour participants help to clean up while trekking back to the bus after exploring old boats. (Julie Platner for The Wall Street Journal)
Aug. 23
LINING UP: Boys lined up to receive food at a center for flood victims near Nowshera, Pakistan, Monday. Meanwhile, International Monetary Fund and Pakistani officials met to discuss aid for the flood-battered country. (Tim Wimborne/Reuters)
TRAPPED: A computer screen displayed a recorded image Monday of one of 33 miners trapped for 17 days in a copper and gold mine in Copiapo, Chile. The miners are still alive. (Ivan Alvarado/Reuters)
HOSTAGE SITUATION: Police took cover outside a bus where an ex-policeman demanding his job back fatally shot eight Hong Kong tourists in a 12-hour standoff in Manila, Philippines, Monday. Authorities eventually stormed the vehicle and a sniper killed the ex-policeman. (Erik de Castro/Reuters)
SURROUNDED: A suspected bank robber, in the white cap, faced police as hostages surrounded him outside National Bank of Greece in Piraeus Monday. The armed suspect surrendered and released his captives unhurt, police said. (Thanassis Stavrakis/Associated Press)
STACKS TUMBLE: Smoke stacks toppled as a power plant was demolished Sunday in Cape Canaveral, Fla., to make way for a clean energy center that will open at the site in 2013. (Doug Murray/Florida Power & Light Company/Associated Press)
DEBRIS RUNOFF: A worker cleared wind-blown garbage Monday from the Jinjiang River in Chengdu, Sichuan province, China. Southern China is bracing for heavy rain and strong winds from a tropical storm heading its way, state media reported. (Reuters)
GONE FISHING: Children tried to catch fish in the polluted Kabul River in Kabul, Afghanistan, Monday. A U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights report claims more than one-third of Afghans live in “absolute poverty” and about one-third live only slightly above the poverty line. (Yuri Cortez/Agence France-Presse/Getty Images)
SOLDIER RESTS: An Indian paramilitary soldier took a break during a clash with Kashmiri protesters in Srinagar, India, Monday. (Altaf Qadri/Associated Press)
NO LIMITS: Wheelchair-bound dancers talked before the start of practice in New Delhi Sunday. The Ability Unlimited Foundation says about 150 disabled performers practice traditional Indian dances about three times a week. The AUF performs around the world. (Adnan Abidi/Reuters)
DETAINED: South Korean priest and Christian activist Han Sang-ryol shouted as he was carried away by police officers after a court appearance in Seoul Monday. Mr. Han was arrested last week after he returned from an unauthorized trip to North Korea. (Im Hun-Jeong/Yonhap/Reuters)
YOUNG BOMBING VICTIM: A paramedic treated a boy who was injured in a suicide blast in Peshawar, Pakistan, Monday. The blast was one of three that killed a total of at least 36 people. (Hasham Ahmed/Agence France-Presse/Getty Images)
CONTRABAND: A ranger unpacked elephant tusks Monday after they were seized overnight while being transported through Jomo Kenyatta International Airport in Nairobi, Kenya. Authorities confiscated more than two tons of elephant tusks and rhino horns bound for Malaysia. (Tony Karumba/Agence France-Presse/Getty Images)
WIPED OUT: Anastasiya Puzakova of Belarus screamed in exhaustion while sitting on the track after completing the women’s 2,000-meter steeplechase at the Singapore Youth Olympic Games Monday. (Vivek Prakash/Reuters)
SHIELDED BY THE FLAG: A girl walked under a giant Ukrainian flag held by people celebrating Flag Day in Kiev Monday. (Konstantin Chernichkin/Reuters)
The City Sleeps
Steam escapes from a manhole in Times Square late at night. (Ramsay de Give for The Wall Street Journal)
Chairs sit unattended in Bryant Park. (Ramsay de Give for The Wall Street Journal)
People exit Port Authority on Eighth Avenue. (Ramsay de Give for The Wall Street Journal)
Passing time at the TKTS booth in Times Square (Ramsay de Give for The Wall Street Journal)
On the steps of the New York Public Library on Fifth Avenue at 42nd Street (Ramsay de Give for The Wall Street Journal)
Outside Grand Central Terminal (Ramsay de Give for The Wall Street Journal)
Inside Grand Central Terminal (Ramsay de Give for The Wall Street Journal)
The Oyster Bar in Grand Central Terminal (Ramsay de Give for The Wall Street Journal)
Biking across the Brooklyn Bridge (Keith Bedford for The Wall Street Journal)
Early morning at the carriage horse stables on 48th Street and 11th Avenue (Ramsay de Give for The Wall Street Journal)
Street trash on Broadway north of Union Square (Benjamin Norman for The Wall Street Journal)
Raising the flag on Broad Street in the financial district (Keith Bedford for The Wall Street Journal)
SOMEONE TO LOOK UP TO: U.S. Army Staff Sgt. Nathaniel Sonier stood with his 4-year-old son Jackson after he arrived home from Iraq to Fort Carson, Colo., Monday. Sgt. Sonier was one of the soldiers to return home as part of the U.S. drawdown in Iraq. (John Moore/Getty Images)
TANK TRAINING: Iraqi soldiers attended a training session on the use of U.S.-made battle tanks at a military base near Baghdad Tuesday. (Ahmad Al-Rubaye/Agence France-Presse/Getty Images)
CRIME CRACKDOWN: Armed police officers escorted alleged gang members during an organized-crime crackdown in Kunming, Yunnan province, China, Monday. More than 60 people were arrested, and police are looking for more suspects. Weapons were also confiscated. (ImagineChina/ZUMA Press)
IN ANGER: Demonstrators gathered at the Consulate General of the Philippines in Hong Kong Tuesday to protest the way Filipino police handled a standoff with an ex-policeman who killed eight Hong Kong tourists in Manila, Philippines, Monday. (Alex Hofford/European Pressphoto Agency)
LOCKSTEP: Soldiers rehearsed for a military parade at Uhuru Park in Nairobi, Kenya, Tuesday. They were practicing for a ceremony Friday in which President Mwai Kibaki will sign a new constitution that sets up a system of checks and balances on the executive branch. (Sayyid Azim/Associated Press)
BLASTING AWAY: Tanks participated in a firing drill at the foot of Mount Fuji in Gotenba, Japan, Tuesday. About 2,400 military personnel, 80 tanks and armored vehicles and 30 aircraft took part in the annual exercise. (Toru Yamanaka/Agence France-Presse/Getty Images)
CHILD’S PLAY: Students held toy guns before a parade for students visiting from Hong Kong at Jiangtaiwa primary school in Beijing Tuesday. (Jason Lee/Reuters)
SAFE: Mexican marines escorted to safety on Monday a woman who had been abducted in Monterrey, Mexico. During the joint operation, three men were captured, leading to the arrest of six people, police said. (Dario Leon/Agence France-Presse/Getty Images)
CUT OFF: Villagers waited on a road cut off by flooding on the outskirts of Rajanpur, Pakistan, Tuesday. President Asif Ali Zardari said his beleaguered nation could take years to recover from the deadly flooding. (Pedro Ugarte/Agence France-Presse/Getty Images)
SLOW AND STEADY: Soldiers carried a surface-to-air missile named “Tien-Chien,” or Sky Sword, to a launcher during a military exercise at a base in Chiayi, Taiwan, Tuesday. (Nicky Loh/Reuters)
A SECRETARY CONTRITE: U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack embraced ex-USDA official Shirley Sherrod at a news conference in Washington Tuesday. Ms. Sherrod, who was ousted when racial comments she made were taken out of context, declined a new position with the USDA. (Manuel Balce Ceneta/Associated Press)
AMBUSHED: Bodies lay outside the Muna Hotel Tuesday in Mogadishu, Somalia, after militants wearing Somali uniforms stormed the hotel and killed 32 people, including members of parliament. (Associated Press)
BARE BONES: Workers removed seats as they started renovating Rio de Janeiro’s Maracana Stadium Tuesday for the 2014 World Cup. President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva said preparations could be jeopardized if government officials and business leaders fail to work together. (Felipe Dana/Associated Press)
HONORING KIM: North Korean lawmakers, army and state officials attended a national meeting Tuesday at Pyongyang Indoor Stadium to honor North Korean leader Kim Jong Il. (KCNA/Reuters)
PRAYING TO THE SEA: A fisherman prayed near the sea to mark the start of the “Nariyal Poornima,” or Coconut Full Moon, festival in Mumbai Tuesday. Fishermen throw coconuts into the sea to give thanks to Lord Varuna, the Sea God, and to seek his blessings for a plentiful catch. (Rafiq Maqbool/Associated Press)
ATTACK AFTERMATH: A man sat where a suicide car bomber killed at least 15 people and wounded 57 in an attack on a police station in Baghdad’s Qahira district Wednesday. Militants carried out a string of attacks Wednesday throughout Iraq, killing at least 55 people. (Thaier al-Sudani/Reuters)
BREATHING BETTER: A schoolgirl was treated at a hospital after being poisoned in a gas attack in Kabul, Afghanistan, Wednesday. Suspected militants, who oppose women being educated, are suspected in the attack that sickened 60 students and teachers at Totia Girls School. (Omar Sobhani/Reuters)
GRIEF AND ANGER: Kashmiri women shouted anti-India slogans at the funeral of Umar Qayoom, 13, in Srinagar, India, Wednesday. Thousands of people poured onto the streets to mourn the death of the young protester who witnesses said was beaten by paramilitary forces. (Sajjad Hussain/Agence France-Presse/Getty Images)
EXIT EVIDENCE: Forensic experts marked the window of a bus Wednesday in Manila, Philippines, that was hijacked Monday by an ex-policeman who killed eight Hong Kong tourists. The police chief is on leave and four members of the standoff team were relieved pending an investigation. (Noel Celis/Agence France-Presse/Getty Images)
FRAMING THE SITUATION: A woman walked past a charred van Wednesday, a day after deadly gunbattles between the Shiite group Hezbollah and the Sunni group al-Ahbash in the Bourj Abi Haider district of Beirut, Lebanon. Soldiers were deployed to restore order. (Wael Hamzeh/European Pressphoto Agency)
CRASH VICTIMS: Bodies lay on the ground Wednesday after a plane crashed Tuesday in Yichun, Heilongjiang province, China, killing 42 of the 96 people on board. Investigators recovered two black boxes from the wreckage of the Henan Airlines jet and were waiting to question the pilot. (China Foto Press/ZUMA Press)
HOT SPOTS: A resident tried to extinguish a fire in a shanty town in Sao Paulo Wednesday. Authorities said around 70 houses were destroyed. No casualties were reported. (Andre Penner/Associated Press)
HUMAN REMAINS: A human skull sat on a post Wednesday in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, near a building that was destroyed in the January earthquake. (Thony Belizaire/Agence France-Presse/Getty Images)
ON THE FARM: Sarah Black collected eggs at Springfield Farm in Sparks, Md., Tuesday. The northern Baltimore County farm gets about 1,400 eggs daily from 2,000 chickens. (Rob Carr/Associated Press)
FAMILY TIME: U.S. Army Spc. Clayton Joy hugged his sons Peyton, 3, and Austin, 2, as soldiers were reunited with their loved ones at Joint Base Lewis-McChord in Washington state Wednesday. The soldiers are part of the last brigade of combat troops that were n Iraq. (Ted S. Warren/Associated Press)
SPRINKLED WITH POWDER: A boy was sprinkled with powder to cool him down at a relief camp for flood victims in Sukkur, Pakistan, Wednesday. (Akhtar Soomro/Reuters)
WORKING WITH GLASS: A laborer worked at a glass-bottle recycling factory in Uttar Pradesh, India, Wednesday. The workers earn about $1.59 a day. (Parivartan Sharma/Reuters)
TOMATO BATH: A man lay in tomato pulp at the annual Tomatina Festival in the village of Bunol, Spain, Wednesday. Thousands of people from all over the world descended on the town. (Alberto Saiz/Associated Press)
WILDEBEESTS RUN: Wildebeests ran after crossing a river in the Masai Mara Game Reserve near Nairobi, Kenya, Wednesday. The animals were migrating to greener pastures as the seasons change. (Thomas Mukoya/Reuters)
IMAGE FROM BELOW: An image of Florencio Avalos, one of 33 men trapped in a collapsed mine, was displayed on a TV set near the mine in Copiapo, Chile, Thursday. The miners have been trapped since early this month. (Natacha Pisarenko/Associated Press)
AWAITING DEPORTATION: Police officers escorted Roma people before they were expelled from France at an airport north of Paris Thursday. Paris Archbishop Andre Vingt-Trois has called the government’s crackdown on Roma people a “circus.” (Jacques Brinon/Associated Press)
A SECURE LOCATION: A paramilitary soldier peered out of the window of an armored car during a protest in Srinagar, India, Thursday. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said security forces in Kashmir need to find non-lethal means of controlling violent mobs to prevent more deaths. (Altaf Qadri/Associated Press)
BOMBING DEBRIS: A man surveyed debris Thursday in Baghdad from a collapsed building the day after a bombing. A string of attacks targeting Iraqi security forces on Wednesday left dozens dead and scores wounded. (Karim Kadim/Associated Press)
WAITING FOR FOOD: Flood victims lined up at a food-distribution site in Sukkar, Pakistan, Thursday. (Kevin Frayer/Associated Press)
SMOKING CAR: Men extinguished a torched vehicle in the East Jerusalem neighborhood of Silwan Thursday. Palestinians torched several vehicles and threw stones and firebombs at Israeli police after Jewish settlers approached a mosque, local residents and police said. (Ammar Awad/Reuters)
SHATTERED GLASS: Forensic police officers checked the area where a bomb exploded in Reggio Calabria, Italy, Thursday. The bomb damaged the apartment of a magistrate who investigates the ‘Ndrangheta criminal organization. The magistrate and other building occupants were unharmed. (Adriana Sapone/Associated Press)
IN MOURNING: Relatives mourned the deaths of two Spanish Civil Guard officers and their Iranian-born interpreter who were killed Wednesday by a “rogue” Afghan police officer at a military base in Afghanistan as their coffins arrived at an air base in Madrid Thursday. (Emilio Naranjo/European Pressphoto Agency)
STILL MARCHING: District of Columbia League of Women Voters President Billie Day was questioned by a National Park Service employee while trying to march in front of the White House on the 90th anniversary of the 19th Amendment Thursday in Washington. The amendment prohibits state and the government from denying women the right to vote. (Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)
NET IS SET: A villager waited with a net to catch offerings thrown by Hindu worshipers at Mount Bromo during the Yadnya Kasada Festival in Probolinggo, Indonesia, Thursday. The festival is based on a legend where God grants a couple 24 children, but they have to throw the 25th into a caldera. (Ulet Ifansasti/Getty Images)
ROCKET MAN: A man prepared to launch a rocket Thursday in Largs, Scotland, for International Rocket Week. (Jeff J. Mitchell/Getty Images)
SOLDIER PRAYS: An Afghan soldier prayed during guard duty in Zhari district, Kandahar province, Afghanistan, Thursday. The district is the birthplace of the Taliban. (Brennan Linsley/Associated Press)
BIG HAUL: A dead whale shark was lifted by a crane at a port in Taizhou, Zhejiang province, China, Thursday. The whale shark suffocated to death after it accidentally got caught in a fishnet, China Daily reported. (China Daily/Reuters)
OUT AND ABOUT: Umnuayporn Tongprapai, 40, was transported on a forklift to an ambulance in Bangkok Thursday. The 603-pound woman — believed to be the heaviest in Thailand — left her apartment for the first time in three years Thursday. (Sakchai Lalit/Associated Press)
LIVING GODDESS: Devotees paid their respects to a living goddess known locally as Kumari during the Gaijatra festival in Katmandu, Nepal, Thursday. The living goddesses are selected between the ages of 2 and 4; judges examine the children in ancient ceremonies and check them for physical imperfections. Critics say the tradition violates international and Nepalese laws on child rights. (Binod Joshi/Associated Press)
Construction workers secure sheet metal to the sides of the Manhattan-bound lanes of the Brooklyn Bridge earlier this week. Sections of the Brooklyn Bridge will close nightly for construction for the next four years. (Bryan Derballa for The Wall Street Journal)
People stop at a street memorial for Jose Almonte-Castillo, 18, and passenger Wasker Reynoso, 25, who were killed early Sunday, August 22, 2010, when the motorcycle they were traveling on skidded out of control on FDR Drive and smashed into a pole. Both were pronounced dead at the scene of the accident. (Timothy Fadek for The Wall Street Journal)
Tour participants look over the side of the roof of an enormous natural gas tank overlooking the the Fresh Kills estuary of Staten Island. This tour, led by Artist Marie Lorenz entitled, Ghost Ships of the Kills, took participants by bus to climb empty and never-used natural gas tanks and decrepit boats next to the Fresh Kills, a stream and freshwater estuary, next to the Fresh Kills Landfill. (Julie Platner for The Wall Street Journal)
Two baby Hamadryas baboons play around at the Wildlife Conservation Society’s Prospect Park Zoo on Thursday in Brooklyn. The baby baboons are currently named #1 and #2 and are the first baboon births at the zoo in six years. (Jason Andrew for The Wall Street Journal)
SSG Aimee Nicoletti of Queens reunites with her 2-year-old son, Michael, after returning from deployment in Iraq. (Uli Seit for The Wall Street Journal)
A salad of poached fish, tomatoes, cucumber and mint, photographed at the shop, a new hotel restaurant, at Andaz on Fifth in Manhattan. (Ramsay de Give for The Wall Street Journal)
Frank Carrado, 80, takes pictures of new condo buildings in Long Island City. A Long Island City resident since 1940, Carrado has been photographing the neighborhood for the last five years in effort to record the various changes and developments to his home. (Bryan Derballa for The Wall Street Journal)
Treena Thibodeau tightens surgical tubing to a found-object sculpture in Sunnyside, Queens Tuesday. Free Style Arts Association is doing a series of Giant Participation-Based Found Object Sculptures throughout Queens. They invite any and all to add their creation. (Bryan Derballa for The Wall Street Journal)
A court attendant works to remove water from the sodden court during the US Open Qualifying Tournament at the Billie Jean King National Tennis Center in Flushing on Tuesday. (Suzy Allman for The Wall Street Journal)
Jason Collins, the engineer of the B24 Bomber, checks the controls as the plane returns to Westchester County Airport over the weekend in White Plains. The Collings Foundation’s Wings of Freedom Tour brought extremely rare bomber and fighter aircraft for a local living history display.
(Jason Andrew for The Wall Street Journal)
Scene outside of New York Pennsylvania Station as the NYPD prepares for up to 100,000 stranded or heavily delayed passengers after a fire at a LIRR switching tower in Queens crippled Long Island train service on Monday. (Rob Bennett for The Wall Street Journal)
Commuters await train announcements for the Long Island Rail Road at Penn Station Monday. (Keith Bedford for The Wall Street Journal)
Police break up a fight between Darren Harper and Stevie Williams person at the Red Bull Manny Mania Pro skateboard contest at Coleman Park underneath the Manhattan Bridge on the Lower East Side on Sunday. The event ended early due to rain. A manny, or manual, is a skating maneuver performed on two wheels. (John Marshall Mantel for The Wall Street Journal)
This undated photograph provided by the New York Taxi Workers Alliance shows taxi driver Ahmed H. Sharif in a hospital in New York. A drunken passenger riding in a New York City taxi attacked the driver after asking him if he was Muslim, police said. Sharif was treated for wounds to the throat, upper lip, forearm and thumb. (New York Taxi Workers Alliance/Associated Press)
Bailey, 2, shivers during his rainy afternoon walk in Soho. (Daniella Zalcman for The Wall Street Journal)
STILL SMILING: An image released Thursday by Television Nacional de Chile showed one of 33 trapped miners waving at a camera in the underground chamber in Capiapo, Chile. (Television Nacional de Chile/Associated Press)
A firefighter checked a hose through which water was pumped from a flooded house in Wissingen, Germany, Friday. Parts of Lower Saxony and North Rhine-Westphalia have been severely affected by storms. (DPA/Zuma Press)
COWBOYS PRAY: Cowboys prayed during the opening ceremony of a rodeo festival in Diamantino, Brazil, Thursday. (Ricardo Moraes/Reuters)
ONE STUCK PIG: A man tried to save his pig stuck in debris-filled water from a burnt-down home in Navotas, Philippines, Friday. The fire, which broke out Thursday night, left at least two people dead and destroyed about 350 shanties. Thousands of people were left homeless. (Rouelle Umali/Xinhua/ZUMA Press)
COMMANDING THE CROWD: Jammu Kashmir Liberation Front Chairman Mohammed Yasin Malik looked on as supporters shouted slogans during a protest Friday in Srinagar, India, against recent killings of protesters by security forces. (Mukhtar Khan/Associated Press)
BUSY CHECKPOINT: Israeli soldiers watched a crowd of Palestinian women in line at the first of several checkpoints leading from the West Bank into the Jerusalem area at sunrise on Friday. Tens of thousands of people jammed the checkpoints to attend prayers at the al-Aqsa Mosque for Ramadan. (Jim Hollander/European Pressphoto Agency)
LANDSLIDE AFTERMATH: Residents searched for their belongings among the rubble in landslide-hit Gundogdu, Turkey, Friday. Landslides and floods triggered by torrential rains killed at least 12 people. (Osman Orsa/Reuters)
MOTHER CRIES: A mother, center, cried near the body of her son, who died from a waterborne disease in Sindh province, Pakistan, Friday. The United Nations has warned that millions of children were at risk of contracting illnesses in flood-ravaged Pakistan. (Rehan Khan/European Pressphoto Agency)
IN A HEARING: BP drilling engineer Brett Cocales, right, was counseled by his attorney Philip Hilder during a hearing into the Deepwater Horizon oil rig explosion conducted by the Coast Guard and Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, Regulation and Enforcement in Houston Friday. (Pat Sullivan/European Pressphoto Agency)
COVERED: A Palestinian Muslim worshiper tried to keep cool with an umbrella near the Dome of the Rock Mosque in the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound in Jerusalem’s Old City Friday. (Muhammed Muheisen/Associated Press)
ON GUARD: A soldier stood guard at the site of a car bomb attack outside broadcaster Televisa in Victoria, Mexico, Friday. The bomb exploded inside a vehicle parked outside the TV studio. No injuries were reported, but the station’s signal was knocked out and buildings were damaged. (Henry Romero/Reuters)
LONG HORN: Alphorn maker Josef Stocker checked an alphorn in Kriens, Switzerland, Thursday. He takes about 20 hours to complete a handmade alphorn, which sell for thousands of dollars. (Michael Buholzer/Reuters)
GROWING GREEN: A worker inspected lettuce growing under artificial light and in a liquid solution at China’s first computer-controlled greenhouse seedling factory located on the outskirts of Beijing Friday. (David Gray/Reuters)
The Sleepless City
Delivery man Rich Lopes carries a stack of newspapers to a vendor on Wall Street at 5:57 a.m. (Keith Bedford for The Wall Street Journal)
Lesley Shannon, 24, and Brandon Hollely, 29, kiss at the corner of 27th Street and Broadway. (Benjamin Norman for The Wall Street Journal)
A man works on his laptop in front of the Apple Store on 14th Street at 4:46 a.m. (Keith Bedford for The Wall Street Journal)
The dance floor at Enid’s in Brooklyn’s Greenpoint neighborhood. (Benjamin Norman for The Wall Street Journal)
Macier Radman, in the blact hat, takes an order at a Punjab food cart on 27th Street and 5th Avenue. (Benjamin Norman for The Wall Street Journal)
Italian tourists sit on the curb on 9th Avenue and 14th Street after leaving a bar at 4:58 a.m. (Keith Bedford for The Wall Street Journal)
Two couples have intimate moments on Avenue A. (Benjamin Norman for The Wall Street Journal)
A man purchases a copy of The Wall Street Journal from a vendor on Wall Street at 5:54 a.m. (Keith Bedford for The Wall Street Journal)
A young man gets sick on 2nd Street near Avenue A. (Benjamin Norman for The Wall Street Journal)
Police officers line up for roll call at Madison Square Park at 5:04 a.m. (Keith Bedford for The Wall Street Journal)
A traffic officer crosses Canal Street at 6:47a.m. (Keith Bedford for The Wall Street Journal!)
Street sweepers clean along Wall Street at 6:25 a.m. (Keith Bedford for The Wall Street Journal!)
One last drink in Union Square around 5:30 a.m. (Benjamin Norman for The Wall Street Journal)
A food vendor walks up 11th Avenue near 47th Street. (Ramsay de Give for The Wall Street Journal)
OPEN WIDE: A costumed reveler performed at the Notting Hill Carnival in London Monday. Held each August since 1966, the carnival is the largest festival celebration of its kind in Europe. (Matt Dunham/Associated Press)
IN THE HOT SEAT: Bank of Japan Governor Masaaki Shirakawa attended a news conference after an emergency board meeting in Tokyo Monday. The government announced a modest stimulus package and the central bank took steps aimed at curbing the rising yen. (Tomohiro Ohsumi/Bloomberg)
LION IN RED: A worker painted a wall under a golden, winged lion, a symbol of the Venice Film Festival, in front of the Cinema Palace in Venice Monday. The festival starts Sept. 1. (Alessandro Bianchi/Reuters)
BURIED: A firefighter covered a body Sunday in Tegucigalpa, Honduras. Five people died in heavy rains. (Leonel Estrada/DPA/ZUMA Press)
ADDRESSING THE MEDIA: Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych and German Chancellor Angela Merkel attended a news conference after talks in Berlin Monday. Ms. Merkel said she held “very open” talks with Mr. Yanukovych about press freedom following criticisms from journalists and international watchdogs. (John MacDougall/Agence France-Presse/Getty Images)
CLEMENS IN COURT: Roger Clemens arrived at the U.S. District Court in Washington Monday. The former pitcher pleaded not guilty Monday to charges of lying to Congress about whether he used steroids or human-growth hormone. If convicted, he could face up to 30 years in prison and a $1.5 million fine. (Mark Wilson/Getty Images)
HEADS HANG LOW: Montenegran players Zdravko Radic and Milan Ticic covered their faces as the opposing Italian team celebrated its water polo victory at the European Water Polo Championships in Zagreb, Croatia, Monday. Italy won 11-10. (Attila Kisbenedek/Agence France-Presse/Getty Images)
ALL WET: A young music fan got water thrown in her face as she talked on the phone at the Reading Festival in Reading, England, Sunday. (Simone Joyner/Getty Images)
RAIN IN INDIA: A man walked across a street under a colorful umbrella in Mumbai Monday. (Rafiq Maqbool/Associated Press)
SARIS FOR SALE: A salesman displayed saris at a textile shop during the Islamic holy month of Ramadan in Dhaka, Bangladesh, Monday. Ramadan is one of the busiest times of year for retail sales in the Bangladesh. (Munir Uz Zaman/Agence France-Presse/Getty Images)
ON THE RAMPAGE: A gunman, pictured, went on a rampage in Bratislava, Slovakia, Monday, killing seven people and wounding 15 before he committed suicide, police said. Five of the fatalities were members of a Roma family in an apartment where the man began the attack with a machine gun and two pistols (Rudolf Urmin/Reuters)
MINKS RUN FREE: Minks ran past other dead minks on a road near Kastoria, Greece, Monday. Police said break-ins at two fur farms have set more than 50,000 minks on the loose in northern Greece. (Nikolas Giakoumidis/Associated Press)
MINE VIGIL: Relatives of 33 trapped miners held a candlelight vigil outside the San Jose mine in Copiapo, Chile, Sunday. The miners have been trapped since Aug. 5. (Roberto Candia/Associated Press)
LAVA LAKE: A Congolese soldier looked into a bubbling crater of the Nyiragongo volcano in Virunga National Park near Goma, Congo, Monday. Soldiers and park rangers are conducting joint operations to secure large swathes of the park, which has been home to various armed groups. (Finbarr O’Reilly/Reuters)
DORMANT NO MORE: Mount Sinabung spewed volcanic ash Monday in Karo, Indonesia, Monday, causing tens of thousands of people to evacuate. The volcano last erupted in 1600. (Roone Patikawa/Associated Press)
HITCHING A RIDE: A child dressed as Hindu Lord Krishna rode on the back of a motorcycle with her family in Ahmedabad, India, Monday. (Ajit Solanki/Associated Press)
IN FOCUS: A woman working in a paddy smiled for a picture in the village of Mauayma, north of Allahabad, India, Tuesday. (Rajesh Kumar Singh/Associated Press)
TEAMWORK: Amish farmers helped a firefighter pull a hose across a burning field in East Lampeter Township, Pa., Monday. The fire burned more than two acres of newly cut hayfield. (Blaine Shahan/Intelligencer Journal-Lancaster New Era/Associated Press)
EARL’S FURY: Waves from Hurricane Earl battered a boat near Tortola, British Virgin Islands, Monday. The Category 4 hurricane was expected to remain over the ocean before running parallel to the east coast of the U.S., potentially reaching the North Carolina coast by late Thursday or early Friday. (Todd VanSickle/Associated Press)
CHEFS IN SNOW: Restaurant staff played outside at snow-covered Kasprowy Wierch Peak in the southern Polish town of Zakopane Tuesday. The weather changed rapidly in the mountains since Monday. (Marek Podmokly/Agencja Gazeta/Reuters)
GOT IT COVERED: A girl covered her head with a plastic bag amid heavy rainfall in Mumbai Tuesday. (Rajanish Kakade/Associated Press)
TWO TO TANGO: Junko Mori, left, and Rene Torres represented Argentina in the 2010 Tango World Championship Salon category finals in Buenos Aires Monday. (Natacha Pisarenko/Associated Press)
COURT DATE: Caroline Giuliani, 21, the daughter of former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani and Donna Hanover, exited a Manhattan court Tuesday. A judge ordered her to perform a day of community service and keep out of trouble in order to eventually have a shoplifting charge dismissed. (Louis Lanzano/Associated Press)
A SCOTT FAN: Republican Florida gubernatorial candidate Rick Scott signed a supporter’s shirt as he campaigned in Sweetwater, Fla., Tuesday. Mr. Scott, who spent millions of his own dollars to beat his primary opponent, is running against Democrat Alex Sink and independent Lawton “Bud” Chiles III. (Joe Raedle/Getty Images))
ASSEMBLING IN MOSCOW: Opposition party supporters protested in Moscow in defense of the right to free assembly, which activists say the government is restricting. (Mikhail Voskresensky/Reuters)
CHEEKY CYCLIST: Team Milram rider Dominik Roels of Germany cycled during the fourth stage of the Tour of Spain race between Malaga and Valdepenas de Jaen Tuesday. (Felix Ordonez/Reuters)
DIRECT HIT: Muay Thai fighter Wang W. of China took a hit to the face from Tsotne Rogava of Ukraine during their fight at the SportAccord Combat Games in Beijing Tuesday. (Diego Azubel/European Pressphoto Agency)
CAPTURED: Young men lay on the ground after being arrested in Guatemala City Monday. Five youths between the ages of 15 and 19 were captured after they allegedly killed a police officer at a police station. (Doriam Morales/Reuters)
A MOTHER MOURNS HER SON: Graciela Galindo cried in front of a coffin containing the remains of her son in Bogota, Colombia, Tuesday. Officials released the remains of about 11 people believed to have been killed by rebels and paramilitary forces in clashes. (John Vizcaino/Reuters)
IN HELL’S GATE: People straddled rocks in Hell’s Gate National park, north of Nairobi, Kenya, Monday. Hell’s Gate was once a tributary of a prehistoric lake that fed early humans in the Rift Valley. (Zhao Yingquan/Xinhua/ZUMA Press)
BALANCING ACT: Flood victims used part of a damaged railway track to cross floodwaters as they made their way to a village near Sukkur, Pakistan, Tuesday. (Damir Sagolj/Reuters)
PAST MEETS PRESENT: A man dressed in traditional attire spoke on a cellphone during the annual Reed Dance in Swaziland Monday. During the ceremony, virgin girls cut reeds and present them to the queen mother. King Mswati III can also choose a new wife. (Siphiwe Sibeko/Reuters)
END OF THE MONTH....
✈ladies and gentlemen this is your captain speaking
✈i'd like to welcome you on my blog in my flight into the history
✈flight duration is unlimited and i am expecting a fairly smooth interesting reading to all my posts in this trip today
✈please keep your seat belt fastened and stop smoking
✈Once again thank you for choosing to fly with me in my simple blog today.
✈and i hope you enjoy your flight into the history
♥♥♥♥♥Captain Tarek♥♥♥♥♥
