The Best Pictures of the Week, September 16 – September 23

September 22, 2011. A displaced Pakistani child looks on while being held by her mother as they and others take refuge in a college in Tando Muhammad Khan near Hyderabad, Pakistan, after fleeing their flood-hit homes. Many people are still stranded by floods that first hit Pakistan in August following unusually heavy monsoon rains and have affected at least 5.4 million people. Muhammed Muheisen—AP

September 18, 2011. A passing Palestinian man is silhouetted on the Israeli barrier near the West Bank’s Shuafat refugee camp. The Palestinian government prepared this week to ask the United Nations to recognize an independent nation of Palestine. Abir Sultan—EPA

September 17, 2011. Saddle Soaring An equestrian competitor leans into an acrobatic move at the Ninth Chinese Traditional Games for Ethnic Nationalities in Guiyang, China. Guo Yong/Xinhua Press/Corbis

September 16, 2011. Debris flies from the grandstands at a Reno, Nev., air show as a P-51 Mustang airplane crashes near the finish line on Sept. 16. The accident killed 11 people, including veteran Hollywood stunt pilot Jimmy Leeward, who was flying the WWII-era fighter plane. The cause of the crash is under investigation. Ward Howes—AP

September 16, 2011. Though Muammar Gaddafi went into hiding weeks ago, the forces of Libya’s new leaders are still battling the remnants of his die-hard supporters. Here, soldiers fire a 130-mm howitzer at pro-Gaddafi forces near Sirt, one of two besieged Gaddafi strongholds under attack last week. Asmaa Waguih—Reuters

September. 19, 2011. A rose blooms in Bad Nauheim, Germany’s rose capital and home to 40 rose-cultivation farms. The blooms will be mowed down and the petals removed for sale to garden centers. Each field can be used to grow roses for only a two-year period before being depleted. Frank Rumpenhorst—DPA/Zuma Press

September 16, 2011. A 55-year-old man sets himself ablaze outside a bank in Thessaloniki,Greece, after being refused a renegotiation of overdue loan payments for his home and business. The man was hospitalized for chest burns. Greece’s lingering debt crisis continues to threaten the European and world economy. Nodas Stylianidis—Photoreportage/Reuters

September 19, 2011. Villagers gather outside a house whose walls cracked from an earthquake in Jalpaiguri, West Bengal. According to officials, the 6.8-magnitude earthquake that struck northeastern India has claimed more than 100 lives thus far. EPA

September 20, 2011. A newborn wears an identification tag at the Malalai Maternity hospital in Kabul. War-torn Afghanistan is one of the worst places in the world to be pregnant; UNICEF estimates that one woman there dies every 30 minutes from pregnancy complications. Adek Berry/AFP/Getty Images

September 19, 2011. Beach-goers sunbathe near a cluster of brooms, set up at Copacabana beach in Rio de Janeiro as a protest against political corruption. The display, organized by the Brazilian group Rio de Paz, includes 594 brooms—one for each Brazilian legislator. Felipe Dana—AP

September 18, 2011. A Pakistani child displaced by floods sleeps in a hammock at a shanty, in Badin district near Hyderabad, Pakistan. Muhammed Muheisen—AP

September 16, 2011. Villagers in the flood-ravaged province of Sindh cling to their belongings. The waters have so far claimed over 270 lives. AFP/Getty Images

September 22, 2011. Pakistanis ride a motorcycle along a narrow path surrounded by flood water, on the outskirts of Hyderabad, Pakistan. In Pakistan's Sindh province alone, the floods have killed over 220 people, damaged or destroyed some 665,000 homes and displaced more than 1.8 million people, according to the United Nations. Muhammed Muheisen—AP

September 16, 2011. A girl runs across a flooded road as water recedes in Puri district, about 55 kilometers (34 miles) from the eastern Indian city of Bhubaneshwar. Aerial food drops were suspended after five days on Friday as flood waters began to recede in the Mahanadi Delta in Orissa state. At least 26 people died during the devastating floods which affected people in 19 districts of the state. Biswaranjan Rout—AP

September 17, 2011. More than 1,000 floating nude Israelis pose for US art photographer Spencer Tunick's first Middle East mass shoot in the Dead Sea, the lowest spot on earth which experts warn could dry out by 2050 unless urgent steps are taken to halt its demise. For Tunick, a Jewish American who has arranged naked human bodies over prominent landscapes and landmarks ranging from a Swiss glacier to the Sydney Opera House, a nude installation is an indicator of a host country's openness. Jack Guez—AFP/Getty Images

September 18, 2011. Afghan women are seen during a patrol by US soldiers of Bravo company 2nd Batalion 27th Infantry in Kunar province. A decade of fighting in Afghanistan has since snowballed into a huge effort involving around 130,000 foreign troops from dozens of countries, with the resilient Taliban using homemade bombs and guerrilla tactics in a bid to undermine the Afghan government and the NATO mission. Tauseef Mustafa—AFP/Getty Images

September 16, 2011. Palestinians gather on the rooftop of a building on which construction was halted. In January 2009 the building was bombed during Israel's military offensive in Beit Lahiya, northern Gaza Strip.Bernat Armangue—AP

20 September 2011. A young Israeli Jewish boy waves his national flag next to two settlers carrying an assault rifle and a hand gun prior to a protest of Israeli settlers against the upcoming Palestinian statehood bid in the Israeli Jewish settlement of Itamar, close to Nablus, West Bank. Oliver Weiken—EPA

September 18, 2011. Participants march during the Gay Pride Parade in Brasilia. Some 45,000 people took part in the annual parade making it second largest gay pride march in Brazil. Ueslei Marcelino—Reuters

September 19, 2011. Men peer past a cloth barrier which was raised to cordon off the site of a suicide bomb attack in Karachi. At least eight people were killed, including six policemen, after a Taliban suicide bomber drove an explosives-laden car into the home of a senior police official in Pakistan's commercial hub Karachi. Athar Hussain—Reuters

September 20, 2011. A casualty is brought in from the front line to a hospital in Misrata; Libya's third largest city. US President Barack Obama hailed a "new chapter" for Libya as the victorious rebels' red, black and green flag was hoisted at the United Nations ahead of its annual General Assembly. Ricardo Garcia Vilanova—AFP/Getty Images

September 21, 2011. A participant walks over a bonfire during the annual autumn solstice fire gathering of Gyöngyöspata, 80 km northeast of Budapest, Hungary. The autumn solstice is a time of balance, when day and night become equal length. Peter Komka—EPA

20 September 2011. A police forensic officer enters a house on Turner Street, Sparkbrook, Birmingham, following the arrest of six men in Birmingham as part of a large intelligence-led counter-terrorism operation.PA Photos /Landov

September 21, 2011. A former rebel fighter lays shrouded after a rocket propelled grenade accident in Wadi Dinar, Libya. A commander of new government's forces said late Tuesday they were in control of most of the Gadhafi desert stronghold of Sabha after a day of fighting. The commander, Bashir Ahwaz, said most of the tribesmen loyal to Gadhafi fled the city instead of putting up a fight. Alexandre Meneghini—AP

September 19, 2011. Anti-Gaddafi fighters salvage weapons from a pro-Gaddafi weapons and ammunition compound in a village near Sirte, one of Muammar Gaddafi's last remaining strongholds. Goran Tomasevic—Reuters

September 21, 2011. Libyan National Transitional Council (NTC) fighters drive a tank at an outpost on the outskirts of the city of Bani Walid.Joseph Eid—AFP/Getty Images

September 16, 2011. The painted face of a special forces soldier is reflected in a mirror during preparations for the Independence Day celebration at the Zocalo in Mexico city. The country celebrates the 201st anniversary of their independence from Spain.Carlos Jasso—Reuters

September 21, 2011. Israeli soldiers arrest a Palestinian demonstrator during clashes at the Qalandia checkpoint between the West Bank city of Ramallah and Jerusalem. Palestinians clashed with Israeli security forces in Qalandia as thousands of flag-waving Palestinians rallied in towns across the West Bank to show support for their president's bid to win U.N. recognition of a Palestinian state. Tara Todras-Whitehill—AP

September 22, 2011. A view of ongoing construction at the Olympiyskiy National Stadium, which will host the final soccer match of Euro 2012 in Kiev, Ukraine. The Olympiyskiy stadium will open on October 8, 2011.Efrem Lukatsky—AP

September 22, 2011. An Indian child, a survivor of last Sunday's 6.9-magnitude earthquake, looks out from the window of a tent where she took shelter in Chungthang, India. Rescuers in helicopters on Thursday reached some of the villages in India's remote northeast that were cut off by the powerful earthquake that rattled the Himalayan region last weekend. Altaf Qadri—AP

September 22, 2011. An elephant is winched onto the back of a truck near Narok in Kenya during a translocation exercise. Kenyan rangers began relocating 50 rampaging elephants to the renowned Masai Mara Game Reserve to stem rising human deaths and property destruction in outlying villages. The first four of the elephants due to be relocated over the next 10 days were shot with tranquilizer darts from a helicopter near Narok town, some 150 kilometres (90 miles) south of Nairobi, a zone notorious for human-wildlife conflict. Tony Karumba—AFP/Getty Images

September 22, 2011. A U.S. soldier from Task Force "No Fear" Alpha Company, 2-27 Infantry "The Wolfhounds", chews tobacco next to a machine gun in a bunker of Combat Outpost (COP) Pirtle King in Ghaziabad district, Kunar province, eastern Afghanistan. Erik De Castro—Reuters

More Must-Reads From TIME