From violent clashes in Lebanon and wildfires in Spain to a disabled beauty pageant in Thailand and a Kids’ “State Dinner” at the White House, TIME presents the best images of the week.
Aug. 20, 2012. Indian Muslims take part in Eid al-Fitr prayers at Jama Masjid in New Delhi.Kevin Frayer–APAug. 20, 2012. A student walks to class at the first day of school for North Palm Beach Elementary in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida. Gary Coronado–The Palm Beach Post/ZUMAPRESS.comAug. 20, 2012. Honor guards carry the coffins of police troopers killed in an attack on an intelligence service headquarters, during a funeral procession in Sanaa. Khaled Abdullah–ReutersAug. 20, 2012. Party balloons sit on the floor of the Cross Hall of the White House in Washington in preparation for the Kids' "State Dinner," hosted by first lady Michelle Obama. Pablo Martinez Monsivais–APAug. 20, 2012. A youth jumps from a diving platform at Stadionbad, a public outdoor swimming pool, in Vienna.Lisi Niesner–ReutersAug. 19, 2012. A college student lights candles during a ceremony to mark the 1,000th day since a 2009 massacre that left 57 people, including journalists, dead, in Manila. Noel Celis–AFP/Getty ImagesAug. 17, 2012. A French army soldier of the 1st Combat Helicopter Battalion pushes a Viviane Gazelle helicopter at the Kabul International airport in Kabul.Alexander Klein–AFP/Getty ImagesAug. 19, 2012. An Orthodox Christian woman prays at Bet Medhane Alem rock church in Lalibela, Ethiopia. Aug. 19, 2012. North Korean soldiers and residents run to greet North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un (not pictured) as he arrives to visit a military unit on an island in the southwest of Pyongyang in this picture released by the North's official KCNA news agency in Pyongyang.
Reuters/KCNA Aug. 21, 2012. Embers from a wildfire glow on the ground in Tabuyo del Monte, near Leon, Spain. Numerous wildfires have broken out across Spain in the sweltering heat in recent weeks.Cesar Manso–AFP/Getty ImagesAug. 17, 2012. Police look on as women carry placards in protest against the killing of miners by the South African police outside a South African mine in Rustenburg, 100 km (62 miles) northwest of Johannesburg.Siphiwe Sibeko–ReutersAug. 17, 2012. A Free Syrian Army fighter holds an AK-47 rifle as another kicks a burning tyre past a mannequin made to look like a fighter during clashes in the Salaheddine neighbourhood of central Aleppo.Goran Tomasevic–ReutersAug. 17, 2012. Muslims offering last Friday prayers are seen through the spectacles of a man at the Jama Masjid (Grand Mosque) before Eid-al-Fitr in the old quarters of Delhi.Adnan Abidi–ReutersAug. 17, 2012. Contestants gather backstage in their costumes during a rehearsal for the finals of the Miss World beauty pageant at Dongsheng Stadium in Ordos, Inner Mongolia, China.How Hwee Young–EPAAug. 17, 2012. Indonesian men compete in a palm tree climbing race to mark the 67th anniversary of Indonesia's independence day in Jakarta.Mast Irham–EPAAug. 18, 2012.Volunteers with the Ibn Walid katiba (brigade) take part in physical training on the outskirts of Marea in northern Syria.Phil Moore–AFP/Getty ImagesAug. 18, 2012. Morgue workers carry a bag containing an unidentified body into a grave at Divine Paradise cemetery in Tegucigalpa.Jorge Cabrera–ReutersAug. 18, 2012. A humpback whales lunges out of the water to feed near a gathering of spectators just off a beach at San Luis Obispo, Calif.Bill Bouton–APAug. 18, 2012. A young Palestinian man in the Al Samra Turkish Hammam 'bath' in Gaza City.Ali Ali–EPAAug. 19, 2012. Orthodox Christian pilgrims attend Sunday mass at Bet Medhane Alem rock church in Lalibela, Ethiopia.Siegfried Modola–ReutersAug. 19, 2012. The Polish aerobatic team 'Zelezny' performs during an air picnic in Nowym Targu, Poland. Grzegorz Momot–EPAAug. 19, 2012. Canadian veterans take part in the 70th anniversary ceremony of the Dieppe Raid in Dieppe, northwestern France, in memory of the Second World War Allied attack on the German-occupied port of Dieppe on Aug. 19, 1942.
Charly Triballeau–AFP/Getty ImagesAug. 19, 2012. An Iranian woman with her prayer beads during an Eid al-Fitr prayer in the Olympic Village neighborhood in western Tehran. Behrouz Mehri–AFP/Getty ImagesAug. 19, 2012. A Palestinian man carries palm fronds to lay on the graves of relatives during the first day of Eid al-Fitr, which marks the end of the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan, outside Jerusalem's Old City.Bernat Armangue–APAug. 20, 2012. Israeli Arabs get their picture taken with a pet snake at an amusement park as Muslims celebrated the Eid al-Fitr holiday, which marks the end of the holy fasting month of Ramadan in Acre, Israel. Uriel Sinai–Getty ImagesAug. 20, 2012. A latecomer climbs into the prayer hall of a crowded mosque for Eid al-Fitr mass prayers at Kashmiri Takiya Jame mosque in Kathmandu. Navesh Chitrakar–ReutersAug. 20, 2012. Muslim devotees leave after Eid al-fitr prayer in Bhopal, India.Sanjeev Gupa–EPAAug. 20, 2012. A couple rehearsals before competing at the Tango Dance World Cup 2012, salon category, in Buenos Aires.Natacha Pisarenko–APAug. 20, 2012. Republican presidential candidate, former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, right, and vice presidential running mate Rep. Paul Ryan, R-Wis., left, shake hands as they arrive to a campaign rally in Manchester N.H. Evan Vucci—APAug. 20, 2012. Goats rest on a vintage truck at Caribou Crossing near Carcross in Yukon, Canada.Chris Wattie–ReutersAug. 20, 2012. U.S. Army Liutenant David Mc Curdy launches a Puma Dorin airplane at the Forward Operating Base Joyce in Kunar province, Afghanistan. Jose Cabezas–AFP/Getty ImagesAug. 20, 2012. A young Afghan refugee poses with a plastic rifle as he and other children celebrate the first day of the Eid al-Fitr festival, which marks the end of the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan, in a slum on the outskirts of Islamabad.Muhammed Muheisen–APAug. 20, 2012. Tibetan Buddhist monks debate Buddhist related issues in the courtyard of the Sera Monastery on in Lhasa, Tibet. Hong Wu–Getty ImagesAug. 20, 2012. Swimmers wait for the gush of a man-made tide in a salty swimming pool dubbed China's Dead Sea in Daying county in southwest China's Sichuan province.Zhing Min–EPAAug. 13, 2012. Workers finish construction on display screens on stage at the Republican National Convention at the Tampa Bay Times Forum in Tampa, Fla.Edward Linsmier–The New York Times via ReduxAug. 20, 2012. Russian cosmonaut Gennady Padalka is seen on a screen at Russian Mission Control Center in Korolev outside Moscow during his spacewalk to install additional anti-meteorite panels at the International Space Station. Yuri Kochetkov–EPAAug. 20, 2012. Israeli firefighters prepare their gear before rappelling from a building as they take part in a drill with soldiers from the Home Front Command during a simulated missile attack on an apartment block, in the southern city of Ashkelon.Amir Cohen–ReutersAug. 21, 2012. A man stands next to the door of his room under a bridge in Manila. Families cram into small rooms under a bridge so they can live for free. Paula Bronstein–Getty ImagesAug. 21, 2012. Ecuador's Tungurahua volcano spews ash on the nearby town of Banos. The authorities are encouraging residents living near the volcano to evacuate. Gary Granja–ReutersAug. 21, 2012. Helicopters fly over a field as tanks fire a volley during the annual live fire exercise by the Japan Ground Self-Defense Force (JGSDF) at the foot of Mount Fuji in Gotemba, 100km southwest of Tokyo, Japan. Everett Kennedy Brown–EPAAug. 21, 2012. A family plays in the sea in Blackpool, England. Dan Kitwood–Getty ImagesAug. 21, 2012. A woman holds her baby as Palestinians enjoy a day at a beach during Eid al-Fitr, which marks the end of the holy month of Ramadan in Tel Aviv. Uriel Sinai–Getty ImagesAug. 22, 2012. This image shows the tracks left by NASA's Curiosity rover as it completed its first test drive on Mars. NASA/JPL–Caltech/ZUMAPRESS.comAug. 22, 2012. Pattarawan Panitcha is crowned during the Miss Wheelchair Thailand 2012 contest in Bangkok. Rungroj Yongrit–EPAAug. 22, 2012. U.S. President Barack Obama boards Air Force One as he departs Las Vegas enroute to New York.
Kevin Lamarque–ReutersAug. 22, 2012. Air Force One sits on the airport tarmac as U.S. President Barack Obama campaigns in Las Vegas.Kevin Lamarque–ReutersAug. 22, 2012. American tourist Ella uses an iPad while riding a Wi-Fi-outfitted donkey led by her brother Aaron, in Kfar Kedem, a biblical reenactment park in the village of Hoshaya in the Galilee, northern Israel.Ariel Schalit–APAug. 22, 2012. Sunni Muslim gunmen aim their rifles from the Sunni Muslim-dominant neighbourhood of Bab al-Tebbaneh in Tripoli, northern Lebanon, during clashes between Sunni Muslims and Alawites.ReutersAug. 22, 2012. An Alliance Patriot For Congo Libre and Sovereign (APCLS) mayi-mayi rebel waits where they have their headquarters in Luckweti village, north Kivu, Democratic Republic of the Congo. Michel Sibilon—AFP/GettyImagesAug. 23, 2012. Ultra-Orthodox Jewish men attend the funeral of Rabbi Abraham Chaim Roth on the Mount of Olives in Jerusalem.Bernat Armangue—APAug. 23, 2012. Orthodox priests conduct a religious ceremony next to the casket bearing the remains of Patriarch of the Ethiopian Orthodox Church, Abune Paulos, during his funeral at the St Selassie Orthodox church in Addis Ababa.Simon Main—AFP/Getty ImagesAug. 23, 2012. Members from a local church mourn near the site where miners were killed during clashes at Lonmin's Marikana platinum mine, before a memorial service in Rustenburg, 100 km (62 miles) northwest of Johannesburg, Siphiwe Sibeko–Reuters
