The Best Pictures of the Week, July 8 – July 15

1 minute read

This week: The final liftoff for the space shuttle, Southern Sudan declares independence, Pakistan a year after he floods, Somalia, the “worst humanitarian disaster” in the world, the biggest marijuana plantation found in Mexico, a frozen Great Hammerhead Shark, the Tour de France, and the FINA World Swimming Championships in Shanghai.

See last week’s Best Pictures of the Week.

USA
July 8, 2011. As Atlantis takes to the skies for the final flight of a U.S. space shuttle, it begins its roll program, which aligns it properly to enter orbit.Dan Winters for TIME
Kenya
July 10, 2011. Members of a Somali family are overtaken by dust as they try to build a makeshift shelter on the outskirts of the Dagahaley camp, the world’s largest refugee settlement, outside Dadaab, Kenya. The drought in Somalia has been called the worst humanitarian disaster in the world by U.N. officials. Rebecca Blackwell—AP
Spain
July 11, 2011. A would-be immigrant huddles under a blanket aboard a ship after 64 men, two women and one child were intercepted on a fishing vessel off the coast of southern Spain. Authorities say they were attempting to sneak into Europe from Africa. Jon Nazca—Reuters
Hungary
July 9, 2011. A boy cools off by going down a water slide at an aquatic park in Mogyorod, near Budapest, where temperatures reached over 96°F over the weekend. Laszlo Balogh—Reuters
India
July 11, 2011. An Indian passenger waits for his train to leave the station in New Delhi. Rail service across northern India was disrupted as authorities worked to clear the tracks after two trains derailed in separate accidents on July 10. Indian trains carry about 14 million passengers every day. Kevin Frayer—AP
Spain
July 9, 2011. Revelers move away from the fire bull, a fireworks-spouting metal figure carried through the streets on the fourth day of the nine-day San Fermín festival in Pamplona, Spain. Visitors can also take part in the running of the bulls, a half-mile dash from the corral to the bullring alongside six bulls destined to die in the afternoon’s corrida. Vincent West—Reuters
Egypt
July 12, 2011. Protesters march with a giant Egyptian flag in Cairo’s Tahrir Square. Egypt’s military rulers have warned protesters against “harming public interests” as demonstrators laid siege to Cairo’s largest government building and threatened to expand their sit-in to other sites in the capital.Nasser Nasser—AP
Egypt
July 8, 2011. Egyptian demonstrators perform the weekly Friday prayer before a rally in downtown Cairo's Tahrir Square. Tens of thousands of Egyptians took to the streets across the country to defend the uprising that toppled president Hosni Mubarak, directing their anger at the new military rulers over the slow pace of reform. Khaled Desouki—AFP/Getty Images
Australia
July 12, 2011. This 15-ft., 3,300-lb. great hammerhead shark was caught in Australian waters as a bycatch by commercial fishermen in March 2010. Now housed in a specially designed refrigerated unit, it’s being exhibited at the aquarium in Melbourne to raise shark conservation awareness. Mick Tsikas—Reuters
Pakistan
July 12, 2011. A man sleeps under an insect net in a camp for victims of floods in Sukkur, Pakistan. He has been homeless for almost a year. 5 million people are at risk of being displaced by flooding this year, following poor reconstruction after the historic 2010 disaster. Akhtar Soomro—Reuters
South Sudan
July 9, 2011. Thousands of people gather in Juba, South Sudan, to hear the declaration of independence read aloud as the region celebrated its independence. At 1:20 pm on Saturday, after more than five decades of an underdog, guerilla struggle and two million lives lost, the Republic of South Sudan, Africa's 54th state, officially declared its independence. Tyler Hicks—The New York Times/Redux
Southern Sudan
July 10, 2011. Southern Sudanese crowd tightly together to watch the Republic of South Sudan's first national soccer match in the capital of Juba on Sunday. The game, played against Kenya, came just one day after South Sudan declared its independence from the north following decades of costly civil war. The declaration makes South Sudan the world's 193rd country.Pete Muller—AP
India
July 8, 2011. People walk on water logged local train tracks in Mumbai, India. Heavy rains disrupted rail and air traffic, causing inconvenience to commuters.Rajanish Kakade—AP
China
July 9, 2011. Children stretch during a ballet lesson at a dancing school in Hefei, Anhui province, China.Jianan Yu—Reuters
Pakistan
July 12, 2011. Local people rush to collect oil spilled from an overturned NATO oil tanker in Kojak Pass near Chaman, Pakistan along the Afghanistan border. Oil tankers and trucks carry supplies for the NATO forces in neighboring Afghanistan.Shah Khalid—AP
USA
July 12, 2011. President Barack Obama shakes the prosthetic hand of U.S. Army Sgt. First Class Leroy Arthur Petry of Santa Fe, N.M., who received the Medal of Honor for his valor in Afghanistan in a ceremony in the East Room of the White House in Washington. Petry lost his right hand as he tossed aside a live grenade during a 2008 firefight in Afghanistan, sparing the lives of his fellow Army Rangers.Charles Dharapak—AP
Srebrenica
July 8, 2011. A Bosnian Muslim women walks past graves in a graveyard in the village of Potocari, close to Srebrenica. Every year on the 11th of July, the Srebrenica genocide memorial day takes place on this site. This year, 613 bodies recovered from mass-graves were buried.Andy Spyra
France
July 14, 2011. A French Rafale jet (R) flanked by two Mirage 2000-N flies over La Defense district, western Paris (background the Arch of La Defense) during the Bastille Day military parade.Anne-Christine Poujoulat—AFP/Getty Images
France
July 13 , 2011. Competitors ride in the rain during the 167.5 km eleventh stage of the 2011 Tour de France cycling race. The stage runs between Blaye-les-Mines and Lavaur, in Pays de Cocagne, southern France.Joel Saget—AFP/Getty Images
Libya
July 14, 2011. Libyan rebels take position near the flashpoint hilltop town of Gualish, where intense clashes with forces loyal to Muammar Gaddafi have left scores of casualties. Marco Longari—AFP/Getty Images
UK
July 11, 2011. Children play around a bonfire lit in the shadow of a shipyard to celebrate the start of the loyalist Twelfth of July Celebrations in Belfast, Northern Ireland. Bonfires are traditionally lit in protestant areas on the 11th of July to mark the start of the Twelfth Celebrations. The cranes in the distance are in the Harland and Wolfe shipyard where the Titanic was built.Stephen Wilson—AFP/Getty Images
Mexico
July 13, 2011. An army helicopter casts a shadow over parts of the biggest marijuana plantation found in Mexico, in San Quintin, about 220 miles from Tijuana. Mexican soldiers discovered the plantation in a remote desert surrounded by cacti. Soldiers patrolling the area found 300 acres of pot plants being tended by dozens of men.Jorge Duenes—Reuters
Mexico
July 13, 2011. An aerial view shows the biggest marijuana plantation found in Mexico, in San Quintin, about 220 miles away from Tijuana. Jorge Duenes—Reuters
Indonesia
15 July 2011. Mount Lokon erupts as seen from Tomohon, North Sulawesi, Indonesia. Indonesian authorities raised the alert at the volcano on Sulawesi island to the highest level and urged the evacuation of the danger zone. More than 30,000 people live near the volcano, according to the local government.Arief Sandi—EPA
Haiti
July 14, 2011. A pilgrim walks down a waterfall during the start of the festivities of an annual celebration in Saut d' Eau, Haiti, Thursday. The annual pilgrimage to Saut d'Eau venerates the site where believers say the Virgin Mary, whom many in Haiti revere as the goddess of love, Ezili Danto, once appeared.Eduardo Verdugo—AP
China
July 13, 2011. A Chinese volunteer stretches at the Shanghai Oriental Sports Center, the venue of the forthcoming FINA World Championships, in Shanghai. Shanghai has poured billions of yuan into hosting this month's world swimming championships, including its new two billion yuan (309 million USD) Oriental Sports Center, as part of efforts to promote the sport.Philippe Lopez—AFP/Getty Images
China
July 15, 2011. Members of the Macau synchronized swimming team practice prior to the start of the 2011 FINA World Swimming Championships in Shanghai, China.Hannibal Hanschke—DPA/Newscom
Macedonia
July 12, 2011. Boys swim at the river mouth between the river Drim and Ohrid lake in Struga, Macedonia, as temperatures soared to 40 degrees Celsius (104 degree Fahrenheit).Ognen Teofilovski—Reuters
China
July 9, 2011. Chinese residents cool off on a hot summer day by the banks of a river in Hefei, east China's Anhui province.AFP/Getty Images

More Must-Reads from TIME

Contact us at letters@time.com