This week: Rebel fighters in Libya, temporary confessionals in Madrid, the children of Somalia’s famine, Independence Day celebrations in Pakistan, The Palio of Siena bareback horse race, the Dalai Lama visits southern France, the wall of peace in the aftermath of England’s riots, Mubarak on trial, drought in Texas, rainbows, waterfalls, and astronaut photographer Ron Garan’s tweeted photo shows “What a ‘Shooting Star’ looks like from space.”
August 15, 2011. Pakistani Nargis Shah, 13, plays on a swing along with other children on the outskirts of Islamabad, Pakistan.Nathalie Bardou—APAugust 14, 2011. A rebel fighter, with ammunition wrapped around his neck, waits at a checkpoint in the coastal town of Zawiyah, 50 km (30 miles) west of Tripoli. Libyan rebels hoisted their flag in the centre of the town near the capital on Sunday after the most dramatic advance in months cut off Muammar Gaddafi's capital from its main link to the outside world.Bob Strong—ReutersAugust 16, 2011. A woman says confession to a priest at one of the 200 temporary confessionals set up at Madrid's Buen Retiro park. Hundreds of thousands of pilgrims will gather into Madrid for a giant open-air mass, launching a six-day youth party for Pope Benedict XVI at a time of economic hardship in Spain. The faithful will pack into the emblematic central Madrid square of Cibeles for the inaugural mass celebrated by Madrid's archbishop, Cardinal Antonio Maria Rouco Varela.Pedro Armestre—AFP/Getty ImagesAugust 14, 2011. Halima Hassan holds her severely malnourished son Abdulrahman Abshir, 7 months, at the Banadir hospital in Mogadishu, Somalia. The US government estimates that some 30,000 children have died in southern Somalia in the last 90 days due to famine and drought.John Moore—Getty ImagesAugust 13, 2011. A Somali woman, center, rests from watching her sick and malnourished child as a doctor, right, examines a malnourished child at a local hospital. The United Nations has stated that in Somalia more than 780,000 children are acutely malnourished. In most regions of the south of Somalia 20 percent children are severely malnourished. Over 100,000 people have fled into Somalia's famine-hit and war-torn capital in the past two months in search of food, water and medicine. Conflict-wracked Somalia is the country hardest hit by the extreme drought affecting 12 million people across the Horn of Africa. The United Nations has officially declared famine in Somalia for the first time this century, including in Mogadishu and four southern regions.Roberto Schmidt—AFP/Getty ImagesAugust 15, 2011. Villagers attempt to catch a chicken thrown by worshipers into a volcanic crater during the annual Kasada festival at Mount Bromo in Indonesia's East Java province. Villagers and worshipers throw offerings such as livestock and other crops into the volcanic crater of Mount Bromo to give thanks to the Hindu gods for ensuring their safety and prosperity.Dwi Oblo—ReutersAugust 14, 2011. Labourer Ehsan, 20, stands for a portrait during Pakistan Independence Day Celebrations at Seaview in Karachi, Pakistan. Pakistan celebrated its 64th Independence day on August 14, the day before Pakistan was made an independent country based on border lines created by the British during the end of their rule of India. Pakistan became an independent country in 1947.Daniel Berehulak—Getty ImagesAugust 15, 2011. Thousands of tourists gather on the Il Campo square during the fourth proof race of the Palio, in Siena. The Palio of Siena race (known locally simply as Il Palio) is held twice a year in the Tuscan city of Siena, in which jockeys ride bareback around a makeshift race course set up in the city's central square.Fabio Muzzi—AFP/Getty ImagesAugust 15, 2011. A close up view of the hand of Tibetan spiritual leader, the Dalai lama pictured during a conference in Toulouse, southern France. The Dalai Lama's visit to Toulouse, included a two-day Buddhist conference starting August 13, and some 10,000 people have signed up to hear him speak. Guillaume Horcajuelo—EPAAugust 13, 2011. Indian students of the Swaminarayan Gurukul perform rituals holding sacred threads during a change-over ceremony that coincides with Raksha Bandhan festival at a temple in Ahmedabad, India. The students discard old sacred threads and wear new ones every year on Raksha Bandhan day. Raksha Bandhan is a festival that celebrates the bond between a brother and sister.Ajit Solanki—APAugust 15, 2011. A woman prays during a procession honoring the Virgin Mary during Notre Dame celebrations at the earthquake damaged national cathedral in Port-au-Prince, Haiti.Ramon Espinosa—APAugust 12, 2011. Peckham, East London denizens add to a community wall of peace and support with pastel notes following riots which damaged the area.Mark Makela—Zuma PressAugust 16, 2011. Oil tankers used to carry fuel for NATO forces in Afghanistan, are seen damaged along the roadside after they were hit by a bomb attack in the outskirts of Landikotal, northwest Pakistan. A bomb blast destroyed four trucks carrying fuel for U.S.-led NATO forces in Afghanistan in Pakistan's northwestern tribal region of Khyber. Shahid Shinwari—ReutersAugust 14, 2011. A Libyan child looks at the sea on a corniche seaside in the rebel stronghold city of Benghazi. Gianluigi Guercia—AFP/Getty ImagesAugust 14, 2011. A worker installs decorations to a tent to be used for independence day celebrations in Noida, in the outskirts of New Delhi. India commemorates its independence day on August 15.Parivartan Sharma—ReutersAugust 13, 2011. Roses are placed on sheets of paper with the names of those killed while trying to escape from East Berlin by crossing the Berlin Wall during a ceremony at the Brandenburg Gate in Berlin. The German capital marks the 50th anniversary of the building of the Berlin Wall, erected on August 13, 1961.Pawel Kopczynski—ReutersAugust 15, 2011. Hundreds of people pro and anti-Mubarak Mubarak spectators gathered outside the police academy in Cairo to hear the verdict of former President Mohammed Hosni Mubarak's trial. Maxppp/Zuma PressAugust 15, 2011. Hundreds of people pro and anti-Mubarak Mubarak spectators gathered outside the police academy in Cairo to hear the verdict of former President Mohammed Hosni Mubarak's trial. Maxppp/Zuma PressAug. 14, 2011. The remains of dead fish are seen on a dried up creek bed in Canyon, Texas. After enduring nearly a year of drought, Texans have grown accustomed to seeing acres of withered crops, scores of dried-up ponds and mile after mile of cracked earth.Jae C. Hong—APAugust 15, 2011. Ultra-Orthodox Jewish men and children enjoy the sea at the only for "Men only beach" in the Bat Yam resort city along the Mediterranean Sea, southern Tel Aviv as people enjoy their summer vacation.Menahem Kahana—AFP/Getty ImagesAugust 14, 2011. The emergency helicopter 'Christoph 2' flies through a rainbow shortly before landing on the roof of the emergency hospital in Frankfurt, Germany. The helicopter, type Eurocopter 135 T2i flies to accident sites about three times daily. Frank Rumpenhorst—NewscomAugust 12, 2011. An Indian Muslim girl wears a fancy dress as she waits for noon prayers to begin at the Jama Masjid, in New Delhi, India. Muslims throughout the world are marking the holy month of Ramadan, where observants fast from dawn till dusk.Kevin Frayer—APAugust 13, 2011. An Argentina Coast Guard crew conducts a search and rescue mission for missing crew members from an accident on Aug. 12, involving the Argentine tanker Polaris and a Paraguayan tugboat, in the Paraguay River, near Villeta City, some 30 miles south of Asuncion, Paraguay. The tanker, carrying thousands of gallons of fuel, caught fire after colliding with the tugboat. Survivors told reporters that that all crew members survived but the head of prefecture of Argentina's Formosa province Jose Luis Dominguez said four people were still missing; two from Polaris and two from the tugboat. Jorge Saenz—APAugust 15, 2011. A young man jumps into the Mediterranean sea on a hot summer day in Malaga, southern Spain.Jon Nazca—ReutersAugust 14, 2011. Serena Williams of the U.S., holds the trophy after defeating Samantha Stosur of Australia during their finals match at the Rogers Cup women's tennis tournament in Toronto.Mark Blinch—ReutersAugust 16, 2011. A plane flies over the Olympic Basketball Arena during the London International Basketball Invitational. The basketball arena will host basketball, wheelchair basketball, wheelchair rugby and the final stages of the handball competition for London 2012 Olympic Games.Suzanne Plunkett—ReutersAugust 15, 2011. US medics prepare the Medivac helicopter of 159th Brigade Task Force Thunder after a night mission at FOB Pasab.Johannes Eisele—AFP/Getty ImagesAugust 17, 2011. Two Afghan soldiers, shot in their legs by suspected insurgents, lie in a medevac helicopter of 159th Brigade Task Force Thunder during a flight to a hospital in Kandahar. Southern Afghanistan is seen as the heartland of the 10-year insurgency and one of the most dangerous parts of the country. It has long been the focus of the international troop effort against the Taliban. Johannes Eisele—Getty ImagesAugust 16, 2011. Niagara Falls shown at dusk in Niagara Falls, Canada.Paul Sakuma—APAugust 14, 2011. A girl is surrounded by small South Korean national flags set up to celebrate the Aug. 15 Korean Liberation Day from Japanese colonial rule in 1945, in Seoul, South Korea.Ahn Young-joon—APAugust. 15, 2011. A Palestinian man plays with fireworks, during the Muslim holy fasting month of Ramadan in the West Bank city of Nablus. Muslims throughout the world are celebrating the holy fasting month of Ramadan, the holiest month in Islamic calendar, refraining from eating, drinking, and smoking from dawn to dusk.Nasser Ishtayeh—APAugust 18, 2011. A student shouts slogans through a plastic banner during a rally to demand changes in the public state education system in Santiago, Chile.Victor Ruiz Caballero—ReutersAugust 16, 2011. Charles Bryan of the US, a member of the Red Bull Air Force, leaps off the 236.7 m tall Seoul Tower to announce the market entry of an Austrian energy producer in Seoul. Joerg Mitter—AFP/Getty ImagesAugust 18, 2011. A cloth is pulled over the face of a Libyan rebel fighter who was shot and killed during a battle with pro-Gaddafi forces at a field hospital in Zawiyah, Libya.Bob Strong—ReutersAugust 13, 2011. What a shooting star looks like from space, taken during Perseid Meteor Shower. The image was photographed from the orbiting complex on Aug. 13, when it was over an area of China approximately 400 kilometers to the northwest of Beijing. The rare photo opportunity came as no surprise since the Perseid Meteor Shower occurs every year in August. The brownish-greenish arc above the edge of Earth's disk is caused by a phenomenon known as nightglow, primarily created by chemical reactions in the atmosphere. A portion of space station's solar arrays can be see far (R.) Ron Garan—NASA/Reuters
