Libyan men pray during Friday prayers in rebel-held Benghazi. (AP)
A car bomb explodes as a member of a Thai bomb squad checks it in Narathiwat province, south of Bangkok, Thailand. (Reuters)
Palestinians celebrate last weekend's moving of a portion of Israel's West Bank separation barrier in the town of Bilin, near Ramallah. The local residents begin to construct buildings in the newly accessible land. (AP)
Newlyweds Prince Albert II of Monaco and Princess Charlene kiss on the Palace balcony after the civil wedding service in Monaco. (Reuters)
Performers sing during a revolutionary song concert in celebration of the Communist Party's 90th anniversary, in Chongqing municipality. (Reuters)
People, with their bodies painted in red and black, lie on the floor forming an image depicting a bull to protest against bullfights in Cali, Colombia, June 30, 2011. (AP)
International pop diva Lady Gaga arrives at the Taipei International Airport in Taoyuan, Taiwan. Gaga slips into the hotel unbeknownst to the waiting crowd of fans. (AP)
Light from Independence Day weekend fireworks is reflected in the water in front of the Bellagio Hotel in Las Vegas, July 3, 2011. (AP)
Yingluck Shinawatra (C), set to become the kingdom's first female PM raises her hand with Wannarat Charnnukul (L) of the Chart Pattana Puea Pandin Party, Sanan Kachornprasart (2nd L) chief adviser of Chat Thai Pattana, Yongyuth Wichaidit (2nd R) Puea Thai party leader and Chao Maneewong (R) party leader of Palang Chon, at a press conference in Bangkok. (AFP)
U.S. army soldiers carry specialist Kyle Nichols, who was injured by an IED, to a Blackhawk Medevac helicopter in Kandahar province, southern Afghanistan. (Reuters)
Activists of Gaza flotilla hold banners during a gathering outside the US embassy in Athens, Greece, July 3, 2011. (AP)
Anti-government protestors dance during a demonstration demanding the resignation of Yemeni President Ali Abduallah Saleh, in Sanaa, Yemen. (AP)
An Arab demonstrator holds a Syrian flag in a demonstration to protest the military crackdown in Syria, in Sao Paulo, July 3, 2011. (Reuters)
Novak Djokovic of Serbia holds the winners trophy after defeating Rafael Nadal of Spain (R) in the men's singles final at the Wimbledon tennis championships in London, July 3, 2011. (Reuters)
Zoo keepers hold two-month-old Siberian tiger cubs at the Budapest Zoo. (Reuters)
Somali women carrying their children as well as their belongings from Southern Somalia, make their way to the internally displaced camps in Mogadishu, Somalia, after fleeing their homes due to lack of water and food. A severe drought has plunged millions of Somalis into crisis after rains failed for several consecutive seasons in this Horn of Africa nation. (AP)
Indian students throw stones at policemen near burning tires during a two-day strike at Osmania University in Hyderabad, India, demanding the creation of a new state of Telangana. The strike came after more than a dozen lawmakers resigned from Parliament to press their demand that the new state of Telangana be carved from Andhra Pradesh. (AP)
Visitors look at water gushing from the section of the Xiaolangdi Reservoir on the Yellow River during a sand-washing operation in Jiyuan, Henan province. The operation is conducted to clear out silt deposits in the water, China Daily said. (Reuters)
Octopus Ophira, "octopus oracle", is pictured at the Sea Life Aquarium in Berlin, Germany, as it predicts Germany's victory in the Women's World Cup soccer match against France. (Reuters)
Stage winner Cadel Evans of Australia, right, leads the sprint ahead of three-time Tour de France winner Alberto Contador of Spain, center, and Thor Hushovd of Norway, far left, during the fourth stage of the Tour de France cycling race over 172.5 kilometers (107.2 miles) starting in Lorient and finishing in Mur de Bretagne, Brittany, western France. (AP)
A model wears a creation for the Giorgio Armani Fall-Winter 2011-2012 Haute Couture fashion collection presented in Paris, France. (AP)
Close-up on the yellow eyes of a Snowy owl Harry at the zoo in Hanover, northern Germany. (AFP)
Fireworks explode over the Philadelphia Museum of Art during an Independence Day celebration in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA. (AP)
South Koreans celebrate at a ski jump stadium in Pyeongchang, about 180 km (112 miles) east of Seoul as they hear that Pyeongchang won in a first round of voting for the 2018 Winter Olympics Games. City of Pyeongchang is chosen by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) to stage the 2018 Winter Olympics, defeating rivals Annecy of France and Munich of Germany. (Reuters)
Indian school children of Himalayan Buddhist Cultural School along with Tibetan monks offer prayers by candle light for spiritual leader the Dalai Lama during his 76th birthday celebration at Tashi Gomang Stupa at Salugara Monastery, the outskirts of Siliguri, India. (AFP)
A Tibetan exile tussles with Nepalese police officers as she is prevented from proceeding to the venue where a birthday celebration for spiritual leader the Dalai Lama is being held, in Katmandu. Nepalese authorities prevent exiled Tibetans from celebrating their spiritual leader Dalai Lama's birthday over concerns that gatherings will turn anti-Chinese. (AP)
Revelers hold up traditional red neckties as tens of thousands of people pack Pamplona's main square, Spain to celebrate the start of country's most famous bull-running festival with the annual launch of the "chupinazo" rocket. (AP)
A French Rafale jet flying over the Paris Tuileries garden during a rehearsal of the Bastille Day military parade scheduled on July 14. (AFP)
Models display dresses by Belarusian designer Alissa Ilyushina in Minsk during the Festival of Modern Arts and Avant-garde Fashion. (AFP)
A traditionally dressed man dances during a rehearsal of the Independence Day ceremony in Juba. South Sudan splits away from the north on July 9 to create Africa's newest nation after southerners voted for secession under terms of a peace deal reached in 2005 to end a north-south civil war. (Reuters)
Revelers are surprised by an angry leading ox, used to drive the fighting bulls during the running of the bulls at the San Fermin fiestas, in Pamplona, Spain. (AP)
A Libyan rebel with a bicycle celebrates the liberation of al-Qawalish, 100 kilometers (60 miles) southwest of Tripoli, after six hours of battle, July 6, 2011. In the background smoke rises from a the power station that was shelled by retreating soldiers loyal to Moammar Gadhafi. (AP)
A man drives a cow cart in Zee-O village, about 20 miles from ancient city of Bagan, Burma. (AP)
Mekamethan Govendarajoo, driver of Team One EcoAim from University Tenaga National in Malaysia, makes a test run during Day 1 of the Shell Eco-marathon energy efficiency challenge at Sepang International Circuit in Sepang, Malaysia. Teams from all over Asia began to race their energy efficient cars against other universities during day 1 of the three day challenge. (AP/Shell)
US singer Lady Gaga gives a press conference ahead of her showcase concert at the Marina Bay Sands in Singapore. (AP)
A chandelier made from bones in the Sedlec Ossuary, a Christian chapel beneath the Cemetery Church of All Saints, in Sedlec district in the city of Kutna Hora, 75 km (47 miles) east of Prague, Czech Republic, July 6, 2011. The ossuary dates back to the 14th century but its current decoration, made of some 40,000 human remains, is from the 19th century. (Reuters)
The pack rides under a menacing sky during the sixth stage of the Tour de France cycling race over 226.5 kilometers (140.7 miles) starting in Dinan, Brittany, and finishing in Lisieux, Normandy, western France. (AP)
Space shuttle Atlantis through the window of a Shuttle Training Aircraft (STA) as it lifts off from Pad 39A at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida (NASA/Dick Clark)
The space shuttle Atlantis lifts off from the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida. Atlantis is the 135th and final space shuttle launch for NASA. (AP)
(From left to right) STS-135 Mission Specialists Rex Walheim and Sandy Magnus, Pilot Doug Hurley, and Commander Chris Ferguson wave to media and employees in front of the Astronaut Crew Quarters in the Operations and Checkout Building at NASA's Kennedy Space Center, Florida. (NASA)
After 30 years and 135 missions, residents and visitors flock to the new A. Max Brewer Bridge in Titusville to see the rocket's red glare of space shuttle Atlantis soar for the last time. (NASA/Frank Michaux)
Through a zooming lens, Egyptians wave a giant flag at Tahrir Square, the focal point of uprising, in Cairo. Thousands of Egyptians take to the streets around the country to demand justice for victims of Hosni Mubarak's regime and press the new, military rulers for a clear plan of transition to democracy. (AP)
A woman waits with her child for medical treatment at Aden Adde hospital near a displaced persons camp in Waberi, south of Mogadishu, Somalia. (Reuters)
The Reverend David James (R) speaks with a demonstrator dressed in a Rupert Murdoch mask while holding puppets of Prime Minister David Cameron and Minister for Culture, Media and Sport Jeremy Hunt, during a protest against Murdoch's proposed takeover of BSkyB, in London. (AFP)
Boys in traditional dresses attend a ceremony a day before their circumcision ritual in Istanbul, Turkey. (Reuters)
Britain's Prince William and his wife Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge, watch the beginning of the Calgary Stampede parade in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. The Prince and his wife are on a royal tour of Canada from June 30 to July 8. (Reuters)
The hands of a bride during a wedding ceremony at an area in Bab al-Aziziyah compound in Tripoli, Libya, July 7, 2011. The wedding, held for 25 couples who could not afford their own celebrations, was sponsored by a charity organization as a gift. (Reuters)
A rare two-headed snake explores its surroundings in a private zoo in the Crimean town of Yalta, Ukraine. The three-year-old snake was brought from a zoo in Switzerland where it was born. (Reuters)
A member of emergency services walks amidst debris at the scene of a large explosion at a military base in southern Cyprus. (Reuters)
Bosnian Muslims carry a coffin prepared for a mass burial at the Memorial Center in Potocari, near Srebrenica. The bodies of 614 recently identified victims of the Srebrenica massacre will be buried on July 11, the anniversary of the massacre when Bosnian Serb forces commanded by Ratko Mladic slaughtered 8,000 Muslim men and boys and buried them in mass graves, in Europe's worst massacre since World War II. (Reuters)
A man poses with a copy of the last edition of the British tabloid newspaper News of the World in south London on July 10, 2011. (AFP)
A girl, taking refuge with her family after being displaced by heavy floods for almost a year, leads her family's cows to grazing land in Ghauspur, in Pakistan's Sindh province on July 10, 2011. (Reuters)
US soldiers pay their respects during a memorial service for Sergeant Nicanor Amper IV at camp Clark in Khost province, eastern Afghanistan on July 10, 2011. (AFP)
Miss Lebanon 2010, Rhaf Abdallah (R) hands over the crown to Yara Khoury Mikael, left, who won the Miss Lebanon 2011 contest in Beirut, July 10, 2011. (AP)
German gymnasts perform in a fountain during the 14th World Gymnaestrada in Lausanne. (AFP)
People pose with a 15.3 metre-tall 'Tetsujin 28-go', or 'Iron Man 28' at Wakamatsu park in Kobe on July 10, 2011. (AFP)
Six-week-old white lion cubs "Adel", "Rosi", and "Jasmin" are pictured during a naming ceremony at a safari-park in Hodenhagen, Lower-Saxony, Germany. (Reuters)
Libyan rebels ride donkeys to reach their comrades at their position in a quarry in Bir Ayid, some 90km from the capital Tripoli. (AFP)
Somalis carry donated food and other belongings as they walk through Dagahaley Camp, outside Dadaab, Kenya. U.N. refugee chief Antonio Guterres said that drought-ridden Somalia was the "worst humanitarian disaster" in the world, after meeting with refugees who endured unspeakable hardship to reach the world's largest refugee camp in Dadaab. (AP)
Egyptian Bedouins watch as smoke and flames rise into the air after masked gunmen blew up a terminal of the natural gas pipeline to Israel and Jordan in El Arish, in the northern part of Egypt's Sinai Peninsula, in a predawn attack. (AP)
People throw flowers into the port of Kazan, on the Volga River, in central Russia. Russia is observing a day of mourning for victims of a cruise ship sinking as divers work deep underwater in a Volga River reservoir to try to find more bodies. (AP)
Mount Lokon spews volcanic smoke in Tomohon, North Sulawesi, Indonesia. Officials raise the alert for the volcano with history of violent explosions to its highest level following a series of eruptions over the weekend. (AP)
A tourist stands between Buddy Bear sculptures on Kurfuerstendamm Boulevard in Berlin, Germany. Colorful Buddy Bears designed by artists from different countries with unique features on behalf of his or her native country are on display as part of the 125th anniversary of Berlin's most famous shopping street. (Reuters)
A lemur eats a watermelon to refresh itself in Rome's zoo, Italy. Zoo staff offer animals frozen and refrigerated fruit to refresh them as temperatures reached 40 Celsius (104 Fahrenheit) in many Italian cities. (AP/Rome Bioparco Fundation)
Anti-government protesters shout slogans during a demonstration demanding the resignation of Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh, in Sana'a. (AP)
A protester wearing a giant caricature head depicting News Corporation CEO Rupert Murdoch sits next to a puppet of Britain's Prime Minister David Cameron outside Murdoch's apartment in central London. (Reuters)
Dancers perform a Javanese traditional dance "Kuda Lumping" during a protest against planned new regulations on smoking from the Health Ministry in Jakarta, Indonesia. According to the World Health Organization, smoking rates have risen six-fold in Indonesia over the last 40 years. (AFP)
Brazilian synchronized swimming team during their practice session at Shanghai Oriental Sports Center in Shanghai, China ahead of the 14th FINA World Swimming Championships, which start from July 16. (AP)
A protester holds up a placard with a caricature of Hong Kong's Secretary for Constitutional Affairs Stephen Lam during a protest outside the Legislative Council (LEGCO) building in Hong Kong. Several hundred people protested against controversial government plans to scrap by-elections in the city's law-making body. (AFP)
A spotted deer inside a deer park on the premises of Pashupatinath Temple in Kathmandu, Nepal, July 12, 2011. Spotted deer is also known as Chital deer or Axix deer commonly inhabits on wooded regions of Nepal, India, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Bhutan and Pakistan. (Reuters)
A Gray Crowned Crane (top) looks down on a Gray Crowned Crane chick in their enclosure in the zoo of Hanover, northern Germany, July 12, 2011. (AFP)
Horsemen of the French Republican guard ride their horses down the Champs-Elysees with the Arc de Triomphe in the background, during the annual Bastille day parade in Paris. (Reuters)
A French Rafale jet flies over the Arc de Triomphe in Paris, followed by a Mirage 2000-N during the Bastille Day military parade. (AFP)
Indian staff members of GaneshaSpeaks.com, a company devoted to website astrology, participate in a candlelight vigil in Ahmedabad, in memory of those who died and were injured in Mumbai blast. Investigators probe triple bomb blasts that killed 17 people in Mumbai, the nation's commercial capital. (AFP)
A woman wades through a flooded street in Hamar Jajab district of Somalia's capital Mogadishu. The Horn of Africa is in the grip of a major food crisis, with millions of people severely affected in drought-stricken areas of Somalia, Kenya, Ethiopia, Djibouti and Uganda, according to the United Nations. (Reuters)
US soldiers board a military plane, as they leave Afghanistan, at the U.S. base in Bagram, north of Kabul, Afghanistan. President Barack Obama announced last month that he would pull 10,000 of the extra troops out in 2011 and the remaining 23,000 by the summer of 2012. (AP)
A fisherman looks at her algae-filled fish pond near the coastline of Qingdao, Shandong province, China. (Reuters)
"Gigantes" (Giants) dance during a farewell ceremony on the last day of San Fermin festival's "Comparsa de gigantes y cabezudos" (Parade of the giants and the big heads) in Pamplona, Spain. Enormous puppets accompanied by brass bands parade daily through the city during the nine-day-long festival made popular by US writer Ernest Hemingway. (Reuters)
Men work on a clay statue at Taman Budaya Yogyakarta in Yogyakarta. Indonesian artist Eddi Prabandono and his 15 workers made a 4-meter-by-4-meter statue as part of a series of art works called the "Luz Series". The statue will be displayed at Jog Art, an annual art exhibition held in Yogyakarta. (Reuters)
A man works on a sand sculpture titled "Maestro Paganini" by sculptors Sergey Tselebrovsky and Sergey Zaplatin at the Festival of Sand Sculptures 2011 under the topic "Masterpieces of World Culture" at a beach near the Peter and Pawel Fortress in St. Petersburg, Russia. (Reuters)
A woman cools down in Lake Balaton near Tihany, 150 km (93 miles) west of Budapest. Temperatures reached 38 degrees Celsius (100 degrees Fahrenheit) in Hungary. (Reuters)
Two baby cheetahs play in their enclosure at the zoo in Wuppertal, western Germany. The animals were born on May 10, 2011, at the zoo. (AFP)
Jordanian police and protesters in al-Nakheel Square, during a scheduled sit-in attended by 1,200 people against government corruption, in downtown Amman. Supporters of Jordan's government have attacked pro-reform protesters to stop them from gathering in a main square in the capital. (AP)
Egyptian protesters wave their national flag and shout slogans as thousands crowd Cairo's landmark Tahrir Square, to demand political change as anger grows with the military rulers over the slow pace of reform. (AFP)
A rebel fighter points his weapon at a graffiti of Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi on a checkpoint building controlled by rebels in Zintan. (Reuters)
Police officers arrest National Bolshevik Party activists, who try to hold a "sit-in strike" at the Solovky Stone monument and in front of the former KGB headquarters at Lubyanskaya Square in Moscow, in support of the imprisoned political activist Taisiya Osipova for victims of Soviet-era political repression. (AFP)
Students wearing Young Pioneer red scarves practice Chinese calligraphy at Renmin square in Chongqing municipality. (Reuters)
Mount Lokon spews hot lava and volcanic ash during an eruption in Tomohon in Indonesia's North Sulawesi province, July 14, 2011. Indonesia's Mount Lokon erupted to spew hot lava and volcanic ash as high as 1,500 metres (5,000 feet) in the north of Sulawesi island, prompting panicked residents to flee the agricultural area, a government official said. (Reuters)
A wild fire burns in the outskirts of Madrid, Spain. (AFP)
Devotees touch the hair of a Sadhu, or a Hindu holyman, hanging from a tree, to take his blessings on the occasion of Guru Purnima festival in the northern Indian city of Allahabad. Guru Purnima is observed to pay respects to one's "guru" or teacher who symbolises the Hindu Trinity of Brahma, Vishnu and Maheshwar, believed to be the creators of the universe. (Reuters)
Buddhists carry candles while encircling a large Buddha statue during Asanha Puja Day, the eve of the Buddhist Lent, at a temple in Nakhon Pathom province on the outskirts of Bangkok, Thailand. (Reuters)
A woman smears herself with mineral-rich black mud in the waters of Tus lake in Russia's Khakassia region, about 370 km (230 miles) southwest of the Siberian city of Krasnoyarsk. Russians from different regions annually arrive at Tus lake rich with curative black and blue mud to live in a camp, bathe in the bitter-salty water and smear themselves with mud, which is a healing remedy, in their opinion. (Reuters)
Italian free divers Mike Maric and Ilaria Bonin kiss in an attempt to set the world record for the longest underwater kiss, in an oceanic tank at the Gardaland Sea Life Aquarium in Castelnuovo del Garda, northern Italy. Maric and Bonin set the new world record at three minutes and eight seconds. (Reuters)
A baby baboon monkey (Papio hamadryas), born in captivity two months ago, remains amid other baboons at the zoo in Cali, Valle del Cauca department, Colombia, July 14, 2011. (AFP)
German Gen. Wolf Langheld (L), Commander of NATO Allied Joint Forces hugs U.S Gen. David Petraeus, the outgoing U.S. and NATO led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) commander in Afghanistan during a changing of command ceremony in Kabul. (AP)
A defaced image of former Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak is seen on a sign along a highway in Cairo. (Reuters)
Britain's senior police chief Paul Stephenson, London's police commissioner leaves New Scotland Yard after resigning in London over allegations about the police's handling of phone hacking investigations, July 17, 2011. (Reuters)
Syrian demonstrators hold a giant flag as they march through the streets in Hajar al-Aswad in Damascus, July 17, 2011. (Reuters)
A Libyan rebel wounded during the battle for the control of the Brega oil town flashes a victory sign as he is rushed into the emergency room at the general hospital in Ajdabiya, on July 17, 2011. (AFP)
A vendor (C) walks through the crowd as Indonesian Muslim women attend a ceremony marking the 85th anniversary of the Nahdlatul Ulama organization in Jakarta on July 17, 2011. (AFP)
Japan's players celebrate with the trophy after the victory against the U.S. in their Women's World Cup final soccer match in Frankfurt, July 17, 2011. (Reuters)
Britain's Olivia Allison and Jenna Randall compete in the technical duets final synchronized swimming competition in the FINA World Championships at the indoor stadium of the Oriental Sports Center, Shanghai. (AFP)
A man busks with a monkey riding on a goat along a road in Faisalabad, July 17, 2011. (Reuters)
French President Nicolas Sarkozy, right, stands at flag-draped coffins inside the Church of the Invalides as tribute is paid during a national ceremony in Paris, to the seven French soldiers killed last week in Afghanistan. The seven soldiers killed were honored in a somber funeral ceremony at the site of Napoleon's tomb in central Paris. (AP)
Chinese authorities stage a parade in Lhasa to commemorate the signing of the 17 Point Agreement with Tibet. (Reuters)
The International Space Station is seen through the docking port of the U.S. space shuttle Atlantis as it departs the station in this still image taken from NASA TV. The mission is the last of a 12-year program to build and service the orbital outpost, the primary legacy of NASA's shuttle fleet. (Reuters)
A forest guard aims his rifle as he is attacked by a wild leopard (Panthera pardus) at Prakash Nagar village near Salugara on the outskirts of Siliguri, India. Six people were mauled by the leopard after the feline strayed into the village area before it was caught by forestry department officials. (AFP)
The Italian team performs their routine in the synchronized swimming Technical Teams final at the FINA 2011 Swimming World Championships in Shanghai, China. (AP)
A girl touches the ice piano at Ice Gallery in Seoul, South Korea. (AP)
Aboriginal dance troupe Bangarra performs the koki dance from their new contemporary work 'Belong' at the Sydney Opera House. Rekindling indigenous culture, 'Belong' features two performances: 'ID' by Stephen page and 'About' by Elma Kris. (AFP)
A swallow feeds a squab at the Schweriner See lake in Seehof, northeastern Germany. The birds are distributed all over the world and are able to do aerial feeding. (AFP)
Sailors attend a military parade in Nicosia, the Turkish-controlled north Cyprus, marking the 37 years of division. Ankara does not recognize the Cypriot government and has called for a deal to end the 37-year division of the island's Greek and Turkish communities before Cyprus takes over the EU presidency next July. (AFP)
A riot policeman fends off a taxi driver during clashes outside the transport ministry in Athens, Greece. Hundreds of taxi drivers took part in the protest against new licensing laws, as talks between the government and unionists collapsed. (AP)
A Bosnian Muslim woman mourns over a relative as coffins are laid out in a local cemetery during a mass funeral in the village of Kozarac near Prijedor, 300 kms northwest of the Bosnian capital of Sarajevo, for 111 Bosnian Muslims killed at the beginning of Bosnian war. (AP)
Wajir residents walk past carcasses of livestock in Athibohol, North East of Nairobi, Kenya. Close to 1.4 million people in the region are in dire need of food and water, as a result of the prolonged drought. (AFP)
A Nepalese driver and a passenger are getting their submerged vehicle pushed out of flooded road near Bagmati River in Kathmandu. (AFP)
An aerial view of the Pagasa Island, part of the disputed Spratly group of islands, in the South China Sea located off the coast of western Philippines. (AP Photo/Rolex Dela Pena, Pool)
Britain’s Queen Elizabeth poses for a regimental photograph with members of the Royal Mercian and Lancastrian Yeomanry following a homecoming service at Lichfield Cathedral, after returning from operations in Afghanistan, in Lichfield, central England. (Reuters)
South Korean divers perform at the Aquarium 63 SeaWorld in Seoul. (AP)
The pack climbs during the 17th stage of the Tour de France 2011 cycling race from Gap to Pinerolo, northern Italy. (Reuters)
Space shuttle Atlantis (STS-135) touches down at NASA's Kennedy Space Center Shuttle Landing Facility (SLF) in Cape Canaveral, Florida, completing its 13-day mission to the International Space Station (ISS) and the final flight of the Space Shuttle Program. Overall, Atlantis spent 307 days in space and traveled nearly 126 million miles during its 33 flights. (NASA/Bill Ingalls)
This unprecedented view of the space shuttle Atlantis, appearing like a bean sprout against clouds and city lights, on its way home, is photographed by the Expedition 28 crew of the International Space Station. Airglow over Earth can be seen in the background. (NASA)
An Egyptian boy walks past a picture decorating the pavement in Cairo's landmark Tahrir Square, where activists continue camping out to demand political change as anger grows with the military rulers over the slow pace of reform. (AFP)
Women and girls, caught in a small sandstorm, fetch water in Wajir, Kenya. A wide swath of east Africa, including Kenya and Ethiopia, has been hit by years of severe drought and the United Nations says two regions of southern Somalia are suffering the worst famine for 20 years, with 3.7 million people facing starvation. (Reuters/Jakob Dall/Danish Red Cross/Handout)
A painted activist poses with the victory symbol as he gathers with other supporters for a mass rally organized by the Trinamool Congress Party (TMC) at the Brigade Parade ground in Kolkata, India. The Trinamool Congress recently won state elections and pushed out the the world's longest-serving, democratically elected communist government in India's West Bengal state. (AFP)
Fire fighters hose down a truck that was set ablaze by a bomb blast in Landikotal, northwest Pakistan. Militants blew up a NATO truck carrying fuel for foreign forces fighting Taliban insurgents in Afghanistan, near the border in Pakistan's northwest, security officials said. (Reuters)
Crosses at the 1991 war victims cemetery in Vukovar, Croatia. Serbian authorities arrested Goran Hadzic, accused of war crimes, after eight years being on the run. (AP)
Soldiers of the Chinese People's Liberation Army's honor guard march during a demonstration for visiting media at their military base in Beijing, China. (AP)
Visitors gather in front of the Palace of Versailles, in France. A 2500m2 canvas painted in trompe-l'oeil, right, hides the scaffolds set up for the restoration of the roofing of the XVIIIth century palace. (AP)
Curator Sam Bompas on a boating lake with dyed green water, which forms part of his installation on the roof of the Selfridges department store on Oxford Street, in London. Selfridges will open up its roof to the public, for just the second time since World War II, to host the installation conceived by the artists Bompas & Parr. (AP)
A Japanese tourist couple walks in the world's largest salt flat of Uyuni, 550 Km southwest of La Paz, Bolivia, July 20, 2011. Uyuni has an area of 10,582 square km and is at 3,656 meters above the mean sea level. It is also one of the richest deposits of lithium of the world. (AFP)
Sharon Golan, a graduate design student from the Bezalel Academy of Arts and Design, poses with her design, a pair of modular shoes, at an exhibition in Jerusalem, Israel. Golan's shoes are made up of four separate plastic pieces which are held together on the foot with silicone rubber bands. The design allows the wearer to change looks by replacing any one component of the shoe offering a total of 256 different combinations. (Reuters)
A one-year-old squirrel monkey named Charles Darwin rests on its minder's head during the filming of a TV movie in Berlin, Germany. (AFP)
Victims receive treatment outside government buildings in central Oslo, Norway, following an explosion that tore open several buildings including the prime minister's office, shattering windows and covering the street with documents. (AP)
An Egyptian protester shouts slogans at Tahrir Square, the focal point of the uprising, in Cairo. Protesters vowed they would not leave the square until temporary military rulers purge the remnants of Hosni Mubarak's deposed regime. (AP)
Palestinian and Lebanese people wave flags during a rally organized by the Palestinian "Right to Return" committee in Beirut, Lebanon. The rally was held in remembrance of the Palestinian protesters who were killed after Israel fired at borders demonstrations at Israel's frontiers with Syria and Lebanon on May 15, 2011. (Reuters)
A student kicks a tear gas canister during a rally in Santiago. Tens of thousands of students marched in Chile's capital demanding changes in the state education system. (Reuters)
A Muslim man walks hand in hand with children at a beach as monsoon clouds gather in Mumbai, India. (Reuters)
A huge wave breaks behind a surfer at Sydney's Deadman's Break, Australia. A complex low pressure system over the Tasman Sea caused large swells to hit the Sydney coastline, bringing waves in excess of 4 metres (13 feet). (Reuters)
A weaver bird makes its nest in Kathmandu, Nepal. Weavers, small passerine birds related to finches, are one of some 868 species of birds found in Nepal. The country's diverse topography and climate is home to more than 10 percent of the world's bird species. (AFP)
A diver surrounded by sardines performs Taekwondo during a promotional diving performance for summer vacation visitors at the Coex Aquarium in Seoul, South Korea. The aquarium is running the dive performance daily during the summer season. (Reuters)
An overview shows Chinese rescuers carrying out rescue operations after a high speed train crashed into a stalled train on Saturday in Wenzhou, Zhejiang province. (Reuters)
Egypt's former Interior Minister Habib el-Adly, front, stands behind bars during his trial on charges relating to the killing of nearly 900 protesters during the 18-day uprising that toppled Egypt's President Hosni Mubarak from power in February 2011, Cairo. (AP)
A newly arrived Somali refugee child awaits medical examinations at the Dadaab refugee camp, near the Kenya-Somalia border, July 23, 2011. (Reuters)
Flowers, candles, and messages are left in honor of the victims of the July 22 shooting spree at a Labour Party youth summer camp on the island of Utoeya, seen in the background, July 24, 2011. The stone jetty in the image is one of the places local residents used as a rescuers' launch pad when saving youth from the massacre by boat. (AFP)
A police officer stands next to flowers and a teddy bear left outside the home of Amy Winehouse in London. An autopsy on Winehouse, who was found dead at the weekend, will be carried out on Monday, police said. (Reuters)
Uruguayan defender Diego Lugano (C) raises the trophy and celebrates with teammates at the end of the 2011 Copa America football tournament final against Paraguay in Buenos Aires, July 24, 2011. (AFP)
In a picture taken with an underwater camera, US swimmer Michael Phelps competes in the semi-finals of the men's 200-meter freestyle swimming event in the FINA World Championships at the indoor stadium of the Oriental Sports Center in Shanghai. (AFP)
A girl on her father's shoulders looks through a maze of sunflowers growing in a field during a three-day sunflower festival in the town of Nogi, Tochigi prefecture, north of Tokyo, July 24, 2011. (AFP)
Two squirrel monkeys play on a rope in their enclosure at the Prague zoo, Czech Republic, July 24, 2011. (AFP)
Afghan refugee children, who survived last year's flooding, walk at a camp in Nowshera, Pakistan. (AFP)
A severely malnourished child waits with his mother to be admitted to Banadir Hospital in Somalia's capital Mogadishu. An estimated 3.7 million people in Somalia - around a third of the population - are on the brink of starvation and millions more in Djibouti, Ethiopia, Kenya and Uganda have been struck by the worst drought in the region in 60 years. (AFP)
Candles are lit amongst flowers and tributes left for British singer Amy Winehouse outside her house in London. (AP)
At least four distinct plumes of water ice spewing out from the south polar region of Saturn's moon Enceladus. The image was taken in visible light with the Cassini's spacecraft narrow-angle camera. (AFP/ESA/NASA/JPL/Space Science Institute)
South Korean honor guard soldiers wearing traditional military uniforms, salute during a rehearsal of the welcoming honor guard ceremony for a commander of combined U.S.-South Korea forces, U.S. Army Gen. James D. Thurman, at Defense Ministry in Seoul. (AP)
Cultural artists from India's Telangana region, who are the supporters of Communist Party of India (Marxist-Leninist), participate in a protest rally, demanding a separate Telangana state, in Hyderabad. (Reuters)
Two men try to stop an elephant which freed itself and tried to escape during the filming of a commercial in the center of Budapest, Hungary. (Reuters/Viktor Veres /Blikk)
A wave crashes into a ship which broke free from a tow line at Sheffield Beach some 60km (37 miles) north of Durban, South Africa. (Reuters)
A child sits on a column of "Les Deux Plateaux" work - the "Colonnes de Buren" (Buren's Columns) - designed by French conceptual artist Daniel Buren, in the courtyard of the Palais Royal in Paris, France. (Reuters)
Children cool down in a fountain, with the air temperature at about plus 33 degrees Celsius (91.4 degrees Fahrenheit), in central Moscow, Russia. (Reuters)
A man walks past the cosmetic advertising at a store in Tokyo, Japan. (AP)
A polar bear eats an ice fruit cake inside its enclosure at Prague Zoo, Czech Republic. (Reuters)
Cars are submerged by flood waters on a street in Seoul. Torrential rain pounded South Korea and triggered landslides, killing 22 people, flooding hundreds of homes and turning main roads into rivers of churning, muddy water. (AFP)
South Korean rescue workers carry a survivor from a collapsed house as a midnight landslide caused by torrential rains swept away several houses in Chuncheon, South Korea. (AP)
A car is swept along by floodwaters next to tilted electric posts on a damaged road, after typhoon Nock-Ten hit Daraga, Albay in central Philippines. Typhoon Nock-Ten slammed into the eastern mountain areas of the Philippine main island of Luzon, killing 20 people and displacing more than 600,000 others. (Reuters)
A Pakistani flood-affected family sits outside their tent at Nasata camp in the town of Charsadda in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, Pakistan. (AFP)
A truck is consumed by fire after it collided with a bus in an accident which cost the lives of 33 people, in Nyimba, Zambia. (AFP)
A model depicting Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi (L) by artist Mohmmed Al-Tarhouni is displayed at an exhibition titled "Gadhafi's Crimes Exhibition" at the Old University in Benghazi. (Reuters)
Balloons take off in Chambley-Bussieres, eastern France, to set a world record of collective take-off during the yearly event "Lorraine Mondial air ballons", an international air-balloon meeting. (AFP)
Michael Phelps of the US approaches the finish line in the men's 200m butterfly final at the 14th FINA World Championships in Shanghai, China. (Reuters)
A giant Argentine flag falls unveiling the south facade of the Social Development Ministry decorated with a portrait of Evita, during the ceremony commemorating the 59th anniversary of Eva Peron's death, in Buenos Aires. (AFP)
Timber rafts are transported along the Angara river near the town of Kodinsk, northeast of the Siberian city of Krasnoyarsk. (Reuters)
South Korean soldiers work in knee-deep mud after a flood caused by heavy rains hit the area around an apartment complex in Seoul. Tens of thousands of South Korean troops joined a massive clean-up after record-breaking rainfall killed at least 39 people, flooded hundreds of homes and turned main roads into muddy rivers. (AFP)
Aerial view of a riverside park along the Han River in Seoul submerged under muddy waters. (AFP)
Slovenian troops serving in the NATO-led peacekeeping mission in Kosovo set up a checkpoint on the bridge in the ethnically divided town of Mitrovica. A mob of about 200 Serbs hurled firebombs and set ablaze a customs post on Kosovo's northernmost border with Serbia, hours after Kosovo's special police withdrew from the area. (AP)
A severely malnourished Somali child receives oral rehydration salts at Mogadishu's Banadir hospital. An estimated 3.7 million people are on the brink of starvation. (AFP)
A graffitti with a message of condolences for Norway in central Oslo. Norwegian police ended a six-day search for bodies on the island where Anders Behring Breivik killed at least 68 people. (Reuters)
Fish-farming facilities on the coast near Epidaurus, in Greece's southern Peloponnese region of Corfos. Greece has one of Europe's largest fish-farming industries, which employs some 10,000 people and contributes significantly to exports. (AP)
Nepalese defender Rohit Chand (R) and Jordan's forward Ahmad Hayel fight for the ball during their 2014 World Cup Asian qualifying football match in Kathmandu, Nepal. The game ended in a 1-1 draw. (AFP)
A man crosses the Red square in central Moscow, Russia,wearing a costume of Spiderman, making money by posing for pictures with tourists. (AFP)
A young orangutan plays with his mother at the zoo in Dortmund, Germany. (AP)
People attend the burial of Libya's rebel military commander Abdel Fattah Younes in Benghazi. (Reuters)
Argentine President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner (L) sings her national anthem as she is welcomed by her Brazilian counterpart Dilma Rousseff at Planalto presidential palace in Brasilia. (AFP)
A blow-up figure depicting a special forces command is seen during a military parade marking Peru's Independence Day in Lima. (AP)
A close friend of Bano Rashid (18), one of the victims of the massacre at the youth camp of the Norwegian Labor Party, walks ahead of her coffin carrying her portrait as they make their way to her gravesite at Nesodden Kirke, south of the capital Oslo. (AFP)
Amphibious military vehicles are heading for shore during a naval parade rehearsal in Russia's far eastern harbor of Vladivostok. Russia will mark its Navy Day on July 31. (Reuters)
Afghan National Army soldier along with US soldiers carries two wounded Afghan National Army soldiers following a roadside bomb attack, in the outskirts of Kandahar, to a medevac helicopter from the US Army's Task Force Lift "Dust Off", Charlie Company 1-52. (AP)
People walk on the 'Slinky springs to fame' bridge in Oberhausen, Germany. The new bridge over the Rhine-Herne canal by German artist Tobias Rehberger is 406 meters-long and a new landmark at the Ruhr region. (AP)
Indian workers attempt to float huge balloons for the "Saputara Monsoon Festival" on an artificial lake in a thick fog during the monsoon season at Saputara Hill Station around 400 kms from Ahmedabad. The one-month-long festival begins on July 30, 2011. (AFP)
