Photos of the Week
People release doves as they pay their respects to the war dead during a ceremony at the Yasukuni Shrine in Tokyo, Japan, Aug. 15, 2014. Japan marks the 69th anniversary of the end of World War II in Asia today, following their surrender between August 14 and 15 in 1945. The Yasukuni Shrine honors Japan's war dead during the period from 1867 to the end of the Second World War.
Australia
To celebrate the World's First Undersea Art Exhibition, a 5 meter (15-foot) tall sea turtle cruises past Sydney Harbor in Sydney, Australia, Aug. 15, 2014.
Missouri
A member of the St. Louis County Police Department points his weapon in the direction of a group of protesters in Ferguson, Mo., Aug. 13, 2014. On Saturday, Aug. 9, 2014, a white police officer fatally shot Michael Brown, an unarmed black teenager, in the St. Louis suburb.
Virginia
Army 1st Lt. Matthew Greene, left, reaches out for his mother, retired Col. Susan Myers, as she places a rose on the casket of her husband, Army Maj. Gen. Harold Greene during a burial service at Arlington National Cemetery in Arlington, Va., Aug. 14, 2014.
Greene was killed when a gunman dressed as an Afghan soldier turned on ISAF troops, wounding about 15 including a German general and two Afghan generals. He is the highest-ranking U.S. military officer to be killed in America's post-9/11 wars.
Brazil
Firefighters work at the crash site of a small plane that was carrying Brazilian presidential candidate Eduardo Campos and several campaign officials, in Santos, Brazil, Aug. 13, 2014.
Great Britain
A couple make their way along the Thames River near Blackfriars Bridge as the sun sets, in London, Aug. 13, 2014.
Switzerland
Lisa Ryzih of Germany competes in the women's pole vault during the European Athletics Championships at the Letzigrund Stadium in Zurich, Switzerland, Aug. 14, 2014.
North Korea
North Korea (the dark area) and South Korea are seen at night in an undated NASA handout picture from the International Space Station. The clarity of the night image is possible thanks to the European Space Agency's NightPod, installed on the station in 2012, according to a NASA news release. It incorporates a motorized tripod that compensates for the station's speed of approximately 17,500 mph and the motion of the Earth below.
South Korea
A sales assistant waits for customers next to TV sets broadcasting a report on Pope Francis' arrival, in Seoul , South Korea, Aug. 14, 2014. Pope Francis arrived in the South Korean capital Seoul on Thursday after sending an unprecedented message of good will to China as he flew over the country that does not allow its Catholics to recognize his authority. Francis will spend five days in South Korea, meeting some of the country's five million Catholics on the first trip by a pontiff to Asia since 1999.
China
Visitors run away as waves caused by a tidal bore surge past a barrier on the banks of Qiantang River, in Hangzhou, Zhejiang province, China, Aug. 13, 2014.
Italy
Lava flows from Mount Etna on the southern Italian island of Sicily, Aug. 13, 2014. Mount Etna is one of the most active volcanoes in the world and is in an almost constant state of activity.
Ohio
Cleveland Indians' Jason Kipnis slides on the tarp after the baseball game between the Indians and the Arizona Diamondbacks was postponed in Cleveland, Ohio, Aug. 12, 2014.
Ukraine
Seen through the bullet riddled windshield of the bus, pro-Russian rebels stand at a road block on the outskirts of Donetsk, eastern Ukraine, Aug. 13, 2014.
Gaza Strip
A Palestinian man rests inside his makeshift shelter next to the remains of his house in Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip, which witnesses said was destroyed in an Israeli offensive during a 72-hour truce, Aug. 13, 2014.
China
A red-crowned crane spreads its wings in Zhalong Nature Reserve, in Heilongjiang province, China, Aug. 11, 2014. The red-crowned crane is on the red list of endangered species released by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) as its population continues to decline.
West Bank
Israeli soldiers keep guard at a protest by Palestinians against the Israeli offensive in Gaza, at Qalandia checkpoint near the West Bank city of Ramallah, Aug. 13, 2014.
Italy
The horse of the "Civetta" or Owl parish is escorted by its groom and followed by supporters as they leave Del Campo square in Siena, Aug. 13, 2014. Every year on July 2 and August 16, almost without fail since the mid-1600s, 10 riders compete bareback around Siena's shell-shaped central square in a bid to win the Palio, a silk banner depicting the Madonna and child.
Mexico
Lightning strikes during a summer storm in Monterrey Aug. 13, 2014.
Michigan
Vehicles sit submerged in water along I-75 in Royal Oak, Mich., Aug. 12, 2014. Severe rain flooded local streets, highways, and homes in the Detroit Metropolitan area experiencing the worst flash flooding in decades.
Massachusetts
President Barack Obama pauses as he speaks about developments in Iraq from his vacation residence in Chilmark, Mass. on the island of Martha's Vineyard, Aug. 11, 2104. Obama is giving his approval to the appointment of a prime minister to replace Nouri al-Maliki and urging the formation of a new government in Iraq as soon as possible.
Missouri
Police wearing riot gear stage outside the remains of a burned convenience store in Ferguson, Mo., Aug. 11, 2104. The FBI opened an investigation Monday into the death of 18-year-old Michael Brown, who police said was shot multiple times Saturday after being confronted by an officer in Ferguson. Authorities in Ferguson used tear gas and rubber bullets to try to disperse a large crowd Monday night that had gathered at the site of a burned-out convenience store damaged a night earlier, when many businesses in the area were looted. Clashes with police continued Tuesday and Wednesday night but were largely peaceful by Thursday.
Indonesia
Tenggerese worshipers walk across Mount Bromo's 'Sea of Sand' carrying offerings during the Yadnya Kasada Festival in Probolinggo, East Java, Indonesia, Aug. 12, 2014. The festival is the main festival of the Tenggerese people and lasts about a month. On the fourteenth day, the Tenggerese make the journey to Mount Bromo to make offerings of rice, fruits, vegetables, flowers and livestock to the mountain gods by throwing them into the volcano's caldera.
Spain
African migrants climb a border fence during an attempt to cross into Spanish territory, between Morocco and Spain's north African enclave of Melilla, Aug. 12, 2014. Around 500 people stormed the border, where 25 of them passed the fence and were held at CETI, the short-stay immigrant center, according to local authorities.
Australia
U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry speaks with five-year-old Dara Edwards, the daughter of an American staffer at the U.S. Consulate in Sydney, Australia as he meets embassy and consular staff, Aug. 12, 2014. Kerry had just concluded his participation in the annual AUSMIN meeting between Australia's and the United States Foreign and Defense leadership.
Gaza
A girl sits on the ruins of her family's home that witnesses say was destroyed by Israeli airstrikes in the Beit Hanoun neighborhood of Gaza City, Aug. 12, 2014.
China
Newborn giant panda triplets, which were born to giant panda Juxiao (not pictured), are seen inside an incubator at the Chimelong Safari Park in Guangzhou, Guangdong province August 4, 2014. According to local media, this is the fourth set of giant panda triplets born with the help of artificial insemination procedures in China, and the birth is seen as a miracle due to the low reproduction rate of giant pandas. Picture taken Aug. 4, 2014 and released Aug. 12, 2014.
Ukraine
A prisoner inspects damage in a high-security facility after shelling in Donetsk, eastern Ukraine, Aug. 11, 2014. Local authorities say more than 100 prisoners have fled from a high-security facility after it was hit by shelling in the rebel stronghold of Donetsk. City council spokesman Maxim Rovensky said Monday a jail riot was precipitated by a direct rocket hit that claimed the life of at least one inmate.
Nigeria
A man has his temperature taken using an infrared digital laser thermometer at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport in Abuja, Nigeria, Aug. 11, 2014.
Belgium
A tightrope walker performs between two spheres of the Atomium monument in Brussels, Belgium, Aug. 11, 2014. The 102-metre-tall (335-foot-tall) structure and its nine spheres, which was designed for Expo 58, is in the shape of a unit cell of an iron crystal, magnified about 165 billion times.
Iraq
Displaced people from the minority Yazidi sect, fleeing violence from ISIS forces in Sinjar, Iraq, ride in the trunk of a car as they make their way towards the Syrian border, Aug. 10, 2014. ISIS has declared a caliphate in parts of Iraq and Syria and prompted tens of thousands of Yazidis and Christians to flee for their lives.
Turkey
A member of security forces watches as Turkey's Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan casts a shadow as he addresses to supporters in front of the party headquarters in Ankara, Turkey August 10, 2014. Erdogan secured his place in history as Turkey's first directly elected president on Sunday, sweeping more than half the vote in a result his opponents fear heralds an increasingly authoritarian state.
South Sudan
A South Sudanese model applies make-up during the Festival of Fashion and Arts for Peace in Juba, South Sudan, Aug. 9, 2014.
Malaysia
An Ethnic Chinese priest stands in front of a paper statue of Chinese deity 'Da Shi Ye' or Guardian God of Ghosts set ablaze by devotees during the Hungry Ghost festival in Kuala Lumpur, Aug. 10, 2014.
The festival, celebrated in the seventh lunar month of the Chinese new year calendar among communities in southern China, Malaysia, Singapore, HongKong and Taiwan, marks the belief that the 'Gates of Hell' are opened to let out the hungry ghosts who then wander in the land of the living while foraging for food. During the festival, food offerings are made while paper money and joss sticks are burnt outside homes to keep the spirits of dead ancestors happy and to bring good luck.
Ukraine
A protester holds a petrol bomb as he tries to prevent municipal workers from clearing away barricades and tents at Independence Square in Kiev, Aug. 9, 2014. Tensions continued on Kiev's Independence Square, the scene of street protests that toppled a Moscow-backed president in February, as protesters still camped there clashed with city workers who tried to clear away their tents.
Hawaii
Bodysurfers and body boarders catch waves at Sandy beach on the east side of Oahu as Tropical Storm Iselle passes through the Hawaiian islands, in Honolulu, Hawaii, Aug. 8, 2014. The center of Tropical Storm Iselle made landfall on Hawaii's Big Island on Friday, bringing strong winds and heavy rain, knocking down trees and causing power outages ahead of a more powerful storm gathering strength behind it.
Iraq
A girl from the minority Yazidi sect, fleeing the violence in the Iraqi town of Sinjar, rests at the Iraqi-Syrian border crossing in Fishkhabour, Dohuk province, Aug. 13, 2014.
South Korea
Pope Francis prays in front of the birthplace of Saint Andrea Kim Dae-gun at the Solmoe Sanctuary in Dangjin, South Korea, Aug. 15, 2014.