Photo Essay

  • U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry steps off his plane after arriving in Paris, July 26, 2014. Kerry will continue meetings regarding a cease-fire between Israel and Hamas in Gaza.
  • A Ukrainian rescue team searches for remains of victims and the aircraft at the MH17 crash site in eastern Ukraine, July 26, 2014.
  • A Palestinian woman walks amid destroyed buildings in the northern district of Beit Hanun in the Gaza Strip during an humanitarian truce on July 26, 2014.
  • An aircraft drops fire retardant on a vineyard as firefighters battle the fast-moving wildfire called “Sand Fire,” near Plymouth, California, July 26, 2014. The fire, which started Friday, has burned five homes, 1,300 acres, and is 20% contained, local media reported.
  • A nun reacts at the funeral of Jalila Ayyad, a Christian woman who was reportedly killed during an airstrike, in Gaza City, Gaza Strip, on July 27, 2014. Hamas and Israel went back and forth Sunday over proposals for a humanitarian lull in the Gaza fighting, with Hamas calling for a new 24-hour pause in the afternoon.
  • Palestinians carry the coffin of Christian woman Jalila Ayyad, 70, who was killed by an Israeli strike hit and destroyed her house, during her funeral at a church in Gaza City, July 27, 2014.
  • The brother of Warrant Officer Rami Cahlon cries over his grave during the funeral at the military cemetery in Hadera, northern Israel, July 27, 2014. Cahlon was injured during fighting in Gaza and died from his wounds four days later.
  • A man walks by flowers left by parents of an Australian victim of the crash laying on a piece of the Malaysia Airlines plane MH17 near the village of Hrabove (Grabove), in the Donetsk region, July 26, 2014. Ukraine sought on July 25 to avoid a political crisis after the shock resignation of its prime minister, as fighting between the army and rebels close to the Malaysian airliner crash site claimed more than a dozen more lives. Dutch and Australian forces were being readied on July 26 for possible deployment to secure the rebel-held crash site of the Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 in eastern Ukraine where many victims’ remains still lie nine days after the disaster claimed 298 lives.
  • A boy stands in an escalator holding a teddy bear at a train station in the centre of Donetsk, eastern Ukraine, on July 27, 2014. Dutch and Australian police who were planning to head to crash site of Malaysian flight MH17 on July 27, 2014 have had to scrap their trip over security concerns, a OSCE spokesman said.
  • People pass a festive decoration at a Hari Raya bazaar, on the eve of Eid al-Fitr, in Singapore, July 27, 2014. Eid al-Fitr is a major Muslim holiday, which marks the end of the holy month of Ramadan.
  • Men are seen at the window of a train as they make their way home, ahead of the Eid al-Fitr festival, at Karachi’s Cantonment railway station, July 27, 2014.
  • People inspect the destroyed old Mosque of The Prophet Jirjis in central Mosul, Iraq, July 27, 2014. The revered Muslim shrine was destroyed on Sunday by militants who overran the city in June and imposed their harsh interpretation of Islamic law.
  • Italy’s Vincenzo Nibali, wearing the overall leader’s yellow jersey, passes the Arc de Triomphe during the twenty-first and last stage of the Tour de France cycling race over 137.5 kilometers (85.4 miles) with start in Evry and finish in Paris, France, July 27, 2014.
  • North Korean war veteran, Kim Hak Chol, 81, a retired soldier, right, together with other veterans decorated with medals, attend a parade to celebrate the anniversary of the Korean War armistice agreement, July 27, 2014, in Pyongyang, North Korea. North Koreans gathered at Kim Il Sung Square as part of celebrations for the 61st anniversary of the armistice that ended the Korean War.
  • Igor Strelkov, the top military commander of the self-proclaimed “Donetsk People’s Republic”, delivers a press conference on July 28, 2014 in Donetsk, eastern Ukraine. Ukraine’s army on July 28 seized control of part of the vast site where Malaysian airliner MH17 crashed, insurgents said, as the UN announced the downing of the plane could constitute a war crime.
  • Palestinians mourn at the morgue of Gaza City’s al-Shifa hospital following explosions at al-Shifa Hospital and a nearby refugee camp in the Gaza Strip, July 28, 2014.
  • Palestinian children react at the scene of an explosion that medics said killed eight children and two adults, and wounded 40 others at a public garden in Gaza City, July 28, 2014. Locals blamed the blast on an Israeli air strike, but Israel denied responsibility, saying it was a misfire by a rocket launched by Hamas militants.
  • Relatives of Palestinian children react next to their bodies following their death, at a hospital in Gaza City, July 28, 2014. A huge explosion in a public garden in northern Gaza killed eight children and two adults, and wounded 40 others, Palestinian medics said on Monday. Locals blamed the blast on an Israeli air strike, but Israel denied responsibility, saying it was a misfire by a rocket launched by Hamas militants.
  • A Chinese Muslim prays at a mosque during the holy month of Ramadan in Beijing on July 28, 2014. Millions of Chinese Muslims are joining the faithful around the world in celebrating Eid al-Fitr, which marks the end of the holy month of Ramadan during which followers are required to abstain from food, drink and sex from dawn to dusk.
  • An employee pours water over a doll’s head before brushing its hair inside the toy factory owned by Norberto Garcia in Buenos Aires, July 28, 2014. Garcia was poised to launch a series of new toys this year after grafting hard for the past decade to rebuild his business following Argentina’s 2001-2002 economic crash and debt default. Instead, he’s hunkering down for a possible second default this Thursday, cutting investment plans and scaling back his targets.
  • A woman waits outside of her house after shelling in Donetsk on July 29, 2014. Ukraine’s army on Monday seized control of part of the vast site where Malaysian airliner MH17 crashed, insurgents said, as the United Nations announced the downing of the plane could constitute a war crime.
  • An Indian Muslim child prays as he stands near the entrance to a mosque, as he and other devotees congregated to celebrate the Eid al-Fitr festival, in southern New Delhi on July 29, 2014. Muslims around the world are celebrating the Eid al-Fitr festival, which marks the end of the fasting month of Ramadan.
  • A boy, covered with blood, reacts after sustaining injuries following what activists said was an airstrike at a site by forces loyal to Syria’s President Bashar al-Assad in Duma in eastern al-Ghouta, near Damascus, July 29, 2014.
  • Muslims offer prayers at the ruins of the Feroz Shah Kotla mosque on the occasion of Eid al-Fitr in New Delhi, July 29, 2014. The Eid al-Fitr festival marks the end of the holy month of Ramadan.
  • Passengers pack the waiting hall at Hongqiao Railway Station which services terminal two at Shanghai Hongqiao International Airport on July 29, 2014. Eastern China was bracing for more flight delays, with reports saying Shanghai’s main airports would be down to 25% capacity after aviation authorities warned of busy airspace.
  • An approaching storm looms over the French riviera city of Nice, southeastern France, July 29, 2014.
  • A Muslim family leaves after offering Eid al-Fitr prayers outside the Jama Masjid (Grand Mosque) in the old quarters of Delhi, July 29, 2014. The Eid al-Fitr festival marks the end of the holy fasting month of Ramadan.
  • A girl waits for customers as she sells balloons after Eid al-Fitr prayers in Karachi July 29, 2014. Eid al-Fitr marks the end of the holy month of Ramadan.
  • A Palestinian firefighter participates in efforts to put out a fire at Gaza’s main power plant, which witnesses said was hit in Israeli shelling, in the central Gaza Strip, July 29, 2014. Israeli tank fire hit the fuel depot of the Gaza Strip’s only power plant on Tuesday, witnesses said, cutting electricity to Gaza City and many other parts of the Palestinian enclave of 1.8 million people.
  • Israeli soldiers and friends mourn during the funeral of Israeli soldier Corporal Meidan Maymon Biton, 20, at the cemetery of the southern Israeli city of Netivot on July 29, 2014. Meidan was killed the previous day when a mortar shell fired from the Gaza Strip hit the Eshkol regional council, which flanks Gaza’s southern border with Israel.
  • A U.S. Marine holds his hat in the wind as the Marine One helicopter with President Barack Obama on board arrives at the Walter Reed National Military Medical Center in Bethesda, Maryland, to visit with wounded service members on July 29, 2014.
  • Water cascades down a stairway to a parking structure adjacent to Pauley Pavlion, home of UCLA basketball, background, after a 30-inch water main burst on nearby Sunset Boulevard, July 29, 2014, in Los Angeles. Los Angeles Water and Power spokeswoman Michele Vargas says the water main, nearly a century old, would take another two hours to shut off.
  • A man sorts through his destroyed garage after heavy shelling hit residential compounds in the Voroshilovskiy neighborhood of Donetsk, Ukraine, July 29, 2014. Artillery fire in central Donetsk continued Tuesday as the Ukrainians pushed their offensive to encircle the rebels and the city.
  • Chinese paramilitary policemen take a pledge to ensure the security during the upcoming Youth Olympic Games in Nanjing, in east China’s Jiangsu province, July 29, 2014.
  • Palestinians inspect shrapnel impacts to a wall of a United Nations-run school that was reportedly hit by Israeli artillery shells, at the Jabaliya refugee camp in the Gaza Strip, July 30, 2014. Palestinian health officials said at least 20 people were killed by what witnesses and U.N. officials said was the latest in a series of strikes on facilities that are supposed to be safe zones.
  • Supporters listen as President Barack Obama speaks about the economy at the Uptown Theater in Kansas City, Missouri, July 30, 2014.
  • Filipino army soldiers aboard a military truck in a convoy with tanks and military trucks as they drive past in Tondo Slum area, Manila, the Philippines, July 31, 2014, amid rumors of a coup d’etat against President Benigno Aquino III.
  • A trader works on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange in New York, NY, July 31, 2014. During midday trading the Dow Jones Industrial average had lost over 200 points.
  • North Korean women who work at the Kim Jong Suk Pyongyang textile factory spend their free time in a sauna at their dormitory in Pyongyang, North Korea, July 31, 2014. This is the country’s largest textile factory with 8,500 workers, where 80% of them are women.
  • Palestinians inspect a destroyed bus after Israeli airstrikes in the central Gaza City, July 31, 2014. Two weeks after starting its ground offensive in the Gaza Strip, Israel has mobilized 16,000 more reserve troops. The number of Palestinians killed has climbed to 119 as the toll from attacks on a U.N. school and a market rose, said Gaza Health Ministry spokesman Ashraf al-Qedra.
  • Oliver Dingley of England is seen underwater as he competes in the men’s 3m Springboard final at the 2014 Commonwealth Games in Edinburgh, Scotland, July 31, 2014. 
  • A person is seen lying on the ground after an explosion in Kaohsiung, southern Taiwan, August 1, 2014. An explosion caused by a gas leak in the southern Taiwanese city Kaohsiung has killed 15 people and injured another 243, Taiwanese media reported.
  • A woman stands on her balcony as she watches the activity along a street in Barcelona, Spain, August 1, 2014.
  • Chandrakant Zanjare, who said he lost 13 family members to a landslide, wails near the site where his house stood in Malin village, in the western Indian state of Maharashtra, Aug. 1, 2014. Heavy rains hampered efforts Friday by hundreds of rescue workers digging through heavy mud and debris, as the death toll from a landslide that engulfed an entire village in western India crossed 50. 
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This Week in Pictures: July 26-Aug. 1

—Updated
By Elissa Curtis

The brutal fighting in Gaza continued this week between Israel and Palestine, while Muslims around the world celebrated Eid al-Fitr to mark the end of the holy fasting month of Ramadan. In eastern Ukraine, the search continues for debris from MH17 and for remains from the flight’s victims, as the conflict there continues.

Scotland hosts the Commonwealth Games this week, while China prepares for the Youth Olympics which will take place in Nanjing on August 16. 

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