special prayers Taraveeh
Pakistani Muslims offer special prayers Taraveeh in a Mosque during the holy month of Ramadan, in Faisalabad, Pakistan on 01 August 2011. Muslims all over the world are observing the holy month of Ramadan which prohibits food and drinks from dawn to dusk.
A man sells copies of the Quran,
A man sells copies of the Quran, Islam's holy book, on the first day of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan at the central Mosque in Lagos, Nigeria, Monday, Aug. 1, 2011.
al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem's
A Palestinian girl (C) and her young sister who looks up at the colored lights make their way to night prayers in a narrow street leading to the al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem's Old City, Israel, 01 August 2011, the first day of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan.
Palestinian boys
Palestinian boys read the Koran at the al-Omari mosque in Gaza City on the first day of the Muslim holy fasting month of Ramadan on 01 August 2011. 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
Pakistani Muslims
Pakistani Muslims gather for Iftar at the Dervesh Mosque in Peshawar on August 1, 2011, on the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan. Throughout the month devout Muslims must abstain from food, drink and sex from dawn until sunset when they break the fast with the Iftar meal.
Filipino Muslims pray
Filipino Muslims pray inside a mosque during the start of Ramadan in Quiapo, metro Manila August 1, 2011. Muslims around the world abstain from eating, drinking and conducting sexual relations from sunrise to sunset during Ramadan, the holiest month in the Islamic calendar.
Blind women use the braille system to read copies of the Koran
Blind women use the braille system to read copies of the Koran on the second day of Ramadan in Malang on August 2, 2011. Like millions of Muslim around the world, Indonesians celebrated the month of Ramadan by abstaining from eating, drinking, and smoking as well as sexual activities from dawn to dusk.
A rebel fighter prays
A rebel fighter prays before breaking fast at the front line near the Libyan town of Zlitan, 160 km (100 miles) east of Tripoli, August 1, 2011. Libyans entered the Muslim holy month of Ramadan on Monday with no let-up in the five-month conflict as Muammar Gaddafi sought to foment divisions within a rebellion threatening him on several fronts. Muslims around the world abstain from eating, drinking and conducting sexual relations from sunrise to sunset during Ramadan, the holiest month in the Islamic calendar.
Newly arrived refugees
Newly arrived refugees who had fled the famine-hit Somalia wait in line at a reception at Ifo camp, one of three camps that make up sprawling Dadaab refugee camp in Dadaab, northeastern Kenya, 01 August 2011. More than 1,000 refugees fleeing conflict and hunger in their country are arriving daily at already packed Dadaab camp, which was designed to accommodate 90,000 refugees. The camp now hosts over 400,000 and the population is on the rise with ever increasing influx of new arrivals from Somalia. The Kenyan government remains reluctant to open the new camp Ifo 2, saying the influx of more refugees are a security risk to the country
Somali refugee women
Somali refugee women at Ifo camp, one of three camps that make up the sprawling Dadaab refugee camp in Dadaab, northeastern Kenya, 01 August 2011. More than 1,000 refugees fleeing conflict and hunger in their country are arriving daily at the already packed Dadaab camp, which was designed to accommodate 90,000 refugees. The camp now hosts over 400,000 and the population is on the rise with an ever increasing influx of new arrivals from Somalia. The Kenyan government remains reluctant to open the new camp Ifo 2, saying the influx of more refugees is a security risk to the country.
A goose feeds
A goose feeds on the bank of a dried-up creek bed near Lake Arlington in Arlington, Texas, August, 2011. Sticky heat smothered much of the country's midsection as hotter than usual temperatures continued to roast parts of the nation.
sculpture of a longhorn
Alejandra Vera of Mexico reacts after feeling the heat radiating from a sculpture of a longhorn in downtown Dallas, Texas August 1, 2011. Sticky heat smothered much of the country's midsection as hotter than usual temperatures continued to roast parts of the nation.
Moko Jumbies parade
Moko Jumbies parade in the streets during celebrations for Emancipation Day in Port of Spain August 1, 2011. Emancipation Day commemorates the liberation of formerly enslaved Africans and their struggles and resistance to the institution of slavery.
shows part of the 180 human skulls seized.
Handout photo released by the Peruvian news agency Andina on, 01 August 2011, which shows part of the 180 human skulls seized from 31 years old Augusto Cisneros Quispecondori, a folk healer in downtown of Lima, Peru.
suicide attack in Kunduz
Afghan police officers wrap the body of a hotel guard in a black cloth after a suicide attack in Kunduz, north of Kabul, Afghanistan, Tuesday, Aug. 2, 2011. A suicide car bomber blew up his vehicle outside a small residential hotel frequented by foreigners just after dawn Tuesday.
Gold rings
Gold rings are displayed for customers at a jewellery shop in Seoul August 2, 2011. Gold edged higher on Tuesday, supported by a purchase of 25 tonnes of the precious metal by South Korea's central bank, while investors watched the outcome of a vote on the U.S. debt deal. South Korea's central bank said it bought the gold between June and July to diversify its foreign reserves despite high prices, marking its first purchase in more than a decade and taking its total gold holdings to 39.4 tonnes.
Demonstrators
Demonstrators march to the local parliament during a rally in Jayapura, in Indonesia's Papua province, August 2, 2011. About 2,000 protesters staged a rally on Tuesday to demand a referendum for Papua's independence.
woman cleans her home
A woman cleans her home as knee-deep floodwaters submerged houses due to continuous rainfall brought by Typhoon Muifa in Quezon City, Metro Manila, August 2, 2011.
Typhoon Muifa
Boy swim in a knee-high floodwaters brought about by continuous rainfall from Typhoon Muifa along a main street in Maceda, metro Manila August 2, 2011. Due to heavy rains and flooding in many places in the capital region of metro Manila, Executive Secretary Paquito Ochoa Jr. has suspended all classes in schools and work in government agencies, according to local media.
Han River in Seoul submerged under muddy waters
This aerial image shows a riverside park along the Han River in Seoul submerged under muddy waters on July 28, 2011 after the capital was pummeled by record rainfall on July 27. 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
water from a rainwater
Bedouin Falah Hedawa draws water from a rainwater collection cistern in the Rashayida area, in the desert between the West Bank town of Bethlehem and the Dead Sea July 25, 2011. The cisterns which dot the desert beyond Bethlehem, many of them restored to full working order in the last few years, have for centuries harvested winter rain to provide shepherds and their flocks with water through summer. Israel has demolished 20 cisterns in the West Bank in the first half of this year, according to the U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA). Picture taken July 25, 2011.
the new EdgeWalk attraction on the CN Tower
Reporters lean back, 1,168 feet over Toronto's downtown, while participating in a media preview of the new EdgeWalk attraction on the CN Tower Wednesday, July 27, 2011. Participants are strapped into a harness as they walk along a walkway around the CN Tower
EdgeWalk
A reporter leans over the edge of the catwalk during the media preview for the "EdgeWalk" on the CN Tower in Toronto, July 27, 2011. Participants are strapped in to a harness that is attached to a guard rail while walking around the catwalk on the structure 356m (1,168ft) off the ground.
Ramadan lanterns in a shop in Cairo
A woman carrying her child buys Ramadan lanterns in a shop in Cairo ahead of the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan, July 27, 2011.
selling Ramadan lanterns ahead
A man smokes water pipes in his makeshift shop selling Ramadan lanterns ahead of the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan, in Cairo July 27, 2011.
Women scoop water
Women scoop water from barrels provided by the African Union military force at an impromptu camp of internally displaced people that has sprung up near the airport, Mogadishu, Wednesday, July 27, 2011. The camp has very few men because al-Shabab would not let them leave the south-central region the families come from, the women say. Somalia's dire famine poses a new threat to the power that al-Shabab holds over Somalia's population, as tens of thousands flee the militants' area of control for food and other aid.
Women and children
Women and children stand at the edge of an impromptu camp of internally displaced people that has sprung up near the airport, Mogadishu, Wednesday, July 27, 2011. The camp has very few men because al-Shabab would not let them leave the south-central region the families come from, the women say. Somalia's dire famine poses a new threat to the power that al-Shabab holds over Somalia's population, as tens of thousands flee the militants' area of control for food and other aid
force pray near the town of Dhobley
Somalian transitional government force pray near the town of Dhobley, Somalia, Wednesday, July 27, 2011. A plane carrying 10 tons of urgently needed nutritional supplements to treat malnourished children has landed in famine-hit Somalia, a U.N. official said Wednesday
A boy, displaced by floods
A boy, displaced by floods for nearly a year, takes a bath using a hand pump while taking refuge with his family along a road in Sukkur, located in Pakistan's Sindh province July 2011. Pakistan remains woefully unprepared for floods this year which a U.N. official said could affect up to 5 million people in a worse-case scenario. The 2010 Pakistan floods left some 2,000 people dead, 11 million homeless and another 7 million were affected. At itsheight, one-fifth of Pakistan was submerged.
sits near his family's goat,
A boy, displaced by floods for nearly a year, sits near his family's goat, dyed in henna, and belongings while travelling with his family to higher ground in Sukkur, located in Pakistan's Sindh province July 27, 2011, to escape this year's monsoon season. Pakistan remains woefully unprepared for floods this year which a U.N. official said could affect up to 5 million people in a worse-case scenario. The 2010 Pakistan floods left some 2,000 people dead, 11 million homeless and another 7 million were affected. At itsheight, one-fifth of Pakistan was submerged.
seven-month-old child with a weight of 3.4kg
A doctor examines Mihag Gedi Farah, a seven-month-old child with a weight of 3.4kg, in a field hospital of the International Rescue Committee, IRC, in the town of Dadaab, Kenya, Tuesday, July 26, 2011. The U.N. will airlift emergency rations this week to parts of drought-ravaged Somalia that militants banned it from more than two years ago, in a crisis intervention to keep hungry refugees from dying along what an official calls the "roads of death." Tens of thousands already have trekked to neighboring Kenya and Ethiopia, hoping to get aid in refugee camps
