August 24
Members of the Kern County Rio Bravo Hotshots monitored the Rim Fire near Groveland, California. The fire has burned out of control for days, threatening 4,500 homes outside Yosemite National Park. More than 2,000 firefighters are battling the blaze.
August 27
A Free Syrian Army fighter holds his weapon as he looks through a window, as Western governments scrambled to respond to the heightening crisis.
August 24
Participants ran and dodged bulls in the Great Bull Run in Petersburg, Virginia. A quarter-mile event, shorter than the historical event held in Pamplona, Spain, was held on a local drag-racing track.
August 24
A firefighter tried to extinguish a forest fire in the country's Tondela region. One firefighter died and dozens were injured as they battled the spreading blaze, according to Portuguese authorities.
August 25
Palestinian schoolchildren look out the window of their classroom at a U.N.-run school in Dir al-Balah, on the first day of the school year.
August 25
Remnants of a poster of ousted Egyptian president Mohamed Morsi are pictured on a wall on a street. Egypt's Army-backed government shortened a nightly curfew by two hours on Saturday, 10 days after imposing it during a fierce crackdown on Muslim Brotherhood protesters demanding Morsi's reinstatement.
August 25
A man runs up the gostra, a pole covered in grease, during the religious feast of Saint Julian, patron of the town of St. Julian's, outside Valletta. In the traditional gostra, a game stretching back to the Middle Ages, young men, women, and children must make their way to the top and try to uproot one of the flags to win prizes. From May to September in Malta, there is hardly any weekend when a town or a village is not celebrating the feast of its patron saint or other saints revered in different churches.
August 29
A newly married couple walks up a hill to get a view of the southern Turkish city.
August 26
Demonstrators from the Power of Ravana organization clash with police during a protest against the visit by U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay in front of the local U.N. office. Pillay was in Sri Lanka to assess allegations of human-rights violations during and after a nearly three-decade war. She was expected to visit the island nation's former war zones in the north and the east during her seven-day visit and to meet leaders of minority parties, civil-society organizations, President Mahinda Rajapaksa, leaders of opposition parties, and the ethnic-minority Tamil people, who were deeply affected by the war.
August 28
A man reacts as a performer dressed in a Tyrannosaurus rex costume walks next to him. The performance was a promotion for an exhibition at the Australian Museum titled Tyrannosaurs: Meet the Family. It showcases ancestors of the T. rex, with more than 10 life-size dinosaur specimens on display.
August 26
Former Maoist rebels pose for a picture after being integrated as lieutenants into the national Army as part of a peace deal at the Nepalese Military Academy.
August 26
A journalist monitors a blog providing details of the trial of former politician Bo Xilai outside the Intermediate People's Court in Shandong province. Bo faces charges of bribery, embezzlement, and abuse of power.
August 28
Spectators watch as Daniel Brands of Germany serves to Kevin Anderson of South Africa during the first round of the 2013 U.S. Open tennis tournament.
August 25
Visitors run from waves from a tidal bore as it surges past a barrier on the banks of Qiantang River.
August 26
A man, whose last name is Hou (left), climbed outside a window with a knife, as his mother (center) and a plainclothes policeman looked on in Liaoning province. Authorities said Hou held his mother captive in his apartment before climbing out the window and threatening to cut himself. After several hours, he was controlled by policemen, who managed to enter the house from another window with the help of his mother, local media reported.
August 27
A tourist poses for a photographer, unseen, at the historical site. Tourism in Egypt has dropped following unrest surrounding the July 3 ouster of President Mohamed Morsi.
August 27
A schoolboy dressed as the Hindu Lord Krishna waits for his performance to start inside a classroom during celebrations to mark the Janmashtami festival. The festival, which marks the birth anniversary of Lord Krishna, was celebrated across India.
August 27
A Free Syrian Army fighter drinks water as he sits on a sofa in the old-city district within rebel-held territory.
August 28
Syrian refugee Mohammed Abdullah, 75, father of Ahmed Abdullah, not pictured, is kissed by his grandchildren Rashed, 7, and Afrah, 11, at the Zaatari Syrian refugee camp in Mafraq, Jordan. Mohammed Abdullah was asked by his son, on the occasion of the anniversary of the famous Martin Luther King Jr. speech “I Have a Dream,” to share his dreams; the father replied that his dream is "to have a country of our own, a safe country, without humiliation, a country we always wanted, and a country our people have paid for in a lot of blood." More than 2 million Syrians have fled the country's two-and-a-half-year conflict. Jordan hosts more than 554,000 refugees.
August 25
Friends pose for a photograph at coffee shop. Syria reached an agreement with the United Nations on Sunday to allow a U.N. team of experts to visit the site of alleged chemical-weapon attacks last week.
August 26
A riot police officer (left) kicks a protester as another (center) tries to protect him before his arrest during protests north of Bogotá. Hundreds of protesters clashed with police in support of farmers who have being blockading Colombian highways for a week for an assortment of demands that include reduced gasoline prices, increased subsidies, and the cancellation of free-trade agreements.
August 27
A police officer pushes back a man complaining about the detention of protesters near Guanabara Palace, the office of Rio de Janeiro Gov. Sérgio Cabral. Demonstrators are demanding improvements to public services and Cabral's resignation for what they say is his improper management of public funds.
August 26
Muslim children eat at a temporary refugee camp in a Kantbalu township village. A tense calm returned to northwestern Myanmar, which has been ripped apart by sectarian violence that left hundreds homeless after Buddhist mobs tore through the small winding streets, torching Muslim-owned houses and business.
August 28
Indian rescuers carry the body of a victim they pulled out after two adjacent apartment buildings collapsed in Gujarat state. At least 11 people were killed, police and firefighters said.
August 28
People carrying umbrellas gathered at the National Mall to commemorate the 50th anniversary of Martin Luther King Jr.'s "I Have a Dream" speech.
