Some of the most compelling photographs from RFE/RL's coverage area and beyond for the 31st week of 2018. For more photo galleries, see our Picture This archive.
Photos Of The Week #31
1
A diver poses for a photograph next to an immersed tank 3 kilometers off the coast of the southern Lebanese port city of Sidon, where environmental activists dropped old battle tanks provided by the Lebanese Army into the Mediterranean Sea to create new habitat for marine life. (AFP/Ibrahim Chalhoub)
2
A woman looks through the glass of the enclosure of a polar bear as he cools off in the water at the zoo in Mulhouse, France, on August 3, as parts of Europe continue to swelter in an ongoing heatwave. (AFP/Sebastien Bozon)
3
A military orchestra performs on a pontoon bridge during the open-water competition for pontoon bridge units, as part of the International Army Games 2018 on the Oka Rive, in Russia's Vladimir Oblast, on August 3. (TASS/Sergei Bobylev)
4
Spectators on inflatable mattresses watch as a competitor jumps into the water during a cliff-diving competition at a flooded quarry near the village of Hrimezdice in the Czech Republic on August 3. (AP/David Josek)
5
Former Russian paratroopers frolic in a fountain in Gorky Park during traditional 'Paratroopers Day' celebrations in Moscow on August 2. (epa-EFE/Sergei Ilnitsky)
6
Belgian fishermen ride horses to haul nets out in the sea to catch shrimp during low tide in the coastal town of Oostduinkerke. (Reuters/Yves Herman)
7
A girl cools off in a fountain in Manezhnaya Square on a warm summer day in downtown Moscow. (AFP/Yuri Kadobnov)
8
A hot-air balloon flies over a field during the Russian Volga Federal District hot-air balloon championships. (TASS/Mikhail Solunin)
9
A boy goes zorbing on the Vltava River during a warm summer's day in Prague. (epa-EFE/Martin Divisek)
10
Ultra-Orthodox Jews, demonstrating against the annual Gay Parade in Jerusalem, are sprayed with water cannons by Israeli security forces on August 2. (AFP/Menahem Kahana)
11
A Zimbabwean soldier beats a man in a Harare street as protests erupted over alleged fraud in the country's general election. (AFP/Zinyange Auntony)
12
About 700 sheep were gathered for the annual shepherds' festival near the Gemmi Pass, between Kandersteg and Leukerbad in Switzerland. During the festival, shepherds and farmers meet, watched by spectators who witness sheep running down steep cliffs to Lake Dauben. (EPA-EFE/Jean-Christophe Bott)
13
People on boats follow a catamaran carrying the coffin of beloved Croatian singer Oliver Dragojevic during his funeral in Split. He died aged 70 after being diagnosed with lung cancer. (Reuters/Antonio Bronic)
14
A vintage vehicle is seen through the devastation wrought by the Cranston Fire near Mountain Center, California. Several fires in California have left at least six people dead, destroyed hundreds of homes, burned thousands of acres, and caused the evacuation of at least 50,000. (EPA-EFE/Mike Nelson)
15
Women in niqabs gather before a demonstration against the Danish face veil ban in Copenhagen. (Reuters/Andrew Kelly)
16
A double rainbow appears above the Gold Bridge on Ba Na Hill near Danang, Vietnam. (Reuters/Kham)
17
Artist Martin Nothhelfer rides as the Cloud Cyclist (Wolken Radler) at the Geschwister-Scholl-Platz in Munich, Germany. Nothhelfer wants to show with his performance where there is good air and bad air in Munich. His bicycle blows out soap bubbles when the air is clean, but in bad air it smokes. (EPA-EFE/Lukas Barth-Tuttas)
18
A horse and its foal play in a meadow in Wehrheim, near Frankfurt, Germany. (AP/Michael Probst)
19
A woman with an umbrella walks past a sculpture called Umbrellas by Greek sculptor George Zongolopoulos, along the waterfront in Thessaloniki. (AFP/Sakis Mitrolidis)
20
Hills are bare after being burned in the Carr Fire near Igo, California. Six people have been confirmed killed and seven others are missing in one of the most destructive wildfires in the state's history. More than 800 homes and 300 other buildings have been reduced to ash. (Reuters/Bob Strong)
21
People watch Russian Navy Day celebrations in the far eastern city of Vladivostok on July 29. (Reuters/Yuti Maltsev)
22
An internally displaced Afghan child is photographed near a temporary shelter in Herat. (epa-EFE/Jalil Rezayee)
23
A Bosnian high diver takes off from the Old Bridge that straddles the Neretva River in Mostar during the 452th traditional diving competition on July 29. (AFP/Elvis Barukcic)