Some of the most compelling photographs from RFE/RL's broadcast region and beyond for the 40th week of 2014. For more photo galleries, see our "Picture This" archive by clicking on the banner above.
Photos Of The Week #40
1
Police stand guard as Muslims pray in a street near the Central Mosque during the Eid al-Adha festival in Moscow. (AFP/Vasily Maximov)
2
A sheep being prepared for slaughter to mark Eid al-Adha, the Muslim feast of the sacrifice, in Baku, Azerbaijan.
4
This photo shows some of an estimated 35,000 walrus that gathered near Point Lay, Alaska. The huge gathering was spotted during an annual arctic marine mammal aerial survey. According to "The Washington Post," the sea ice favored by walruses has disappeared due to global warming, forcing the walrus to come ashore to seek refuge. (AFP)
5
Muslim pilgrims arrive to throw pebbles at pillars during the "Jamarat" ritual in Mina near the holy city of Mecca, Saudi Arabia. Pilgrims pelt pillars symbolizing the devil to show their defiance as Muslims celebrate Eid al-Adha or the Feast of the Sacrifice, marking the end of the pilgrimage and commemorating Abraham's willingness to sacrifice his son Ismail on God's command. (AFP/Mohammed al-Shaikh)
6
A Kyrgyz man and boy pray next to a sacrificial sheep at a local livestock market ahead of Eid al-Adha, or Feast of the Sacrifice, in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan. Millions of Muslims around the world will celebrate Eid al-Adha, one of the biggest Muslim religious festivals, by slaughtering goats, sheep, and cattle in commemoration of the Prophet Abraham's readiness to sacrifice his son to show obedience to Allah. (epa/Igor Kovalenko)
7
A group of men in masks rough up a man who tried to stop them from removing barricades from a pro-democracy protest area in Hong Kong. Hong Kong has been plunged into the worst political crisis since its 1997 handover as pro-democracy activists take over the streets following China's refusal to grant citizens full universal suffrage. (AFP/Alex Ogle)
8
Iran's Seyed Mohammad Moussavi Eraghi serves during the men's volleyball final between Japan and Iran at the Songnim Gymnasium in Incheon, South Korea, during the 17th Asian Games. Iran won gold. (AFP/Martin Bureau)
9
Aleksandr Baiturin of Russia practices for the Red Bull Art of Motion, a free-running event on the Greek island of Santorini. (epa/Samo Vidic)
10
A photo taken through the damaged windshield of a vehicle in Donetsk's Oktyabrsky district, adjoining the airport in the eastern Ukrainian city. The airport, held by Ukrainian troops, has been the scene of heavy fighting with pro-Russian separatists. (AFP/John MacDougall)
11
Hungarian soldiers stand with their U.S. comrades after a joint Hungarian-U.S. military exercise near the village of Osku. (AFP/Attila Kisbenedek)
12
A soldier of the pro-Ukrainian St. Maria Battalion prays at a cross installed above the sea near the eastern city of Mariupol. (AFP/Alexander Khudoteply)
13
Serena Williams of the United States reacts after winning a point against Lucie Safarova of the Czech Republic during their women's singles match at the China Open tennis tournament in Beijing. Williams beat Safarova in three sets. (Reuters/Petar Kujundzic)
14
Russian military MI-28 helicopters launch thermal rockets during the Indra-2014 joint Russian-Indian tactical military exercises at the Prudboy firing ground outside the southern city of Volgograd. (AFP/Andrew Mireyko)
15
An ultra-Orthodox man performs the Kaparot ritual in Jerusalem. The Kaparot is a blessing and prayer recited as a live fowl -- often a chicken -- is passed over a person's head, symbolically transferring that person's sins into the bird, which is then butchered and eaten or donated to charity. (epa/Abir Sultan)
17
A man looks at black smoke rising behind a building of the international airport in Donetsk on October 2. (epa/Photomig)
18
Servicemen attend a mass funeral ceremony to bury unidentified members of pro-Ukrainian military forces who were killed, while taking part in the conflict in eastern regions, in the settlement of Kushuhum near Zaporizhzhya on October 1. (TASS/Konstantin Sazonchik)
19
A farmer poses near his threads of red paprika in the village of Donja Lokosnica, near the southern Serbian city of Leskovac. (AFP/Andrej Isakovic)
20
Sacrificial animals are put on sale at a local livestock market ahead of the Muslim festival of Eid al-Adha, in Jalalabad, Afghanistan, on October 1. (epa/Ghulamullah Habibi)
21
A family hides in a school basement that is being used as a shelter after recent shelling in Donetsk. (Reuters/Shamil Zhumatov)
22
Firecrackers explode as devotees of the Chinese Jui Tui Shrine in Thailand return the statue after it had been taken on a procession celebrating the annual vegetarian festival in Phuket on September 30. (Reuters/Damir Sagolj)
23
A Ukrainian serviceman gets a haircut at a military camp near the town of Debaltseve in eastern Ukraine. (Reuters/David Mdzinarishvili)
24
A man checks the teeth of a sacrificial animal to determine its age at a local cattle market in Peshawar. Muslims all over the world are preparing to celebrate Eid al-Adha, which according to the lunar calendar will be celebrated on October 6 in Pakistan. (epa/Bilawal Arbab)
25
Turkish Army tanks take up position on the Turkish-Syrian border near the southeastern town of Suruc, in Sanliurfa Province. (Reuters/Murad Sezer)
26
Former Polish President Lech Walesa poses for a picture wearing a Euromaidan helmet during a ceremony in Gdansk. Ukraine's Euromaidan movement received this year's Lech Walesa Award for "the consequence and determination shown by thousands of Ukrainians, who, despite the risks involved, expressed their pro-European and pro-democratic ambitions." (epa/Adam Warzawa)
27
A worker in Donetsk, eastern Ukraine, takes apart shelving in a classroom damaged by shelling. (AFP/John McDougall)