Inside AFP

Topshots of the Week (19-25 August, 2023)

 

Selection of some of the most striking photographs taken by AFP photojournalists this past week (19-25 August, 2023).

 

Lightning over Mecca's clock tower in Saudi Arabia

A picture taken on August 22, 2023 shows lightning over Mecca's clock tower in Saudi Arabia. Fierce storms closed schools on August 23 the desert kingdom's Mecca region, home to the holy Grand Mosque which was lashed by heavy rains and wind overnight, witnesses said.
© Hammad AL-HUTHALI / AFP

woman wearing traditional Ukrainian clothes in front of destroyed Russian tank

A woman wearing traditional Ukrainian clothes poses for photographs in front of a destroyed Russian armored military vehicle displayed in main street Khreshchatyk Street on Ukraine’s Independence Day in Kyiv, on August 24, 2023, amid the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
© Roman PILIPEY / AFP

Helicopters fly over wildfire in Greece

Helicopters fly over as wildfire rages near Alexandroupoli, northern Greece, on August 21, 2023. The European Union announced it was deploying two Cyprus-based fire-fighting aircraft and a Romanian fire-fighting team via the bloc's civil protection mechanism, as wildfires rage uncontrolled in Greece for a third day.
© Sakis MITROLIDIS / AFP

Children gather to fill their water containers

Children gather to fill their containers amidst a shortage of water and soaring temperatures at a makeshift camp for people who fled fighting between Huthi rebels and the Saudi-backed government forces, in the village of Hays in Yemen's western province of Hodeida, on August 22, 2023.
© Khaled ZIAD / AFP

Spain's players celebrate with the trophy after winning the 2023 Women's World Cup final football match

Spain's players and officials celebrate with the trophy after winning the Australia and New Zealand 2023 Women's World Cup final football match between Spain and England at Stadium Australia in Sydney on August 20, 2023.
© Franck FIFE / AFP

Cargo ships wainting at the entrance of the Panama Canal

Aerial view of cargo ships waiting at the entrance of the Panama Canal at Panama Bay off Panama City, on August 23, 2023. The Panamanian government denied on August 22, 2023, the president of Colombia, Gustavo Petro, who on the eve said that the Panama Canal was closed due to lack of water. "The Panama Canal keeps its operations and free transit open to facilitate mobility and world trade," the Panamanian Ministry of the Presidency said in its account on the social network X (formerly Twitter).
© Luis ACOSTA / AFP

Forest burns behind the Parthenon ancient temple

A forest burns behind the Parthenon ancient temple on top of the Acropolis hill as wildfire rages on the outskirts of Athens on August 22, 2023. Eighteen suspected migrants were found dead in a Greece forest fire near the Turkish border as scores of firefighters battled to contain the second deadly wave of blazes to hit the country in a month.
© Aris MESSINIS / AFP

Inmates remain in a cell at the Counter-Terrorism Confinement Centre

Inmates remain in a cell at the Counter-Terrorism Confinement Centre (CECOT) mega-prison, where hundreds of members of the MS-13 and 18 Street gangs are being held, during a humanitarian visit organized by the presidential commissioner for human rights and freedom of expression, Colombian Andrés Guzman Caballero, in Tecoluca, 74 km southeast of San Salvador, on August 21, 2023.
© Marvin RECINOS / AFP