A horseman rides his horses through colored smoke at the beach of Scheveningen on Sept. 16 in Scheveningen, Netherlands. Some 80 members of the Dutch cavalry practiced for any possible emergency during the Prinsjesdag ceremony marking the opening of the Dutch parliament.

Protesters clash with police in the western Athens working class suburb of Keratsini on Sept. 18, after a leftist musician was murdered by a suspected neo-Nazi.

Brittany Carter, of Bowie, MD, and Jibri Johnson, of Landon, MD, hold candles in remembrance of people affected by gun violence during a vigil at Freedom Plaza on Sept. 16 in Washington, DC. Earlier that day, a gunman killed 13 in Washington, DC's Navy Yard. For more coverage of teh shooting, be sure to check out Yochi Dreazen's post on how the shooter kept his security clearance and Rosa Brooks's ideas on what it will take to solve America's gun problem.

Afghan mourners pray near the body of a top policewoman in Lashkar Gah, capital of Helmand province on Sept. 16. Unknown gunmen shot and seriously injured the top female police officer in Afghanistan's restive Helmand province on Sept. 16. Afghan policewomen face danger every day as a result of their professions; take a look at this FP feature on what an Afghan policewoman keeps in her bag.

Pakistani people walk through a storm near the Ravi river in Lahore on Sept. 15. Heavy rains and hailstorms lashed the capital, throwing traffic out of gear in many parts of the city as a result of water logging.

The Tai Hang Fire Dragon dances its way through the streets on Sept. 18 in Hong Kong. In the 19th century the people in the village of Tai Hang miraculously stopped a plague with a fire dragon dance. It has become an annual tradition, where up to 300 performers dance the fire dragon.

Soldiers take part in the celebrations of a new anniversary of the Mexico's independence, at Zocalo Square in Mexico City on Sept. 16.

Mohammad Zayed (second on the right), an Aleppo University student, shows Syrian citizens how to put protective gear as he instructs them on rudimentary means to respond to a chemical attack, in the northern Syrian city of Aleppo, on Sept. 15.

A trader waves to colleagues after the closing bell of the New York Stock Exchange on Sept. 16 in New York City. The Dow Jones Industrial Average traded up 119 points, closing at 15,495.

Iraqi men inspect the wreckage of cars at the site of a car bomb explosion in central Baghdad on Sept. 18. A series of Baghdad car bombings mostly targeting Shiite neighborhoods were the deadliest in a spate of attacks that killed 34 people in Iraq on Sept. 17, security and medical officials said.

A Sri Lankan resident walks past election campaign posters on the Jaffna peninsula, some 250 miles north of Colombo on Sept. 19. Tamil voters in northern Sri Lanka are set to elect their first ever semi-autonomous council on Sept. 21.

Members of a guard of honor leave after a welcoming ceremony for King Hamad Bin Isa Al Khalifa of Bahrain outside the Great Hall of People on Sept. 16 in Beijing, China.

Campaign aides open umbrellas with the party's logo as they stand in front of a picture of Angela Merkel displayed on the German Christian Democratic Union (CDU) party's election campaign bus in Berlin on Sept. 16, a week ahead of the German general elections. Angela Merkel is not generally considered a dynamic figure -- but, slowly and quietly, she's changing Europe forever writes Paul Hockenos in this article for FP.

Afghan school girls look on from a window of their school in Ghazni on Sept. 15.

A bull charges over a photographer during the Toro de la Vega (Bull of the Plain) festival on Sept. 17, in Tordesillas, Spain. The festival is one of the oldest in Spain. Once the bull arrives at the Vega, or plain, from the village, it is killed to honor the Virgen de la Peña, the patron saint of Tordesillas.

Egyptian soliders carrying the body of Gen. Nabil Farag, killed during a raid to arrest suspects accused of torching a police station on Sept. 19 in Kerdasa, Cairo, Egypt.

U.S. and Philippine Marines participate in small boat operations training at the Navy Education Training Center (NETC) in San Antonio, Zambales province, northwest of Manila on Sept. 18. The Philippines and the United States launched war games  on Sept. 18 at a naval base facing turbulent waters claimed by China, as the allies sought to highlight their expanding military alliance.

A large section of Colorado's  route U.S. 34 is completely washed out from recent flooding of the Big Thompson River in the Big Thompson Canyon in Larimer County Colorado Saturday morning, Sept. 14.

Cambodian Buddhist monks meditate for peace near the Royal Palace in Phnom Penh on Sept. 19, as protesters requested Cambodia's King Norodom Sihamoni to delay the first parliament meeting scheduled on Sept. 23. Cambodia's king appealed to opposition lawmakers on Sept.18 to drop a planned boycott of parliament for the sake of "national unity" following strongman premier Hun Sen's disputed election win.

Girls dressed as ducks dance in front of a crowd gathered to see a giant rubber duck by Dutch conceptual artist Florentijn Hofman at Glory Pier on Sept. 19, in Kaohsiung, Taiwan. The "Rubber Duck," is traveling the world and will stop in Kaohsiung from Sept. 19 to Oct. 20.

Bystanders watch as smoke billows from a burning garment factory in Dhaka, Bangladesh on Sept. 15. No casualties were reported from the blaze at the six-story Sicily Garments factory.

A hostess greets guests arriving for a gala event at a recently opened shopping mall in Beijing on Sept. 14, 2013.

A dog attends an animals rights rally in front of the Ukrainian Internal Ministry in Kiev, on Sept. 17.

Evacuees affected by the stand-off between Philippine government forces and Muslim rebels sit anchored in their wooden boats used also as temporary living quarters at sunset near the sea wall in Zamboanga on Sept. 14.

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