Water rushes into the Carey Tunnel (previously the Brooklyn Battery Tunnel) in New York's Financial District during Hurricane Sandy on Oct. 29. The storm caused damages estimated to be as high as $50 billion and left communities across the northeast without power. Some observers, including Mayor Michael Bloomberg, argued that the extreme storm should revitalize a public conversation about climate change.
A paramilitary policeman passes by a portrait of China's President Hu Jintao at an exhibition entitled "Scientific Development and Splendid Achievements" on Oct. 30 in Beijing. The exhibition is intended to showcase China's progress in political, economic, cultural, and ecological spheres over the past decade, as part of the leadup to next week's 18th National Congress of the Communist Party of China, when the next premier will be announced.
A man cries while being treated in a local hospital in a rebel-controlled area of Aleppo on Oct. 31. The man's 8 year-old daughter was killed and his son (sitting at left in background) were wounded by fire from a Syrian Air Force jet in the Karm al-Aser neighborhood of eastern Aleppo. The unprecedented surge in air strikes carried out by Syrian forces this week is an attempt by President Bashar al-Assad's regime to reverse recent gains by rebel fighters, analysts and rebels say.
An inmate with shackles around his ankles skips over an open trench at Rumbek central prison in Juba, South Sudan. In the ramshackle capital of the world's newest nation, over 100 people await execution in filthy and crowded conditions. Like so much in the country, the legal system remains in tatters after decades of war with Sudan, with conflicting, sometimes overlapping systems of justice.
Soldiers from 1st Battalion Royal Anglian Regiment receive their Afghanistan Operational Service Medals at Picton Barracks on Nov. 1 in Bulford, England. The parade was the first in a series of events marking the end of their six-month deployment to Afghanistan as part of Task Force Helmand. This week, two more British soldiers were shot dead at a checkpoint in Afghanistan by a man wearing a local police uniform.
Port police officers light flares and shout slogans during an anti-austerity demonstration in Athens on Nov. 1. Greece unveiled a tough new austerity budget on Wednesday, sparking a call for a 48-hour general strike. The European Union maintains there is still work to be done before the recession-hit country can access loan funds needed to stave off bankruptcy.
Big Ben, one of Britain's most iconic landmarks, lights up with a giant mustache on Oct. 31 as part of the 2012 "Movember" campaign in London. Over the next 31 days, "MoBros" in Britain and elsewhere will give up their shorn top lip in an attempt to raise money and change attitudes towards men's health.
A new Jewish immigrant smiles during a welcoming ceremony at Ben Gurion airport near Tel Aviv after arriving from Ethiopia on Oct. 29. Some 240 Ethiopian Jews arrived on the flight, the first of a series of monthly flights planned as part of Operation Dove's Wings, an Israeli government initiative to bring to Israel the remainder of the Falash Mura, members of the Ethiopian Jewish community.
Rakhine farmers harvest in a rice paddy near Pa Rein village in Rakhine state, Myanmar, on Oct. 29. Over 20,000 people have been displaced following violent clashes between Rakhine people, who make up the majority of the state's population, and Muslims from the state of Rohingya. The clashes, which began in June, have so far reportedly claimed 80 lives.
The Nepalese Swayambhunath Stupa is partially illuminated by the moon in Kathmandu on Nov. 1. The Stupa, located west of the city, is among the oldest religious sites in Nepal.
