This week, the 67th annual United Nations General Assembly in New York City drew more than 100 heads of state for high-level meetings on pressing global issues. Above, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu draws a red line on a graphic of a bomb while discussing Iran's nuclear program during an address to the assembly on Sept. 27. "A red line should be drawn right here, before Iran ... gets to a point where it is a few months or a few weeks away from amassing enough enriched uranium to make a nuclear weapon," Netanyahu said in his speech.
A Falun Gong protester outside the United Nations during the General Assembly on Sept. 25 in New York City.
Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, president of Iran, flashes a peace sign to photographers during the 67th session of the General Assembly on Sept. 26 at U.N. headquarters in New York.
Dozens of Taiwanese fishing boats set sail for the East China Sea islands amid an international dispute over territory controlled by Japan but also claimed by China and Taiwan. Here, a fishermen ties banners reading "Diaoyutai belongs to Taiwan" and "Fighting for fishing rights for survival" onto a boat as it leaves for the disputed islands, known as Senkaku in Japanese and Diaoyu in Chinese, on Sept. 24.
A flurry of polls on Wednesday showing widening leads for U.S. President Barack Obama heaped pressure on Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney to use their first head-to-head debate next week to launch a major comeback bid. Fresh surveys showed Obama cementing his advantage in the key state battlegrounds that will decide the U.S. election on Nov. 6. Above, Romney waves after speaking at a "Veterans for Romney" campaign event in Virginia on Sept. 27.
Bombers struck the heart of Damascus early on Sept. 26, setting off twin explosions near the headquarters of the armed forces general staff, according to state media. Above, smoke rises from the site of the explosion.
Police in Athens clashed with hooded youths throwing firebombs on the sidelines of a large demonstration against a new round of austerity cuts on Sept. 26.
Egyptian Copt Albert Saber, 27, flashes the V for "victory" sign from inside the holding cage during the opening session of his trial in Cairo on Sept. 26. Saber was arrested on charges of blasphemy, insulting religions, and inciting sectarianism after allegedly posting the anti-Islam film The Innocence of Muslims on his Facebook page. Saber denied the accusations in a case that has raised concerns over freedom of expression.
Indian policewomen used batons to disperse a sit-in protest on Sept. 26 by female Kashmiri nursing students against the results of their third-year examinations, which most of the students failed.
On Sept. 25, the Uruguayan congress voted on a law that would decriminilize the interruption of a pregnancy under certain conditions but also oblige women seeking an abortion to discuss their reasoning before a tribunal. In this photo, dozens of women with body paintings take part in a demonstration in favor of the legalization of abortion in front of the Congress building in Montevideo.
A restaurant worker awaits customers beneath lanterns hung for the mid-autumn festival in Beijing on Sept. 26. Traditionally recognized as a symbol of good luck, red lanterns are hung during the festival, which falls on the 15th day of the lunar new year, Sept. 30.
Above, Yemeni Army cadets parade during a celebration marking the 50th anniversary of the uprising that overthrew the imamate in Yemen's capital, Sanaa. In a speech on Sept. 26 -- intended mainly for leaders from the former South Yemen who have been living in exile since 1994, after they failed to break away from the North -- Yemeni President Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi said that he is ready for dialogue with militants of al Qaeda, but only if they give up their weapons and show repentance.
Here, a man takes a photograph of a burning tree in Domeno city, near Valencia, in the early hours of Sept. 24. Spain is at particularly high risk of fires this fall after suffering its driest summer in 70 years, and blazes have broken out in various parts of the country in recent days.
Bolivian miners block the road linking La Paz with Las Yungas near Pongo, about 20 miles northeast of the capital city, on Sept. 25 during a protest in which they demanded the right to exploit the tin-rich Rosario seam.
Above, an Afghan villager holds up a blood-stained hand to U.S. soldiers from the 3rd platoon, C-company, 1-23 infantry, before they use a ballistics kit to test for explosive residue in Genrandai village in Kandahar. The Afghan Taliban dismissed NATO figures showing a decrease in insurgent attacks on Sept. 24, saying the statistics reflect troop withdrawals and a "cowardly" avoidance of contact.
About 400 Tibetans from around the world are in the northern Indian hilltown of Dharamsala for the biggest gathering of exiles in four years, called to highlight the plight of Tibetans under Chinese rule. Here, Tibetan monks blow traditional horns during the morning prayer session at the Namgyal Monastry in Dharamsala on Sept. 26.
Above, an Ultra-Orthodox Jew whips a fellow believer with a leather belt as a symbolic punishment for his sins during the traditional Malkot ceremony at a synagogue in the central Israeli town of Bet Shemesh, a few hours before the start of Yom Kippur on Sept. 25. Yom Kippur, or the Day of Atonement is the holiest day in the Jewish calendar.
An enthusiast flies a snake-like kite during a kite-flying festival in Siliguri, India, on Sept. 27. The festival, organised by the West Bengal state govermnent and the Eastern Himalayan Travel and Tour Operator Association, was held to coincide with World Tourism Day.
An employee of the Philippines Protected Areas and Wildlife Bureau shows off one of the hundreds of stuffed endangered sea turtles seized from Vietnamese fishermen aboard a Malaysian-flagged boat last April.
