Week in Pictures
The Week in Pictures: Aug. 13 - 20
A ship splits in two, lightning sparks fires in California, a pool party in Wuhan and more.
...the fire
Flames from the LNU Lightning Complex fires consume a home in unincorporated Napa County, Calif., on Aug. 19.
California wildfires have forced thousands to flee their homes, destroyed over 100 structures, led to the evacuation of an Air Force base and covered large swaths of the Bay Area in smoke.
Ship splits in two
The MV Wakashio bulk carrier after it ran aground and broke into two parts near Blue Bay Marine Park in Mauritius on Aug. 17.
The captain of a tanker that struck a coral reef in Mauritius has been arrested after the vessel spilled oil over the nearby pristine coastline causing an environmental emergency, officials said Wednesday.
Oil on the water
Iridescence appears on the shore in Petit Bel Air, Mauritius, as oil leaks from the MV Wakashio on Aug. 15.
As citizen-led rescue efforts continued, the ship broke in two, raising concerns that more oil would spill out near the coast of the Indian Ocean island.
Golden State Killer
Joseph James DeAngelo, known as the Golden State Killer, looks away from the podium during the first day of victim impact statements at the courthouse in Sacramento, Calif., on Aug. 18.
In June, DeAngelo pleaded guilty to 13 murders and 13 rape-related charges between 1975 and 1986. He also publicly admitted dozens more sexual assaults for which the statute of limitations had expired.
Belarus protests
Belarusian opposition supporters wave phones and old Belarusian national flags in front of the government building in Minsk on Aug. 19.
Known as the last dictator of Europe, Alexander Lukashenko complained that encouragement from abroad has fueled daily protests demanding his resignation.
It's official
Joe Biden and his wife, Jill Biden, watch fireworks with Sen. Kamala Harris and her husband, Doug Emhoff, at the end of the Democratic National Convention on Aug. 20 at the Chase Center in Wilmington, Del.
Five decades after he entered national politics, Biden accepted his party's nomination for president Thursday on the final night of the all-virtual convention.
"Flying south" for the winter
A cow is flown by helicopter from the Klausen Pass in Switzerland during the annual cattle drive on Aug. 18. Because of a slight injury, the cow wasn't able to join the herd on foot as they moved from the Alps to winter pastures in the valley.
Fire by the highway
Flames from the LNU Lightning Complex Fire jump Interstate 80 in Vacaville, Calif., on Aug. 19.
The highway was closed in both directions shortly afterward. Fire crews across the region scrambled to contain dozens of wildfires sparked by lightning strikes as a statewide heat wave continues.
Gaza power cut
A woman uses a gas lamp during a power cut in Khan Yunis in the southern Gaza Strip on Aug. 18.
After an escalation of cross-border violence, Israel closed its lone commercial crossing with Gaza, banned sea access and halted fuel imports into the coastal strip, causing its only power plant to shut down earlier this week.
Firefighter's funeral
The sister of 23-year-old firefighter Ralph Malahi, who was killed in the Aug. 4 Beirut port explosion, reacts as his coffin is carried during his funeral on Aug. 15 in Beirut.
The explosion at Beirut's port killed over 200 people, injured thousands, and upended countless lives.
Indigenous blockade
Members of the Kayapo tribe block the highway outside Novo Progresso in Brazil's Para state on Aug. 17, to protest an alleged lack of governmental support during the coronavirus pandemic and illegal deforestation in and around their territories.
Life after the coronavirus
Attendees of a music festival cool off in a swimming pool in Wuhan in China's central Hubei province on Aug. 15.
The water park's music festival runs every night from July 11 to Aug. 30. Attendees need to make an appointment on the WeChat app, to show that they are from a "low risk" area and register with Hubei's health authority.
Peru burial
Workers bury a coffin in a massive burial ground for low-income people and unidentified victims of COVID-19 in Uchumayo in the Andes of southern Peru on Aug. 14.
Peru is one of the Latin American countries hit hardest by the coronavirus, with more than 25,000 reported deaths and over half a million cases.
Syrian refugee camp
A girl stands in a line of women at the al-Hol refugee camp in northeastern Syria on Aug. 18. The camp is home to more than 70,000 people, including at least 9,000 foreigners, mostly wives and children of extremist fighters.
Beirut kitten
Kamal Khatib, a volunteer with Animals Lebanon, removes a kitten from a cage trap after rescuing her and others on Aug. 13 from the debris of a damaged building near the site of the massive explosion at Beirut's port.
The volunteers have reunited dozens of pets with their owners but many others remain in the group's shelter, waiting for their owners to pick them up.
Mailbox left standing
An area blackened by the Lake Fire on Aug. 13 in Lake Hughes, Calif.
See last week's gallery: The Week in Pictures: Aug. 6 - 13