AP PHOTOS: A selection of pictures from the past week

African migrants try to reach a Spanish NGO Proactiva Open Arms rescue ship after falling from a punctured rubber boat in the Mediterranean Sea, about 12 miles north of Sabratha, Libya on Sunday, July 23, 2017. Hundreds of thousands of migrants are smuggled out of Libya across the Mediterranean Sea to Europe each year by traffickers using unseaworthy craft.

AP PHOTOS: A selection of pictures from the past week

An anti-government protester stands in front of burning barricade on a highway in Caracas, Venezuela, Monday, April 24, 2017. Thousands of protesters shut down the capital city's main highway to express their disapproval with the administration of President Nicolas Maduro. Protesters in least a dozen other cities also staged sit-ins as the protest movement is entering its fourth week.

AP PHOTOS: Indonesian towns reel from earthquake devastation

Damage from the earthquake that shook Indonesia's Aceh province on Wednesday is extensive in towns near the epicenter. A market was leveled, and other buildings reduced to chunks of cement and twisted rebar.

AP PHOTOS: A selection of pictures from the past week

A plane takes off from Washington's Ronald Reagan National Airport as Julia Hurley of Washington relaxes on a picnic table at Gravelly Point Park in Arlington, Va., Wednesday, June 8, 2016, after bicycling to Mt. Vernon and back.

AP PHOTOS: A selection of pictures from the past week

An Ultra-Orthodox Jewish boy watches a bonfire during the Lag Ba'Omer celebration in Jerusalem on Wednesday, May 25, 2016. The holiday marks the end of a plague said to have decimated Jews during the Roman times.

AP PHOTOS: A selection of pictures from the past week

Lightning flashes in the sky behind the Gateway Arch, right, and the Old Cathedral, left, as a line of thunderstorms moves through St. Louis, Wednesday, May 11, 2016. Thousands of Ameren Corp. customers in the St. Louis area lost power after the strong thunderstorm hit the region. 

AP PHOTOS: A selection of pictures from the past week

A bullfighter "picador" prepares to use his lance as he rides his horse in front of a Los Rodeos ranch's bull during a bullfight at Las Ventas bullring in Madrid, Spain, Sunday, April 24, 2016.

AP PHOTOS: A selection of pictures from the past week

The shadow of Renante Nodalo is reflected on a door as he takes care of a rooster to be used for cockfighting in Manila, Philippines, Wednesday, April 20, 2016. Cockfighting is a popular pastime in the Philippines.  

AP PHOTOS: A selection of pictures from the past week

A girl looks around a corner at a self-defense force member during a meeting about security for the next day's general election in Uchuraccay, Peru, Saturday, April 9, 2016. 

AP PHOTOS: A selection of pictures from the past week

A boy walks behind a banner in a makeshift refugee camp at the northern Greek border point of Idomeni, Greece, Friday, April 1, 2016. More than 50,000 refugees and migrants have been stranded in Greece after Balkan countries closed their borders to the massive flow of refugees pouring into Europe.

AP PHOTOS: A selection of pictures from the past week

Two boys look out of a truck in a convoy carrying families fleeing Islamic State-held Hit, Iraq, at a checkpoint on the western edge of Ramadi, Iraq. Much of Iraq’s north and west fell to the Islamic State group in the summer of 2014, but over the past year Iraq’s military has slowly regained pockets of territory. While IS still controls a large swath of Iraq and neighboring Syria, the group has lost an estimated 40 percent of the territory it once held in Iraq, according to U.S.-led coalition officials.

AP PHOTOS: A selection of pictures from the past week

A conductor leads a military band at the opening session of the annual National People's Congress in Beijing's Great Hall of the People, Saturday, March 5, 2016.

AP PHOTOS: A selection of pictures from the past week

Pictures of soccer fans are displayed on the ferris wheel as part of the upcoming Euro 2016 tournament, in Paris, Friday, March 4, 2016. The UEFA Euro 2016 soccer tournament is scheduled to be held in France from June 10 to July 10, 2016.

AP PHOTOS: A selection of pictures from the past week

People stand near North Korean flags during a mass dance party as part of celebrations of the "Day of the Shining Star" or birthday anniversary of late North Korean leader Kim Jong Il on Tuesday, Feb. 16, 2016, in Pyongyang, North Korea. The celebrations for Kim's birthday, a revered national holiday, came as South Korea’s president warned that North Korea faces collapse if it doesn’t abandon its nuclear weapons program, amid an international outcry over Pyongyang’s January nuclear test and the Feb. 7 rocket launch.   

AP PHOTOS: A selection of pictures from the past week

A wild elephant walks through the streets as people follow in Siliguri, West Bengal, India, Wednesday, Feb. 10, 2016, wandering in from the Baikunthapur forest, crossing roads and a small river. The elephant trampled parked cars and motorbikes before it was tranquilized.

AP PHOTOS: A selection of pictures from the past week

A member of the Maasai Cricket Warriors runs onto the field during a charity cricket match against former Rugby players in Sydney, Australia, Thursday, Feb. 4, 2016. The Maasai Cricket Warriors travel the world to campaign against female genital mutilation and substance abuse, while promoting conservation in their homeland.

AP PHOTOS: Thousands brave the cold to cross sea to Greece

The seas are rough and cold. The wind is bitter. The overcrowded smugglers' boats are far from seaworthy, with many unable even to make it across a few miles of water — and the bodies of those who drown as the boats sink are fished out of the churning seas day by day.

Yet tens of thousands of men, women and children fleeing violence and poverty in their homelands continue to risk their lives this winter to make the relatively short but dangerous journey from the Turkish coast to nearby Greek islands, seeking a better future in Europe.

AP PHOTOS: A selection of pictures from the past week

Officers stand outside the Supreme Court in Washington on Friday, Jan. 22, 2016 during the March for Life 2016, an annual rally on the anniversary of 1973 "Roe v. Wade" U.S. Supreme Court decision legalizing abortion.  

AP PHOTOS: A selection of pictures from the past week

An Indian police officer fires a teargas shell as a Kashmiri Muslim, center, ducks to avoid it during the funeral procession for Sajad Ahmed Bhat, a top rebel commander, on the outskirts of Srinagar, in Indian-controlled Kashmir, on Tuesday, Jan. 12, 2016. Clashes erupted as police tried to stop a march by thousands participating in a funeral procession of the local militant who was killed in a gunfight with government forces.  

AP PHOTOS: A selection of pictures from the past week

Skydivers disperse after forming the shape of the letter "M" during Mike Mangold's memorial service at Apple Valley Airport in Apple Valley, Calif., on Sunday, Jan. 3, 2016. The two-time world champion Red Bull air racer died in a jet crash in Southern California on Dec. 6, 2015.