Kursk Advance, Perseid Meteors, Maine Sunrise: 13 Pictures of The Week

From Ukraine's incursion into Russia to the awe-inspiring Perseid meteor shower, Newsweek has selected some of the most striking pictures of the week.

It's been 10 days since Ukraine launched its surprise incursion into Russian territory, marking the first time Russia has been invaded by a foreign power since World War II. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Thursday that Kyiv troops captured the Russian town of Sudzha in the Kursk region.

This year's Perseid meteor shower started in July and will continue through most of August. The shower peaked overnight last Sunday into last Monday and the best view of the shower was from the Northern Hemisphere. Roughly 50 to 75 meteors could be seen an hour in darker places, according to a CNN report.

As people travel to New England this summer, many look forward to the delicious local seafood. While lobster fishing season in Maine occurs year-round, the best lobsters are typically caught in the spring and the fall.

Thursday marked India's 77th anniversary of independence from Britain. On Aug. 15, 1947, India gained its independence after roughly 90 years of British rule. The theme of this year's independence anniversary was Viksit Bharat (Developed India). Indian Prime Minister Narenda Modi spoke on Thursday of continuing to strengthen the country's economy, saying it aspires to be a developed nation by 2047—100 years after it gained its independence from the British.

The 10-month-long Israel-Hamas war continues to ravage Gaza. On Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas, a Palestinian militant group, launched a surprise attack on Israel, killing roughly 1,200 people and taking some 250 hostages. Israel subsequently launched a military operation in Gaza that has killed over 40,000 Palestinians, according to local health officials. A new round of ceasefire talks began in Doha, the capital city of Qatar, on Thursday.

The 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris came to a close on Sunday. The United States came out on top with 126 medals, followed by China with 91. The U.S. and China tied in the number of gold medals their athletes received, 40. Meanwhile, Great Britain and France were neck-and-neck with the former receiving 65 medals and the latter receiving 64. The next summer Olympic Games in 2028 will be hosted by the U.S. and take place in Los Angeles.

Aug. 30 will mark the third anniversary of the total withdrawal of U.S. troops from Afghanistan. On that day in 2021, the U.S. conducted a chaotic airlift to haul the rest of their troops out of Afghanistan, which resulted in the death of 13 U.S. troops. Thousands of Afghans and hundreds of Americans were also left behind. The U.S. had boots on the ground in Afghanistan since Al-Qaeda launched terrorist attacks on American soil in 2001. When the U.S. withdrew, it left the door open for the Taliban to take over once again.

The 2024 presidential race has been heating up ever since President Joe Biden dropped out and Vice President Kamala Harris became the presumed Democratic nominee. Harris' newly announced running mate, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, has joined her on the campaign trial and they have brought in large crowds. Meanwhile, former President Donald Trump, the GOP presidential nominee, has been holding press conferences to try to bring the media's attention back to him. Harris and Trump are set to debate on the ABC News stage on September 10.

On Wednesday, Tropical Storm Ernesto swept through Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands, causing as many as 730,000 Puerto Rican utility customers to go without power. Over 240,000 homes and businesses on the archipelago remain with no electricity as of Friday at 3 a.m. ET. Ernesto developed into a Category 2 hurricane late Thursday and is expected to dump heavy rain on Bermuda before passing near or over the archipelago on Saturday.

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