It’s never been easier to keep up with what’s going on in the world. The news is everywhere – in our Facebook feeds, on the morning commute, during that lazy half hour before you switch off the TV and go to bed. But the tide of global affairs is often more upsetting than uplifting and it can be tempting to bury our heads in the sand. As the saying goes: a picture is worth a thousand words, so to offer a different perspective we've rounded up some of the most memorable images of the week's events, captured by the best photojournalists on the planet.
A family arrives to check on their house in Raqqa on 20th October 2017, after a Kurdish-led force expelled the Islamic State group from the northern Syrian city.
For three years, Raqqa saw some of IS' worst abuses and grew into one of its main governance hubs, a centre for both its potent propaganda machine and its unprecedented experiment in jihadist statehood.
Photo: Bulent Kilic/AFP/Getty Images
Waves crash over Newhaven Lighthouse on the south coast of England on 21st October 2017 as Storm Brian hits the country.
Photo: Glyn Kirk/AFP/Getty Images
A dog in a pineapple costume attends the 27th Annual Tompkins Square Halloween Dog Parade in Tompkins Square Park on 21st October 2017 in New York City. More than 500 animals wear costumes to what is known as one of the largest dog Halloween events in the USA.
Photo: Eduardo Munoz Alvarez/Getty Images
Students from St Andrews University indulge in a tradition of covering themselves with foam to honour the 'academic family' on the lower college lawn on 23rd October 2017 in St Andrews, Scotland. The 'raisin weekend' stems from a gift of raisins (now flour and foam) traditionally given by a first-year student to their academic 'parents' in gratitude for their guidance.
Photo: Jeff J Mitchell/Getty Images
A sheep herd and shepherds walk along the road to their barns as the herding season ends and winter arrives in Czarny Dunajec, Poland on 23rd October 2017.
Photo: Omar Marques/Anadolu Agency/Getty Images
Members of the Israeli security forces use a foul-smelling spray known as 'skunk' as they try to remove ultra-Orthodox Jews from blocking the road in a demonstration against Israeli army conscription in Jerusalem on 23rd October 2017. Several thousand ultra-Orthodox Jews blocked the main entrance to Jerusalem and protested in other areas as part of a series of demonstrations against serving in the Israeli military.
Photo: Ahmad Gharabli/AFP/Getty Images
A child member – the 'enxaneta' – raises her hand to signal she has climbed to the summit of her team's human tower and will begin her descent down the other side during the St. Ursula festival on 22nd October 2017 in Valls, Spain. At this year's festival, the red team, the Colla Joves Xiquets de Valls (Young Team of the Children of Valls), faced off against the pink team, the Colla Vella dels Xiquets de Valls (Old Team of the Children of Valls), in a challenging afternoon in which both teams struggled with collapsing towers and injuries but also celebrated completed towers. Catalan human towers, which in Catalan are called a 'castell', date back to the 18th century and are an intrinsic part of Catalan tradition, with performances occurring near-weekly across Catalonia.
Photo: Sean Gallup/Getty Images
The Italian police evacuate a palasport (sports arena) that was abandoned after being built in the '90s and has since become a refuge for immigrants in the industrial zone of east Naples, Italy, on 24th October 2017.
Photo: Paolo Manzo/NurPhoto/Getty Images
Rare white tiger sextuplets are seen at Yunnan Zoo on 25th October 2017 in Kunming, Yunnan Province of China. According to the zoo, white tigers usually give birth to two or three cubs and sextuplets are considered very rare. The six cubs are all healthy and could meet the public in a few months' time.
Photo: Liu Ranyang/CHINA NEWS SERVICE/VCG/Getty Images
Opposition supporters demonstrate at a burning barricade during a protest in Kibera, Nairobi, on 25th October 2017, a day before the scheduled repeat presidential poll.
The Kenyan opposition chief leader urged his supporters to stay at home on 25th October as the country forges ahead with a disputed presidential poll that could threaten the stability of the east African powerhouse.
Photo: Marco Longari/AFP/Getty Images
Bottles of beer move along a conveyor belt at the Anheuser-Busch InBev NV Budweiser bottling facility in St. Louis, Missouri, on 24th October 2017. Anheuser-Busch InBev was scheduled to release its earnings figures on 26th October.
Photo: Luke Sharrett/Bloomberg/Getty Images
A drone captures an aerial view of Mount Nebiyan forests displaying autumnal colours in Samsun, Turkey on 25th October 2017.
Photo: Mehmet Kumcagiz/Anadolu Agency/Getty Images
Grey cranes (Grus grus) fly at sunset over the eastern water reservoir No.3 to find their night resting place at Hortobágy National Park, listed as a UNESCO World Heritage site, near the Hungarian town of Balmazújváros, east of Budapest, on 25th October 2017.
Photo: Attila Kisbenedek/AFP/Getty Images
A Syrian child stands next to a bread-baking pit at the Ash'ari camp for the displaced in the rebel-held eastern Ghouta area outside the capital Damascus on 25th October 2017.
Photo: Amer Almohibany/AFP/Getty Images
Devotees carrying fruits, religious materials for Chhath Puja festival at Kamal Pokhari, Kathmandu, Nepal on 26th October 2017. Chhath Puja festival, the worship of the Sun God, is common in Nepal's Terai region and is celebrated in Kathmandu as well by Terai communities and in India. The worship has to be based on a pond, river or other water source, as per the religious tradition.
Photo: Narayan Maharjan/NurPhoto/Getty ImagesLike what you see? How about some more R29 goodness, right here?
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