Independence Day in Belarus, Ramadan, Syrian conflict, and tensions in the Gaza Strip | July 3
The day in pictures around the world.
- Chris Milk’s “The Treachery of Sanctuary” seen on display at the Barbican’s Digital Revolution exhibition on July 2, 2014 in London, England. The exhibition brings together artists, designers, film makers, musicians and architects who push the boundaries of creativity that digital technology can offer, and runs from July 3 until September 14, 2014. (Matthew Lloyd/Getty Images)
- A man clearing aquatic plants near a boat in Han river in Wuhan, central China’s Hubei province. Aquatic plants coming from upstream lakes flow into the Han river, covering the water for dozens of kilometers, local media reported. (AFP/Getty Images)
- A Palestinian boy inspects damages following an overnight Israeli air strike, on July 3, 2014 in Beit Lahia in the northern Gaza Strip. Last night Israel launched some dozen air strikes on northern Gaza and Gaza City, wounding nine Palestinians, as angry Palestinian youths clashed the previous day with Israeli police following the kidnap and murder of a Palestinian teen in an apparent revenge attack. (Mohammed Abed/AFP/Getty Images)
- A boy screams as a doctor removes shrapnel from his leg in the rebel-held town of Douma, northeast of the capital Damascus on July 3, 2014. Rebels from northern and eastern Syria threatened to lay down their arms in a week if the country’s exiled opposition does not help them fight the jihadist Islamic State (ABD Doumany/AFP/Getty Images)
- A view of a house destroyed in an air strike carried out by Ukrainian armed forces in the village of Stanitsa Luganskaya , on July 2, 2014. Ukrainian troops backed by tanks and fighter bombers suffered their first losses on today as they pressed on with a renewed offensive against pro-Kremlin insurgents that has drawn Russian ire but also vital US and German support. Russian foreign ministry once again called on the new “Ukrainian leaders, if they are still able to sanely assess the consequences of their criminal policies, to stop attacking civilians and shelling their own villages.”(Stanislav Krasilnikov/AFP/Getty Images)
- Avihai Jorno inspects the damage to his home after a rocket fired by Palestinian militants in Gaza landed in the southern town of Sderot July 3, 2014. Israeli air strikes wounded 15 people in the Gaza Strip on Thursday, local residents said, and militants kept up rocket fire on Israel, damaging two homes, in rising border tensions following the death of a Palestinian youth. (Amir Cohen/Reuters)
- Indian Muslim devotees break their Ramadan fast outside the Shah Baba Mosque at Allahabad Junction railway station in Allahabad on July 3, 2014. Like millions of Muslim around the world, Indian Muslims celebrate the month of Ramadan by abstaining from eating, drinking, and smoking as well as sexual activities from dawn to dusk. (Sanjay Kanojia/AFP/Getty Images)
- A worker paints waterproofing slurry on the facade of a residential building in Changzhou, Jiangsu province, July 3, 2014. (China Daily/Retuers)
- An athlete pulls a 15-tonne truck during a Truck-Pull event marking the upcoming Independence Day in the Belarus capital Minsk, on July 3, 2014. The former Soviet nation celebrates its Independence Day on July 3 in memory of the end of Belarus occupation by Nazi Germany troops during the Red Army main summer offensive in 1944. (Sergei Gapon/AFP/Getty Images)
- Czech Republic’s Petra Kvitova celebrates winning the first set against Czech Republic’s Lucie Safarova during their women’s singles semi-final match on day ten of the 2014 Wimbledon Championships at The All England Tennis Club in Wimbledon, southwest London, on July 3, 2014. (Carl Court/AFP/Getty Images)
- A worker carries sacks of rice while unloading inside the National Food Authority (NFA) warehouse in Taguig city, south of Manila July 3, 2014. The Philippines, one of the world’s biggest rice importers, is buying an additional 200,000 tons from Vietnam, the world’s No. 2 supplier after India, to stabilize local retail prices that have surged more than 20 percent from last year due to tight supply, local media reported. (Romeo Ranoco/Retuers)
- A girl wearing a feces-shaped hat prepares to slide down into a five-meter (16.4-ft) toilet at an exhibition titled “Toilet !? Human Waste and Earth’s Future” at the Miraikan National Museum of Emerging Science and Innovation in Tokyo July 3, 2014. The exhibition, which opened at the museum on Wednesday, explores the world of toilets, with the main exhibit centering around a massive toilet into which visitors are allowed to slide to simulate the journey of human waste matter into the sewers. The exhibit also includes five zones that range from showing exactly what one’s excrement is made of to how different types of toilets are used around the world, and even a possible space toilet that could be used to grow plants. The exhibit is open until October 5 and costs 1,200 yen ($11.80) to visit. (Issei Kato/Reuters)
- Chinese President Xi Jinping greets children waving Chinese and South Korean national flags during a welcoming ceremony at the presidential Blue House in Seoul July 3, 2014. Xi arrived in South Korea on Thursday, hoping to strengthen commercial and diplomatic ties while Seoul is expected to push Beijing to increase pressure on ally North Korea to end its pursuit of nuclear arms. (Kim Hong-Ji/Reuters)
- Lightning strikes One World Trade Center in Manhattan as the sun sets behind the city after a summer storm in New York. (Lucas Jackson/Reuters)