A roundup of today's best photos.
A masked devotee takes part in a parade commemorating the Neku Jatra-Mataya festival, the festival of lights, in Lalitpur August 4, 2012. Devotees celebrate the Buddhist festival which marks the victory of Sakyamuni Buddha over Mara, by praying for the souls of departed family members and holding parades throughout the city.
A Kashmiri woman rows a boat filled with lotus leaves on Dal Lake in Srinagar August 4, 2012.
Villagers stand on a crater of Mount Bromo as they wait for sunrise during the annual Kasada festival in Indonesia's East Java province August 4, 2012. Villagers and worshippers throw offerings such as livestock and other crops into the volcanic crater of Mount Bromo to give thanks to the Hindu gods for ensuring their safety and prosperity.
An Indian farmer walks through a dry, cracked paddy field in Ranbir Singh Pura 34 kilometers (21 miles) from Jammu, India, Friday, Aug. 3, 2012. India's Meteorological Department says it expects the country to get at least 10 percent less rain this June-to-September monsoon season. The shortfall also is expected to swell electricity demand in a power-starved nation as farmers turn to irrigation pumps to keep their fields watered.
A rower carries his oars to the boathouse after an early morning row in the River Thames at Putney on August 3, 2012 in London, England. Many rowing clubs are based at Putney where the annual Oxford and Cambridge boat race starts.
Visitors run away as they avoid waves whipped up by winds near Qiantang River in Hangzhou, Zhejiang province August 3, 2012. Gales and rainstorms lashed coastal regions in east China when two typhoons made landfall in less than 10 hours from Thursday to Friday morning, forcing over 300,000 people to evacuate, Xinhua News Agency reported.
A man cycles past a destroyed Syrian Army compound in Azaz, some 47 km (29 miles) north of Aleppo August 3, 2012.
Boys dressed as holy cows participate in a parade to mark the Gaijatra Festival, also known as the festival of cows, in Kathmandu August 3, 2012. Hindus in Kathmandu celebrate the festival to ask for salvation and peace for their departed loved ones. Cows are regarded as holy animals in Nepal which help departed souls to reach heaven.
Barry Petherick gives Monty, the Wadworth brewery shire horse a pint of beer outside the Raven Inn in Poulshot as he starts his two-week annual holiday on August 3, 2012 near Devizes, England. Hundreds of people gathered to watch as Monty, along with fellow dray horses Prince and Max - who are employed by Devizes brewery Wadworth to deliver beer 50 weeks a year to Wiltshire pubs - were each is given a pint of beer before being released into a field near Devizes. The brewery has been employing shire horses for more than 100 years to deliver beers to local inns and hostelries. Prince, Monty and Max are three of the last remaining working shires left in the UK brewing industry.
Chinese border guards help a tourist who got trapped near the beach as winds whip up waves in Taizhou, Zhejiang province August 2, 2012. Gales and rainstorms lashed coastal regions in east China when two typhoons made landfall in less than 10 hours from Thursday to Friday morning, forcing over 300,000 people to evacuate, Xinhua News Agency reported. Picture taken August 2, 2012.
Artists work on a giant city map of Berlin that is drawn on a concrete square in central Berlin, August 2, 2012. Eight artist paint the 50 by 50 metres (164 by 164 feet) large map at a scale of 1:775. The walk-on piece will be opened to the public on August 25 for the 775th anniversary celebration of the founding of Berlin.
Children climb trees as they play on the outskirts of Srinagar August 2, 2012.
