Wildfires in Greece and California, the Sturgis Motorcycle Rally in South Dakota, COVID-19 burials in Indonesia, elephants in Kenya, rhythmic gymnastics in Tokyo, the closing ceremony of the Summer Olympics, flooding in Venice, thick smoke in Russia's Far East, drought in Chile, and much more. [A note to readers who came here from an email newsletter: If you subscribed to The Atlantic Photo years ago, your service may be disrupted soon as an older version of our newsletter service is being discontinued. To keep receiving new photo stories in your inbox, please subscribe here.]
Photos of the Week: Burned Paws, Ducky Derby, Mermaid Convention
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![A team of artistic swimmers poses before their performance.]()
Read moreChina's artistic swim team poses before their performance at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics on August 7, 2021. #
Marko Djurica / Reuters -
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![A rhythmic gymnastics team performs with balls.]()
Read moreItaly's rhythmic gymnastics team performs during the rhythmic gymnastics group all-around final at the 2020 Summer Olympics, on August 8, 2021. #
Natacha Pisarenko / AP -
![A table tennis player shots during a match.]()
Read moreHarimoto Tomokazu of Team Japan reacts during his men's team bronze medal table-tennis match on day fourteen of the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games. #
Steph Chambers / Getty -
![Allyson Felix stands on a track wearing an American flag over her shoulders.]()
Read moreAllyson Felix of Team USA reacts after winning the gold medal in the women's 4 x 400m relay final at Olympic Stadium on August 7, 2021, in Tokyo, Japan. #
Ryan Pierse / Getty -
![A person dressed as a mermaid swims underwater in a pool.]()
Read moreA mermaid swims during MerMagic Con at the Freedom Aquatic Center in Manassas, Virginia, on August 7, 2021. MerMagic Con is advertised as the largest mermaid convention in the world. #
Joseph Prezioso / AFP / Getty -
![Tall condo buildings stand along a beach, seen from the water.]()
Read moreWaves lap ashore, seen from the surf near condo buildings in Sunny Isles, Florida, on August 9, 2021. #
Joe Raedle / Getty -
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![Flames still burn inside the trunk of a large tree in a scorched forest.]()
Read moreA fire continues to burn inside the trunk of a tree after the Dixie Fire moved through the area on August 11, 2021, in Greenville, California. The Dixie Fire, which has incinerated over 500,000 acres, is the second-largest recorded wildfire in state history. #
Justin Sullivan / Getty -
![The melted backboard of a basketball hoop stands near burned trees.]()
Read moreThe melted backboard of a basketball hoop is seen following the Dixie Fire on August 8, 2021, near Greenville, California. #
Maranie R. Staab / Getty -
![Several firefighters stand on the side of a dirt road amid thick orange smoke.]()
Read moreVolunteers pause while working at the scene of a forest fire near the village of Kyuyorelyakh, west of Yakutsk, Russia, on August 7, 2021. Wildfires in Russia's vast Siberia region endangered a dozen villages Saturday and prompted authorities to evacuate some residents. #
Ivan Nikiforov / AP -
![Several firefighting helicopters fly low and fill up with water of a beach.]()
Read moreFirefighting helicopters fill up with water off the beach in the village of Pefki, on the island of Evia, Greece, on August 10, 2021. #
Nicolas Economou / Reuters -
![Dozens of people walk in a flooded St. Mark's Square in Venice.]()
Read morePeople walk in a flooded St. Mark's Square during an exceptional high water in Venice, Italy, on August 8, 2021. #
Manuel Silvestri / Reuters -
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![A child splashes through a curtain of water in a fountain.]()
Read moreChildren play and cool off in a waterfall at the Yards Park as temperatures reached 97 degrees Fahrenheit in Washington, D.C., on August 12, 2021. #
Win McNamee / Getty -
![A bike rider pedals down a sunny path surrounded by trees.]()
Read moreA man rides his bike on a small road on the outskirts of Frankfurt, Germany, on the morning of August 12, 2021. #
Michael Probst / AP -
![Image]()
Read moreRiders from several teams crash during the Women's Omnium scratch race on day sixteen of the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games at Izu Velodrome, on August 8, 2021. #
Justin Setterfield / Getty -
![People stand in a large circle in a sports stadium, holding national flags.]()
Read moreA view as the flag bearers of the competing nations enter the stadium during the Closing Ceremony of the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games at Olympic Stadium in Tokyo, Japan, on August 8, 2021. #
Leon Neal / Getty -
![A night view, looking up toward a tall illuminated metal tower.]()
Read moreA night view of Tokyo Tower after the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games, on August 9, 2021. #
Ali Atmaca / Anadolu Agency / Getty -
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![Orange smoky haze fills the sky above a forest highway.]()
Read moreA view of Highway 89, with burned trees on one side and unburned trees on the other, at the site of the Dixie Fire, near the town of Greenville, California, on August 7, 2021. #
Fred Greaves / Reuters -
![A deer wanders in a field in heavy smoke.]()
Read moreA deer wanders in heavy smoke in front of a row of burned cars during the Dixie fire in Greenville, California, on August 6, 2021. #
Josh Edelson / AFP / Getty -
![A costumed man wearing an antler headdress dances during a march.]()
Read moreA costumed man dances during a march in recognition of the International Day of the World's Indigenous Peoples, in Mexico City on August 9, 2021. #
Eduardo Verdugo / AP -
![Three elephants of varying sizes walk through tall dry grass.]()
Read moreElephants walk in Kenya's Amboseli National Park on August 10, 2021. #
Baz Ratner / Reuters -
![Thousands of discarded rubber tires sit in piles in the desert.]()
Read moreAn aerial view of a landfill where discarded tires are stored in piles, 160 kilometers away from Kuwait City, on August 12, 2021. The Kuwaiti government is seeking less environmentally harmful solutions to get rid of millions of disposed tires which have been accumulating for about 20 years. #
Faisal Alnomas / Anadolu Agency / Getty -
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![An aerial view shows a scorched hillside on the left, and an apparently untouched neighborhood, on the right.]()
Read moreA drone photo shows fire-hit areas after the forest fires in Marmaris district of Mugla, Turkey, on August 11, 2021. #
Omer Urer / Anadolu Agency / Getty -
![A dog with bandaged paws that had been burned rests in a shelter.]()
Read moreA dog with burned paws sleeps at a makeshift shelter following a wildfire north of Athens, Greece, on August 8, 2021. #
Louiza Vradi / Reuters -
![A woman sits in a hospital room surrounded by several health care workers.]()
Read moreJoan Bronson of Chalmette, Louisiana, is being treated for COVID-19 at the Ochsner Medical Center in Jefferson Parish, Louisiana, on August 10, 2021. #
Kathleen Flynn / Reuters -
![A person wearing protective gear stands outside a door.]()
Read moreVolunteers from the Nahdatul Ulama Sleman burial team prepare to bury the body of a woman who died from COVID-19 during a funeral service in Yogyakarta, Indonesia, on August 12, 2021. Indonesia has recorded more than 100,000 deaths from COVID-19, as the country continues to struggle with a huge wave of infections driven by the Delta variant. #
Ulet Ifansasti / Getty -
![An aerial view of people standing in a long line in a parking lot.]()
Read moreThis aerial picture shows people lining up to receive the Sinovac COVID-19 vaccine in Jakarta, Indonesia, on August 12, 2021. #
Bay Ismoyo / AFP / Getty -
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![Hundreds of people and motorcycles line a street in Sturgis.]()
Read moreMotorcycle enthusiasts attend the 81st annual Sturgis Motorcycle Rally in Sturgis, South Dakota, on August 8, 2021. The rally is expect to draw more than 500,00 people during its 10-day run. #
Scott Olson / Getty -
![Thousands of yellow rubber ducks float in the Chicago river.]()
Read moreRubber ducks float in the Chicago river during the Chicago Ducky Derby on August 5, 2021, in Chicago, Illinois. Derby organizers dropped 70,000 rubber ducks into the river to raise money for Special Olympics Illinois. Donors sponsored ducks in the derby for $5 each. The sponsor of the first duck to cross the finish line won a new SUV. #
Scott Olson / Getty -
![Floodwater flows down a road past damaged storefronts.]()
Read moreSearch-and-rescue works are carried out in a flood-devastated area after heavy rains caused floods in the Bozkurt district of Kastamonu, Turkey, on August 12, 2021. #
Bilal Kahyaoglu / Anadolu Agency / Getty -
![Ski resort buildings stand on a dry hillside near sparse patches of snow on upper slopes.]()
Read moreA view of La Parva ski resort with very little snow on the ground, on August 10, 2021, in Santiago, Chile. Ski resorts, which were hard-hit by the pandemic in 2020, have now been forced to end the season one month earlier than usual due to lack of snow. The Andean region faces historically low snowfall, as a consequence of higher temperatures and climate change. #
Marcelo Hernandez / Getty -
![Camels graze in a dry landscape in front of tall mountains.]()
Read moreCamels graze in the Airakty Castle Valley amid severe drought conditions in the Mangistau Region of Kazakhstan. #
Pavel Mikheyev / Reuters -
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![People lead cows away from a wildfire.]()
Read moreLocals evacuate the area with their animals as a wildfire rages in the suburb of Thrakomakedones, north of Athens, Greece, on August 7, 2021. #
Giorgos Moutafis / Reuters -
![A column of smoke rises from a distant forest fire.]()
Read moreA smoke column from the Dixie Fire rises near Greenville, in Indian Valley, California, on August 9, 2021. #
David Swanson / Reuters -
![Storm clouds pass above a tall skyscraper.]()
Read moreStorm clouds pass over One World Trade Center ahead of the 20th anniversary of the September 11 attacks in Manhattan, New York City, New York, on August 10, 2021. #
Andrew Kelly / Reuters -
![An Afghan father poses with his son and a portrait of another son who was killed.]()
Read moreIn Kabul, Afghanistan, Zamery Samadi, a Special Immigrant Visa (SIV) applicant, stands with his 18-year-old son Fardin, holding a portrait of his eldest son Fahim, 23, who was killed by the Taliban, at their home on August 5, 2021. Fardin was injured in 2016 by an IED explosion targeting U.S. troops. Zamery worked for 11 years as a security guard and laborer for the U.S. Army from 2002-2013. He is struggling to get the necessary documents needed to complete his SIV application since he left the job years back and has found the U.S. military unresponsive. Thousands of Afghans who worked for the United States government during its nearly 20-year war here now fear for their safety as the U.S. withdraws its troops from the country. Many of these Afghans, who worked as interpreters and translators, have applied to come to the United States as part of the SIV program, with the first such group arriving last month. But, for most SIV candidates, the timeline for relocation remains unknown. #
Paula Bronstein / Getty
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