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Photos of the Week: Foam Fight, Santa Dance, Orangutan Escape

A huge Hindu festival in India, hazy skies from wildfires in Indonesia, preparations for a presidential runoff election in Brazil, Halloween decorations in Los Angeles, a newborn giraffe in Germany, and much more

By · October 23, 2026 · 4 min read
This article was originally published by The Atlantic and is republished here under license.
A protester wearing a mask, goggles, and period costume stands during a demonstration in Paris.
Kiran Ridley / AFP / Getty
A protester wearing a period costume stands during a demonstration against the high cost of living in Paris, on October 17, 2026, as part of a nationwide call for mobilization, bringing together various groups expressing their anger: former gilets jaunes protesters, secondary-school and university students, climate activists, farmers, and more.
A police officer wearing riot gear stands in front of a burning barricade.
Carl Court / Getty
A police officer wearing riot gear stands in front of a burning barricade during a demonstration near Place de la République on October 17, 2026, during a weekend of protests in Paris, France.
A person wears a suit covered in what appear to be coffee pods during a performance in an atrium.
Felix Hörhager / DPA / Getty
A performer in the rotunda of the Pinakothek der Moderne at the start of the Long Night of Munich Museums, on October 17, 2026, in Munich, Germany.
A close view of a soldier in London wearing a bearskin hat, their face almost completely obscured by the hat
Aaron Chown / AFP / Getty
A soldier wears a bearskin hat during the Household Cavalry’s centenary dedication of the Guards Memorial, at Horse Guards Parade, in central London on October 16, 2026.
An orangutan tries to escape as people try to capture it during a rescue operation.
Reina / AFP / Getty
A 20-year-old orangutan tries to escape as members of the Natural Resources Conservation Agency, the Borneo Orangutan Survival Foundation, and the World Wide Fund for Nature Indonesia evacuate it due to wildfires in Hampangen Village, Katingan Regency, Central Kalimantan, on October 17, 2026.
A days-old giraffe stands beside its mother, its tongue poking out of its mouth.
Jens Büttner / DPA / Getty
A female giraffe calf, born nine days earlier, enjoys a sunny day with her mother, Kahlua, at the Schwerin Zoo on October 22, 2026, in Schwerin, Germany.
A deer walks through a stand of trees at sunrise, lit from behind.
Brook Mitchell / Getty
A deer walks through a stand of trees at sunrise in London’s Richmond Park on October 19, 2026.
A rocket lifts off, seen at night.
Kyodo / Reuters
The H3 rocket carrying the Martian Moons eXploration (MMX) rover bound for Mars’s moon Phobos lifts off from the Tanegashima Space Center in Minamitane, Kagoshima prefecture, Japan, on October 20, 2026.
People watch a burning oil terminal.
AFP / Getty
People watch a burning oil terminal following an air attack in Saint Petersburg, Russia, on October 18, 2026. Russia shot down dozens of Ukrainian drones near Saint Petersburg, authorities said on October 18, hitting an oil terminal and disrupting flights at one of the country’s busiest airports.
Two people look at a crater after a Russian missile strike in Ukraine.
Evgeniy Maloletka / AP
People look at a crater after a Russian-missile strike in a residential neighborhood in Kyiv, Ukraine, on October 21, 2026.
Two people stand on stairs, looking up at the sky between many tall, densely-built residential buildings.
xCheng Xin / Getty
A man and a woman photograph the densely packed residential blocks of the Monster Building on October 20, 2026, in Hong Kong, China.
A nighttime view of part of the skyline of Seoul
Philip Fong / AFP / Getty
The Lotte World Tower (right) and Namsan Seoul Tower (back left), as captured from the observatory area of Namhansanseong in Gwangju city of Gyeonggi province, a suburb of Seoul, South Korea, on October 22, 2026.
A gymnast practices their beam routine.
Tim Clayton / Getty
Hezly Rivera of the United States performs her beam routine during podium training in preparation for the Artistic Gymnastics World Championships 2026, on October 15, 2026, in Rotterdam, Netherlands.
A humanoid robot competitor falls while navigating a slope obstacle.
Jia Tianyong / China News Service / Getty
A humanoid robot competitor falls while navigating a slope obstacle during 2026 Robot Warrior Challenge Fall Competition on October 18, 2026, in Beijing, China.
A mail carrier walks down a path of a house decorated with many Halloween skeleton displays.
Michael Yanow / NurPhoto / Getty
A mail carrier delivers mail to a house decorated with skeletons for Halloween in Los Angeles, California, on October 21, 2026.
Five performers - four in bellhop costumes, one in a Santa Claus costume - kick while walking side-by-side.
Kin Cheung / AP
Santa and bellhops pose in front of the Selfridges’ Christmas windows during a media preview in London, England, on October 22, 2026.
A crowd of students, all covered from head-to-toe in soap suds
Lesley Martin / Reuters
Students from St Andrews take part in a foam fight as part of “Raisin Monday” on the lower college lawn, at St Andrews in Scotland, on October 19, 2026.
Electoral workers prepare electronic voting machines.
Eraldo Peres / AP
An electoral worker prepares an electronic voting machine ahead of Brazil’s presidential runoff election in Brasilia, Brazil, on October 20, 2026.
A group of young people hold CPR mannequins before a flash mob.
Vadim Ghirda / AP
Romanian Red Cross volunteers hold CPR mannequins before a flash-mob performance to mark World Restart a Heart Day in Bucharest, Romania, on October 16, 2026.
A dense flock of geese, in flight, in early morning light
Klaus-Dietmar Gabbert / DPA / Getty
Geese take flight from the Mannhausen shallow-water area in search of food, early on October 21, 2026, in Calvörde, Germany. Thousands of migratory birds are currently stopping there to rest on their way to their wintering grounds.
Fairgoers ride a spinning swing ride.
Mario Tama / Getty
Fairgoers ride a swing ride at the Big Fresno Fair on October 17, 2026, in Fresno, California.
An effigy of a mythical demon king is set on fire in an arena full of spectators.
Sachin Kumar / AFP / Getty
An effigy of the mythic demon king Ravana is set on fire on the occasion of the Hindu festival of Dussehra, at the Gandhi Maidan in Patna, India, on October 20, 2026.
Thick smoke and haze fill the air above a city street.
Afan Anugerah / AFP / Getty
An aerial view shows thick smoke and haze from regional forest and land fires in Palangkaraya, Central Kalimantan, Indonesia, on October 15, 2026.
An aerial view of thousands of people dancing in concentric circles around a stage
Saurabh Sirohiya / NurPhoto / Getty
An aerial view shows more than 50,000 people performing Garba in concentric circles around a stage during the United Way of Baroda Garba Mahotsav 2026 in Vadodara, Gujarat, India, on October 19, 2026. The annual festival draws participants in colorful traditional attire who dance in rhythmic circles as live musicians perform from the central stage, while spectators watch from the stands. Garba, a folk dance of Gujarat performed in honor of the goddess Durga, is the centerpiece of the nine-night Hindu festival of Navratri.
An aerial view of a road with many sharp switchbacks on a mountainside covered in autumn-colored trees
Xue Jun / VCG / Getty
An aerial view of colorful autumn foliage and the Taihang No. 1 Tourist Road winding through a forest in Jinzhong, Shanxi province, China, on October 19, 2026
A man sits on a park bench among autumn foliage.
Narciso Contreras / Anadolu / Getty
A man sits in Djurgården National Park at sunrise among autumn foliage in Stockholm, Sweden, on October 18, 2026.
A pair of capybaras nibble on a carved pumpkin.
Jeff J Mitchell / Getty
Capybaras at the Five Sisters Zoo interact with pumpkins in their enclosure ahead of Halloween on October 21, 2026, in West Calder, Scotland.
A boy plays on rocks on a beach, silhouetted by the setting sun.
Martin Bureau / AFP / Getty
A boy plays on rocks on Sillon beach in Saint-Malo, France, at sunset on October 20, 2026.
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