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 picture taken on 28th July 2017 shows an aerial view of hot-air balloons at Chambley-Bussières airbase, near Hagéville, eastern France, before the world record attempt of the biggest line with 456 balloons as part of the biennial event 'Mondial Air Ballons', an international air-balloon meeting.
Photo: ALEXANDRE MARCHI/AFP/Getty Images.
A man holds an umbrella during a heavy downpour of hail at Taksim in Istanbul on 27th July 2017.
Photo: YASIN AKGUL/AFP/Getty Images.
Andrew Roussos, the father of Saffie Roussos, holds his son Xander Roussos while carrying the coffin of his daughter following the funeral of the young Manchester attack victim at Manchester Cathedral on 26th July 2017 in Manchester, England. Saffie Roussos, aged eight, from Lancashire was the youngest victim of the Manchester suicide bombing attack at the Ariana Grande concert in May. The funeral of Saffie is the last of the 22 victims of the bombing.
Photo: Christopher Furlong/Getty Images.
This picture, taken with an underwater camera, shows China's Zhang Yufei competing in a women's 200m butterfly semi-final during the swimming competition at the 2017 FINA World Championships in Budapest, on 26th July 2017.
Photo: MARTIN BUREAU/AFP/Getty Images.
A local man is seen amid forest fire in Bayindir district of Izmir, Turkey on 25th July 2017. Approximately 100 hectares of forestland are affected by the fire.
Photo: Haluk Satir/Anadolu Agency/Getty Images.
Assateague wild ponies make their way out of the Assateague Channel during the annual Chincoteague Island Pony Swim in Chincoteague Island, Virginia, on 26th July 2017.
Photo: JIM WATSON/AFP/Getty Images.
People enjoy the beach as they look at a forest fire in La Croix-Valmer, near Saint-Tropez, on 25th July 2017. Firefighters battle blazes that have consumed swathes of land in southeastern France for a second day, with one inferno out of control near the chic resort, emergency services say.
Photo: VALERY HACHE/AFP/Getty Images.
Activists holding placards supporting abortion take part in a pro-abortion demonstration in Santiago, on 25th July 2017. A plan to ease a ban on abortion in Chile has the backing of 70% of the country, a new poll released on Monday suggested, as a government push to do so navigated legislative problems.
Photo: MARTIN BERNETTI/AFP/Getty Images.
Republican Senator John McCain gives a thumbs-up to well-wishers as he gets into his car at the US Capitol on 25th July 2017 in Washington, DC. McCain was recently diagnosed with brain cancer but returned on the day the Senate held a key procedural vote on US President Donald Trump's effort to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act.
Photo: Mark Wilson/Getty Images
Germany midfielder Lina Magull (C) vies with Russia defenders Anna Kozhnikova (L) and Ekaterina Morozova during the UEFA Women's Euro 2017 football match between Russia and Germany at Galgenwaard Stadium in Utrecht on 25th July 2017.
Photo: TOBIAS SCHWARZ/AFP/Getty Images.
A Palestinian girl peers through a tarpaulin next to her house in Gaza City on 24th July 2017.
Photo: MOHAMMED ABED/AFP/Getty Images.
Swimmers jump in the Bosphorus river as they take part in the Bosphorus Cross Continental Swim event on 23rd July 2017. The race takes participants 6km down the Bosphorus Strait from the Asian side of Istanbul to the European side.
Photo: OZAN KOSE/AFP/Getty Images.
Festival-goers enjoy the mud during the annual Boryeong Mud Festival at Daecheon Beach on 22nd July 2017 in Boryeong, South Korea. The mud, which is believed to have beneficial effects on the skin due to its mineral content, is sourced from mud flats near Boryeong and transported to the beach by truck.
Photo: Chung Sung-Jun/Getty Images.
British diver Aidan Heslop competes during the International Cliff Diving Championship in Ponte Brolla, southern Switzerland on 22nd July 2017. Surrounded by steep granite cliffs, the canyon of Ponte Brolla belongs to one of the world's most spectacular natural settings for cliff diving. The natural diving pool has an average water depth of around 13 to 15 metres.
Photo: FABRICE COFFRINI/AFP/Getty Images.
Jimmy, a heroin addict from south Jersey, showers and washes his clothes in an open fire hydrant in the Kensington section of Philadelphia, which has become a hub for heroin addicts, on 21st July 2017 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Over 900 people died last year in Philadelphia from opioid overdoses, a 30% increase from 2015. As the epidemic shows no signs of weakening, the number of fatalities this year is expected to surpass last year's numbers. Heroin use has doubled across the country since 2010, according to the DEA, part of an epidemic of opioid abuse that began in the 1990s, when doctors began prescribing higher doses of powerful painkillers.
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