”After tense hours, rescue helicopters reached remote villages in northeast India that had been cut off by a powerful earthquake on September 18. There is action everywhere in this photograph, in which we see rescued villagers reacting after being deposited in the town of Mangan, in India’s Sikkem state.” Photo from EPA “Framework,” Los Angeles Times

”Last week, traffic in the streets of New York snarled as world leaders gathered at the United Nations, where the big topic of debate was a Palestinian bid for statehood. Meanwhile, demonstrations continued in the West Bank. In this picture by photographer Tara Todras-Whitehill, Israeli soldiers take a position at a checkpoint between Ramallah and Jersulem as the street snarls with other news photographers.” Photo by Tara Todras-Whitehill/AP, “Lens,” New York Times

”Another country, another street, another fight: Here, a defecting Yemeni soldier takes aim from behind sandbags on a corner in Sanaa on September 22, as tribesmen join a battle between rival military units.” Photo by Mohammed Huwais/AFP/Getty Images, Denver Post

”The night explodes as American soldiers fire mortar rounds at enemy positions in Kunar Province, Afghanistan.” Photo by Erik De Castro/Reuters, “Lens,” New York Times

”Pain, urgency, and compassion are all reflected on the in this stunning photograph, in which we seen a casualty of fighting in Misrata, Libya being treated on September 22.” Photo by Ricardo Garcia Vilanova/AFP/Getty Images, “Lightbox,” Time

”What do the faces in this image reflect? Curiosity? Fear? Photographs don’t tell us such things, but words can give us clues: These two men are peering through a cloth barrier that cordoned off the site of a suicide-bomb attack in Karachi, Pakistan on September 19.” Photo by Athar Hussain/Reuters, “Lightbox,” Time

”On September 21, the state of Georgia executed Troy Davis for the 1989 killing of a police officer. Convicted and sentenced in 1991, Davis maintained his innocence throughout his 20 years on death row. Though his attorneys said seven of nine key witnesses against him disputed all or parts of their own testimony, state and federal judges repeatedly ruled against granting him a new trial. As Davis’s final hours passed by, groups of people, including this distraught women, gathered to protest the execution.” Photo by Stephen Morton/AP, Denver Post

”After being held in Iran’s Evin Prison for more than two years, two Americans, Shane Bauer and Joshua Fattal, were released last week and flown to Oman. There, photographer Jumana El-Heloueh caught the moment when Bauer (center) was greeted by family members and his fiancée, Sarah Shroud (right). Bauer, Fattal, and Shroud had been hiking in northern Iran when they were captured and charged with espionage. Shroud was released in 2010.” Photo by Jumana El-Heloueh/Reuters, Newsweek

”Associated Press photographer Rodrigo Abd recently traveled to Guatemala to photograph women competing in this year’s National Indigenous Queen contest, which is part of Rabin Aju National Folkloric Festival celebrating ancient Mayan culture. Abd underscored the context of the event by photographing the women with a 19th-century-style wooden box camera.” Photos by Rodrigo Abd/AP, “Lightbox,” Time

”In a bow to modern sensibilities, the Catalonia region of Spain is ending the centuries-old tradition of bullfighting. Here, celebrated bullfighter Jose Tomas waits to perform a final time in the Monumental bullring in Barcelona on September 25.” Photo by Man Fernandez/AP, Wall Street Journal

”An inflatable pink pig floats over London’s Battersea Power Station in a re-creation of the iconic cover art from the 1977 Pink Floyd album “Animals.” The stunt was a promotion marking the release of digitally remastered versions of the band’s music.” Photo by Oli Scarff/Getty Images, “Lens,” New York Times

”Actor Ted Danson has made a lasting mark on American television with a string of peformances made indelible by his off-center charm—most recently on the HBO show Bored to Death, in which he plays a fading magazine publisher who spends a great deal of time smoking pot with younger companions. Rolling Stone’s profile of Danson captured the actor’s quirky glamour, as did Robert Trachtenberg’s portrait.” Photo by Robert Trachtenberg, Rolling Stone

”The new ABC television program Pan Am tries to recreate the glamour of the circa-1960s jet age—most of which, alas, must now be manufactured by computer graphics. Photographer Sylvia Plachy did it the old-fashioned way, photographing four of the show’s stars for the New Yorker (from left: Margot Robbie, Kelli Garner, Karine Vanasse, and Christina Ricci).” Photo by Sylvia Plachy, The New Yorker

”Esquire magazine came up with its own version of old-fashion glamour with these pictures of actress Carla Gugino. Back in the days when Pan Am and Esquire were both cultural pace-setters, this pinup stuff was state of the art.” Photo by Kayt Jones, Esquire

”Sports Illustrated’s readers are used to seeing big-time athletes banging helmets and homeruns on the magazine’s cover. This week the magazine reformulated its cover strategy by putting a big-time Hollywood actor on the cover. Will Brad Pitt, who stars in the new movie Moneyball, appeal to typical male sports fans? The magazine’s editors offer some reassurance, telling readers that Pitt’s new film, based on a best-selling book about baseball statistical analysis, is in fact ’more than a movie’.” Photo by Simon Bruty, Sports Illustrated