Taliban's bonfire of anything musical, UCI World Cycling Championships, theatre magic in Edinburgh: Eye-catching photos of this week
The world never ceases to startle us. This series of photos—a deafening end to music, shattered souls in a sea of silence—resonates beyond its description of a leisurely flip or a deep read this weekend
Image: Claudia Morales / Reuters
A local resident Isabel Apaza shows the area of Lake Titicaca without water amid a drought, in Huarina, Bolivia. August 3, 2023. 
Image: Wolfgang Rattay / Reuters
An installation of child mannequins, wrapped in purple and white barricade tape is seen placed in front of the Cologne Cathedral by German artist Dennis Josef Meseg. Called "Shattered Souls - in a Sea of Silence", the work is a protest against abuse scandals in the Catholic Church in Cologne, Germany. August 3, 2023. 
Image: Afghanistan's Ministry for the Propagation of Virtue and the Prevention of Vice / AFP
In this handout photograph released by Afghanistan's Ministry for the Propagation of Virtue and the Prevention of Vice, members of Taliban set fire to a confiscated pile of musical instruments and equipment on the outskirts of Herat, deeming music immoral. July 29, 2023.
Image: Matthew Childs / Reuters
Britain's Daniel Bigham, Charlie Tanfield, Oliver Wood, and Ethan Vernon in action during the men's elite team pursuit qualification in cycling at UCI World Championships 2023 in Glasgow, Scotland. August 3, 2023 
Image: Phil Noble / Reuters
Cleaner Louise Brewis mops the Minton tiled floor of St George's Hall, which is to go on display to the public for the first time since 2019 in Liverpool, Britain, on July 31, 2023. 
Image: Clodagh Kilcoyne / Reuters
A bird flies past as AeroSuperBatics Wingwalkers perform during the annual Bray Air Display over the County Wicklow seaside town of Bray, Ireland, July 30, 2023. 
Image: Action Images via Reuters/Lee Smith
A seagull scrambles to exit from a pitch surrounded by running rugby players during a Rugby World Cup 2023 warm-up match between Scotland and Italy in Edinburgh, Scotland, July 29, 2023.
Image: Angelos Tzortzinis / AFP
An aerial photo shows fish farms on Poros Island, Greece on July 5, 2023. Greece has turned the island of 3,000 inhabitants near the Peloponnese peninsula into one of the country's top aquaculture sites for sea bream and sea bass, which has led to protests by locals. 
Image: Stefan Wermuth / Reuters
Sweden's Sarah Sjostrom in action during the women's 50m butterfly semi-final 2 at the Fukuoka 2023 World Aquatics Championships, Japan, July 28, 2023 
Image: Jeff J Mitchell/Getty Images
Creators Olivier Martin-Salvan and Pierre Guillois (dressed as a mermaid) mark the start of Moliere award-winning show The Ice Hole: A Cardboard Comedy as they visit Portobello beach in Edinburgh, Scotland, July 31, 2023. This new show, a cartoonish burlesque, is told using a thousand pieces of cardboard as the duo recount an epic journey from the fjords of Iceland to the dust of the Spanish desert.
