THE WEEK THAT WAS IN PICTURES

A galaxy called NGC 1097, which is located 50 million light-years away. The "eye" at the centre of the galaxy is actually a monstrous black hole surrounded by a ring of stars. Image obtained by NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope

Picture: REUTERS / NASA

The minaret of a mosque is silhouetted against a partial solar eclipse in Yinchuan, Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region, China

Picture: REUTER

A statue of Houyi, a Chinese legendary hero who shot down nine suns with his bow and arrow, is silhouetted against a partial solar eclipse in Changzhi, China

Picture: REUTERS

A lawmaker of the main opposition Democratic Party tries to block a vice speaker of the National Assembly from passing new bills at the National Assembly main chamber in Seoul, South Korea

Picture: REUTERS

Border guards of India and Pakistan eye one another at a daily closing ceremony at the Wagha border post near Lahore

Picture: AP

A member of the fire brigade of Belchite works around a fire in Andorra early on July 23, 2009, near Teruel, Spain

Picture: AFP/GETTY

Two bee farmers, Li Wenhua and Yan Hongxia, smile as bees cover their bodies in Ningan, Heilongjiang Province, China

Picture: BARCROFT MEDIA

China Daily / Reuters

Respite from the heat

A boy jumps into the Yangtze River to cool down in Wuhan, Hubei province, China, on July 18. A heat wave hit Wuhan with temperatures exceeding 102 degrees Fahrenheit, local media reported.

Charles Krupa / AP

Green with envy

A frog opens its mouth while resting in a freshly weeded garden bed of basil at the Many Hands Organic Farm in Barre, Mass., on July 22.

Al Behrman / AP

Creating a buzz

A carpenter bee collects pollen from a flower on July 21 in Cincinnati.

Li Zhong / Imaginechina

Electrifying experience

Chinese construction workers are seen on a 1,214-foot-tall pylon under construction on the Damaoshan Mountain in Zhoushan city, east China's Zhejiang province, on July 20. When finished in 2010, the world's tallest pylon will be used to trasmit 220 kilovolts of electricity from the mainland to Zhoushan Islands about 5 1/2 miles away.

Newborn baby panthers Larisa and Sipura stare at photographers during a media presentation of the cubs at the Tierpark zoo in Berlin, Germany. The two panthers are twins and were born on April 26. Photo: Getty Images

British National Party leader Nick Griffin (centre) is hit by an egg as demonstrators try to disrupt a press conference outside the Houses of Parliament in London. Mr Griffin and his fellow party member Andrew Brons were elected to the European Parliament in last week's elections.

Liesel Weiser, a 94-year-old gymnastics instructor and the grandmother of comedian Sacha Baron Cohen, teaches her students at their retirement home in the Israeli coastal town of Bat Yam

Mark J. Terrill / AP

In synch

The Canadian team performs during the free combination preliminary of the synchronized swimming competition, at the FINA Swimming World Championships in Rome on July 21.