Photos Of The Day

Pasty Face — AP Photo/Rajesh Kumar Singh

A Sadhu, or Hindu Holy man, is seen after applying sandalwood and vermilion paste on his face in Allahabad, India, Friday, Aug. 25, 2006. Allahabad, on the confluence of the rivers Ganges, Yamuna and the mythical Saraswathi, is one of Hinduism's important centers.

Gods In Clay

An artist gives finishing touches to a clay statue of Hindu God Biswakarma at Agartala, capital of India's northeastern state of Tripura, Friday, Aug. 25, 2006. Biswakarma is worshiped as the Hindu God of Architecture and Machinery. The Biswakarma Puja festival is celebrated on Sept. 17.

Friday Prayers

Iraqi Shiite Muslims offer Friday prayer, in Karbala, 50 miles south of Baghdad, Iraq, Friday, Aug. 25, 2006. A security operation in Baghdad was helping curb violence after a surge of bombings and shootings in recent months, America's two top generals in the Middle East said.

So Long Strip

Palestinians ride on top of buses as they leave the Gaza Strip for Egypt at the Rafah border crossing Friday Aug. 25, 2006. The border opened for a day Friday, after weeks of closure following the kidnapping of an Israeli soldier by Hamas-allied militants in Gaza.

Reservations Over Affirmative Action

Medical students walk in a silent protest against a proposed reservation program for other backward class (OBC), in Calcutta, India, Friday, Aug. 25, 2006. India's Parliament was set to vote on whether to back a government affirmative action plan for lower castes that has sparked nationwide protests and paralyzed hospitals and universities.

Great View For Launch

Spiders climb along their web near the Space Shuttle Atlantis as it sits on Pad 39B at the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Fla., Friday, Aug. 25, 2006. Atlantis is scheduled for launch on mission STS-115 on Sunday.

Russian Cathedral Fire

A woman carrying a child walks past the Trinity Cathedral with fire raging and the central dome collapsed in St. Petersburg, Russia, Friday, Aug. 25, 2006. A fire raged in the 19th-century cathedral in St. Petersburg, bringing down the main cupola atop the stately church in Russia's former Imperial capital.

Marine Funeral

An honor guard of New York State Troopers and Marines salute the casket of Captain John J. McKenna IV as it is carried from the the church Friday, Aug 25, 2006 in New York. McKenna, who was both a Marine and a State Trooper, was killed during a foot patrol in Fallujah, Iraq.