This week in photos: Kim’s new missile, Arc de Triomphe draped in fabric and taxi gardens

An Ultra-Orthodox Jewish man swings a chicken over his kids as part of the Kaparot ritual in Beit Shemesh, Israel, September 13. Jews believe the ritual transfers one's sins from the past year into the chicken, and is performed before the Day of Atonement, Yom Kippur, the holiest day in the Jewish year

Lightning strikes One World Trade Center in New York City during a thunderstorm, September 13

Pope Francis waves from the popemobile as he arrives to celebrate Holy Mass on the esplanade of the National Shrine in Sastin, Slovakia, September 15. The pontiff is on an apostolic journey to Slovakia from 12 to 15 September, under the official motto: 'With Mary and Joseph on the way to Jesus'

Metropolitan Tikhon (Shevkunov) of Pskov and Porkhov, Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia, Russian President Vladimir Putin, Pskov Region Governor Mikhail Vedernikov, and President's adviser Vladimir Medinsky at the opening ceremony of a memorial site featuring a group statue titled ‘Prince Alexander Nevsky and His Armed Force’, in the village of Samolva, Gdovsky District, by Lake Peipsi (Chudskoye) at the supposed location of the 1242 Battle on the Ice, September 11. The event marks the 800th anniversary of Alexander Nevsky’s birth. Standing 20m tall and weighing 50t, the monument consists of equestrian figures of the prince, his brother, a battle commander, and six warriors, with a mosaic panel depicting scenes of the Battle on the Ice

The Russian-Belarusian strategic exercises Zapad-2021 at the Mulino training ground, September 13. Zapad-2021 is the final stage of joint training of the armed forces of the two countries this year. In total, the exercises involved up to 200 thousand personnel, about 80 aircraft and helicopters, up to 760 units of military equipment, including 290 tanks, 240 guns, multiple launch rocket systems and mortars, as well as up to 15 ships

A missile test firing launched from a train at an undisclosed location in North Korea, September 15

Chinese astronauts Tang Hongbo, Nie Haisheng and Liu Boming wave at the Dongfeng landing site in northern China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, September 17. The trio of Chinese astronauts returned to Earth on Friday after a 90-day stay aboard their nation's first space station in China's longest mission yet

Daniil Medvedev (right) talks with Novak Djokovic after defeating Djokovic in the men's singles final of the US Open tennis championships, September 12

Kim Kardashian attends the Met Gala Costume Institute ball at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, September 13. The theme of the carpet this year is American fashion in all its forms. The Kardashian outfit is an all-black Balenciaga look with a faceless mask

The Arc de Triomphe is being wrapped in a giant sheet of fabric as part of a project of late Bulgarian-born US artist Christo Javacheff, September 14. Under the 14m euro project, the Arc de Triomphe is to be wrapped in 25,000 square metres of silvery recyclable polypropylene using 3,000 metres of red rope. The work, which involves 95 people, is to take several days to complete. Christo and his wife Jeanne-Claude had been working on the wrapping sheet for the Arc de Triomphe since 1962. Jeanne-Claude died in 2009, Christo died in 2020. The project was completed by Christo’s nephew Vladimir Javacheff

Thai staff members of the Ratchaphruek Taxi Cooperative water their community vegetable garden that was built on top of out of use Thai taxis in Bangkok, September 13. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic and strict quarantine measures put in place by the Thai government, taxi rental companies have seen a significant drop in business due to the lack of international tourism. The Ratchaphruek Taxi Cooperative's owners set up the community garden, using hoods and roofs of Thai taxis as planters for various vegetables, as a means to provide stress relief and some food to their employees

Two horses playfully jostel each other in the rain-soaked main town square in Dharmsala, India, September 17