Photographs

Chinese folk artist Zhang Luo shows off his gourd painted with a portrait of UN secretary-general Ban Ki-moon ahead of Communist China's 60th anniversary, in Beijing on September 2, 2009. China plans to create a 'moat' around Beijing for its National Day festivities on October 1 as part of a massive security crackdown ahead of the sensitive anniversary, state media said.

See more images of China's anniversary preparations here. 

STR/AFP/Getty Images

A supporter of ousted Honduran President Manuel Zelaya lies on the highway in Ojo de Agua, some 70 km from Tegucigalpa, in front of soldiers blocking the road to Las Manos border post between Honduras and Nicaragua on July 24, 2009. Honduras's de facto government shut down its southern frontier region bordering Nicaragua Friday, hoping to block Zelaya's bid to return home a month after he was ousted in a coup.

YURI CORTEZ/AFP/Getty Images 

An Iraqi police woman shows off her skills during a parade to mark the withdrawal of US troops from Iraqi cities and towns across the nation on June 30, 2009, in the city of Karbala, 110 kms south of the capital Baghdad. Iraqi forces took control of towns and cities across the country to replace departing US forces, a milestone in the country's recovery six years after the US-led invasion.

AFP PHOTO / MOHAMMED SAWAF 

I know it's how Israel's defense minister spells his name, but still...

An Israeli right-wing activist holds a sign during a protest outside the US consulate in Jerusalem on the eve of US President Barak Obama's trip to Egypt on June 3, 2009.

GALI TIBBON/AFP/Getty Images

Model-train bars:

TOKYO - JUNE 03: A man watches a model train running along the bar at Bar Ginza Panorama Shibuya Branch on June 3, 2009 in Tokyo, Japan. The bar caters to model train enthusists and customers are able to bring their own model trains to run on the tracks.

Photo: Junko Kimura/Getty Images

A man urinates on April 25, 2009 in the toilets of the Sodoma bar in central Reykjavik where photographs of the former bankers who left their country after the financial crash have been stuck on the urinals. AFP PHOTO OLIVIER MORIN.

Someday very soon, a graduate student is going to have a field day with the gender dynamics of Iceland's transfer-of-power.

Kim Jong Il, the North Korean dictator, started another term in office today, after winning the country's election last month with 100 percent of votes.

It marked one of the few public appearances the Dear Leader's made since suffering a stroke. He appeared significantly thinner, his hair sparse on his head, moving arthritically. (Just months ago, the North Korean news agency released photos of him looking robust to counter rumors about his health.)

Reports note that Kim is likely preparing to pick which of his three sons will succeed him -- a transition which has the potential to end the communist state's isolationist foreign policy. The youngest son, Jong-un, around 25 years old, seems the likeliest candidate.

The middle son suffers from unnamed but allegedly debilitating diseases; the eldest became infamous when he attempted to sneak into Japan to visit Tokyo Disneyland with a fake passport. The New York Times writes:

In recent months, [the oldest son] has been in the news after speaking to Japanese reporters who spotted him at the Beijing airport and in Macao. When Japanese reporters spotted him on Tuesday in Macao, he was quoted as saying that he was “much worried about” regional tensions after the rocket launching last weekend.

“If I was a designated successor, I wouldn’t be here in Macao talking to you now,” he was quoted as saying when asked about his chances of succeeding his father.

 Photo: DPRK/KRT 

Pakistan has engaged in its own "war on terror" against Islamist militants in the northwest part of the country. The collateral damage: at least 450,000 Pakistanis forced from their homes, according to the UNHCR. In Swat Valley, meanwhile, the Taliban effectively controls the region (sharia courts started operating last week), prompting many to flee to camps for internally displaced persons. Increasingly, the people of Swat are having to choose: Taliban or tents.

The fighting and the plight of displaced Pakistani civilians are the subject of this week's FP photo essay: "Pakistan's New Homeless."

Meanwhile, the New York Times reports that U.S. government sources say that the Taliban in Afghanistan is getting "direct support" from members of Pakistan's military intelligence agency. A spokesman for Pakistan's Foreign Ministry, however, dismissed the report as "sensational journalism."

For other FP photo essays, check out:

• Spring Break Gone Wrong?
• Baghdad's Back, Six Years After the Invasion
• Abu Ghraib's Extreme Makeover
• India's Real-World Slumdogs
• Gaza's (Literal) Underground Economy

Photo: TARIQ MAHMOOD/AFP/Getty Images