poon cho tang SG Malaysia haze A thick haze cloaked parts of Malaysia on Wednesday, including the capital Kuala Lumpur, after smoke from forest and peat fires filled the air.
poon cho tang SG Malaysia haze The top of the Petronas Towers, one of the world's tallest buildings, was almost invisible from the ground.
poon cho tang SG Malaysia haze Many people wore masks or pressed handkerchiefs to their faces when outside. Officials said the pollution - the worst since 1998 - was already causing health problems.
poon cho tang SG Malaysia haze The government bowed to public pressure and released previously secret figures on air quality, saying schools would be closed if the problem got worse.
poon cho tang SG Malaysia haze Tourists, too, were affected. Famous landmarks almost disappeared in the haze.
poon cho tang SG Malaysia haze Malaysia says hundreds of forest fires are raging on the Indonesian island of Sumatra, sending pollutants across the Malacca Strait and into Malaysia.
poon cho tang SG Malaysia haze But the pollution levels are also due to fires closer to home. In recent weeks firemen have been battling against peat fires outside Kuala Lumpur.
poon cho tang SG The European Ariane rocket takes off from French Guiana, carrying aboard it the world's heaviest communications satellite.
poon cho tang SG A worker carries a window from a Jewish home being dismantled in a settlement bloc in Gaza.
poon cho tang SG In Gaza City meanwhile, a Palestinian man sews flags to prepare for celebrations marking Israel's planned withdrawal from the territory.
poon cho tang SG Greenpeace activists enter the Hazelwood power station in Australia as part of a campaign to force its closure.
poon cho tang SG Museum workers in London place Crivelli's painting, Dead Christ Supported by Two Angels, beneath the sculpture that inspired it, Donatello's Dead Christ Tended by Angels.
poon cho tang SG US soldiers in Iraq practise with live ammunition rounds in this picture released by the US military.
poon cho tang SG Syrian women pose after reaching the finals of a modelling competition, believed to be the country's first.
poon cho tang SG Discovery landing Nasa has been gearing up for the return of Discovery since Monday, but bad weather prevented the shuttle from landing until Tuesday.
poon cho tang SG Discovery landing After it re-enters the Earth's atmosphere, the shuttle first appears as a white outline against the Californian night.
poon cho tang SG Discovery landing Only a few seconds later, it is almost ready to touch down at Edwards Air Force Base north of Los Angeles, having plummeted through the sky like a 'hurling brick'.
poon cho tang SG Discovery landing It finally touches the ground, delivering its crew safely back to Earth.
poon cho tang SG Discovery landing Discovery was diverted to California after bad weather prevented it from landing at its home base of Cape Canaveral in Florida.
poon cho tang SG Discovery landing On the ground, Nasa employees watch anxiously as the shuttle makes its final approach...
