The Week in Pictures

A firefighter sprays water on a burning house in Santa Barbara, Calif., on May 6. An out-of-control wildfire bore down on the area, destroying dozens of homes in the rugged central California foothills. The wind-whipped blaze forced thousands of residents to evacuate.

A Russian history enthusiast fires a WWII-era Soviet Red Army signal-flare gun in Demyansk on May 5. Russia celebrates Victory Day commemorating the end of WWII on May 9.

The photographer who took this picture of a bicyclist being upended after hitting a pothole submerged in rainwater in Xiamen, China, is coming under fire. Critics say he was lying in wait to capture an unfortunate incident instead of warning people about the impending danger. The photographer defends himself by arguing that without his pictures, the government would have never noticed the pothole.

Editor's note: We've learned that this is a file picture from 2005. Msnbc.com regrets the error.

Palestinians run for cover as Israeli soldiers fire tear gas during a protest against Israel's separation barrier in the West Bank village of Bilin, near Ramallah, on May 1. Israel says the projected 454 miles of steel and concrete walls, fences and barbed wire is needed for security. The Palestinians view it as a land grab that undermines their promised state.

What do you get when you mix traditional Mexican wrestling with American burlesque? Quite a spectacle on Cinco de Mayo, or May 5th, a Mexican holiday. Here, Lucha Vavoom star Lil Chicken delivers a flying kick to one of Los Cavaleras' "luchadores," or Mexican wrestlers, during a performance at the Mayan Theater in Los Angeles.

A Hindu woman offers prayers after taking a holy dip in the waters of river Ganga in the northern Indian city of Allahabad on May 4. In Hinduism, the river Ganga, or Ganges River as it's called by Westerners, is considered sacred.

A Roma boy wears a helmet on Djurdjevdan, or St. George's Day, in a Roma settlement in Sarajevo's suburb of Butmir on May 6. Members of the Roma minority in Bosnia celebrate St. George's Day, their biggest holiday, by slaughtering lambs for the dinner feast and spending the day with relatives and neighbors.

A Kosovo Albanian woman looks out a window in the village of Babaj Bokes after sheep were slaughtered on May 6 during the celebration of the traditional feast of St. George's Day. The holiday is observed by several nations, kingdoms, countries and cities of which St. George is the patron saint.

A woman casts her vote at a polling center during the fourth phase of India's general elections in Ore Village near Abu Road in the northern Indian state of Rajasthan on May 7.

Golfer Jason Dufner, left, and rules official Tony Wallin, center, survey the situation after Dufner's drive off the first tee ended up in the lap of embarrassed spectator Miranda Cooper, 18, during the third round of the Quail Hollow Championship tournament in Charlotte, N.C., on May 2. A marker was placed under her chair and Dufner played the hole without penalty.

A couple wearing surgical masks to avoid infection by the swine flu virus kiss at Mexico City's Zocalo square on April 30.

Flowers are seen at Donghekou Earthquake Site Park, a memorial park for Sichuan earthquake victims, in Qingchuan County, Sichuan province, on May 6. China marks the one-year anniversary of the Sichuan earthquake on May 12. More than 69,000 people died in the temblor.