The Observer's 20 photographs of the week

A rebel fighter carrying a rocket-propelled grenade moves across open ground under heavy tank fire by Syrian government forces in Aleppo. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported that more than 305 people were killed across Syria on 26 September, making it the bloodiest single day of the 18-month revolt Photograph: Zac Baillie/AFP

An Indian woman walks out of her home as two labourers sleep on her front steps in New Delhi, India. Thousands of migrant labourers, known in the city as 'pavement dwellers', sleep on the streets of the Indian capital every night Photograph: Kevin Frayer/AP

A French soldier stands on a rooftop of an Afghan National Police combat post. Beds are used by the police officers to sleep outside because of the heat Photograph: Jeff Pachoud/AFP

A riot police officer reacts after he was hit by a petrol bomb thrown by protesters during a nationwide general strike in Athens. Nearly 34,000 people marched in Athens and another 18,000 in Thessaloniki in the first general strike to be held since the new government took office in June Photograph: Petros Giannakouris/AP

A model wears a creation by Junya Watanabe during the spring/summer 2013 ready-to-wear show in Paris Photograph: Patrick Kovarik/AFP

Workers stand on one of the spheres of Brussels's Atomium. The cleaning of the Atomium, which was designed for the 1958 International Exhibition of Brussels, will continue for a full month Photograph: Yves Herman/Reuters

A whale shark swims in the Pacific Ocean near the Galapagos Islands. The Galapagos National Park, the Charles Darwin Foundation and the University of California tag the whale sharks in order to understand their migration patterns Photograph: Reuters

Air Force One flies over suburban Long Island as the US president, Barack Obama, arrives in New York for the United Nations general assembly Photograph: Jason Reed/Reuters

Bulgarian Roma women react in despair as an excavator flattens their house in Maglizh. Municipal authorities were demolishing some 30 illegally built shacks and houses Photograph: Stoyan Nenov/Reuters

In New Delhi, an Indian girl looks out of her family's flat where a staircase used to be. The apartment is one of many in the area in which residents were forced to demolish outer walls to meet new building regulations imposed by the civic administration Photograph: Kevin Frayer/AP

Fishermen approach the Belo Monte hydroelectric dam construction site in a protest against its development and its impact on their livelihoods along the Xingu river near Altamira, Brazil Photograph: Reuters

In Nanjie, China, a girl stands next to a portrait of the late Chairman Mao Zedong at a souvenir shop. Nanjie is claimed to be one of the remaining models of communist China, where the principles of morality and collectivism of Mao still strictly guide the people's daily lives Photograph: Jason Lee/Reuters

In Srinagar, Indian police women beat female Kashmiri nursing students with batons during their arrest at a protest against their exam results, which most of the students failed Photograph: Tauseef Mustafa/AFP

South Korean special army soldiers demonstrate their martial arts skills during the 64th anniversary of Armed Forces Day at the Gyeryong military headquarters Photograph: Lee Jin-Man/AP

Riot police arrest a student protester demanding changes to state education in Santiago. Chilean students have been protesting against what they say is profiteering in the state education system Photograph: Ivan Alvarado/Reuters

In Jerusalem's Mea Shearim neighbourhood, ultra-orthodox Jewish men check etrogs, a lemon-like citrus fruit, for blemishes to determine if they are ritually acceptable. According to the Bible, during the Sukkot holiday, known as the Feast of the Tabernacles, Jews are commanded to bind together a palm frond, or 'lulav', with two other branches, along with an etrog Photograph: Bernat Armangue/AP

Pakistani students of a madrassa, or Islamic school, attend a test on reciting verses of the holy Qur'an in a mosque in Islamabad Photograph: Muhammed Muheisen/AP

Carri, on the set of Skins, 2008, by Ewen Spencer. His exhibition England's Dreaming opens at White Cloth Gallery, Leeds, in October Photograph: Ewen Spencer

A male polar bear climbs precariously on the face of a cliff above the ocean at Ostrova Oranskie in northern Novaya Zemlya, attempting to feed on seabird eggs. This photograph won the first prize in the nature singles category of the World Press Photo Awards 2012. The World Press Photo exhibition opens at the Southbank Centre, London, in November Photograph: Jenny E Ross/AP

Jasmine, Hannah and Cecilia Swimming, Tennessee, 2008, by Lucas Foglia. His exhibition A Natural Order opens at the Michael Hoppen Contemporary Gallery, London, in November Photograph: Lucas Foglia