This Week in Photos, Week of May 18-24, 2012

Maikos, or apprentice geishas, observe the solar eclipse on Monday with solar viewers at a shrine in Kyoto. The sun and moon aligned over the Earth in a rare astronomical event -- an eclipse that dimmed the skies over parts of Asia and North America, briefly turning the sun into a blazing ring of fire.

A participant pulls trucks using his teeth during the Olde Time Coney Island Strongman Spectacular in New York City. The nostalgic event featured participants who displayed feats of strength including bending wrenches and lifting fire hydrants.

Jasmine Dugas blow dries a dog after it was bathed at a PetSmart PetsHotel and Doggie Day Camp in Los Angeles, where the pet supply chain promoted its new expansion to include overnight dog accommodations.

A man with a hairstyle featuring the Tokyo Skytree waits to enter the world's tallest broadcasting tower, which stands at 2,080 feet. The Tokyo Skytree opened to the public on Tuesday, and drew 200,000 visitors on the first day.

People enjoy a warm day on the banks of the Neva River in central St. Petersburg, Russia.

US President Barack Obama greets graduating seniors before he attends the 2012 Joplin High School commencement ceremony inside the Leggett & Platt Athletic Center at Missouri Southern State University.

Olympic torchbearer Katrina Doyle runs with the Olympic flame through Dunster near Minehead, England. The Olympic flame arrived in the UK last Friday and is on the first leg of a 70-day relay involving 8,000 torchbearers covering 8,000 miles.

A woman braves the rainy weather in Washington, DC, as she walks by bronze statues of men playing chess outside the federal courthouse in the nation's capital.

Queen Elizabeth II made a visit to the Chelsea Flower Show on Monday. The show is held each May by the Royal Horticultural Society on the grounds of the Royal Hospital Chelsea in West London.

Tribeswomen from Dayak Kenyah, wearing traditional costumes, perform a dance during a meeting of Kenyah tribe leaders in the Malinau district of the Indonesia's East Kalimantan province. The meeting discussed the preservation of Kenyah culture.

Nayan, a 2-year-old Asian elephant, is squirted with water by keepers to cool him down in his enclosure at Chester Zoo in northern England.

The pop band LMFAO pose with their awards backstage during the Billboard Music Awards at MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas. LMFAO won the Hot 100 Song of the Year and Top Duo Group on Sunday.

Divers Martin Garwood and Amanda Elzer enjoy an underwater morning tea as tourists look on at the Sydney Aquarium. The underwater tea was held to support a Cancer Council initiative to raise money for cancer research.

A man spreads rose petals, which will be used to make incense sticks, on the floor to dry in Lahore, Pakistan.

The warmer weather is getting to all of us, even this little boy who fell asleep while riding on the back of a bicycle on a street in central Beijing.