The world in photos: Aug 18-24

A man grabs a flag as he slips off the "gostra", a pole covered in grease, during the week-long celebrations for the religious feast of St Julian, patron of the town of St Julian's, outside Valletta on August 24, 2014. In the traditional "gostra", a game stretching back to the Middle Ages, young men, women and children have to make their way to the top of a pole and try to uproot one of the flags to win prizes. From May to September in Malta, there is hardly any weekend when a town or a village is not celebrating the feast of its patron saint or other saints revered in different churches. [Photo/Agencies]