An impressive solar flare is heading toward the Earth and could disrupt power grids, GPS and airplane flights. Forecasters at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's (NOAA) Space Weather Prediction Center said the sun erupted Tuesday evening and the effects should start smacking the Earth late Wednesday night, close to midnight EST. They say it is the biggest in five years and growing. (AP/NASA)

Indonesian men try to catch offerings thrown into the sea by Hindu worshipers during the ritual of Melasti on a beach in Gunung Kidul, Yogyakarta. The ritual which is performed ahead of Balinese Hindu's Day of Silence, is held to purify the universe from bad influences, bad deeds and bad thoughts. (AP)

Syrian boys sit on empty gallons as they wait in a long queue to fill gasoline near a gas station in Damascus. (AP)

Visitors react to the rotor wash of the Marine One helicopter as US President Barack Obama takes off from the South Lawn of the White House in Washington as he travels to North Carolina. (AP)

Britain's Queen Elizabeth attends a service for the Order of the British Empire, at St Paul's Cathedral in London. (Reuters)

Floodwaters inundate North Wagga, about 380km (236 miles) southwest of Sydney, Australia. (Reuters)

Buddhist devotees hold candles as they walk around a Buddha image during a ceremony at the Dhammakaya Temple in Bangkok on the occasion of Makha Bucha day, which is observed in Thailand on the full moon of the third lunar month . (AFP)

A novice monk looks at a Buddhist monk during a ceremony to pray for Tibet's exiled Buddhist spiritual leader the Dalai Lama to have a long life, in the northern hill town of Dharamsala, India. (Reuters)

A employee of Hublot Swiss watch maker with the company''s last creation -  a $5-million watch set with 1,282 diamonds - during a preview day at the Baselworld fair in Basel, Switzerland. (AFP)