Throughout the course of the long war in Afghanistan, Coalition troops have relied on thousands of military working dogs to help keep them safe, and make their jobs easier. The dogs are trained to detect explosives, to find illegal drugs, to search for missing comrades, or target enemy combatants. Not only are they active on the front lines, but behind the lines they serve as therapy dogs, service dogs, and loyal companions. They also share the same risks as the ground troops, suffering injuries and sometimes death on the battlefields. Gathered here are images of these dogs and their handlers in Afghanistan and back home, from over the past several years, part of the ongoing series here on Afghanistan.

Storm chasing photographer Mike Hollingshead makes a living following the worst storms in America, from snarling tornadoes chewing up the Kansas farmland to supercell thunderstorms massing over the Dakotas. His style is to get right in the path of the storm. While he says it’s less scary than you think – because most of the storm consists of heavy rain – it’s still extremely stressful. Photo: Vivid sunset under severe storm in central Nebraska August 17, 2005. (Photo by Mike Hollingshead)

What makes a watch the most valuable in the world? It’s supercomplicated – literally. In 1925 banker Henry Graves Jr. (considered the greatest watch collector of the 20th century) commissioned Patek Philippe to create a unique gold pocket watch. When Graves finally received it – eight years later – it was the most complex timepiece ever created by human hands... (Photo by Suzanne Plunkett/Reuters)

He has been a graphic designer, 3d artist, photo-retoucher as well as illustrator. One thing is for sure, Brian Despain makes one amazing fine artist. This piece started as a post-it note and then ended up this dynamic piece after much work, apparently he thought it looked too much like Plankton from Spongebob Squarepants. Brian is currently in a group show at Roq La Rue in Seattle. The print is signed and numbered in an edition of 30. There are two other prints available as well just in case you another one of them hits you better.

Talented French artist, Pierre Beteille, is skillful in manipulation of portraits (specially his own self portraits) using Photoshop. This is how he describes himself: “I am not a photographer or an artist, I just make images… I shoot very average or even bad photos that I try to improve thanks to Photoshop”…

Photo: “En attendant d'avoir des balles”...., 2007 (Photo by Pierre Beteille)

Festina lente (Latin for "make haste slowly") is a pedestrian bridge over the Miljacka River in Sarajevo. The bridge is 38 meters long and features an unusual looping in the middle, suggesting slowing down and enjoying the view. Conceptual design for the bridge was created by three students of the Academy of Fine Arts in Sarajevo: Adnan Alagic, Amila Hrustić and Bojana Kanlic. The bridge connects the Mak Dizdar embankment (close to the Academy) with Radic street. It was officially opened on 22 August 2012.

Born in Hanoi, 1979, a member of the Young Painter Association of Vietnam, Trang is an emerging young artist whose mind has been engraved with images of the city and the Northern villages. She brings these vivid memories of the villagers and their life to her paintings. She paints scenes of landscapes in thick textural impasto with bright colours of red, orange, yellow, and blue, making the genre of landscape her own. Her paintings depict her passion to showcase the radiance and freshness of the landscapes in Vietnam. For every stroke of brush reflects her burning desire to bring out a world of complications to simple living and a deep appreciation of nature’s blessing and beauty.