With the world’s attention focused on the Olympic Games in Brazil, a decidedly different type of competition was held in a small corner of New England, as farmers took to the field for the second annual Farmer Olympics in Vershire, Vt.

In the troubled fringes of the northern Mexican city of Monterrey, an aspiring priest is using his faith to reach out to young gang members and at-risk youth, and bring them into his “Gang of Christ.” Less than 200 kilometers from the United States border, Monterrey is a wealthy city of corporate trailblazers.

The Rio Olympic Games officially got underway Friday night with Opening Ceremonies at the Maracana Stadium in Rio de Janeiro. The Games are being held for the first time in South America, and more than 11,000 athletes from over 200 countries will be competing.

In Newfoundland, where tens of thousands of people lost their jobs after the Canadian government banned the fishing of cod in 1992, there’s something new in the salty air of many of the island’s old, neglected fishing towns.

Before Rio de Janeiro hosts South America’s first Olympics, city residents expressed mixed feelings about the cost and security of the Games, while holding out hope they will bring joy to a nation facing economic and political crises. The conflicted thoughts mirror a recent survey by the Datafolha polling group showing that half of Brazilians were opposed to holding the Games, while 63 percent think the costs of hosting the event will outweigh benefits.

Here’s a look at some of the best images taken by Globe photographers last month, including the July Fourth celebration, dealing with summer heat, a tragic drowning at Carson Beach, and the start of Patriots traing camp.

Each year, for a few weeks in summer, a loose confederation of like-minded souls called the Rainbow Family of Living Light quietly converts a site in a public forest somewhere in the United States into a communal living space for thousands.

In a historic moment, Hillary Clinton was nominated as the first female presidential candidate from a major political party at the Democratic National Convention in Philadelphia this week.

Reuters photographer Goran Tomasevic covers Libyan forces battling with Islamic State fighters in Sirte, Libya.

Scenes from the four day Republican National Convention in Cleveland, Ohio. An estimated 50,000 people gathered for the convention, including hundreds of protesters and members of the media. Donald Trump officially accepted the Republican presidential nomination Thursday night.

Methadone Mile is a stretch of Massachusetts Avenue where methadone clinics brush up against an open-air drug market. This is where people come to get high and sober. Recovery, relapse, danger, grief, and hope all fill people’s daily lives. This year, Boston Globe photographer Keith Bedford and two Globe reporters spent time on Methadone Mile, gaining people’s trust and telling their stories. In Sunday’s Globe, learn more about who they met.

At least 84 are dead and hundreds are wounded after a man drove a large truck into the crowd on the famous Promenade des Anglais celebrating Bastille Day in Nice, France. All around the world, people are expressing sadness and solidarity with France over the deadly attack.

The Tour de France 103rd edition is underway, running from July 2-24. The race covers over two thousand miles by bicycle over 21 stages. Chris Froome is back to defend his 2015 title as they all compete to wear the yellow jersey at the finish in Paris.

Earlier this year in Greece, the Olympic Flame began its ceremonial journey by torch to the site of the Summer Games in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. The games opening ceremonies take place at Maracana Stadium on Aug. 5.

They cannot see but they can hear and play music to make themselves and the audience happy. The Thai Blind Orchestra is Thailand’s first orchestra made up of young musicians who are blind, visually impaired and or multiple disabled.

Here’s a look at some of the best images taken by Globe photographers last month, including Pride Week, graduations, the annual Dorchester Day Parade, and summer baseball.

More than 40 people were killed and many more injured when multiple bombs where detonated at Istanbul’s Ataturk International Airport by three attackers this week in Turkey.

West Virginians are cleaning up this week after extreme rains caused devastating flooding in parts of the state. The disaster has claimed at least 23 lives and destroyed over a thousand homes.

Much of the Complexo da Mare, a teeming neighborhood of 140,000 people near Rio’s international airport, is controlled by drug gangs despite efforts in recent years to break their grip on the city’s poor districts ahead of August’s Olympic Games. For many young residents the Luta Pela Paz (Fight For Peace) academy that has over 1,000 students offers a glimpse of an alternative: a chance to build discipline and self-esteem through boxing and martial arts.

The second International Day of Yoga was held today. Yoga is an ancient physical, mental and spiritual practice that originated in India according to the United Nations.

 

Mourners from around the world are grieving the victims of the Orlando nightclub shooting. President Obama on Monday called the act ‘‘homegrown extremism’’ committed by Omar Mateen who referred to the Boston Marathon attackers as his “homeboys” in one of the 911 calls he made during the attack.

It’s that time of year when accomplishments are celebrated and summer vacations start. Milestones are reached: one moves on to the next grade or graduates on to the next step in life.

World Oceans Day is an annual observation of the earth’s oceans first recognized by the United Nations in 2008. It was created to honor the oceans and sea life globally and raise awareness to help protect this crucial part of our planet.

Muhammad Ali, the magnificent heavyweight champion whose fast fists and irrepressible personality transcended sports and captivated the world, died according to a statement released Friday by his family May 3. He was 74.

Here’s a look at some of the best images taken by Globe photographers last month, including Memorial Day, a police officer’s funeral, World Turtle Day, and the graduation season.

There’s no masking the facts, one Chinese factory is expecting Donald Trump to beat his likely US presidential rival Hilary Clinton in the popularity stakes. At the Jinhua Partytime Latex Art and Crafts Factory, a Halloween and party supply business that produces thousands of rubber and plastic masks of everyone from Osama Bin Laden to Spiderman, masks of Donald Trump and Democratic frontrunner Hillary Clinton faces are being churned out.

President Barack Obama visited Hiroshima today and paid respect to the 140,000 lives killed by the atomic bomb dropped on the city in 1945. He became the first sitting US president to do so. He called for a world without nuclear weapons but did not apologize for the attack.

Indonesian rescuers are searching for survivors in ash-covered villages after Mount Sinabung erupted violently this week. At least seven people died and thousands of residents were forced to evacuate their homes.

Once, the church on High Street pulsated with activity: parents and children, dinners and dances. But as the decades passed, the Congregational Church of West Medford began to wither, its very survival in question. That is when desperation gave birth to possibility, and the congregation voted to sell the old church, move into a storefront -- and see if salvation could be found in a place called Sanctuary.

 

In a corner of Shanghai, surrounded by a cement wall, lies one of the world’s most valuable fields of debris and garbage. On paper, the Guangfuli neighborhood is a real estate investor’s dream: a plot in the middle of one of the world’s most expensive and fast-rising property markets. But the reality is more like a developer’s nightmare, thanks to hundreds of people living there who have refused to budge from their ramshackle homes for nearly 16 years as the local authority sought to clear the land for new construction.

Photographers around the world have been documenting birds during this busy time of year migrating, building, defending and hatching. Our feathered friends are also in the news this month, with International Migratory Bird Day on May 14, and a movie based on a popular bird game, Angry Birds, opening next week.

The Invictus Games, created by Britain’s Prince Harry, are underway in Orlando. The games allow wounded, sick, or injured armed services members from around the world to compete in Paralympic-style games.

Leicester City, champion of England for the first time in its 132-year history, hoisted the Premier League champions trophy this past weekend as the team celebrated its improbable season.

A swing set with the swings burned away sits in a residential neighborhood destroyed by a wildfire on May 6 in Fort McMurray, Alberta, Canada.

Cambridge, MA - 4/4/2016 - A woman passes a window covered with snow in Cambridge, MA April 4, 2016. Jessica Rinaldi/Globe Staff Topic: Reporter:

 

A look at moments captured by photographers around the world in the month of April.

 

 

 

04/18/2016 -Boston, MA- Preparation at the finish line of the 120th Boston Marathon in Boston, MA on April 18, 2016. More than 30,000 participants registered for the 2016 Boston Marathon, the third largest field in the race history. (Craig F. Walker/Globe Staff) section: Sports reporter:

Syrians returned to the destroyed city of Palmyra this week after being forced to flee almost a year ago during intense fighting. With the city now free of Islamic State fighters, the government allowed time for residents to salvage their belongings. The demolished UNESCO-listed ancient ruins are unaccessible to the public as the Russian military teams clear the site of hundreds of mines left by the militants.

What happens to the environment when humans disappear? Thirty years after the Chernobyl nuclear disaster, Reuters photographer Vasily Fedosenko documented booming populations of wolf, elk and other wildlife in the vast contaminated zone in Belarus and Ukraine.

The Qingming Festival, also know as Tomb Sweeping Day, was held earlier this week marked by people visiting cemeteries to clean tombs, lay flowers, and make offerings to the deceased.

Ioulia Chtchetinina and Noah Scherer from Switzerland perform during the Pairs Short Program on April 1.

Here’s a look at some of the best images taken by Globe photographers last month, including the anime convention in Boston, Celtics basketball, a citywide youth spelling bee, and the St. Patrick’s Day Parade in South Boston.

With two last place finishes in a row, maybe it’s time to look at the Boston Red Sox in a different light. The Globe’s Stan Grossfeld traveled to spring training at JetBlue Park at Fenway South in Florida to do just that. In his images from an infrared converted camera, players’ uniform numbers and names seemingly disappear, giving a fresh slate to the upcoming season.

Affafa, who lost her parents and a sister in the bombing and another sister and brother were badly injured, sits in a room in Lahore, Pakistan, March 28.