The Week in Pictures: Oct. 17 - 24

A woman walks along a street during a smoggy day in Changchun, China, on Oct. 22. Choking smog all but shut down one of northeastern China's largest cities on Monday, forcing schools to suspend classes, snarling traffic and closing the airport, in the country's first major air pollution crisis of the winter.

Protesters clash with Guardia di Finanza during a protest in front of the Ministry of Finance building in downtown Rome, on Oct. 19. Scuffles broke out in Rome on Saturday as tens of thousands of people marched through Italy's capital to protest against unemployment, government cuts and big construction projects they say take money away from social services.

President Barack Obama briefly stops his speech to assist Karmel Allison, who became dizzy during his remarks about the error-plagued launch of the Affordable Care Act's online enrollment in the Rose Garden of the White House, on Oct. 21 in Washington.

Veterinarians operate on a Galapagos green turtle to extract a fishhook from its esophagus in San Salvador, El Salvador, on Oct. 18. The turtle was rescued by volunteers at La Costa del Sol beach, south of San Salvador, after spawning. The Galapagos green turtle is an endangered species.

A parked car in Huayang village, in China's Sichuan province, was left for so long that thorny vines and ivy grew up all around it. In China, abandoned cars are known colloquially as “jiangshiche,” or “zombie cars.” Residents finally said good riddance to the car on Oct. 18, which became a social media sensation since it was abandoned a year ago.

An aerial view shows vineyards near Baden-Baden, Germany, on Oct. 13. This image was provided to NBC News on Oct. 18

Emergency responders work to lift Lisa Ann Maxberry out of a deep ditch outside Owensboro, Ky., on Oct. 19. Maxberry, who was wearing a seatbelt, was taken to a hospital and is listed in good condition.

A Pakistani girl comforts her brother near her family's makeshift tent in a slum in Islamabad, Pakistan, on Oct. 21. Slums, which are built on illegal lands, have neither running water or sewage disposal.

Residents look at a fire at a gasoline and oil shop in Aleppo, Syria, on Oct. 20. The passageway separates Aleppo's rebel-controlled Bustan al-Qasr and the regime-controlled Al-Masharqa neighborhood.

An Afghan policeman keeps watch at the site of an attack in Kabul on Oct. 18. An attack involving a car bomb followed by gunfire was launched by Taliban fighters on a convoy of vehicles near an international compound in eastern Kabul on Friday evening.

A hang glider lands on Sao Conrad beach in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, on Oct. 20