The week in pictures

February 20 —  Dancers perform at the Bird’s Nest Stadium during the closing ceremony of the Beijing Olympic Games on Sunday. The ceremony, attended by Chinese President Xi Jinping, was capped by a 90-second fireworks display that spelt out “one world, one family”.

February 20 — Performing “Mummers” from a Kukeri group line-up at the start of the second day of the annual celebrations of the Masquerade Kukeri Games  in Chargan, Bulgaria.

February 20 — A worker removes dead anchovies washed up on the shores of the Coliumo beach near Concepcion, Chile. Environmental officials were analysing the water quality to establish what killed the fish. 

February 21 — People who were evacuated from separatist-controlled regions in Ukraine board a train before leaving Taganrog in Rostlov, Russia on Monday. Ukraine denied allegations that it had sent “saboteurs” and armed personnel carriers into the region earlier in the day.

February 21 — A woman carries a water jar after collecting water from a communal water tap in the afternoon at an informal settlement in Dhaka, Bangladesh.

February 21 — Officials try to clear the debris from a crashed fighter jet in Tabriz, Iran. The jet crashed into a school compound in the northwestern city, killing two crew and a passer-by, authorities said.  

February 21 — Firefighters work to extinguish a fire in an apartment block with about 50 apartments, which broke out in Essen, Germany.

February 21 — Women react after Colombia’s Constitutional Court voted to decriminalise abortion until 24 weeks of gestation, in Bogota, Colombia.

February 23 — Truckers and their supporters gather before a convoy leaves for Washington to protest against Covid-19 vaccine mandates, in Adelanto, California, the US.

February 24 — People display a banner during a protest near the Russian embassy, after Russian President Vladimir Putin launched a military operation in eastern Ukraine, in Rome, Italy.

February 24 — A person holding a cat sits next to a bus window, as people go to western parts of the country to escape Russian President Vladimir Putin’s military operation in eastern Ukraine, in Kyiv, Ukraine.

February 24 — Men wearing protective face masks read a special edition of the Yomiuri Shimbun newspaper reporting Russia launched an invasion of Ukraine, in Tokyo, Japan.