Pictures of the week: Sweet splash of color

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Up with it:

Karina Chaudhary tries the load at the weightlifting competition in Nepal.

The equivalent of $30 in prize money is awarded to whoever lifts the record weight.

See all the pictures of the week on our topic page.

Photo: Narendra Shrestha/EPA

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2/28

Young fan:

Holding a US flag, this kid joins his family in honoring Martin Luther King.

The black civil rights activist was murdered in 1968.

Since then there has been Martin Luther King Day in the USA.

Photo: Brandon Bell/Getty Images

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3/28

Disco heaven:

Northern lights are a recurring phenomenon in some winter regions.

This time Aurora Borealis was photographed in Murmansk.

But you don't have to travel that far.

Only recently, very beautiful phenomena of this kind, which occur when electrons from the solar wind hit molecules in the atmosphere, were also sighted on the German Baltic Sea coast.

Photo: Pavel Lvov / SNA / IMAGO

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4 / 28

Oh holy bird:

A priest blesses a pet in the church of San Anton in Madrid.

On the Feast of St. Anthony, people across the country bring their pets to the church to be blessed to protect them from harm.

Photo:

Burak Akbulut / Anadolu Agency / Getty Images

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5/28

The long arm of research:

In Beijing, a woman is tested for the corona virus at a gas station.

Although China has largely contained the spread of Covid-19, the country is also struggling with the highly contagious omicron variant.

Most recently, almost 20 million people had to be quarantined in various major cities.

Photo: Kevin Frayer/Getty Images

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6 / 28

Phew, says the bear too

: This toy survived the flooding of the Rio das Velhas in Brazil.

According to the authorities, more than 17,000 people are affected by the floods, and at least ten died in the floods triggered by heavy rain at the beginning of the week.

Photo:

Pedro Vilela/Getty Images

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7/28

Waddling, waddling, walking:

These penguins in Harbin's Polar Park in China are equipped with backpacks - and have to walk between curious visitors.

Is that in the interests of animal welfare?

Photo:

VCG/VCG/Getty Images

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8 / 28

Vaccination journey:

In India, the journey for healthcare workers to the vaccinated person can sometimes be a long one.

Here a woman with vaccines comes out of a house where she vaccinated a girl against the coronavirus in Indian-controlled Kashmir.

Photo: Dar Yasin/AP

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9/28

Searching for a way out:

These Ukrainian soldiers emerge from a trench on the border in the east of the country in a fight against Russian-backed separatists.

Moscow has moved troops to the border on a massive scale in recent months, and the West fears an invasion of Ukraine.

Russian and Western diplomats have not yet found a solution to the conflict.

Photo: Brendan Hoffman/Getty Images

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10/28

Fighting the mud:

In the refugee camp in Idlib on the Syrian-Turkish border, the situation in the camp has deteriorated dramatically due to heavy rainfall and heavy snowfall.

The aid organization Care warned that the residents were under even greater threat than before. After more than ten years of civil war, 6.7 million people have been displaced within the country.

Photo: Muhammed Said / Anadolu Agency / Getty Images

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11/28

The white wall

: Given the amount of snow in the Turkish van, the snow plow is also struggling.

Photo:

Zafer Tayfur / Anadolu Agency / Getty Images

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12/28

Howl

that this wolf isn't real.

Here in Hunstanton, a seaside resort on the north coast of the English county of Norfolk, only one stature languishes under the full moon.

Photo: Andrew Couldridge / REUTERS

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13/28

Comeback:

In Florence, Arizona, this man dressed as "Uncle Sam" also takes part in an event with Donald Trump.

In his speech, the ex-president again hinted that he was planning revenge against Joe Biden in 2024.

Photo:

Nathan Howard/AP

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14 / 28

Endless suffering:

Emine Ismail looks out of a window in Ankara, Turkey.

The 14-year-old was burned by a bomb dropped near her during the civil war in Syria.

She has survived about 40 surgeries.

Photo: Esra Hacioglu / Anadolu Agency / Getty Images

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15/28

Packed up:

Cotton is an important branch of the economy in Afghanistan, which has been hit by a hunger crisis.

This worker sorts sacks of cotton at a factory in Kandahar.

There are 22 cotton processing factories in the city's industrial park, which produce around 400,000 tons of cotton.

Much of it is exported to neighboring Pakistan, with the rest being used as raw material for the oil, animal feed and soap industries.

These factories are the only ones still operating in Kandahar, the other factories are closed due to lack of electricity.

Photo: Stringer/EPA

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16/28

End of the flight:

In the town of Bohoniki in Poland, refugees are buried in a Muslim cemetery.

They died trying to get to the EU from Belarus.

The European Union accuses the Belarusian ruler Alexander Lukashenko of deliberately flying people from crisis areas such as Iraq or Afghanistan to Minsk in order to then smuggle them to Poland.

Photo: Omar Marques/Getty Images

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17/28

Repairs:

City officials cover the city hall in the Kazakh economic metropolis of Almaty to clean up the damage caused by the fire.

During the anti-government protests, this building also caught fire.

President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev had called for help from the Russian-dominated military alliance because of the riots.

The soldiers have since withdrawn.

Photo: Sergei Grits/AP

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18/28

Sweet splash of color:

This Afghan boy pulls pink candy floss through Kabul.

It is possible that he is bracing himself against what is otherwise threatening his country economically – since the militant Islamist Taliban took power, Afghanistan has been doing worse and worse.

Photo: Mohd Rasfan / AFP

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19/28

Proboscis poison:

Wild elephants forage for food at a landfill site in the village of Pallakkadu, about 210 kilometers east of Sri Lanka's capital Colombo.

Conservationists and veterinarians warn that plastic waste is killing elephants in the region.

Two animals were found dead over the weekend.

About 20 elephants have died in the past eight years after eating plastic waste at the landfill.

Photo: Achala Pussalla/AP

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20/28

Noodles for a long life:

In Surabaya, a factory worker packs dried noodles.

The pasta, also known as »misoa«, is traditionally served at Chinese New Year celebrations in Indonesia.

It symbolizes the desire for longevity.

Photo: Robertus Pudyanto/Getty Images

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21/28

Farewell:

In the European Parliament, the members of the European Parliament remembered the unexpectedly deceased President of Parliament David Sassoli from Italy.

Roberta Metsola from Malta was elected as his successor.

Photo: Elyxandro Cegarra / PanoramiC / IMAGO

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22/28

Prada parade:

The Italian fashion company Prada presents its autumn/winter collection for the 2022/2023 season with a line-up of stars.

US actors Kyle MacLachlan and Jeff Goldbloom, British actors Louis Partridge and Thomas Brodie-Sangster as well as models are sent down the catwalk in Milan.

Photo: Miguel Medina / AFP

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23 / 28

Open-air cut:

A hairdresser in Wuhan set up her salon right on the Yangtze River.

On this foggy day, she cuts her client's hair in a bright pink protective cape.

Two years after the city imposed strict lockdowns to stem the spread of the coronavirus, life has returned to normal for many of the city's residents.

China celebrates the Spring Festival, which begins on February 1 with the Lunar New Year and heralds the Year of the Tiger.

Photo: Getty Images

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24/28

Baptism of fire:

On the feast of Saint Anthony, this rider even sends his horse through the fire in San Bartolome de Pinares.

The day of remembrance is celebrated in Spain with lots of animals, after all the saint is considered the patron saint of domestic animals.

The smoke from the campfires used in the »Luminarias« tradition, which has been going on for 500 years, is supposed to cleanse and protect the animals.

Photo:

Manu Fernández / AP

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25/28

Men in black

: These ultra-Orthodox Jews celebrate the festival of Tu biShevat in Israel.

At the "Festival of Trees" it is traditional to eat many different fruits, which the rabbi apparently has to do here under the rapt gaze of his faithful.

Photo:

Ariel Shalit / AP

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26/28

Swinging:

After the theater around Novak Djoković, tennis will finally be played at the Australian Open this week.

For Emma Raducanu, the winner of the US Open, the guest performance in Melbourne is already over.

Even the full force of the hit didn't save her from being eliminated early in the second round.

Photo: Clive Brunskill/Getty Images

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27/28

Shelter with Christmas greenery:

Two Moroccans have set up a makeshift shelter in downtown Barcelona.

A still decorated Christmas tree offers some protection.

Photo: Emilio Morenatti/AP

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Snow cat

: This animal seems to be unaffected by the violent winter storm in Mississauga, Ontario, Canada.

See all the pictures of the week on our topic page.

Photo:

Nathan Denette/AP