Feb. 8, 2015. Fireworks light the sky during the closing ceremony before the 2015 Africa Cup of Nations final soccer match between Ivory Coast and Ghana at the Bata Stadium in Bata, Equatorial Guinea.Barry Aldworth—EPA
From the Ukrainian peace plan to Brazil’s worsening drought and the disarmament of South Sudan’s child soldiers to a sex-free Valentine’s Day in Bangkok, TIME presents the best pictures of the week.
Feb. 11, 2015. Palestinians ride donkey carts during a sandstorm next to buildings destroyed during last year's 50-day war between Israel and Hamas-led militants, in Gaza City's al-Shejaiya neighborhood. Mohammed Abed—AFP/Getty ImagesFeb. 11, 2015. Syrian kids, fled with their families from attacks of ISIS, play with snow, in front of a hovel as they live in harsh conditions in cold winter time in Turkey's capital Ankara's suburbs. Gokhan Balci—Anadolu Agency/Getty ImagesFeb. 8, 2015. Fireworks light the sky during the closing ceremony before the 2015 Africa Cup of Nations final soccer match between Ivory Coast and Ghana at the Bata Stadium in Bata, Equatorial Guinea. Barry Aldworth—EPAFeb. 11, 2015. A girl reacts as she watches her friend play hopscotch on the outskirts of Islamabad, Pakistan. Zohra Bensemra—ReutersFeb. 11, 2015. A couple kisses at a park in Bangkok. Bangkok city officials are urging young Thais to forgo sex on Valentine's Day this weekend and visit temples instead, as a better way to mark the day of love. Athit Perawongmetha—ReutersFeb. 10, 2015. A Femen activist is taken away by police officers as she protests in front of the Lille courthouse in Lille, northern France, where Dominique Strauss-Kahn goes on trial for sex charges in France. The former head of the International Monetary Fund, whose career went down amid accusations of sexually assaulting a hotel maid in New York, is facing similarly charges in France for aggravated pimping and involvement in a prostitution ring operating out of luxury hotels. Michel Spingler—APFeb. 12, 2015. A bloodstain is seen on the window of a lion enclosure at the Children's Grand Park Zoo in central Seoul. A lion at the zoo mauled a keeper to death after the man entered its cage to install equipment. Park Se-yeon—News1/ReutersFeb. 6, 2015. Palestinian protesters scuffle with Israeli security forces during clashes following a demonstration in the West Bank village of Nabi Saleh, to protest against the expansion of Jewish settlements on Palestinian land. Abbas Momani—AFP/Getty ImagesFeb. 9, 2015. People walk on rubble as others try to put out a fire after what activists said were airstrikes followed by shelling by forces loyal to Syria's President Bashar al-Assad in the Douma neighborhood of Damascus. Stringer—ReutersFeb. 9, 2015. Syrian girls react as they sit at a clinic in the rebel-held area of Douma, east of the capital Damascus, following reported air strikes by regime forces. Tens of thousand residents trapped in the rebel bastion suffer from food and medical shortages, as well as deadly regime bombardment. Abd Doumany—AFP/Getty ImagesFeb. 9, 2015. A destroyed Ukrainian Army tank sits outside Uglegorsk, 3 miles southwest of Debaltseve, Ukraine. The European Union put fresh sanctions against Moscow on hold ahead of a summit to thrash out a Ukraine peace plan aimed at ending 10 months of bloodshed. Dominique Faget—AFP/Getty ImagesFeb. 11, 2015. Residents of Mangueira slum watch as a participant attends a beauty contest for transvestites and transsexuals at the entrance of the Glam Gay pre-carnival Ball, in Mangueira samba school in Rio de Janeiro. Ricardo Moraes—ReutersFeb. 11, 2015. A tea seller prepares tea for laborers in the old city area of New Delhi. India is the second largest tea producer in the world and the drink is the most popular hot beverage in the country. Bernat Armangue—APFeb.10, 2015. Child soldiers in Pibor, Jonglei State in South Sudan, surrender their weapons and uniforms in a ceremony overseen by UNICEF, the South Sudan National Disarmament, Demobilization and Reintegration Commission, and the South Sudan Democratic Army Cobra Faction. Charles Lomodong—AFP/Getty ImagesFeb. 10, 2015. A group of Ultra-orthodox Jewish men pray for their deceased relatives at the Jewish cemetery on the Mount of Olives in Jerusalem. Salih Zeki Fazlioglu—Anadolu Agency/Getty ImagesFeb. 12, 2015. Pontoons, which were previously used as a floating jetty, are seen on the cracked ground of the Atibainha dam, part of the Cantareira reservoir, during a drought in Nazare Paulista, Sao Paulo state. Brazil's worst drought in 80 years has left the Cantareira system, that provides greater Sao Paulo with most of its water, with the lowest water level on record. Paulo Whitaker—ReutersFeb. 12, 2015. Students wearing traditional hanbok dresses pose for a photo as they arrive to attend a graduation and coming-of-age ceremony at the Dongmyeong girl's high school in Seoul. Ed Jones—AFP/Getty ImagesFeb. 10, 2015. A blind person feels a copy of 'The gentleman with his hand on his chest' of El Greco with her hands at The Prado Museum in Madrid. Hoy toca el Prado (Touch The Prado) allows blind or vision-impaired visitors to explore with their hands the copies of six masterworks. The copies were created using a technique called Didu which provides texture and volume to the paintings. Pablo Blazquez Dominguez—Getty ImagesFeb. 9, 2015. A woman takes refuge as her area is under shelling attacks from pro-Russian separatist forces in Debalteve, Donbass Oblast, Ukraine.
Jonathan Alpeyrie—PolarisFeb. 8, 2015. A cake model of a women is seen through a peephole in an exhibit depicting the book and film, Fifty Shades of Grey, during the final day of the Cake International show in Manchester, northwest England. Paul Ellis—AFP/Getty ImagesFeb. 12, 2015. Assistant harbormaster Isaac Perry uses a boat to break through a fresh layer of ice covering Marion Harbor in Marion, Mass. Peter Pereira—Standard Times/APFeb. 10, 2015. Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) supporters yell as they watch the results of Delhi Assembly Elections outside the party office at Patel Nagar in Delhi. Arvind Kejriwal and his AAP party have taken victory in Delhi's state elections which will see Kejriwal return for a second time as Delhi's chief minister. Lam Yik Fei—Getty ImagesFeb. 11, 2015. The sun sets over the Geneva Lake and the Swiss and French Alps mountains above Montreux, Southwestern Switzerland. Laurent Gillieron—EPA
