Week in pictures: 14 - 20 August 2021
- Published
A selection of powerful news photographs taken around the world this week.
Hundreds of Afghans cram on board a US military cargo plane as they flee Kabul following the takeover of the country by the Taliban. US defence analysis website Defense One reported that a US official had said the crew had decided it was better to take off than force people off the plane.
A 7.2 magnitude earthquake that struck Haiti, near Les Cayes, on 14 August - combined with severe weather from tropical storm Grace - left almost 2,000 people dead, thousands more injured and tens of thousands homeless.
A fire-fighting plane drops flame retardant over a wildfire - one of the largest in Israel's history - at Givat Yearim, near Jerusalem. Around 2,000 hectares (5,000 acres) of forest, have been burned and some 2,000 residents evacuated from nearby towns and villages.
Wally the walrus, who has travelled about 2,500 miles (4,000km) along the coast of western Europe since March and has sunk several vessels after climbing aboard to rest, lounges in a speedboat off the Irish coast. Wildlife experts, who have been trying to persuade him to climb aboard a raft instead, hope he is heading back to the Arctic.
A doll being repaired at the UK's National Trust Textile Conservation Studio in Norwich will be returned to one of the two most important 18th-Century dolls' houses in the UK - at Uppark House in West Sussex - later this year.
Participants at a training day held by the Washington State Department of Agriculture pest program at Birch Bay State Park, learn how to deal with invasive Asian giant hornets - also known as "murder hornets" - which threaten native bee and wasp populations in the US.
Dhan Gurung was among a number of protesters who took part in a hunger strike aimed at securing for Gurkha veterans pension parity with other British ex-soldiers. Mr Gurung was taken to hospital on Wednesday but later discharged. The protesters ended their hunger strike on Thursday, after 13 days, when the government agreed to further talks.
Giant panda Su Shan gave birth to cubs at Wolong National Nature Reserve in Sichuan Province, China.
The sun rises behind lower Manhattan and One World Trade Center in New York City on 20 August.
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