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Week in pictures: 7 - 13 August 2021

A selection of powerful news photographs taken around the world this week.

Angelos Tzortzinis / AFP A local resident gestures as he holds an empty water hose during an attempt to extinguish forest fires approaching the village of Pefki on Evia island, Greece, on 8 August 2021Angelos Tzortzinis / AFP
A local resident holds an empty water hose during an attempt to extinguish forest fires outside the village of Pefki on Evia, Greece's second largest island. Greece and neighbouring Turkey have been battling devastating blazes, as the region suffers its worst heatwave in decades.
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Dan Mullan / Getty Images US athlete Kara Winger poses with team-mates during the closing ceremony of the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games at Olympic Stadium on 8 August 2021 in Tokyo, JapanDan Mullan / Getty Images
US athlete Kara Winger poses with team-mates during the closing ceremony of the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games. The US topped the medal table for the sixth time in the past seven Olympic Games, with a total of 113 medals, including 39 golds.
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Hollie Adams / PA Media London's Tower Bridge is seen stuck open because of a technical fault, on 9 August 2021Hollie Adams / PA Media
London's Tower Bridge is seen stuck open, where it remained for nearly 12 hours because of a technical fault.
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Kathleen Flynn / Reuters A woman is treated for Covid-19 at the Ochsner Medical Center in Jefferson Parish, Louisiana, US, on 10 August 2021Kathleen Flynn / Reuters
A woman is treated for Covid-19 at the Ochsner Medical Center in Jefferson Parish, Louisiana, US.
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Wang Zhengpeng / VCG via Getty Images An aerial view of a herd of wild Asian elephants strolling through a village at Ning'er Hani and Yi Autonomous County in Pu'er, Yunnan Province of China, 7 August 2021Wang Zhengpeng / VCG via Getty Images
Wild Asian elephants stroll through a village at Ning'er Hani and Yi Autonomous County in Pu'er, Yunnan Province of China. More than 150,000 people were evacuated from the path of the herd, which has trekked more than 500km (310 miles) since leaving a nature reserve 17 months ago.
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Mehmet Akif Parlak/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images A woman arranges peppers drying in the sun, after a harvest in Gaziantep, Turkey, on 10 August 2021Mehmet Akif Parlak/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images
A woman arranges peppers drying in the sun, after a harvest in Gaziantep, Turkey.
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Omar Haj Kadour / AFP Young athletes gather for their own version of the Olympic Games at a camp for displaced Syrians, in the north-western town of Fuaa, on 7 August 2021Omar Haj Kadour / AFP
Young athletes gather for their own version of the Olympic Games at a camp for displaced Syrians, in the north-western town of Fuaa.
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Paula Bronstein / Getty Images Farzia, 28, who lost her husband in Baghlan one week ago to fighting by the Taliban sits with her children, Subhan, 5, and Ismael ,2, in a tent at a makeshift camp in Kabul, Afghanistan, on 12 August 2021Paula Bronstein / Getty Images
A mother sits with her children at a makeshift camp in Kabul, Afghanistan. Thousands of people have fled their homes to seek safety in the capital, as Taliban militants continue to make rapid advances in the country.
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Ben Birchall / PA Media A pilot checks the rigging inside a hot-air balloon canopy as they prepare to take off from Queen Square in Bristol during Fiesta Fortnight as part of the Bristol International Balloon Fiesta, on 11 August 2021Ben Birchall / PA Media
A pilot checks the rigging inside a hot-air balloon canopy as they prepare to take off during Bristol International Balloon Fiesta, in south-west England.
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Charlotte Graham / Shutterstock Members of the Bradford Grammar School rowing team celebrate their GCSE results, on 12 August 2021Charlotte Graham / Shutterstock
Students from Bradford Grammar School celebrate their GCSE results, as disruption to UK exams continued for a second year because of the pandemic.

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