In pictures


Culture

From the helmet that got a Ukrainian athlete banned from the Olympics to the start of Carnival to US Attorney General Pam Bondi’s disastrous Epstein testimony, FRANCE 24 looks back at the week’s most striking images.

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Ukraine's Vladyslav Heraskevych arrives at the finish during a men's skeleton training session at the 2026 Winter Olympics, in Cortina d'Ampezzo, Italy, Tuesday, Feb. 10, 2026.
Ukraine’s Vladyslav Heraskevych arrives at the finish during a men’s skeleton training session at the 2026 Winter Olympics, in Cortina d’Ampezzo, Italy, Tuesday, Feb. 10, 2026. © Alessandra Tarantino, AP

Attorney General Pam Bondi testifies before a House Judiciary Committee oversight hearing on Capitol Hill on February 11, 2026.
Attorney General Pam Bondi testifies before a House Judiciary Committee oversight hearing on Capitol Hill on February 11, 2026. Bondi declined to address the survivors of abuse related to Jeffrey Epstein, who were asked to stand. © Tom Brenner, AP

French astronaut Sophie Adenot became only the second French woman to fly to space as one of four astronauts who docked at the International Space Station (ISS) on Saturday for a research mission, replacing a crew that was forced to return to Earth early due to a medical issue.
French astronaut Sophie Adenot became only the second French woman to fly to space as one of four astronauts who docked at the International Space Station (ISS) on Saturday for a research mission, replacing a crew that was forced to return to Earth early due to a medical issue. © Jim WATSON / AFP

Ukraine's Vladyslav Heraskevych arrives at the finish during a men's skeleton training session at the 2026 Winter Olympics in Cortina d'Ampezzo on February 10, 2026.
Ukraine’s Vladyslav Heraskevych arrives at the finish during a men’s skeleton training session at the 2026 Winter Olympics in Cortina d’Ampezzo on February 10, 2026. The International Olympic Committee disqualified Heraskevych for refusing to adhere to the IOC athlete expression guidelines after he honoured Ukrainian victims of the war with photos on his helmet. Heraskevych refused to back down, saying there are things that are “more important than medals” and plans to appeal. © Alessandra Tarantino, AP

Emergency services evacuate a resident from her home in La Réole, France in an inflatable boat.
Emergency services evacuate a resident from her home in La Réole on February 12, 2026, after Storm Nils triggered exceptional flooding along the Garonne river. Accompanied by winds exceeding 160 km/h, the storm swept across several regions of France, causing the death of a lorry driver in the Landes and leaving 850,000 homes without electricity. © Philippe Lopez, AFP

Revellers from Aguia de Ouro school perform during the Carnival parade at Anhembi Sambadrome in Sao Paulo, Brazil.
Revellers from Aguia de Ouro school perform during the Carnival parade at Anhembi Sambadrome in Sao Paulo on February 14, 2026, as the 2026 Carnival season got under way in Brazil. © Jean Carniel, Reuters

EU High Representative and Vice-President for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Kaja Kallas reacts during the last day of the Munich Security Conference.
EU High Representative and Vice-President for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Kaja Kallas reacts during the last day of the Munich Security Conference on February 15, 2026. © Liesa Johannssen, Reuters

Bad Bunny performs during halftime of the NFL Super Bowl 60 football game between the New England Patriots and the Seattle Seahawks.
Bad Bunny performs during the halftime show of the NFL Super Bowl 60 football game between the New England Patriots and the Seattle Seahawks on February 8, 2026, in Santa Clara, California. © Charlie Riedel, AP

Greenpeace activists wearing masks of US President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin protest against the Munich Security Conference
Greenpeace activists wearing masks of US President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin protest against the Munich Security Conference on February 13, 2026. © Liesa Johannssen, Reuters

The Sanguinaires Islands seen as waves crash onto shore near Ajaccio on the French Mediterranean island of Corsica.
The Sanguinaires Islands seen as waves crash onto shore near Ajaccio on the French Mediterranean island of Corsica on February 12, 2026, after winds of Storm Nils swept across France, Spain and Portugal, causing electricity outages. © Pascal Pochard-Casabianca, AFP

Revellers arrive for the start of Women's Carnival Day in Cologne, western Germany, on February 12, 2026.
Revellers arrive for the start of Women’s Carnival Day in Cologne, western Germany, on February 12, 2026. The festivities begin with “Weiberfastnacht”, a raucous street party in which women snip off men’s ties. Ina Fassbender, AFP

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