Seven days in photographs, February 12-18

On February 13, Egypt's Higher Military Council, which took power after President Hosni Mubarak's resignation, dissolved both houses of the country's parliament and suspended the constitution. The Council also urged opposition activists and labor leaders to end protests and return to work.

On February 13, the Egyptian daily Al-Masry Al-Youm reported that Mubarak was gravely ill and had slipped into a coma after mass protests forced him from power but Egypt's state media denied these reports.

On February 16, Russian President Dmitry Medvedev, right, arrived in Italy on a two-day official visit. Medvedev and Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi announced the start of the Year of Culture of Russia and Italy.

Dmitry Medvedev and his wife Svetlana also met with Italian President Giorgio Napolitano and his wife Clio at the Quirinal Palace in Rome.

On February 17, Dmitry and Svetlana Medvedev met with Pope Benedict XVI at the Vatican on February 17, 2011. It was the first official visit by a Russian president to the Vatican since full diplomatic relations were established.

On February 17, a Belarusian court started hearings of the case of mass protests against the presidential polls that took place in December in Minsk, the Belarusian capital.

On February 16, Finance magazine has published a list of Russia’s billionaires. Metalloinvest founder Alisher Usmanov (in the photo) was named Russia's third richest man replacing Roman Abramovich to the fifth position.

In a sensational interview with the liberal news portal Gazeta.ru, judge assistant Natalya Vasilyeva said judge Viktor Danilkin, who in December extended the jail sentences of Mikhail Khodorkovsky and Platon Lebedev until 2017, had been under constant control from the Moscow City Court during the 20-month trial.

Arsenal defeated Barcelona 2-1 due to two goals from Robin Van Persie and Andrey Arshavin (in the photo) in the first leg of the Champions League.