Sputnik's weekly photo gallery presents a compilation of pictures to show the highlights of the past week, where you can get a glimpse of what has been happening across the world during this truly unusual period.
They range from a massive explosion in Beirut, Lebanon to wildfires in La Couronne, near Marseille, France, and from protests against government restrictions amid the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak in Berlin to cosplayers wearing face masks posing for a picture at the China Digital Entertainment Expo and Conference (ChinaJoy) in Shanghai.
1 / 24
An opponent of obligatory mask-wearing holds her dog as she wears a bikini made of protective face masks, during a demonstration at Lijnbaan in Rotterdam, The Netherlands, on 5 August 2020, as the Netherlands imposed stricter mask-wearing rules amid signs that the coronavirus pandemic (COVID-19) is flaring up again across the globe, with the worldwide death toll exceeding 700,000.
© AFP 2023 / ANP / Robin van Lonkhuijsen
2 / 24
Launch of the Proton-M rocket carrier with the Express-80 and Express-103 telecommunication satellites from the Baikonur cosmodrome.
© Sputnik / Roscosmos
/ 3 / 24
People walk at Hitchin Lavender farm in Ickleford, Britain, 4 August 2020.
© REUTERS / Peter Cziborra
4 / 24
Participant during the Moscow Half Marathon - 2020.
© Sputnik / Ramil Sitdikov
/ 5 / 24
People wearing masks as a precaution against the coronavirus try to make their way through a water-logged street during heavy rain in Mumbai, India, Tuesday, 4 August 2020. India's monsoon season runs from June to September.
© AP Photo / Rajanish Kakade
7 / 24
A view shows damage at the site of the massive explosion in Beirut, Lebanon. The blast hit the capital on 4 August, killing over 150 people and injuring over 5,000 more.
© Sputnik / Valery Melnikov
/ 8 / 24
A hot air balloon pilot checks her rigging inside the canopy before a mass ascent, with 43 balloon teams taking part in a Fiesta Flypast over the city of Bristol as part of the socially distanced alternative to the Bristol International Balloon Fiesta on Monday, 3 August 2020.
© AP Photo / Ben Birchall / PA
9 / 24
People prepare to release green sea turtles on Kuta beach near Denpasar at the Indonesian resort island of Bali on 5 August 2020, after police arrested seven people on the Serangan waters for allegedly attempting to smuggle 36 green sea turtles.
© AFP 2023 / Sonny Tumbelaka
10 / 24
Baltic Fleet marines disembark from a Ka-27 PS helicopter onto the coast during military exercises.
© Sputnik / Mikhail Golenkov
/ 11 / 24
People cool off at the Menekse beach during the last day of the celebrations of the Eid-al-Adha holiday amid the ongoing coronavirus pandemic at sunset in Istanbul, Turkey, on 3 August 2020.
© AFP 2023 / Yasin Akgul
12 / 24
Vacationers on the beach in Crimea.
© Sputnik / Konstantin Mihalchevskiy
/ 13 / 24
A man uses a garden hose to drench his house before being evacuated as a wild fire burns in the background, in La Couronne, near Marseille, on 4 August 2020. Several fires were raging as of late 4 August near Marseille, with one particularly fuelled by strong winds, ravaging nearly 300 hectares of vegetation in a coastal area of Martigues, according to the authorities.
© AFP 2023 / Xavier Leoty
14 / 24
A demonstrator wearing a mask is seen during a protest against the German government's restrictions amid the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak, in Berlin, Germany, 1 August 2020.
© REUTERS / Christian Mang
15 / 24
Children help their family slaughter and cut up their sheep in Dakar on 31 July 2020, during the Muslim Eid al-Adha (Festival of Sacrifice), known as Tabaski in Western Africa.
© AFP 2023 / John Wessels
16 / 24
The Crew Dragon spacecraft after splashdown in the Atlantic Ocean off the Florida coast in the Gulf of Mexico.
© Sputnik / NASA
/ 17 / 24
People ride bicycles in front of Lujiazui financial district, following the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak, in Shanghai, China, 5 August 2020.
© REUTERS / Aly Song
18 / 24
The caretaker of Bhekhaddhari Goga Maharaj temple, Ishwar Desai, feeds stray dogs and monkeys, in Ahmedabad on 2 August 2020.
© AFP 2023 / Sam Panthaky
19 / 24
A supporter of ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) holds a model of proposed Ram Temple in Ayodhya as they celebrate the stone laying ceremony, in New Delhi, India 5 August 2020.
© REUTERS / Adnan Abidi
20 / 24
A gravedigger digs a grave during a funeral at the San Miguel Xico cemetery on 5 August 2020, amid the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic.
© AFP 2023 / Pedro Pardo
21 / 24
A woman runs with her dog during a heavy rainfall in Miami Beach, Florida on 5 August 2020, amid the coronavirus pandemic. A Flood Advisory has been issued for or a portion of Broward county due to heavy rainfall.
© AFP 2023 / Chandan Khanna
22 / 24
The moon rises behind the columns of the ancient marble Temple of Poseidon at Cape Sounion, about 70 Km (45 miles) south of Athens, Monday, 3 August 2020.
© AP Photo / Thanassis Stavrakis
23 / 24
A worker in a protective suit sprays to disinfect the Amazonas Theatre ahead of its reopening after the Amazonas state government eased isolation measures to prevent the spread of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) in Manaus, Brazil, 2 August 2020.
© REUTERS / Bruno Kelly
24 / 24
Muslim faithful buy goats at a livestock market during celebrations marking the Muslim holiday of Eid al-Adha amid the spread of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) in Nairobi, Kenya, 31 July 2020.
© REUTERS / Thomas Mukoya