Week in pictures: 21-27 February 2015
- Published
Our selection of some of the best news photographs taken around the world this week.
At the Academy Awards, John Travolta kissed Scarlett Johansson in what the London Evening Standard dubbed as "the most awkward moment of the Oscars". The top awards went to Eddie Redmayne as best actor for his role in The Theory of Everything, while Still Alice star Julianne Moore won best actress.
Aerobatic pilots thrilled the crowds at the Australian International Airshow at the Avalon Airfield near Melbourne.
The parents of 43 Mexican students who went missing five months ago led a march in Mexico City to call for a full investigation. Prosecutors say the students were arrested by corrupt police officers after a demonstration in the town of Iguala on 26 September and were handed over to a local criminal gang, who killed them.
At the Schau der Besten agricultural show in Verden, Germany, assistants worked to pose a cow for a photograph.
More than 200 students of Nadirshaw Eduljee Dinshaw (NED) University took part in a counter-terrorism training demonstration at the Rangers Shooting & Saddle Club (RSSC) on the outskirts of Karachi in Pakistan.
Finland's Janne Ahonen soared past the judges' windows during the normal hill HS100 mixed team ski jumping event of the Nordic World Ski Championships in Falun, Sweden.
Britain's former Foreign Secretary Sir Malcolm Rifkind stood down as an MP and as chairman of Parliament's Intelligence and Security Committee after being caught up in the "cash for access" scandal. The veteran Conservative admits he made "errors of judgement" after being filmed seemingly offering a fake company access to his diplomatic contacts. But he insists he has done nothing wrong.
An emergency services marshal photographed a public transport bus that drove over the side of Queen Elizabeth bridge in Johannesburg, South Africa. There were no passengers on board and the bus driver sustained only minor injuries.
For the third winter in a row, hundreds of sick and starving California sea lions are washing up on the shore. The Marine Mammal Center is currently caring for more than 160 of the emaciated pups.
Britain's Duke of Cambridge toured Tokyo Bay with the city's governor, Yoichi Masuzoe. The last time a senior member of Britain's Royal Family visited Japan was in 2008 when the duke's father, Prince Charles, came with his wife Camilla.