The Week In Pictures: Feb. 22 - March 1 2018, NBC News

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A woman makes her way through falling snow in Balloch, Scotland, on March 1, 2018. An extreme cold snap swept across Europe, claiming lives and forcing the closure of airports in Scotland, Switzerland, France and Ireland and left hundreds of drivers stranded on snowy highways.

— Jeff J Mitchell / Getty Images




North Korean members of the joint inter-Korean women's ice hockey team bid a tearful farewell to their South Korean companions as they leave the Olympic Village in Gangneung, a sub-host city of the PyeongChang Olympics in South Korea on Feb. 26.

— YONHAP / EPA




Great tits flutter in the snow near Pomaz, Hungary, on Feb. 27.

— Attila Kovacs / EPA




A Christian worshipper holds a wooden cross during a protest outside the closed doors of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in the Old City of Jerusalem on Feb. 27. Christian leaders said Tuesday they would reopen the famed church after Israeli officials suspended a plan to impose taxes on church properties in the holy city.

— Atef Safadi / EPA




Karen Pence, Vice President Mike Pence, first lady Melania Trump and President Donald Trump attend a ceremony at the U.S. Capitol honoring Billy Graham on Feb. 28. Graham died at age 99 on Feb.22.

The nation's political leaders bowed their heads for a solemn salute to Graham, paying tribute to a man who ministered to presidents and other Americans of both parties.

— Shawn Thew / Pool via Getty Images




Visitors pay their respects as the casket of Billy Graham lies in honor in the rotunda of the U.S. Capitol on Feb. 28. The pastor transformed American religious life through his preaching and activism, becoming a counselor to a dozen presidents and the most widely heard Christian evangelist in history.

— Jacquelyn Martin / AP




A parishioner holds her AR-15 rifle during a blessing ceremony where couples were encouraged to bring the weapons to exchange or renew wedding vows at the World Peace and Unification Sanctuary in Newfoundland, Pennsylvania, on Feb. 28.

With state police and a smattering of protesters standing watch outside the church, the couples brought dozens of unloaded AR-15s for a religious event that doubled as an advertisement for the Second Amendment.

— Jim Lo Scalzo / EPA




People walk on the Pilat sand dune after snowfall in La Teste-de-Buch, France, on Feb. 28.

— Nicolas Tucat / AFP - Getty Images




The Soyuz MS-06 spacecraft carrying NASA astronauts Joe Acaba and Mark Vande Hei and cosmonaut Alexander Misurkin descends beneath a parachute near the town of Zhezkazgan, Kazakhstan on Feb. 28.

Month in Space Pictures: Cosmic Penguin and Playing Mars

— Bill Ingalls / NASA




Revelers wearing motorcycle helmets get sprayed by firecrackers during the Beehive Firecracker festival in Tainan, Taiwan, on March 1.

— Tyrone Siu / Reuters

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The Pyramids of Giza rise on the outskirts of Cairo on Feb. 28.

— Khaled Desouki / AFP - Getty Images




Journalists watch as Russian President Vladimir Putin gives his annual state of the nation address in Moscow on March 1, where he boasted of a new generation of Russian weapons.

The new array of nuclear-capable weapons includes an intercontinental ballistic missile that renders defense systems "useless," Putin announced. The ICBM has a longer range than any other and can reach almost any target in the world.

The marathon speech came 17 days before a presidential election in which he is seeking an unprecedented fourth term in power.

— Alexander Zemlianichenko / AP




Chinese folk artists perform during a parade celebrating the upcoming Lantern Festival in Zhangjiakou city, Hebei province, China, on March 1. The festival marks the end of the lunar new year celebrations.

— Roman Pilipey / EPA




Artists perform in the closing ceremony of the Winter Olympics in PyeongChang, South Korea, on Feb. 25. U.S. athletes returned home with 23 medals — nine of them gold — after a night of celebrations alongside the world's finest athletes.

— Christian Hartmann / Reuters




An Indian widow dances covered in colored powder during Holi festival celebrations in Vrindavan, India, on Feb. 27. Holi, the popular Hindu spring festival of colors is held at the end of the winter season on the last full moon of the lunar month.

— Noemi Cassanelli / AFP - Getty Images




Drones model bags at the Dolce & Gabbana Autumn/Winter 2018 women's collection presentation during fashion week in Milan on Feb. 25.

— Alessandro Garofalo / Reuters




President Donald Trump's longtime aide Hope Hicks leaves the U.S. Capitol after a nine-hour, closed-door interview with the House intelligence committee on Feb. 27 in Washington.

Hope Hicks abruptly announced her resignation as White House communications director Wednesday, leaving a void around a president who values loyalty and affirmation.

— Leah Millis / Reuters




A farmer works at a tobacco plantation in San Juan y Martinez, Cuba, on Feb. 24.

— Yamil Lage / AFP - Getty Images




Children receive treatment for symptoms consistent with exposure to chlorine gas in al-Shayfouniya in Syria's rebel-held eastern Ghouta region on Feb. 25, where activists reported a suspected poison gas attack.

More than 500 people have been killed since last week in a fierce government offensive targeting the last major rebel stronghold near Damascus.

— Mohammed Badra / EPA




Smoke billows following an airstrike on the besieged eastern Ghouta region on the outskirts of Syria's capital on Feb. 23.

— Ammar Suleiman / AFP - Getty Images

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Omar, 10, receives treatment at a makeshift hospital after he was injured in an airstrike on his home in Otaybah, killing several members of his family, in Syria's rebel-held enclave of eastern Ghouta, on Feb. 25.

— Amer Almohibany / AFP - Getty Images




Students and staff leave Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School on Feb. 28 after their first day of classes since 17 students and teachers were killed in Parkland, Florida. Classes were shortened and it was a half-day.

— Rhona Wise / AFP - Getty Images




President Donald Trump smooths his hair as he makes a joke during his address to the Conservative Political Action Conference on Feb. 23, in Oxon Hill, Maryland.

"I try like hell to hide that bald spot, folks," Trump said.

The CPAC crowd cheered as Trump glanced at a monitor and added, "Doesn't look bad. Hey, we're hanging in."

— Evan Vucci / AP




Snow covers the deck of the Royal Fleet Auxiliary Tidespring during bad weather outside of Plymouth, Britain, on Feb. 28.

— Matt Bromage / MOD via Reuters




Alpacas nuzzle at the zoo in Frankfurt, Germany, on Feb. 23.

— Fabian Sommer / dpa via AFP - Getty Images