Week in pictures: 13 - 19 March 2021 - BBC News

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A large tiger is sedated as people perform dental surgery on it
SEBASTIEN BOZON / AFP

Baikal, a 14-year-old Siberian tiger, has dental surgery to cure an infection, at the Mulhouse Zoological and Botanical Park, France.

A cyclist passes a temple whilst surrounded by a thick sandstorm
STEPHEN SHAVER / SHUTTERSTOCK

A cyclist navigates a thick sandstorm in Beijing. The Chinese capital's weather bureau called it the worst sandstorm in a decade, with air pollution levels in some districts reaching 160 times the recommended limit. Beijing faces regular sandstorms in March and April, due to its proximity to the Gobi desert.

Students dressed as astronauts
LAURENT GILLIERON / EPA

Students in Lausanne, Switzerland, take part in a lesson to simulate life in a space base on the planet Mars.

Pigeons are seen against a landscape of war-torn buildings
DELIL SOULEIMAN / AFP

Pigeons owned by Abdulhamid Hana, a 50-year-old Syrian pigeon-keeper, are pictured on his roof in the city of Raqa.

People lay flowers around a circle of candles on a street
AFP

People lay flowers and candles at a site in Yangon, Myanmar, where protesters died during demonstrations against the recent military coup. Activists say 38 protesters were killed on Monday, in one of the bloodiest days since the coup.

A man holds basket of salt whilst standing in a large pink lake
MARCO LONGARI / AFP

Toure, a Gambian salt harvester, holds a basket filled with salt collected from the crust of the bottom of Lake Retba (Pink Lake) in Senegal. The lake owes its name to the pink waters caused by the Dunaliella salina algae, and is known for its high salt content.

People walk through a large colourful art installation
PHILIP FONG / AFP

People walk inside an interactive art installation called Ephemeral Solidified Light, during a preview of the teamLab Reconnect exhibition - which combines art and sauna - in the Roppongi district of Tokyo.

Children play with elephants in a river
CHALINEE THIRASUPA / REUTERS

Young elephant riders, known as mahouts, play with elephants in the Chao Phraya river after the celebration of Thailand's National Elephant Day, in the city of Ayutthaya.

A person fits artificial skin on to the head of a robot
YURI MALTSEV / REUTERS

An employee attaches "skin" to the head of a humanoid robot developed by Promobot, a service robotics manufacturer, in Vladivostok, Russia.

A person looks at a colourful sculpture in a woodland
DANNY LAWSON / PA MEDIA

An art installation called Colour Forms, by artists Lenny and Whale, has been unveiled in Wentworth Castle Gardens in Barnsley, South Yorkshire. The sculpture is inspired by Lady Mary Wortley Montagu, a vaccination pioneer, who brought the concept of the smallpox inoculation to England from Turkey in 1721.