The Week in Pictures: Finger-pulling contest in Germany, humanoid robots in China, Kenyan cosplayers

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Traditional finger-pulling contest in Germany, 2026 World Humanoid Robot Games in China, cosplayers in Kenya – these and more pictures from around the world feature in this week’s selection.

Staff members use extinguishers after a humanoid robot caught fire after finishing a 100m large-sized group preliminary race, following the opening ceremony of the 2026 World Humanoid Robot Games, at the National Speed Skating Oval, in Beijing, China August 22, 2026. REUTERS/Tingshu Wang TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY

AUG 22

Staff extinguishing a humanoid robot after it caught fire following a 100m large-sized group preliminary race at the 2026 World Humanoid Robot Games, held at the National Speed Skating Oval in Beijing.

PHOTO: REUTERS

TOPSHOT - Cosplayers and Japanese culture fans pose for social media content during the Otamatsuri convention in Nairobi on August 22, 2026. Enthusiasm for the cosplay world is growing in Kenya, where more than 4,000 people attended the Otamatsuri convention in the capital on August 22, 2026. The annual gathering, held since 2019, brings together fans of anime, video games and manga and culminates in a cosplay competition.The event is a parade of characters from manga series such as One Piece and Naruto, among others, whose character arcs inspire cosplayers with themes of perseverance and rebirth, they explain, while noting that their community is still often misunderstood in Kenya. (Photo by Luis TATO / AFP)

AUG 22

Cosplayers and Japanese anime fans posing for social media content during the Otamatsuri convention in Nairobi, Kenya. Enthusiasm for the cosplay world is growing in Kenya, where more than 4,000 people attended the convention.

PHOTO: AFP

TOPSHOT - An aerial view of farmers harvesting gorgon fruit at Shenyu village in Taizhou, eastern China's Jiangsu province on August 21, 2026. (Photo by CN-STR / AFP) / China OUT

AUG 21

An aerial view of farmers harvesting gorgon fruit at Shenyu village in Taizhou, in eastern China's Jiangsu province.

PHOTO: AFP

A man tries to pull his opponent over the table during the traditional German finger-pulling (Fingerhakeln) championships in Pflug, Germany, August 23, 2026. REUTERS/Angelika Warmuth TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY

AUG 23

A man trying to pull his opponent over the table during the traditional German finger-pulling, or Fingerhakeln, championships in Pflug, Germany.

PHOTO: REUTERS

An astronaut figure stands beneath a circular roof opening at the Shou - Wang Tian Gong Beijing Space Exploration Center in Beijing's Shougang Park, China, August 7, 2026. Once highly classified in remote deserts, China's space launches have increasingly been open to public viewing as the country's ambitions accelerate in a race with the United States. Plans include a crewed moon landing by 2030 followed by a crewed mission to Mars. REUTERS/Maxim Shemetov SEARCH "SHEMETOV CHINA SPACE" FOR THIS STORY. SEARCH "WIDER IMAGE" FOR ALL STORIES. TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY

AUG 20

An astronaut figure standing beneath a circular roof opening at the Shou - Wang Tian Gong Beijing Space Exploration Center in Beijing’s Shougang Park. Once highly classified and held in remote deserts, China’s space launches have increasingly been open to public viewing as the country’s ambitions accelerate in a race with the US.

PHOTO: REUTERS

A herdsman manages a group of camels ahead of the ritual in which, according to the herders, 1,530 camels are slaughtered in observance of Mawlid al-Nabi, the birthday of Prophet Mohammad, at the Islamic Centre in Mogadishu, Somalia, August 21, 2026. REUTERS/Feisal Omar TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY

AUG 21

A herdsman managing a group of camels ahead of a ritual in which 1,530 camels are slaughtered in observance of Mawlid al-Nabi, the birthday of Prophet Mohammad, at the Islamic Centre in Mogadishu, Somalia.

PHOTO: REUTERS

TOPSHOT - Relative Elizabeth Blankson poses for a photograph with the sheep blood-stained pen-shaped coffin of the late Ghanaian teacher Samuel Commey Tetteh inside his home in his native village of Akotuaku, on August 15, 2026. Fantasy coffins are a distinctive Ghanaian funerary tradition, particularly associated with the Ga people of the Greater Accra region. Known locally as abebuu adekai (proverb boxes), they are handcrafted in the shape of objects, animals or vehicles reflecting the deceaseds profession, personality or interests from a fish for a fisherman to a shoe for a footballer. Developed around Accra in the mid-20th century, the tradition has evolved into a highly skilled craft. The practice reflects a Ghanaian approach to funerals in which mourning can coexist with celebration, symbolism and a strong emphasis on remembering the life and identity of the deceased. (Photo by OLYMPIA DE MAISMONT / AFP)

AUG 20

Elizabeth Blankson posing for a photo with the late Ghanaian teacher Samuel Commey Tetteh’s sheep-blood-stained pen-shaped coffin in his home in Akotuaku village, Ghana. Fantasy coffins are a distinctive Ghanaian funerary tradition, particularly associated with the Ga people of the Greater Accra region.

PHOTO: AFP

TOPSHOT - A woman visits a hill of petunia in full bloom at Mother Farm theme park in Futtsu city, Chiba Prefecture on August 22, 2026. (Photo by Philip FONG / AFP)

AUG 22

A woman visiting a hill of petunias in full bloom at Mother Farm theme park in Futtsu city, Chiba prefecture, Japan.

PHOTO: AFP

TOPSHOT - This handout photograph taken and released on August 21, 2026 by the Cantonal Police of Graubunden (Kantonspolizei Graubunden) shows a firefighters working to extinguish a fire that broke out in a building in the small town of Thusis, eastern Switzerland. A fire that broke out overnight on August 21, 2026, in a building in the small town of Thusis, in eastern Switzerland, left eight people injured and five missing, according to local police, who were alerted shortly after midnight. (Photo by Handout / Kantonspolizei Graubünden / AFP) / RESTRICTED TO EDITORIAL USE - MANDATORY CREDIT "AFP PHOTO / Cantonal Police of Grison (Kantonspolizei Graubunden)/ HANDOUT /" - HANDOUT - NO MARKETING NO ADVERTISING CAMPAIGNS - DISTRIBUTED AS A SERVICE TO CLIENTS

AUG 21

Firefighters working to extinguish a fire that broke out in a building in Thusis, eastern Switzerland. The fire left eight people injured and five missing, the local police said.

PHOTO: AFP

TOPSHOT - A silhouetted person jumps from a rocky seaside into the Mediterranean sea on a sunny day in the French riviera city of Nice, south-eastern France, on August 22, 2026. (Photo by Valery HACHE / AFP)

AUG 22

A person jumping from a rocky seaside into the Mediterranean Sea on a sunny day in the French Riviera city of Nice, south-eastern France.

PHOTO: AFP

Produced by Desmond Foo and Jananee Yegambaram

The Week in Pictures: Finger-pulling contest in Germany, humanoid robots in China, Kenyan cosplayers

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