Horrors of war-ravaged Syria exposed, #DeBolt and true Olympic spirit on display in Rio: The week in pictures

Brotherly love between Andre De Grasse and Usain Bolt. 

The 200-metre final at the 2016 Rio Olympics on Thursday went as scripted, with Usain Bolt capturing his third straight gold. Canadian Andre De Grasse comfortably took silver with a time of 20.02. But it was an exchange between the two sprinters during the semifinal on Wednesday that blew up on Twitter, sparking the hashtag #DeBolt.

In that race, De Grasse gained ground on Bolt in the final metres, but the Jamaican simply smiled and wagged his finger at the 21-year-old as he crossed the finish line first. “He was supposed to slow down,” Bolt commented on De Grasse’s charge at the end. “I said, ‘What are you doing? It’s a semifinal.’ But I think he wanted to push me.”

(Olivier Morin/AFP/Getty Images)

Haunting image circulates of 5-year-old Syrian boy rescued from rubble.

Syrian opposition activists released footage showing a young boy rescued in the aftermath of a devastating airstrike in Aleppo on Aug. 17. The stunned and weary-looking boy, sitting in an orange chair inside an ambulance, covered in dust and with a bloodied face, encapsulated the horrors inflicted on the war-ravaged city and has been widely shared on social media. A doctor in Aleppo identified the boy as five-year-old Omran Daqneesh.

(Aleppo Media Center/The Associated Press)

Meanwhile, the war in Syria rages on. On Thursday, the UN special envoy to Syria cut short a meeting aimed at de-escalating the violence, saying there was “no sense” in holding talks in light of the obstacles to delivering aid. The UN is hoping to secure a weekly 48-hour pause to the fighting in Aleppo. 

(Alaa Al-Faqir/Reuters)

New Zealand runner shows true Olympic spirit.

After colliding with the U.S.’s Abbey D’Agostino in the women’s 5,000-metre race on Tuesday, New Zealand’s Nikki Hamblin showed a touching display of sportsmanship, helping the American back to her feet. With Hamblin’s encouragement, both continued to the finish line, arriving well after the rest of the group.

(Top left, top right, bottom right: Johannes Eisele/AFP/Getty. Bottom left: Ian Walton/Getty)

Protest in India turns violent. 

Indian police used batons against members of the nationalist student organization Akhila Bharata Vidyarthy Parishat (ABVP) during a protest in Bangalore, India, on Friday. Hundreds of students of ABVP were demanding police take action against the human rights group Amnesty International for organizing an event in disputed India-controlled Kashmir.

(EPA)

Russian WW II soldiers finally laid to rest. 

A Russian soldier places small coffins containing the remains of Soviet soldiers from the Second World War at a military cemetery in Lebus, Germany, Aug. 18. The remains of 35 Red Army soldiers were recovered by the German War Graves Commission last year and can now finally be laid to rest, more than 70 years after the war’s end.

(Patrick Pleul/EPA)

Palestinian kids attend UN-sponsored summer camp.

The United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) organized a summer camp for kids and teens in Khan Yunis, Gaza. Here, a Palestinian teen performs during the camp’s closing ceremony on Aug. 17.

(Ali Jadallah/Anadolu Agency/Getty Images)

This dog’s got the life!

A dog wearing a costume and seated on a stool is carried during a procession at a local festival for the Miao ethnic minority in Guizhou province, China, on Aug.14. The men carry the dog as a form of respect, as it is believed that dogs found water for their ancestors. 

(Reuters)

Historic flooding devastates Louisiana.

More than 10 people have died and more than 40,000 homes have been damaged in some of the worst flooding to ever hit the state. Here, a casket is seen floating in floodwaters in Ascension Parish, Louisiana, on Aug. 15.

(Jonathan Bachman/Reuters)

Edinburgh’s Festival Fringe.

Entertainers and artists perform on the Royal Mile in Edinburgh on Aug.15 as part of the Edinburgh Festival Fringe, which runs Aug. 5-29. The Fringe is the largest performing arts festival in the world. This year it will host more than 3,269 shows in nearly 294 venues across the Scottish capital. 

(Jeff J Mitchell/Getty Images)

Operations continue against Islamic State in Iraq and Syria.

Peshmerga forces take cover during an operation to liberate several villages under the control of ISIS southeast of Mosul, north Iraq, Aug. 14.The liberation of the villages serves as a buffer zone to protect Kurdish held-cities from ISIS attacks and is a stepping stone to eventually recapturing the city of Mosul itself. 

(Andrea Dicenzo/EPA)

Wildfires in Portugal destroy area the size of 100,000 soccer fields.

A series of wildfires this month in Portugal has destroyed nearly 116,000 hectares of forest. The European Union’s Forest Fire Information System, which collates wildfire data, says wildfires have charred more than 217,000 hectares in the bloc in 2016. Nearly half of the scorched forest land is in Portugal.

(Nuno Andre Ferreira/EPA)