The 20 photographs of the week

A week of dramatic photojournalism began in Bangkok where violence erupted between pro- and anti-government supporters. Here, in this photograph by Nicolas Asfouri, an anti-government protester takes cover and aims his gun towards the pro-government supporters. Photograph: Nicolas Asfouri/AFP

Nicolas Asfouri also took this photograph of anti-government protesters taking cover during the gunfight in the streets of Bangkok. More images from the violent clashes by Asfouri and other photojournalists can be seen here. Photograph: Nicolas Asfouri/AFP

Participants perform during the opening ceremony of the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi. More highlights from the spectacle can be viewed here. Photograph: Phil Noble/Reuters

Officers from the Interior Ministry detain a gay rights activist protesting in Moscow's Red Square shortly before Vladimir Putin opened the Sochi Winter Olympics Photograph: Reuters

An Israeli policeman uses a baton to disperse an ultra-Orthodox Jewish protester in Jerusalem. Hundreds of ultra-Orthodox Jews in Israel blocked highways and clashed with police to demonstrate against a government decision to cut funds to seminary students who avoid military service. Photograph: Baz Ratner/Reuters

Israeli soldiers flee their vehicle after teargas canisters exploded in it near Bilin in the West Bank. They were chasing village youths amid clashes between Palestinians and Israeli soldiers. Photograph: Hamde Abu Rahma/NurPhoto/Corbis

Asylum seekers sleep at Levinski Park in Tel Aviv, Israel. The African migrants, predominantly from Eritrea and Sudan, vowed to stay in the park till they are officially recognised as refugees which would give them the right to stay in Israel. Photograph: Oliver Weiken/EPA

An Afghan girl, whose family fled the Soviet-led war in Afghanistan, carries a basin as she walks towards her makeshift shelter in a slum on the outskirts of Islamabad Photograph: Zohra Bensemra/Reuters

A boy plays on a swing as the Tungurahua volcano erupts in Banos, Ecuador. Photograph: Cris Toala Olivares/Reuters

A child's tricycle is covered with ash from the Mount Sinabung eruption in Indonesia. The volcano erupted last Saturday and killed at least 16 people, the first time it is known to have claimed any lives, a senior government official said. Photograph: Beawiharta/Reuters

A mural of Jesus Christ on the wall of a cemetery in Berastepu is also covered with volcanic ash from the Mount Sinabung eruption. Photograph: Dedi Sahputra/EPA

Railway workers inspect the main Exeter to Plymouth railway line that has been closed due to parts of it being washed away by the sea at Dawlish in Devon. With high tides combined with gale force winds and further heavy rain, flooding continued to disrupt lives in South West England. Photograph: Matt Cardy/Getty

Giovanni Mougounou who lost both legs to what his family say was a rocket-propelled grenade launched by Seleka fighters, pushes his wheelchair close to his home in the capital Bangui, Central Africa Republic. Photograph: Siegfried Modola/Reuters

In this photograph, also from Bangui by Jerome Delay, a woman runs for cover as heavy gunfire erupts in what a French soldier at the scene described as the heaviest exchange of fire this year. Fighting between Muslim Seleka militias and Christian anti-Balaka factions continued as French and African Union forces struggle to contain the bloodshed. Photograph: Jerome Delay/AP

In a photograph by regular contributor to this gallery, Marco Longari, a demonstrator swings a burning tyre at a crossroads near Pretoria during a protest for basic government services. Photograph: Marco Longari/AFP

In Syria, FSA fighters aim their weapons inside a house during what they said was an attack against them by forces loyal to President Bashar al-Assad near the Justice Palace and the Citadel of Aleppo. Photograph: Reuters

Alleged jihadist youths are apprehended by police during a raid inside the Masjid Mussa mosque in Mombasa, Kenya. Police said they stormed the Masjid Musa mosque because young men were being radicalised there. Photograph: Ivan Lieman/AFP

A woman walks in front of riot police at a road block in Kiev. The crisis in Ukraine has now sparked tensions between the West, which is considering sanctions against Ukrainian officials, and Russia, which has accused the EU and US of interference in the former Soviet republic. Photograph: Aris Messinis/AFP

In another photograph by Aris Messinis, a picture of Yulia Tymoshenko is placed at a roadblock made by anti-government protesters. Tens of thousands of protesters rallied in Ukraine this week in a bid to wring new concessions from President Viktor Yanukovych, buoyed by pledges of support from Europe and the United States Photograph: Aris Messinis/AFP

A model poses before the Chromat fashion show during fashion week in New York. Photograph: Monica Schipper/Getty