Today's best photos: a lake stage to visually impaired footballers

‘The National’ picks the most striking images from around the world

The lake stage during the roofing ceremony before the 76th Bregenz Festival in Austria. The lake stage on which 'Madame Butterfly' is performed depicts a piece of paper being thrown into the lake. Getty Images

Mounted policemen ride towards anti-government protesters, in Lima, Peru. Thousands of Peruvians defied a curfew ordered by President Pedro Castillo and demonstrated to demand his resignation. EPA

Damaged Ukrainian flags flutter in the wind at a cemetery in Chernihiv city, which had been blocked by Russian troops. EPA

People demonstrate in Brasilia on the third day of a10-day annual protest held by tribal people from all over Brazil calling for greater protection of their land and rights. AFP

Stray dogs at a shelter near the Tunisian capital Tunis. Packs of stray dogs, a common sight in North African cities, are a hot topic after the deaths of two schoolchildren but animal rights groups are calling for more humane solutions than mass culling. AFP

People charge their phones in a public building in Bucha, north-west of Kyiv, during Russia's invasion of Ukraine. AFP

An aerial view of humanitarian food aid packages being handed over by a volunteer team of first responders to locals in al-Najieh, in Syria's rebel-held Idlib province. AFP

Police officers scuffle with a medical student as he protests with others against Sri Lanka's crippling economic crisis in Colombo. AFP

Protesters, most of them Ukrainians and many of them refugees, lie down during a demonstration to symbolise the murdered civilians of the war in Ukraine in front of the Chancellery in Berlin, Germany. Getty Images

Women pass in front of the destroyed Hotel Ukraine in Chernihiv, as Russia's invasion of Ukraine continues. Reuters

Blind and visually impaired Ivorian football players take part in a training session at the Felix Houphouet-Boigny University in Abidjan on February 16, 2022. - Created in March 2015, the Ivorian national blind football team has already taken part in two African football championships for the blind and visually impaired. But the players dream of becoming the first team from sub-Saharan Africa to participate in the Paralympic Games, in 2024 in Paris. For this, it will be necessary to climb on the podium of the next African championship, in Morocco in November. (Photo by Issouf SANOGO / AFP)

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Wednesday's best photos: Shanghai lockdown to Sydney Opera House abseiling

Tuesday's best photos: from turtles hatching to rallies in Pakistan

Monday's best photos: from a Star Wars parade to London Landmarks marathon

Sunday's best photos: from wreck of largest aircraft to royal 'EastEnders' visit

Saturday's best photos: from Iraqi ballet dancers to Beijing window cleaners

Friday's best photos: from Sri Lankan unrest to the Walla Walla aurora - in pictures