Week in pictures: 24 - 30 March 2018

(Source: BBC)

Our selection of some of the most striking news photographs taken around the world this week.
 

Crew members of Norwegian Coast Guard icebreaker KV Svalbard play football on an ice floe in the arctic environment in the sea around Greenland.
 

Hundreds of thousands of people joined rallies across the US and beyond to call for stricter US gun laws in the wake of a school shooting that left 17 people dead.
 

French Republican guards stand in front of the flag-draped coffin of the late gendarmerie officer Colonel Arnaud Beltrame, who died after he offered himself in exchange for a hostage in an Islamist attack. President Emmanuel Macron said the officer, who was 44, symbolised the "French spirit of resistance".
 
A dancer takes part in the 48th World Irish Dancing Championships at the Royal Concert Hall in Glasgow.
 
After days of speculation, it was confirmed that North Korea's leader Kim Jong-un did pay a visit to Beijing. The visit, confirmed by China and North Korea, was Mr Kim's first known foreign trip since taking office in 2011.
 
Penitents take part in the Procession del Nazareno in Bilbao, as part of Easter celebrations throughout Spain during Holy Week. The penitents, or nazarenos, wear hoods in a tradition dating back to the 15th Century which allowed sinners to repent without being identified.
 
Madame Tussauds in London unveiled its new royal balcony experience featuring wax figures of Britain's Royal Family. Prince Charles and his wife Camilla stand to the left of Queen Elizabeth and Prince Philip as visitors look, with Prince William, Duke of Cambridge and Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge on the right.
 
Workers pile up bars of soap at a workshop in Nizip, Turkey. Except for the mixing of the chemicals, the rest of the process is handmade and the soap is distributed to shops all over the country.
 
Thousands of Syrian rebel fighters and civilians were bussed from Eastern Ghouta after rebel groups reached a withdrawal deal with the Syrian government. Hundreds of people have been killed since Syrian government forces, supported by the Russian military, launched an offensive on the rebel-held territory last month.
 
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