Today's best photos: from a rocket launch to fireworks - in pictures

  • A Soyuz rocket heads to the International Space Station to rescue three astronauts whose spacecraft sprang a leak. AP
    A Soyuz rocket heads to the International Space Station to rescue three astronauts whose spacecraft sprang a leak. AP
  • Ukrainian flags flutter over the graves of soldiers killed in fighting triggered by Russia’s invasion a year ago. EPA
    Ukrainian flags flutter over the graves of soldiers killed in fighting triggered by Russia’s invasion a year ago. EPA
  • Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte welcomes a rescue team that spent a week in Turkey looking for quake survivors. EPA
    Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte welcomes a rescue team that spent a week in Turkey looking for quake survivors. EPA
  • Palestinian youths protest a day after a deadly Israeli army raid in the occupied West Bank. AFP
    Palestinian youths protest a day after a deadly Israeli army raid in the occupied West Bank. AFP
  • Team Australia competes during a men’s qualifying round at the UCI track cycling championship in Jakarta, Indonesia. AP
    Team Australia competes during a men’s qualifying round at the UCI track cycling championship in Jakarta, Indonesia. AP
  • Smoke billows from a storage complex owned by state oil company Pemex in Ixhuatlan del Sureste, Mexico. EPA
    Smoke billows from a storage complex owned by state oil company Pemex in Ixhuatlan del Sureste, Mexico. EPA
  • Broken cups and plates in an apartment building damaged during fighting in Borodyanka, Ukraine. AFP
    Broken cups and plates in an apartment building damaged during fighting in Borodyanka, Ukraine. AFP
  • Fireworks light up the sky in Moscow during an event to mark Defender of the Fatherland Day. AFP
    Fireworks light up the sky in Moscow during an event to mark Defender of the Fatherland Day. AFP