The week in photos: February 7-13, 2026

MANILA, Philippines – Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi’s coalition swept to a historic election win on February 8, paving the way for promised tax cuts that have spooked financial markets and military spending aimed at countering China.

“This election involved major policy shifts — particularly a major shift in economic and fiscal policy, as well as strengthening security policy,” Takaichi said in a television interview as the results rolled in.

On February 9, the Philippine Senate approved a resolution condemning the Chinese embassy in the Philippines for remarks they’ve made, after days of deliberation and debate in plenary — including arguments from minority senators who did not want that resolution passed.

The Department of Foreign Affairs, on February 11, publicly urged the Chinese embassy in Manila to be “constructive in its statements” amid a word war between Beijing’s envoys and various individuals and agencies in government.

Meanwhile, Adam Mosseri, the head of Instagram, defended the social media platform’s choices around features that some company insiders called harmful to young users, at a trial on claims the app helped fuel a youth mental health crisis.

The top executive testified on February 11 in Los Angeles as part of a trial on what plaintiffs call “social media addiction” in children and young adults. Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg is also expected to testify in the coming weeks.

Catch more stories in these photos from the week that was:

People walk on a snow-covered street, next to a board displaying posters of candidates, ahead of the February 8 snap election, in Nagaoka, Japan, on February 7, 2026. PHOTO BY MANAMI YAMADA/REUTERS

A voter checks the notice board before voting in the general election at a polling station in Bangkok, Thailand, on February 8, 2026. PHOTO BY PATIPAT JANTHONG/REUTERS

A security personnel carries ballot boxes toward a vehicle while sending them to different constituencies from the election commission ahead of the March 5 House of Representatives elections, in Kathmandu, Nepal, on February 8, 2026. PHOTO BY NAVESH CHITRAKAR/REUTERS

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un salutes during a visit to the Ministry of Defense for the 78th anniversary of the founding of the armed forces, in Pyongyang, North Korea, on February 8, 2026. PHOTO BY KCNA VIA REUTERS

Rap artist Bad Bunny performs at halftime of the Super Bowl LX match between the New England Patriots and the Seattle Seahawks, at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara, California, on February 8, 2026. PHOTO BY KIRBY LEE/IMAGN IMAGES VIA REUTERS

A prison van believed to be carrying Jimmy Lai, founder of the now-defunct pro-democracy newspaper Apple Daily, arrives at the West Kowloon Magistrates’ Courts building in Hong Kong, for sentencing in his national security collusion trial, on February 9, 2026. PHOTO BY TYRONE SIU/REUTERS

A woman gives water to a detained demonstrator after protesters clashed with police at Town Hall Square during a protest against Israeli President Isaac Herzog’s state visit to Australia following the deadly mass shooting at a Hanukkah celebration at Bondi Beach on December 14, 2025, in Sydney, Australia, on February 9, 2026. PHOTO BY JEREMY PIPER/REUTERS

Members of Extinction Rebellion stage a protest with a figure depicting South African Minister of Mineral and Petroleum Resources, Gwede Mantashe, to highlight the need for South Africa and other countries to move away from coal production and honor their climate commitments, during the Investing in African Mining Indaba conference in Cape Town, South Africa, on February 9, 2026. PHOTO BY ESSA ALEXANDR/REUTERS

Soraida Gonzalez, mother of detainee Jose Miguel Estrada, reacts as people and family members of detainees gather outside Venezuela’s National Assembly as the government pledges to pass an amnesty law to free political prisoners, in Caracas, Venezuela, on February 10, 2026. PHOTO BY MAXWELL BRICENO/REUTERS

Worshippers gather around candles stuck to jars with honey during a religious mass to mark the day of Saint Haralampi, the Orthodox patron saint of beekeepers, in the church of the Presentation of the Blessed Virgin in Blagoevgrad, Bulgaria, on February 10, 2026. PHOTO BY SPASINAYA SERGIEVA/REUTERS

A man walks under lanterns installed at Thean Hou Temple ahead of the upcoming Chinese Lunar New Year, in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, on February 11, 2026. PHOTO BY HASNOOR HUSSEIN/REUTERS

A model gets ready backstage for the LoveShackFancy Fall 2026 presentation during New York Fashion Week in New York City, on February 11, 2026. PHOTO BY ANGELINA KATSANIS/REUTERS

Comedian Jo Koy poses with Gabriel Iglesias during a ceremony to place his handprints and footprints in cement in the forecourt of the TCL Chinese Theatre in Los Angeles, California, on February 11, 2026. PHOTO BY MARIO ANZUONI/REUTERS

Iranian women pose for a picture as they attend the 47th anniversary of the Islamic Revolution in Tehran, Iran, on February 11, 2026. PHOTO BY MAJID ASGARIPOUR/WANA VIA REUTERS

Crime scene tape surrounds a high school with a Pride flag and ‘Everyone is welcome here’ painted on windows, at the site of a deadly mass shooting in the town of Tumbler Ridge, British Columbia, Canada, on February 11, 2026. PHOTO BY JENNIFER GAUTHIER/REUTERS

Mariano Janin, Ellen Roome, and George Nicolaou sit outside a court with photos of their children who died, during a trial in a key test case accusing Meta and Google’s YouTube of harming children’s mental health through addictive platforms, in Los Angeles, California, on February 11, 2026. PHOTO BY DANIEL COLE/REUTERS

A member of the Filipinos Do Not Yield Movement places a check mark on a poster showing the faces of senators who approved a resolution condemning the Chinese embassy in the Philippines for the remarks they’ve made, during a rally on February 12, 2026. PHOTO BY ANGIE DE SILVA/RAPPLER

Activists try to relocate and raise the Pride flag to the original pole while people gather at the Stonewall National Monument, where the LGBTQ+ rights movement was born, after authorities removed it from the Greenwich Village site in New York City, on February 12, 2026. PHOTO BY EDUARDO MUNOZ/REUTERS

Alessandro Haemmerle of Austria, Eliot Grondin of Canada, Jakob Dusek of Austria, and Aidan Chollet of France are seen in action in the Milano Cortina 2026 Olympics Men’s Snowboard Cross Big Final in Livigno Snow Park, Livigno, Italy on February 12, 2026. PHOTO BY DYLAN MARTINEZ/REUTERS

Hundreds of students from St. Scholastica’s College Manila raise their fists and shout slogans during the ‘One Billion Rising’ event at the school grounds, as part of the global campaign to end violence against women and girls, on February 13, 2026. PHOTO BY RAPPLER

– with reports from Reuters/Rappler.com