The week in pictures

A woman casts her ballot in a referendum at a polling station in Simferopol on March 16. Voting got underway in Crimea as residents began to cast their ballots in a referendum aimed at deciding whether the peninsula leaves Ukraine and becomes part of Russia.

Thousands of job-seekers wait to take an exam in Abuja National Stadium, where they came to apply for work at the Nigerian immigration department, on March 15. At least seven people were killed and dozens injured after thousands of panicked job-seekers stampeded during a government recruitment drive in Abuja.

A card with a drawing of an airplane is pinned on a dedication board with well wishes and messages for people involved with the missing Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 in the viewing gallery of the Kuala Lumpur International Airport.

Supporters of Salvador Sanchez Ceren, the presidential candidate of the ruling Farabundo Marti National Liberation Front (FMLN) celebrate during a victory rally in San Salvador, El Salvador. The Supreme Electoral Tribunal declared Sanchez, a former leftist rebel commander and the country(***)s current vice president, as the winner of Sunday(***)s presidential runoff election by a razor-thin margin.

A natural gas explosion in New York City flattened two buildings, killing at least 8 people and injuring 60.

In Japan, March 11 marked the three-year anniversary of the earthquake and tsunami that killed thousands and set off a nuclear crisis. Remembrance services were held throughout the country.

People who live in the villages surrounding the active volcano Popocatepetl in Mexico, make a yearly pilgrimage on March 12. They bring grapes, corn, watermelon, chicken and tequila to appease "Don Goyo", the mountain.