Mar. 18, 2014. Tibetan Buddhist monks holding ceremonial scarfs stand in a line to welcome their spiritual leader the Dalai Lama, fourth left, as he arrives at the Jhonang Takten Phuntsok Choeling monastery in Shimla, India.Tenzin Choejor—AP
From the ongoing search for Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 and the succession of Crimea to Russia, to the celebration of colors for Holi in India and twin polar bear cubs in Germany, TIME presents the best pictures of the week.
Mar. 16, 2014. An Indian boy drags another on the floor of an apartment as they play with colored powder during the Holi festival in Chennai, India.Arun Sankar K—APMar. 14, 2014. African Paralympic athlete Oscar Pistorius is seen leaning back after applying eye drops as he prepares himself for another day in the dock during his ongoing murder trial in Pretoria, South Africa, Kim Ludbrook—POOL/EPAMar. 19, 2014. Supporters of Afghan presidential candidate Ashraf Ghani jump to cross a ditch after a gathering in the outskirts of Kunduz province, north of Kabul. Shah Marai—AFP/Getty ImagesMar.17, 2014. The people of Subang Jaya offer prayer and words of support on a chalkboard in response to the disappearance of Malasyian Airlines flight MH370. The Boeing plane which was flying Kuala Lumpur to Beijing has been missing since March 8th.Ahmad Zikri Mohamad Zuki—Demotix/CorbisMar.18, 2014. Russia's President Vladimir Putin arrives to sign a treaty with Crimean leaders on reunification with Russia in the Grand Kremlin Palace in Moscow, Russia. Crimea and Sevastopol will join Russia as two separate regions, President Putin said, adding that he would sign treaties immediately. Sergei Ilnitsky—POOL/EPAMar. 18, 2014. Tibetan Buddhist monks holding ceremonial scarfs stand in a line to welcome their spiritual leader the Dalai Lama, fourth left, as he arrives at the Jhonang Takten Phuntsok Choeling monastery in Shimla, India.Tenzin Choejor—APMar. 16, 2014 - Driver Carl Edwards does a back flip off after winning the Sprint Cup series Food City 500 at Bristol Motor Speedway.Justin R Noe—ZUMAPRESS.comMar. 16, 2014.
Wheelchair dancers perform during the Closing Ceremony of the XI Paralympic Olympic games at the Fisht Olympic Stadium near the city of Sochi.Kirill Kudryavtsev—AFP/Getty ImagesMar. 16, 2014. Pope Francis arrives to lead a mass at the parish of Santa Maria dell'Orazione in Guidonia Montecelio near Rome.Alberto Pizzoli—AFP/Getty ImagesMar. 14, 2014. Tatars during Friday prayers ahead of the referendum to decide if the peninsula should rejoin Russia, in Bakhchysarai, Ukraine.Uriel Sinai—The New York TimesMar. 16 , 2014. Ultra Orthodox Jewish children look at a girl costumed as a leopard in a cage for Purim on a street in Bnei Brak, outside Tel Aviv, Israel.Oliver Weiken—EPAMar. 15, 2014. A Palestinian family sits inside their makeshift house during power cuts in Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip The Gaza Strip's sole power station stopped generating electricity on Saturday, causing blackouts throughout the territory after it ran out of fuel, officials said.Ibraheem Abu Mustafa—Reuters Mar. 15, 2014. A Burmese monk takes a photo with his cell phone during the Shwedagon Pagoda festival in Yangon, Burma. The festival is celebrated by thousands of devout Buddhists in the country.Lauren DeCicca—Getty ImagesMar. 15, 2014. The Chicago River was dyed green in celebration of St. Patrick's Day.Jim Young—ReutersMar. 16, 2014.
Bronze medalist Belarussia's Katsiaryna Halkina performs at the individual finals of the Rhythmic Gymnastics World Cup in Debrecen, Hungary.Attila Kisbenedek—AFP/Getty ImagesMar. 16, 2014. A member of the Hindu community holds a damaged statue inside a temple that was attacked on Saturday night in Larkana, southern Pakistan's Sindh province. Faheem Soormro—ReutersMar. 16, 2014. A boy sits in a plastic container filled with colored water during Holi celebrations in the southern Indian city of Chennai. Holi, also known as the Festival of Colors, heralds the beginning of spring and is celebrated all over India. Babu—ReutersFlorida's Patric Young heads to the net after the second half of an NCAA college basketball game against Kentucky in the Championship round of the Southeastern Conference men's tournament, Sunday, March 16, 2014, in Atlanta. Florida won 61-60. (AP Photo/John Bazemore)John Bazemore—APMar. 16, 2014. A man exits a voting booth after casting his vote in a local school in Simferopol. People in Crimea took to the polls to vote on a referendum on breaking away from Ukraine to join Russia that has precipitated a Cold War-style security crisis on Europe's eastern frontier. Filippo Monteforte—AFP/Getty ImagesMar. 16, 2014
Ultra-Orthodox Jews read the Book of Esther at a synagogue in Jerusalem during the feast of Purim. The carnival-like Purim holiday is celebrated with parades and costume parties to commemorate the deliverance of the Jewish people from a plot to exterminate them in the ancient Persian empire 2,500 years ago, as recorded in the Biblical Book of Esther.Menahem Kahana—AFP/Getty ImagesMar. 17, 2014. Ultra Orthodox Jews from the Belz Hasidic group are taking part in a "Tisch", which is a public gathering of Hasidim around their Rabbi, during the Holiday celebration of Purim. Omer Messinger—NurPhoto/Sipa USAMar. 17, 2014. An Ultra-Orthodox Jew rests during celebrations of Purim in the Mea Shearim neighborhood in Jerusalem.Gili Yaari—NurPhoto/Sipa USAMar. 16, 2014. Pakistani Syeda Aima Tanveer, 20, daughter of lawyer Tanveer Haider, 58, who was one of eleven victims that was killed by suicide bombers in an attack on a court complex on March, 3 2014, sits on her father's bed embracing his photograph, at their home on the outskirts of Islamabad, Pakistan.Muhammed Muheisen—APMar. 17, 2014. A woman makes her way down snow-covered steps outside an office building in Baltimore. Winter-weary commuters faced another treacherous trip Monday in parts of the Mid-Atlantic as snow and frigid weather blew in just days before the start of spring. Patrick Semansky—APMar. 17, 2014. Marine One helicopter carrying President Barack Obama arrives on the South Lawn of the White House in Washington, after Obama visited wounded service members at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center. Evan Vucci—APMar. 17, 2014. President Barack Obama leaves after speaking to reporters at the White House in Washington. The U.S., working in coordination with Europe, imposed a new round of sanctions on prominent Russian officials on Monday as the showdown over Ukraine reached a new stage of confrontation between East and West. Gabriella Demczuk—The New York Times/ReduxMar. 16, 2014. A Border Force officer's jacket hangs from tiny anchor shaped peg, below deck on the new cutter HMC Protector in London, England. The cutter is the fifth vessel to be added to the Border Force fleet protecting the United Kingdom's borders.Mary Turner—Getty ImagesMar. 16, 2014. Crimean, Solodkova Natalia who was too infirm to visit a polling station casts her vote at her home in a prodominantly Russian area of Bachchisaray, Ukraine. Dan Kitwood—Getty ImagesMar. 17, 2014. An Afghan woman receives her voter registration card from an employee of the Afghan Independent Election Commission at a women's voter registration center in Kabul, Afghanistan.Rahmat Gul—APMarch 17, 2014. Afghan girls use their phones to take pictures during a campaign for Afghan presidential candidate Zalmai Rassoul in Kabul The Afghan presidential elections will be held on April 5. Ahmad Masood—ReutersMar. 17, 2014. Indian devotees covered in colored powder dance during Holi celebrations in Vrindavan. Holi, also called the Festival of Colors, is a popular Hindu spring festival observed in India at the end of the winter season on the last full moon of the lunar month.Chandan Khanna—AFP/Getty ImagesMar. 17, 2014. Indian revelers gather on a rooftop to watch a performance of a local folk drama during a ritual to mark the first day of the Holi spring festival, also known as the Festival of Colors.Chandan Khanna—AFP/Getty ImagesMar. 17, 2014. Hindu priest Babulal jumps out of a fire to signify the burning of the demon Holika during a ritual to mark the first day of the Holi spring festival, also known as the Festival of Colours, at village Phalen near the northern Indian city of Mathura.Adnan Abidi—ReutersMar. 17, 2014. Chinese relatives of the missing passengers who were travelling onboard Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 watch a television displaying a Malaysian press conference at Lido Hotel in Beijing, China. All passengers and crew are currently under investigation and 22 countries are involved in the search.Feng Li—Getty ImagesMar. 16, 2014. Caterham driver Kamui Kobayashi of Japan runs off the track after he crashed with Williams driver Felipe Massa of Brazil on the first lap of the Australian Formula One Grand Prix at Albert Park in Melbourne, Australia.Ross Land—APMar. 17, 2014. Polish-French film director Roman Polanski stands in a coffin as he takes part in the presentation of the musical "Le Bal des Vampires" (Dance of the Vampires) at the Mogador theatre in Paris.Jacky Naegelen—ReutersMar. 18, 2014. The pinnacles of the Petronas Twin Towers protrude through low clouds in Kuala Lumpur. Charles Pertwee—Bloomberg/Getty ImagesMar. 18 , 2014. A woman presents a performance about Venezuela's crisis during a protest at Altamira Square in Caracas, Venezuela, Since mid February, 27 people including opposition activists, pro-government supporters and at least one police officer have died across the country in anti-government protests. Miguel Gutierrez—EPAMar. 18, 2014. People rally in support of Crimea joining Russia, with banners and portraits of Russian President Vladimir Putin, reading "We are together," in Moscow's Red Square. Putin added Crimea to the map of Russia on Tuesday, describing the move as correcting past injustice and responding to what he called Western encroachment upon Russia's vital interests. Pavel Golovkin—APMar. 18, 2014. Workmen change the lettering on the Parliament building to a sign that reads 'Crimean Autonomous Council' in Simferopol, Ukraine. Voters on the autonomous Ukrainian peninsular of Crimea voted overwhelmingly to secede from their country and join Russia.Dan Kitwood—Getty ImagesMar. 18, 2014. Women have their lunch as they watch Russian President Vladimir Putin on the television addressing the Russian Federal Assembly on the Crimean referendum to reunify with Russia outside Simferopol, Crimea, Ukraine. Yuri Kochetkov—EPAMar. 18, 2014. An Israeli army officer comforts a wounded Israeli soldier after he is unloaded from an army helicopter at a landing base in Haifa's Rambam Hospital, in northern Israel.Avishag Shar Yashuv—EPAMar. 18, 2014.Trainees watch a demonstration of close-quarter combat skills at a special course on flight safety inspired by the missing Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370.Jason Lee—ReutersMar. 18,2014. Afghan security personnel present a burqa-clad resident they say is a Taliban fighter to the media at the Afghan National Army headquarters in Khogyani District near Jalalabad. Three Taliban insurgents have been arrested in possession of heroin by Afghan Joint Forces during an operation in the Khogyani District of Nangarhar province. Noorullah Shirzada—AFP/Getty ImagesMar. 18, 2014. A soldier with the Afghan National Army's (ANA) National Engineer Brigade leaps from the top of a Mabey-Johnson portable pre-fabricated bridge which his unit was learning to construct.Scott Olson—Getty ImagesMar. 18, 2014. Indian revelers take part in the game of 'Huranga' at The Dauji Temple in Mathura, south of New Delhi. 'Huranga' is a game played between men and women a day after Holi during which men drench women with liquid colors and women tear off the clothes of the men. Chandan Khanna—AFP/Getty ImagesMar. 18, 2014 - A girl prays during an event for missing Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370 at a shopping mall in Petaling Jaya, Malaysia A coalition of 26 countries, including Thailand, are looking for the flight, which vanished with 239 people aboard.Kamal Sellehuddin—ZUMAPRESS.comMar. 18, 2014. A man recites the Koran after special prayers held for the missing Malaysian airliner MH370 in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.Rahman Roslan—Getty ImagesMar. 18, 2014. Artists Gerda Steiner and Jörg Lenzlinger's installation 'Bush Power' is displayed during a media preview as part of the 19th Sydney Beinnale. Mark Metcalfe—Getty ImagesMar. 19, 2014. A man tries to get rid of a thick layer of flowing foam as he takes a bath in river Yamuna in New Delhi, India, which is often described as the most polluted body of water in northern India.Arkaprava Ghosh—Barcroft Media /LandovMar.19, 2014. Ultra-Orthodox Jewish men gather under the Chords Bridge during a demonstration against military conscription held at the entrance to Jerusalem.Jim Hollander —EPAMar. 18, 2014. An Iranian woman lights fireworks during a celebration, known as Chaharshanbe Souri, or Wednesday Feast, marking the eve of the last Wednesday of the solar Persian year, in Pardisan park, Tehran, Iran. Ebrahim Noroozi—APMar. 19, 2014.
Students of Bagong Silangan Elementary school cover their head during an earthquake drill in Manila. The students participated in a national emergency earthquake drill that aims to generate awareness on disaster risk reduction and assess their capacity level to respond during a disaster. Noel Celis—AFP/Getty ImagesMar. 19, 2014.
Two security officers sit at the entrance of a hotel lounge where relatives of passengers from the missing Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 are gathered in Beijing. Tempers flared among Chinese relatives of passengers aboard the missing flight.Wang Zhao—AFP/Getty ImagesMar. 19, 2014. A member of a Pro-Russian self-defense force takes down a Ukrainian Navy flag, left, as the other raises the Russian flag at the Ukrainian Navy headquarters in Sevastopol, Crimea,.Andrew Lubimov—AP Mar. 20, 2014. An artist walks across the roof of his house while carrying paintings to be dried at Jelekong village near Bandung, in Indonesia's West Java province. The people of Jelekong village earn their living by selling their paintings. Beawiharta—ReutersMar. 19, 2014. Egg boxes for storing Easter eggs are stacked in a room of German pensioners Christa and Volker Kraft's summerhouse in the eastern German town of Saalfeld. Volker and his wife Christa spend up to two weeks decorating the tree with their collection of 10,000 colourful hand-painted Easter eggs.Fabrizio Bensch—ReutersMar 19, 2014. German pensioner Volker Kraft uses a step ladder as he decorates an apple tree with Easter eggs in the garden of his summerhouse in the eastern German town of Saalfeld.Fabrizio Bensch—ReutersMar. 19, 2014. A man walks in a desert during an election campaign in Kunduz province, northern Afghanistan The Afghan presidential elections will be held on April 5. Ahmad Masood—ReutersMar. 20, 2014. Supporters of Afghan presidential candidate Abdullah Abdullah hold posters of him during an election rally in Parwan province, northern Afghanistan.Ahmad Masood—ReutersMar. 19, 2014. A girl runs during an election campaign by Afghan presidential candidate Ashraf Ghani Ahmadzai in Kunduz province, northern Afghanistan The Afghan presidential elections will be held on April 5.Ahmad Masood—ReutersMar. 20, 2014. An Afghan police officer walks around inside the nearby state-run Afghan radio and television building badly damaged when a suicide car bomber blew up his vehicle near a police station in Jalalabad, Afghanistan.Rahmat Gul—APMar. 20, 2014. Colombian police commanders carry the casket of Major German Mendez of the Colombian police force during his funeral at a religious center in Bogota, Columbia. John Vizcaino—ReutersMar. 20, 2014. Iraqi Kurdish people carry fire torches up a mountain where a giant flag of Iraq's autonomous Kurdistan region is laid, as they celebrate Newroz Day, a festival marking their spring and new year, near Dahuk, Iraq.Azad Lashkari—ReutersMar. 20, 2014. Resident cat, El dueo de casa, tears through a Government Palace corridor as officials await the arrival of U.S. Assistant Secretary of State of the Bureau of Western Hemisphere Affairs Roberta S. Jacobson, for her official meeting with Paraguayan President Horacio Cartes, in Asuncion, Paraguay, Jorge Saenz—APMar. 20, 2014. Jennifer Abel and Pamela Ware of Canada dive in the Women's 3m Synchro Springboard Final during day one of the FINA/NVA Diving World Series 2014 at the Hamdan Sports Complex in Dubai, United Arab Emirates.Warren Little—Getty ImagesMar. 20, 2014. An elderly Iranian woman looks at the graves of soldiers who were killed during 1980-88 Iran-Iraq war, at the Behesht-e-Zahra cemetery just outside Tehran, Iran.Vahid Salemi—APMar. 20, 2014. An aerial view showing harvest workers uncovering rows of asparagus in a field at Kleistow asparagus farm near Beelitz, Germany.Ralf Hirschberger—EPAMar. 20, 2014. A Palestinian man and his daughter are seen amongst wild mustard flowers which grow in the untilled fields across the Gaza Strip.Mohammed Abed—AFP/Getty ImagesMar. 21, 2014.
Afghan men look on from tree branches while other revelers gather near the Hazrat-e-Ali shrine for Nowruz festivities which marks the Afghan new year in Mazari-i-Sharif.Farshad Usyan—AFP/Getty ImagesMar. 21, 2014. US First Lady Michelle Obama plays table tennis as she visit to the Beijing Normal School, a school that prepares students to attend university abroad in Beijing, China.Andy Wong—AFP/Getty ImagesMar. 21, 2014. A man sits next to a wall with graffiti in a cell of the central prison in the district of Wango, in the capital Bangui, Central African Republic.Siegfried Modola—ReutersMar. 21, 2014. 11 month - old Daniela Chasi Saavedra, as her family wait for the judicial commission and the police to arrive for their eviction, in Madrid, Spain.Andres Kudacki—APMar. 19, 2014. Two 14-week old polar bear twins explore their enclosure at the Hellabrunn Zoo for the first time in Munich, Germany. The cubs were born on Mar. 9, 2014.Sven Hoppe—EPAMar. 16, 2014. An ultra-Orthodox Jewish girl wearing a costume, sits in a cage, marking the Purim festival in Bnei Brak, near Tel Aviv, Israel.Ariel Schalit—AP
