Pictures of the Week: January 4 – January 11

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From wildfires in Australia and riots in Belfast to the one year anniversary of the capsized cruise ship Costa Concordia and snow storms in the Middle East, TIME presents the best images of the week.

Jan. 7, 2013. The 14th Harbin Ice and Snow Festival, touted as the world's biggest ice and snow festival, opens in Harbin, the capital of the China's northern Heilongjiang Province near Russia.Stephen Shaver—UPI/Landov
Jan. 4, 2013. A bushfire smoke plume is visible from Park Beach in Forcett, south-east of Hobart, Tasmania. Jo Giuliani—EPA
Jan. 7, 2013. Palestinian Greek Orthodox Christian altar boys attend Christmas mass at the Orthodox Saint Porfirios church in Gaza City. Ali Ali—EPA
Jan. 8, 2013. The Costa Concordia cruise ship lays aground on the Italian island of Giglio.Filippo Monteforte—AFP/Getty Images
Jan. 7, 2013. Men help a wounded person after a missile struck Aleppo's al-Mashhad district.Muzaffar Salman—Reuters
Jan. 4, 2013. A Pakistani woman stands outside her makeshift home in a slum during a foggy and cold morning in Islamabad, Pakistan. Muhammed Muheisen—AP
Jan. 7, 2013. Crude Palm Oil cleaners work in the bilge of a palm oil ship docked at the Tanjung Priok port in Jakarta, Indonesia. Agung Kuncahya B. —Xinhua/Landov
Jan. 6, 2013. Lions in their enclosure react as tourists throw snowballs at them in the Hangzhou Zoo.ChinaFotoPress—ZUMAPRESS.com
Jan. 6, 2013. A burnt out car blocks Dee Street in east Belfast. Pro-British militant groups are instigating and exploiting the riots that have rocked the Northern Irish capital Belfast in the past month, a police officers' representative said.Cathal McNaughton—Reuters
Jan. 8, 2013. Classical dancers of the Latvian National Ballet perform during a dress rehearsal of 'Giselle' at the Teatro de la Maestranza in Seville, Spain. Cristina Quicler—AFP/Getty Images
Jan. 4, 2013. A picture of Venezuela's President Hugo Chavez is seen on a religious altar in Caracas, Venezuela. Carlos Garcia—Reuters
Jan. 4, 2013. People watch a demonstration march after two men set themselves on fire, from the windows of their homes in Malaga, southern Spain.Jon Nazca—Reuters
Jan. 4, 2013. An Indian instructor shows a self defence technique to a school girl during a self-defence classes at a school in Mumbai, India.Punit Paranjpe—AFP/Getty Images
Jan. 4, 2013. Austria's Gregor Schlierenzauer soars through the air during his final jump to win the third stage of the four hills ski jumping tournament in Innsbruck, Austria. Matthias Schrader—AP
Jan. 4, 2013. The feet of a suspect who was killed during an exchange of fire with police forces during an attack in Swabi, Pakistan. Khuram Parvez—Reuters
Jan. 5, 2013. The devastated area Boomer Bay after bush fires swept through the Australian island of Tasmania. Chris Kidd—AFP
Jan. 4, 2013. Tammy Holmes, second from left, and her grandchildren, two-year-old Charlotte Walker, left, four-year-old Esther Walker, third from left, nine-year-old Liam Walker, eleven-year-old Matilda, second from right, and six-year-old Caleb Walker, right, take refuge under a jetty as a wildfire rages near-by in the Tasmanian town of Dunalley, Australia.Tim Holmes — Holmes Family/AP
Jan. 6, 2013. Firefighters try to douse blaze at a market in Pudong, the new district of Shanghai, China.Young Lee—EPA
Jan. 6, 2013. A man arranges the head gear of another before playing the khol, a traditional percussion instrument, as they participate in an attempt to create a Guinness record, in Titabar, India. Anupam Nath—AP
Jan. 6, 2013. A young Bosnian Serb roasts lamb and pig for a traditional Orthodox Christmas meal, in front of his home in the village of Vojkovici, near the capital of Sarajevo. Dado Ruvic—Reuters
Jan. 6, 2013. A young woman prays in the Manger in the 'Grotto' of the Church of the Nativity, accepted by Christians as the birth place of Jesus Christ, as a Russian Orthodox Christian woman kisses a gate where the Baby Jesus is located as faithful flock to the church to celebrate the Christian Orthodox Christmas eve.Jim Hollander—EPA
Jan. 6, 2013. Newly appointed bishops, Nicolas Henry Marie Denis Thevenin, Pope Benedict XVI 's personal secretary Georg Gaenswein, Nigerian Fortunatus Nwachkwu and Angelo Vincenzo Zani lie during the Epiphany mass in St. Peter's Basilica, in Vatican City. Alessandro Di Meo—AFP/Getty Images
Jan. 6, 2013. An Orthodox man kisses a cross during a water blessing ceremony on Epiphany Day at Faliro suburb near Athens, Greece. John Kolesidis—Reuters
Jan 6, 2013. Syrian men leave the old city of Aleppo, Syria.Andoni Lubaki—AP
Jan. 7, 2013. People help a wounded person after a missile hit Aleppo's al-Mashhad district.Muzaffar Salman—Reuters
Jan. 7, 2013. Syrians shout slogans as they rush to the location of a building targeted by a missile in the al-Mashhad neighborhood of Aleppo.AFP/Getty Images
Jan. 7, 2013. Pope Benedict XVI delivers his annual 'state of the world' address to accredited ambassadors at the Regia Hall at the Vatican.Alessandra Benedetti—Corbis
Jan. 7, 2013. Pilgrims view a plaster replica of 19th century Italian Catholic priest Saint John Bosco in Liverpool's Metropolitan Cathedral in Liverpool, England.Christopher Furlong—Getty Images
Jan. 7, 2013. Russian President Vladimir Putin (R) talks to a child as he attends a Christmas service in the Holy Trinity St. George's Monastery in the village of Lesnoe Adler outside Sochi, Russia, Russian Orthodox church celebrates Christmas following the Julian calendar.Michael Klimentyev—Ria Novosti/EPA
Jan 7. 2013. U.S. President Barack Obama, U.S. Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta, Deputy National Security Advisor for Homeland Security and Counterterrorism John Brennan and former U.S. Sen. Chuck Hagel (R-NE) leave at the end of a personnel announcement in the East Room at the White House. Alex Wong—Getty Images
Jan. 8, 2013. Classical music composer and presidential candidate Vladimir Franz answers questions from the media prior to a rehearsal of his opera "War with the Newts" at the State Opera in Prague, Czech Republic. Petr David Josek—AP
Jan. 8, 2013. Workers stand on the Costa Concordia cruise ship, aground near the port on the Italian island of Giglio.Filippo Monteforte—AFP/Getty Images
Jan. 8, 2013. People watch as a killer whale surfaces through a small hole in the ice near Inukjuak, in Northern Quebec.Marina Lacasse—AP/The Canadian Press
Jan. 8, 2013. Syrian refugees make their way in flooded water at a temporary refugee camp, in the eastern Lebanese Town of Al-Faour near the border with Syria.Hussein Malla—AP
Jan. 8, 2013. Girls attend class at a school in a slum on the outskirts of Islamabad, Pakistan.Zohra Bensemra—Reuters
Jan. 8, 2013. Children play on self-made swings hung from scaffolding at a construction site in Tongxiang, Zhejiang province, China.William Hong—Reuters
Jan. 8, 2013. Qatar's Nasser Al-Attiyah competes during Stage 4 of the Dakar 2013 between Nazca and Arequipa, Peru.Franck Fife—AFP/Getty Images
Jan. 8, 2013. A girl cries while she stands behind a torn makeshift curtain at the entrance of her house in a slum on the outskirts of Islamabad, Pakistan.Zohra Bensemra—Reuters
Jan. 9, 2013. Wheels are stored for recycling in a field in Sesena, near Madrid.Pedro Armestre—AFP/Getty Images
Jan. 9, 2013. A doll covered with mud lies on the floor after a flood hit the village of Bat Hefer, in central Israel. Ariel Schalit—AP
Jan. 9, 2013. Palestinians play with snow during a snow storm in the West Bank village of Halhul near Hebron. Ammar Awad—Reuters
Jan. 9, 2013. A member of police inhales smoke from papers set on fire, in Dhaka, Bangladesh. Andrew Biraj—Reuters
Jan. 9, 2013. Pakistani Anwar Ali, 13, center, and his brother Hamad, 8, sit around a fire to warm themselves from the cold, in Murree, near Islamabad, Pakistan. Muhammed Muheisen—AP
Jan. 9, 2013. A sculpture of a man made of Lego is seen during the 'The Art of the Brick' exhibition at the ArtScience Museum in Singapore. Chris McGrath—Getty Images
Jan. 9, 2013. A polar bear plays in a pool in South Korea's largest amusement park Everland on Youngin in Gyeonggi-province, South Korea. Jeon Heon-Kyun—EPA
Jan. 9, 2013. A Syrian refugee walks toward his tent at Zaatari refugee camp, near the Syrian border in Mafraq, Jordan. Mohammad Hannon—AP
Jan. 9, 2013. Injured passengers are aided following an early morning ferry accident during rush hour in Lower Manhattan, New York. Spencer Platt—Getty Images
Jan. 9, 2013. A photographer takes pictures of the Costa Concordia cruise ship laying aground near the port on the Italian island of Giglio.Filippo Monteforte—AFP/Getty Images
Jan. 9, 2013. A cloud formation tinged with red dust travels across the Indian Ocean near Onslow on the Western Australia coast. Brett Martin—fishwrecked.com/Reuters
Jan. 9, 2013. Barefoot devotees wait while replicas of the Black Nazarene passes the procession of the feast of the Black Nazarene of Quiapo, in Manilla, Philippines.J Gerard Seguia—Demotix/Corbis
Jan. 9, 2013. Trainees at a body guard training camp stand with taped face masks before a blind fighting training session in Beijing, China. Alexander F. Yuan—AP
Jan. 10, 2013. Children play in an abandoned building at a snow covered field in the Golan Heights on the border with Syria which Israel captured from Syria in 1967 Mideast war and later annexed. Ariel Schalit—AP
Jan. 10, 2013. A stuck mule deer buck struggles unsuccessfully to get off the ice of a frozen-over lake in Golden, Colo.Brennan Linsley—AP
Jan. 10, 2012. Homeless Bratislav Jovanovic, 43, enters a grave, which he uses as a shelter during winter time at a cemetery in Nis, 200 kilometres south Belgrade.Sasa Djordjevic—AFP/Getty Images
Jan. 10, 2013. North Korean men shovel snow from the roof of a building in Pyongyang, North Korea.David Guttenfelder—AP
Jan. 10, 2013. The body of a woman and her daughter lie on the ground following an overnight attack on the village of Kibusu, Kenya. Ivan Lieman—AFP/Getty Images
Jan. 10, 2013. A woman is consoled after seeing the bodies of relatives following an overnight attack on the village of Kibusu, Kenya.Ivan Lieman—AFP/Getty Images
Jan. 10, 2013. Security officers walk away as a man mourns next to the bodies of his wife and daughter, who were gunned down outside their house as they attempted to escape when suspected Orma raiders attacked their village of Kibusu in Kenya.AP
Jan. 10, 2013. A banana ball python, worth about $85,141 USD, is displayed during a snake display to promote responsible breeding and pet ownership in Hong Kong.Philippe Lopez—AFP/Getty Images
Jan. 10, 2013. Sao Doan, 5, right, watches as her mom, Tiffany Ringer, both of Kenneth City, snaps a photo of Spider- Man (aka Merrill Hunt, 43, of Clearwater) as he washes her window at All Children's Hospital in St. Petersburg, Florida.Cherie Diez/Tampa Bay Times/Zuma Press
Jan. 11, 2013. Members of a local winter swimming club take part in their weekly bath in the Yenisei River, while air temperatures stand at minus 17 degrees Celsius (1.4 degrees Fahrenheit), in the town of Divnogorsk, outside Russia's Siberian city of Krasnoyarsk.Ilya Naymushin—Reuters
Jan. 11, 2013. An employee wearing a panda costume slides down from an ice sculpture during the Harbin International Ice and Snow World festival in Harbin, Heilongjiang province.Sheng Li—Reuters

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