January 17, 2012. A musher and his dogs compete during the ninth stage of La Grande Odyssée, a sled-dog race. Mushers and their furry guides cross more than 620 miles (1,000 km) of the French Alps over 11 days.Denis Balibouse—Reuters
From Costa Concordia’s sinking and dog sled races in France to Chinese New Year celebrations and a panda farewell, TIME’s photo department presents the best images of the week.
January 14, 2012. Italian cruise ship Costa Concordia, which was carrying more than 4,000 people, ran aground and keeled over off the Italian coast near the island of Giglio in Tuscany, Italy. Eric Vandeville—ABACAPRESS.COMJanuary 18, 2012. Burmese opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi waves to supporters after registering to run in April's elections.Soe Than—WIN/AFP/Getty Images January 16, 2012. During a dress rehearsal, a dancer writhes on a watery stage that was suspended above the audience at performances of Fuerza Bruta. A troupe performed the inventive spectacle, whose title means brute force in Spanish, at Bread and Butter, a fashion trade show in Berlin that ran Jan. 18–20.Tobias Schwarz—ReutersJanuary 18, 2012. Visitors snap photos of white whales and their trainers at a show at the Harbin Polarland in Harbin, the capital of northeast China’s Heilongjiang province. The show was put on as part of the theme park’s Chinese New Year celebrations.Wang Jianwei—Xinhua/ZUMAPRESS.comJanuary 16, 2012. Light shines through a window onto a tank filled with goldfish in an office at the Korean Central News Agency in Pyongyang. One month after the death of Dear Leader Kim Jong Il, daily life in the North Korean capital is resuming its everyday rhythms.David Guttenfelder—AP PhotoJanuary 17, 2012. Republican presidential candidate Rep. Ron Paul, R-Texas, autographs a copy of his book through a car window for a supporter as he leaves a campaign stop in Rock Hill, S.C. David Goldman—AP PhotoJanuary 15, 2012. A man casts his ballot at a polling station during parliamentary elections in the village of Karasu, Kazakhstan. The country elects a new parliament just a month after deadly riots challenged the resource-rich but authoritarian nation's status as the beacon of Central Asian growth. Vyacheslav Oseledko—AFP/Getty Images January 15, 2012. A young Nepalese plays on a swing during the Hindu festival of Maghesangranti at Taraka village, Nuwakot district some 80 kilometers from Kathmandu. Thousands of people travel from the surrounding villages to witness the spectacle, in which 14 buffalos are paired off to compete in bullfights. Prakash Mathema—AFP/Getty ImagesJanuary 18, 2012. Mother of Palestinian Mohammed Abu Odah kisses his body during his funeral in Beit Hanoun in the northern Gaza Strip. Israeli forces attacked a group of suspected Palestinian militants believed to have been planting a bomb along Gaza's border with the Jewish state, the Israeli military said. EPA/ALI ALIJanuary 18, 2012. A Palestinian man reacts upon the arrival of the body of a man, killed by an Israeli strike, at a hospital in Beit Hanoun in the northern Gaza Strip. Mohammed Salem—ReutersJanuary 15, 2012. A woman looks out of the train window at Hefei Railway Station, Anhui province. Chinese New Year, or Spring Festival, is the biggest of two "Golden Week" holidays, giving migrant workers their only chance of the year to return to their home provinces with gifts for their families. ReutersJanuary 13, 2012. Thousands of Muslims seeking peace and the revival of Islam's tenets joined the inaugural session at the river bank. The annual Biswa Ijtema, billed as the largest annual Islamic event only after the hajj pilgrimage, began at the Tongi on the outskirts of Dhaka, Bangladesh, amid tight security. Safin Ahmed—Demotix/CorbisJanuary 16, 2012. A woman holds incense sticks at the Old City God Temple in Yuyuan Garden, downtown Shanghai. The Lunar New Year begins on Jan. 23 and marks the start of the Year of the Dragon. Carlos Barria—ReutersJanuary 17, 2012. Indian bull tamers hold on to a bull during Jallikattu, a bull-taming sport played as part of the harvest festival of Pongal, in Palamedu, about 575 kilomters (359 miles) south of Chennai, India.Arun Sankar K.—AP PhotoJanuary 15, 2012. Nepalese people watch bulls fighting during an annual bull fighting festival in Taruka village in Nuwakot, 60 kilometers (37 miles), northwest of Katmandu.Binod Joshi—AP PhotoJanuary 17, 2012. Indian soldiers from the Border Security Forces, atop of camels, stand at attention in front of the Presidential Palace during a ceremony in preparation for the annual Beating Retreat in New Delhi, India.Kevin Frayer—AP PhotoJanuary 14, 2012. Chairs are arranged during a farewell ceremony for two giant pandas due to depart for France at the Giant Panda Research Base in Chengdu, Sichuan province.Ed Jones—AFP/Getty ImagesJanuary 15, 2012. Uggie the Dog from the Golden Globe winning film "The Artist" poses with the trophy at the 69th annual ceremony at the Beverly Hilton Hotel in Beverly Hills, California.Robyn Beck—AFP/Getty ImagesJanuary 16, 2012. Gymnasts from the Greek team perform with the ball during the team qualification round of the Rhythmic Gymnastics London 2012 Olympic qualifier.Ben Stansall—AFP/Getty Images January 14, 2012. A young man sits in the Christmas tree on St. Peter's Square, Vatican City, as dozens of young protesters crowded the square during a meeting between Italian Prime Minister Mario Monti and Pope Benedict XVI. Ettore Ferrari—EPAJanuary 17, 2012. National Trust ranger Kate Martin plants recycled Christmas trees in the sand dunes of Formby Point in Formby, England. Christopher Furlong—Getty ImagesJanuary 18, 2012. Paramilitary soldiers of the Indian Border Security Force wait under a tree with their camels amidst winter morning fog before the start of Republic Day parade rehearsals in New Delhi, India.Manish Swarup—AP PhotoJanuary 16, 2012. Kashmiri girls look from their houseboat as it snows in Srinagar, the summer capital Indian Kashmir.Farooq Khan—EPAJanuary 14, 2012. Dusac Simocko of Slovakia in action during the men's 10km sprint individual event at the Biathlon World Cup in Nove Mesto, Czech Republic. Filip Singer—EPAJanuary 17, 2012. A musher and his dogs compete during the ninth stage of La Grande Odyssée, a sled-dog race. Mushers and their furry guides cross more than 620 miles (1,000 km) of the French Alps over 11 days.Denis Balibouse—ReutersJanuary 19, 2012.. A ski jumper takes a run up during the qualification for the FIS World Cup Ski Jumping competition in Zakopane, Poland.Kacper Pempel—ReutersJanuary 13, 2012. This US Coast Guard photo shows the Coast Guard Cutter Healy as it breaks ice as the sun begins to set in the Nome harbor, Alaska. The Healy and crew have been deployed for approximately eight months to support Arctic science research and also escorting and breaking ice for the Russian tanker Renda.Charly Hengen—US CoastguardJanuary 19, 2012. An Ethiopian Orthodox Christian female pilgrim is pictured at a mass before the annual festival of Timkat in Lalibela, Ethiopia which celebrates the Baptism of Jesus in the Jordan River. Carl De Souza—AFP/Getty ImagesJanuary 16, 2012. A man rides a horse through a bonfire in the small village of San Bartolomé de Pinares, Spain. As part of a tradition that dates back 500 years, horses are ridden through fire to honor San Anton, the patron saint of animals, while animals are blessed in churches and included in the parties.Jasper Juinen—Getty Images January19, 2012. Craftsmen in protective fire suits pour molten bronze metal into ceramic molds to cast of the Screen Actors Guild Award "The Actor" statuettes using the lost wax process, at the American Fine Arts Foundry.Damian Dovarganes—APJanuary 17, 2012. A resident of the Pinheirinho slum wearing a mask looks on, after hearing a federal court injunction which temporarily suspended an eviction of the area they have been occupying, during the early morning in Sao Jose dos Campos, Brazil.Roosevelt Cassio—ReutersJanuary 18, 2012. During the 2012 Australian Open tennis tournament in Melbourne, Spain’s Rafael Nadal serves against Tommy Haas of Germany in their second-round men’s singles match. Nadal went on to win the match in straight sets.Chen Xiaowei—Xinhua/ZUMAPRESS.comJanuary 13, 2012. An instructor breaks a glass bottle over a recruit’s head as part of a boot camp for would-be female bodyguards in Beijing. Demand for bodyguards is on the rise in China as its citizens accrue wealth, and women are in particular demand, as they are less conspicuous than men.David Gray—ReutersJanuary 13, 2012. Workmen carry out painting and repairs on the Royal Yacht Britannia in a dry dock at Forth Ports in Edinburgh, Scotland.Jeff J Mitchell—Getty ImagesJanuary 14, 2012. The Australian icebreaker 'Aurora Australis' sits on the edge of fast ice 20 km from Mawson's Hut at Commonwealth Bay, Antarctica. Dean Lewins—EPAJanuary 19, 2012. People gather around a bath of ice cold water as they prepare to plunge into it at the Kolomenskoe park on the outskirts of Moscow, Russia. Thousands of Russian Orthodox Church followers plunged into icy rivers and ponds across the country to mark Epiphany, during which they cleanse themselves with water deemed holy for the day. Mikhail Metzel—AP PhotoJanuary 19, 2012. An Orthodox priest walks near a bathing hole made for Epiphany celebrations in a pond in Moscow's Kolomenskoe park. Denis Sinyakov—ReutersJanuary 16, 2011. Sharifa Ibrahim, a nurse at the Sharif Islamic Committee, a community center operated by the Muslim Brotherhood in the Shobra neighborhood of Cairo. The Sharif Islamic Committee offers free health and education services to underprivileged families living in this community.
Moises Saman—MagnumJanuary 16, 2012. People gather at sunrise at the Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial in Washington, for a ceremony to mark his legacy. Evan Vucci—AP PhotoJanuary 16, 2012. Indian Border Security Force (BSF) soldiers train on stunt motorcycles in preparation for an upcoming Republic Day parade in New Delhi, India. In the background is the Rashtrapati Bhawan, or Presidential Palace. Mustafa Quraishi—AP PhotoJanuary 13, 2012. Italy’s Paolo Ceci races his KTM motorcycle across a stretch of the 171-mile (275 km) path from Nazca to Pisco, Peru, as part of the 2012 Argentina- Chile-Peru Dakar Rally. Martin Mejia—AP PhotoJanuary 15, 2012. A sadhu—a Hindu holy man—splashes in the water at Gangasagar, India, south of Kolkata (formerly Calcutta). Dibyangshu Sarkar—AFP/Getty Images
