--- description: From protests in Afghanistan and India's Mahashivratri festival to Olympic test events in London and Whitney Houston's funeral in New Jersey, TIME’s photo department presents the best images of the week. title: TIME Magazine's Best Pictures of the Week, February 17 – February 24 image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltb47a3c96efcc5691/69879cd8e53abab9c74d944c/19-20120220_sha_cs9_531.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [World](/section/world/) ## World Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [LightBox](/tag/time-section-lightbox/) ## LightBox Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # Pictures of the Week: February 17 – February 24 by [TIME Photo Department](/author/time-photo-department/) ## TIME Photo Department Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Feb 24, 2012 4:30 PM CUT  Feb. 20, 2012\. A "rainbow" is seen in space as a result of a star cluster millions of miles away, in Castelluccio Plateau, Sibillini Mountains National Park, Sibillini, Italy. Feb. 20, 2012\. A "rainbow" is seen in space as a result of a star cluster millions of miles away, in Castelluccio Plateau, Sibillini Mountains National Park, Sibillini, Italy.Maurizio Pignotti—Caters News/ZUMA PRESS by [TIME Photo Department](/author/time-photo-department/) ## TIME Photo Department Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Feb 24, 2012 4:30 PM CUT From protests in Afghanistan and India’s Mahashivratri festival to Olympic test events in London and Whitney Houston’s funeral in New Jersey, TIME’s photo department presents the best images of the week.  February 21, 2012\. An anti-government protestor carries another injured protestor during clashes with police in Senegal's capital Dakar. Hundreds of opposition supporters clashed with Senegalese security forces in the capital on Tuesday as European Union observers criticised a ban on protests and an African envoy jetted in to try and stem rising violence. Joe Penney—Reuters  Feb. 21, 2012\. Afghan youth take cover from the rubbers bullets shot by U.S. soldiers at the gates of Bagram airbase during a protest against Koran desecration at Bagram, about 60 km (40 miles) north of Kabul. Shah Marai—AFP / Getty Images  Feb. 22, 2012\. An Afghan policeman keeps watch during a protest near a U.S. military base in Kabul. Ahmad Masood—Reuters  Feb. 21, 2012\. An Afghan man aims a slingshot toward U.S. soldiers at the gate of Bagram airbase during a protest against Koran desecration at Bagram, about 60 km (40 miles) north of Kabul. Shah Marai—AFP / Getty Images  February 24, 2012\. An Afghan boy who works at a bakery watches a protest outside his a window in Kabul. Twelve people were killed on Friday in the bloodiest day yet in protests that have raged across Afghanistan over the desecration of copies of the Muslim holy book at a NATO military base with riot police and soldiers on high alert braced for more violence. Ahmad Masood—Reuters  Feb. 21, 2012\. Clothing, lying in heaps at the site of a neighborhood destroyed by last year's tsunami, is piled up by a clearing crew in Rikuzentakata, Iwate Prefecture, northern Japan. David Guttenfelder—AP Photo  Feb. 20, 2012\. Tokyo Electric Power Co.'s tsunami-crippled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant No.4 (R), No.3 (C) and No.2 reactor buildings are seen in Fukushima prefecture, Japan. Issei Kato—EPA  Feb. 19, 2012\. Cardinals and Bishops seen during the Concistory ceremony at St. Peter's Basilica in Vatican City. AGF s.r.l. / Rex  Feb. 20, 2012\. Pope Benedict XVI meets the 22 new Cardinals after the Concistory in Aula Paolo VI at the Vatican. Evandro Inetti—ZUMA PRESS  Feb. 22, 2012\. Indian Christians offer prayers during a mass in observance of Ash Wednesday at a Catholic church in Hyderabad, India. Mahesh Kumar A.—AP Photo  Feb. 20, 2012\. Fans wait for autographs during the New York Yankees' practice at baseball spring training, Tampa, Fla. Matt Slocum—AP Photo  Feb. 20, 2012\. New York Yankee Mariano Rivera signs autographs after practice at baseball spring training in Tampa, Fla. Matt Slocum—AP Photo  Feb. 19, 2012\. A relative of an inmate waits next to a fence for news as a police officer stands guard inside a state prison in Apodaca, on the outskirts of Monterrey, Mexico. Daniel Becerril—Reuters  Feb. 18, 2012\. A boy with a painted face holds a mirror that reflects other boys, during preparations before a parade as part of the Barranquilla Carnival in Barranquilla, Colombia. Joaquin Sarmiento—Reuters  Feb. 20, 2012\. U.S. Republican Senator John McCain addresses a press conference in Cairo during an official visit by a delegation of U.S. senators to Egypt. Marco Longari—AFP / Getty Images  Feb. 20, 2012\. European Space Agency astronaut Thomas Pesquet of France gets ready before diving in a space suit during a training exercise at the Star City cosmonaut training center outside Moscow. Sergei Remezov—Reuters  Feb. 21, 2012\. Monks gather to pray at the Labrang monastery prior to Tibetan New Year in Xiahe county, Gansu Province, China. Carlos Barria—Reuters  Feb. 20, 2012\. A Hindu holy man, or sadhu, with tika on his forehead, is seen at the premises of Pashupatinath Temple during the Shivaratri festival in Kathmandu. Navesh Chitrakar—Reuters  Feb. 18, 2012\. Dalmatian pelicans gather in the water area of the Caspian Sea port in Makhachkala in Russia's Dagestan province. Sergei Rasulov—Reuters  Feb. 20, 2012\. Schoolgirls wait backstage before a performance of Indian classical dance on the occasion of the Mahashivratri festival in Thiruvananthapuram, capital of the southern Indian state of Kerala. Danish Siddiqui—Reuters  Feb. 20, 2012\. An Indian girl performs acrobatic skills on a rope during Mahashivratri festival celebrations at Bhavnath temple in Junagadh, about 327 km (204 miles) from Ahmedabad, India. Ajit Solanki—AP Photo  Feb. 17, 2012\. A child waits for the arrival of Myanmar democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi in Pyar Pon, Myanmar. Soe Than Win—AFP / Getty Images  Feb. 20, 2012\. A member of the Nepalese army on a parachute demonstrates his skills during the Army Day celebration in Kathmandu. Navesh Chitrakar—Reuters  Feb. 20, 2012\. Britain's Stacey Powell (bottom left) competes during the women's 10m platform preliminary event at the FINA Diving World Cup, also doubling as a 2012 Olympics Test event, at the Olympic Aquatic Centre in London. Adrian Dennis—AFP / Getty Images  Feb. 21, 2012\. Chen Ruolin of China dives in the semi-final of the women's 10m Platform competition at the FINA Diving World Cup at the Olympic Aquatics Centre in London. Andrew Winning—Reuters  Feb. 16, 2012\. Australia's Luke Durbridge, Rohan Dennis, Alexander Edmondson and Michael Hepburn compete during the Men's Team Pursuit qualification round at the UCI Track Cycling World Cup, a test event for the London 2012 Olympic Games, at the Velodrome in the Olympic Park in London. Adrian Dennis—AFP / Getty Images  Feb. 21, 2012\. Ferrari's Spanish driver Fernando Alonso drives during a training session at Catalunya's racetrack in Montmelo, near Barcelona. Josep Lago—AFP / Getty Images  Feb. 22, 2012\. Switzerland's Michael Hoefer trains for the men's skeleton world championships in Lake Placid, N.Y. Mike Groll—AP Photo  Feb. 22, 2012\. Kyle Busch drives the #18 M & M's Brown Toyota during practice for the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Daytona 500 at Daytona International Speedway in Daytona Beach, Fla. Streeter Lecka—Getty Images  Feb. 18, 2012\. Jeff Gordon, right, flips over after colliding with Kurt Busch, left, as Jimmie Johnson drives behind Busch during the NASCAR Budweiser Shootout auto race at Daytona International Speedway in Daytona Beach, Fla. Phelan M. Ebenhack—AP Photo  Feb. 18, 2012\. Debris is seen after a fire in a market in Tegucigalpa, Honduras. The fire started in Colon Market, and spread to the adjacent San Isidro Market. Roberto Escobar—EPA  Feb. 21, 2012\. A pair of Oracle Racing AC45s sail past the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco. Jeff Chiu—AP Photo  Feb. 18, 2012\. Reflected in the window of a hearse, the casket of Bronx teenager Ramarley Graham, who was shot to death by police officers earlier this month, is carried by family and friends following his funeral in the Bronx, New York City. Spencer Platt—Getty Images  Feb. 18, 2012\. A police horse is seen in front of the hearse that carried the casket of singer Whitney Houston, outside of the New Hope Baptist Church before Houston's funeral in Newark, N.J. Justin Lane—EPA  Feb. 20, 2012\. A woman, relative of an inmate killed during last week's prison fire, cries while she and others inspect bodies looking for relatives at the morgue in Tegucigalpa, Honduras. Esteban Felix—AP Photo  Feb. 16, 2012\. A soldier guards Guatemalan president Otto Perez Molina during his visit to San Juan Atitan, Guatemala. Saul Martinez—EFE / ZUMA PRESS  Feb. 23, 2012\. Syrians carry the body of a man reportedly killed in violence in the northwestern Idlib region. Bulent Kilic—AFP / Getty Images  Feb. 17, 2012\. Anti-government protesters and police clash in running street battles of rock throwing and tear gas in the streets of Dakar, Senegal. Sylvain Cherkaoui—News Pictures / ABACA  Feb. 17, 2012\. Libyans wave Kingdom of Libya flags as they celebrate the first anniversary of the uprising that toppled Moammar Gaddafi, in Benghazi, Libya. Esam Al-Fetori—Reuters  Feb. 18, 2012\. A costumed boy participates in a carnival parade, the Junior Parade of Bands, in Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago. Peter Komka—EPA  Feb. 23, 2012\. Performers from The Forgotten Angle Theatre Collaborative in PJ Sabbagha's 'One Night Stand' during the Dance Umbrella 2012 in Johannesburg. John Hogg—EPA  Feb. 22, 2012\. Workers stand on a Ferris wheel as they wait for fairgoers at a carnival ground near the Shwedagon Pagoda during its 2600th anniversary celebrations in Yangon, Myanmar. Altaf Qadri—AP Photo  Feb. 20, 2012\. Samba school Uniao da Ilha do Governador participates in the second day of parade at the sambodromo of the Rio de Janeiro Carnival. Antonio Lacerda—EPA  Feb. 21, 2012\. Dancers of Grande Rio samba school parade during carnival celebrations at the Sambadrome in Rio de Janeiro. Victor R. Caivano—AP Photo  Feb. 20, 2012\. Dancers of Sao Clemente samba school parade during carnival celebrations at the Sambadrome in Rio de Janeiro. Felipe Dana—AP Photo  Feb. 23, 2012\. Jianhui, a 5-year-old monkey, prompts a mechanical arm via brain signals at a laboratory of Zhejiang University in Hangzhou, Zhejiang province. China Daily/Reuters  Feb. 23, 2012\. A physically disabled woman on her wheelchair clashes with riot police in the centre of La Paz. Hundreds of physically disabled people arrived in La Paz on Thursday after completing a protest march of some 1600 km (994 miles) over a hundred days to demand that Bolivia's government offer support in the form of 3000 bolivianos ($434) payment to each physically disabled Bolivian, according to local media. David Mercado—Reuters  Feb. 22, 2012\. A handout photo provided by the office of Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei shows him (R) listening to the head of the Iranian Atomic Energy Organization Fereydoun Abbasi Davani during a meeting with Iranian nuclear scientists in Tehran. AFP/Getty Images  Feb. 23, 2012\. North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un aims a rifle at the Sporting Bullet Factory, which was built in 1996 on the direct initiative of North Korea's late leader Kim Jong-il, in an undisclosed location in North Korea. KCNA / Reuters  Feb. 21, 2012\. Russian police officers role-play as armed criminals hijacking a bank vehicle during a performance for spectators at a military festival held in honor of the forthcoming Defender of the Fatherland Day in Russia's Siberian city of Krasnoyarsk. Ilya Naymushin—Reuters  Feb. 20, 2012\. Israeli soldiers stretch after completing an overnight march in Jerusalem. Baz Ratner—Reuters  Feb. 17, 2012\. President Barack Obama walks down the stairs of a Boeing 787 Dreamliner before giving a speech on the Boeing 787 Dreamliner assembly line in Everett, Wash. Stephen Brashear–Getty Images  Feb. 23, 2012\. International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees Union Local 33 Hollywood stage crewmen Shawn Schull, left, and John Shipton move an Oscar frame for the 84th Annual Academy Awards, to be held on Sunday, outside the Kodak Theatre in Los Angeles. Damian Dovarganes—AP  Feb. 24, 2012\. A photograph of Pakistani Gulzar Jaan Ghullzir Jan, 35, who went missing in 2010, is left on a chair inside a tent near the parliament in Islamabad, Pakistan. The Supreme Court has now given the families a measure of hope by bringing a landmark case against the Inter-Services Intelligence agency, the country's most feared spy network and suspected to be behind most of the abductions. Muhammed Muheisen—AP  Feb. 20, 2012\. Models carry umbrellas through plastic "rain" during the finale of the Burberry Prorsum London 2012 Autumn/Winter collection catwalk show at London Fashion Week in central London. Leon Neal—AFP / Getty Images  Feb. 17, 2012\. A protester takes cover from the rain during a demonstration organized by Egyptians and Syrians living in Egypt to call for the expulsion of the Syrian ambassador, outside the Syrian embassy in Cairo. Marco Longari—AFP / Getty Images  Feb. 20, 2012\. A child stands with his father as they wait to receive blankets and winter jackets from Welthungerhilfe, a German NGO, during a snow fall at a camp for internally displaced Afghans in Kabul. Musadeq Sadeq—AP Photo  Feb. 24, 2012\. Albanian soldiers carry the coffin of Albanian Captain Feti Vogli, 31, as it arrives at Tirana's Mother Teresa airport. On Feb. 20, Afghan gunmen clad in police uniforms opened fire on NATO troops in southern Afghanistan, killing Vogli and injuring two other foreign soldiers, according to Albania's Defense Ministry. Hektor Pustina—AP  Feb. 21, 2012\. China's Vice-President Xi Jinping, back center, lays a wreath at the Ataturk Mauseloum, named after the founder of modern Turkey, in Ankara. Cem Ozdel—Anadolu Agency / EPA  Feb. 23, 2012\. A Kashmiri villager holds a relative after their huts were buried under snow due to an avalanche at Ramwari, about 70 km (43 miles) from Srinagar, India. Rouf Bhat—AFP / Getty Images  Feb. 19, 2012\. Snow covered trees are seen in the Duckyu mountains, South Korea. Jeon Heon-Kyun—EPA  Feb. 23, 2012\. Palle-Jooseppi, a male brown bear at Ranua Zoo, wakes up after winter hibernation in Ranua, Finland. Kaisa Siren—Lehtikuva / Reuters  Feb. 20, 2012\. A "rainbow" is seen in space as a result of a star cluster millions of miles away, in Castelluccio Plateau, Sibillini Mountains National Park, Sibillini, Italy. 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