Monday, 5 March 2012

Pictures of the week 27th Feb - 4th March

POTW
A student, with her face smeared in coloured powder, celebrates Holi, also known as the festival of colours, at a college in the northern Indian city of Chandigarh March 2, 2012. The traditional event heralds the beginning of spring and will be celebrated all over India on March 8POTW
A survivor stands outside his house that was burnt and damaged in the Godhra riots during the commemoration of its 10th anniversary, in the western Indian city of Ahmedabad February 27, 2012. The riots were some of the country's worst religious riots since independence, killing some 2,500 people, mainly MuslimsPOTW
A woman poses for a photograph with a painting during an exhibition by the Trick Art Museum of Japan at the National Taiwan Science Education Centre in Taipei March 2, 2012. The exhibition will be held in Taipei from March 3 to June 3A bulldozer carries Chinese workers to the White Nile Sugar Factory in El Diwaym
A bulldozer carries Chinese workers to the White Nile Sugar Factory in El Diwaym March 3, 2012. Sudan wants to boost sugar production with the help of a new plant to be launched in White Nile state. The African country hopes to increase production by 450,000 tons within three years to satisfy local demand and start exporting sugar to help offset the loss of oil to South Sudan
POTW
A technician opens a pressure gas valve inside the Oil and Natural Gas Corp (ONGC) group gathering station on the outskirts of the western Indian city of Ahmedabad March 2, 2012. The government's failure to sell all of the shares in its $2.6 billion auction of a 5 percent stake in ONGC is an embarrassing setback in its effort to revive stock sales in state companies to trim a yawning fiscal deficit
A woman dries her saree after washing it on the banks of river Tawi in Jammu
A woman dries her saree, a traditional cloth used for women's clothing, after washing it on the banks of river Tawi in Jammu March 3, 2012
An airplane sits upside down following tornado damage at the Paulding Northwest Atlanta Airport in Dallas.
An airplane sits upside down following tornado damage at the Paulding Northwest Atlanta Airport as an airport official takes a look in Dallas, Georgia, March 3, 2012. The latest in a series of powerful tornadoes raked across a broad swath of the U.S. Midwest and Southeast, killing at least 33 people in four states, authorities said on Saturday
A boy gets his head shaved by a Buddhist monk as he is sent by his family to live the life of a monk for seven days as part of a ritual in Yangon
A boy gets his head shaved by a Buddhist monk as he is sent by his family to live the life of a monk for seven days as part of a ritual in Yangon March 4, 2012. Boys between the ages of 7 and 18 in Myanmar are traditionally sent by their family to experience the life of a monk for a short span of tim
Honour guards march in step during the changing of the guards ceremony at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier by the Kremlin wall in central Moscow
Honour guards march in step during the changing of the guards ceremony at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier by the Kremlin wall in central Moscow March 2, 2012. Russians will go to the polls for their presidential election on March 4
Members of the Saudi police force showcase their skills during their graduation ceremony at Public Security Training City in Mecca
Members of the Saudi police force showcase their skills during their graduation ceremony at Public Security Training City in Mecca March 3, 2012
Traditional dancers entertain people during the final funeral ceremony for Biafran ex-warlord Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu, in his native village of Nnewi
Traditional dancers entertain people during the final funeral ceremony for Biafran ex-warlord Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu, in his native village of Nnewi, southeast Nigeria, March 
A man shields himself from a woman playfully beating him with a bamboo stick during
A man shields himself from a woman playfully beating him with a bamboo stick during "Lathmar Holi" at Barsana in the northern Indian state of Uttar Pradesh March 2, 2012. In a Holi tradition unique to Barsana, men sing provocative songs to gain the attention of women, who then "beat" them with bamboo sticks called "lathis". Holi, also known as the Festival of Colours, heralds the beginning of spring and is celebrated all over India
A dog dressed as
A dog dressed as "El Chapulin Colorado" takes part in the "America celebrates Chespirito" tribute in Mexico City February 29, 2012. Mexican comedian and director Roberto Gomez Bolanos is known as Chespirito and play the characters of "El Chavo del Ocho
Lady Gaga takes a photograph of herself with a fan as she arrives at Harvard University to launch her Born This Way Foundation in Cambridge
Lady Gaga takes a photograph of herself with a fan as she arrives at Harvard University to launch her Born This Way Foundation in Cambridge, Massachusetts February 29, 2012
A policeman uses his baton against students protesting against spending cuts in public education in Barcelona
A policeman uses his baton against students protesting against spending cuts in public education in Barcelona February 29, 2012
A protester displays sign during demonstration by university students opposing government's planned education reforms in Prague
A protester displays a sign during a demonstration by university students opposing the government's planned education reforms in Prague February 29, 2012. The banner reads, "Student, slave of the market
People hold national flags and torches during an event on the eve of the anniversary of the March 1 Independence Movement in Cheonan
People hold national flags and torches during an event on the eve of the anniversary of the March 1 Independence Movement in Cheonan, 92 km (57 miles) south of Seoul, February 29, 2012. The event was held to re-enact the independence movement against Japanese colonial rule in 1919 during which 7,509 Koreans were killed, 15,961 were injured and 46,948 were arrested and put in prison by the Japanese army, which had forcibly occupied the Korean peninsula in 1910-1945, according to the South Korean governmen
Odile Charton, 100, blows candles on her 25th Leap Day birthday in her retirement home in Ingersheim near Colmar
Marthe Odile Charton (C), 100, blows candles on her 25th Leap Day birthday, helped by her niece Marie-Therese (L) and nephew Jean-Louis, in her retirement home in Ingersheim near Colmar, Eastern France, February 29, 2012. Odile is a "leaper" born on February 29,1912 in Ingersheim
A woman walks past a building decorated with eyes in Crimean city of Sevastopol
A woman walks past a building decorated with a pair of eyes in the Crimean city of Sevastopol February 29, 2012