Photos Of The Week: March 13-19
A boy jumps over a fire during the festival of Chaharshanbe Suri ahead of Norouz, the Persian New Year. - Iranians in Tehran celebrated Chaharshanbe Suri, the festival of fire, on March 16 by lighting bonfires and setting off fireworks, defying a ban on the festivities imposed by Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
Photo by ISNA
Goldfish are on sale at a market in Bandar Abbas, Iran, along with flowers and other Norouz symbols. - Photo by ISNA
Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez and his Belarusian counterpart Alyaksandr Lukashenka meet in Caracas. - The two leaders, who share similarly antagonistic relations with the West, signed agreements on strengthening energy ties during their meeting at the Miraflores Palace.
Photo by David Fernandez for epa
Children wait as their parents vote at a polling station in Ivanovo, Russia. - The vast majority of the mandates in the local legislative election on March 14 went to the ruling United Russia party, but support for the party in percentage terms declined.
Photo by ITAR-TASS
A priest sanctifies the first Russian private submarine museum during its opening ceremony in St. Petersburg. - Photo by Alexander Demianchuk for Reuters
A man holds a picture of his son at a cemetery for victims of the poison gas attack on Kurds in Halabjah, northern Iraq. - Iraqi Kurds on March 16 commemorated the anniversary of the 1988 attack by Saddam Hussein's regime, in which thousands died.
Photo by Jamal Penjweny for Reuters
Members of the Mandaean faith perform religious rituals along the Tigris River in Baghdad during the Benja festival. - Photo by Thaier al-Sudani for Reuters
This car was swept away by floodwaters in the village of Kyzyl-Agash, Kazakhstan. - At least 35 people died and thousands were left homeless when spring flooding caused a dam to burst in the Almaty region.
Photo by ITAR-TASS
An Afghan vendor looks on as U.S. Marines patrol a bazaar in Marjah, where major military operations are under way. - Photo by Mauricio Lima for Reuters
Afghans watch a dog fight on the outskirts of Kabul. - Photo by Behrouz Mehri for AFP
A man sits on top of a horse-drawn cart loaded with hay during a heavy snowfall near Tusnad, Romania. - Photo by Radu Sigheti for Reuters