From the glitz and glamour of fashion runways to overcrowded salt-of-the-earth trains, join us for a trip around the blue marble we call home in the week's best images.
A Pakistani child, who was displaced with her family from Pakistan's tribal areas due to fighting between militants and the army, looks out through a hole in a makeshift curtain at the entrance of her family's home on Jan. 28, 2013.
Muhammed Muheisen/AP
Young dancers practice during the contemporary classes at the 41th International Ballet Competition Prix de Lausanne on Jan. 28. The Prix de Lausanne is an international competition open to young dancers age 15 to 18 who are not yet professionals, with finalists winning scholarships at a world-renowned dance school or dance company.
Fabrice Coffrini/AFP/Getty
Runners race along the back stretch in the Carolyn Brown Celebration Veterans' Handicap Steeplechase at Wincanton racecourse on Jan. 31.
A freshly severed pig's head at the Pigs Carvers Festival, a team-based cooking event where participants have to kill a pig, butcher the carcass, and prepare a variety of dishes made from the animal. Some 26 teams of butchers from Ukraine, Hungary, and Serbia took part in the traditional competition, Jan. 26.
A model presents a creation by Margarita Freire during the first day of the International Flamenco Fashion Show, on Jan. 31.
Cristina Quicler/Getty
A little tourist slips on the ice in Tiananmen Square, Jan. 31. Heavy smog that choked Beijing for days eased up slightly on Thursday after a light rainfall, although the capital's air remains heavily polluted. The haze choking many Chinese cities covers a total area of 1.43 million square kilometers, the China's Ministry of Environmental Protection said Wednesday.
Feng Li/Getty
A young child runs through deserted side streets, Jan. 28. Not far from here, French and Malian troops held a strategic bridge and airport as they advanced on al Qaeda-linked militants, trying to drive them out of the country.
Statues of Israeli soldiers at an army post serve as a backdrop to a sign for tourists showing the different distances to Jerusalem, Baghdad, Damascus and other locations, Jan. 31. Tensions in the region are high this week after Israeli warplanes entered Syria and fired upon a convoy, which, according to U.S. officals, was carrying antiaircraft weapons bound for Hezbollah.
Tear gas looms over a small park as protesters opposing Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi battle with riot police along Qasr Al Nil bridge, which leads to Tahrir Square, Jan. 29. Two years after Egypt's revolution began, the country's schism is on display once more as the mainly liberal and secular opposition held rallies denouncing the president and saying the goals of the pro-democracy uprising have not been met.
Hindu holy men of the Juna Akhara sect participate in rituals that are believed to rid them of all ties in this life and dedicate themselves to serving God as 'Naga,' or naked holy men, during the Maha Kumbh festival, Jan. 31. Only by shedding all their worldy belongings, including clothing, can they become the Naga holy men, a practice that can only be done at the festival.
Rajesh Kumar Singh/AP
Passengers sleep on the train from Hangzhou, capital of east China's Zhejiang Province, to Fuyang, in east China's Anhui Province, Jan. 29. The 40-day Spring Festival travel rush, which started Jan. 26, is traditionally the most important holiday among the Chinese people, celebrated with family gatherings, a factor that has led to massive seasonal travel rushes in recent years as more Chinese leave their hometowns to seek work elsewhere.
A woman sits in prayer while her head is shaved to mourn the late Cambodian King Norodom Sihanouk ahead of his funeral, Jan. 31. Sihanouk, who died on Oct. 15, 2012 at age 89, is scheduled to be cremated on Feb. 4.
Wong Maye-E/AP
Syrian children play in the Za’atari refugee camp, Jan. 30. Record numbers of refugees are fleeing the violence and bombings in Syria to cross the borders to safety in northern Jordan and overwhelming the Za'atari camp, causing the Jordanian government to appeal for help to cope with the sheer numbers arriving in the country.
A man sits inside the former Indigenous Museum next to Maracana Stadium on Jan. 28. Rio's governor, Sergio Cabral, abandoned a plan to throw out natives and pull down the building to construct a 10,500-space parking lot for the Brazil 2014 FIFA World Cup, following a series of lawsuits. Instead, it announced a refurbishment plan. Indigenous people have been occupying the place since 2006.
Christophe Simon/AFP/Getty
