The Week in Pictures | March 19-25, 2012 - Framework - Photos and Video - Visual Storytelling from the Los Angeles Times

Allahabad, India — A Hindu woman holds incense sticks as she offers prayers inside the Alopi Devi temple. Hindu New Year is celebrated Friday, the first day of Navratri, or nine nights festival, which honors Hindu goddess of valor Durga.

PHOTOGRAPH BY: Rajesh Kumar Singh / Associated Press

Mumbai, India — An Indian man dressed as the evil king Rawan takes part in a procession celebrating the Maharashtrian New Year. Gudhi Padwa is the Hindu New Year for the people of India's state of Maharashtra and marks the end of a harvest and the beginning of a new one, which for an agricultural community signifies the beginning of a new year.

PHOTOGRAPH BY: PUNIT PARANJPE / AFP / Getty Images

Mumbai, India — Indian children dressed as various Hindu gods participate in the procession to celebrate Gudi Padwa, Maharashtrian's New Year in Mumbai. Gudi Padwa is the Hindu festival that falls on the first day of Chaitra month and marks the beginning of the lunar calendar, which dictates the dates for all Hindu festivals, also known as Panchang.

PHOTOGRAPH BY: DIVYAKANT SOLANKI / EPA

Prague — One-month-old Apolenka, the offspring of a Rothschild giraffe, stands next to her mother at the Prague Zoo.

PHOTOGRAPH BY: FILIP SINGER / EPA

Luebbenau, Germany — Wood anemones in full bloom on the castle grounds. They are common flowers in the Spree Forest and cover large areas of meadows.

PHOTOGRAPH BY: PATRICKâ PLEUL / EPA

London — An employee looks at "Zephyr" by Andrew Witten at Bonhams auctioneers. The painting, estimated at $9,500 to $13,000, is part of the Urban Art Sale, which takes place at Bonhams on March 29.

PHOTOGRAPH BY: Peter Macdiarmid / Getty Images

Katmandu, Nepal — A devotee carries a child on his shoulder and participates in a chariot procession during Pachare festival. The festival is celebrated by the Newari community and mainly marked as a day of getting together with family.

PHOTOGRAPH BY: Binod Joshi / Associated Press

Mazar-i Sharif, Afghanistan — Afghan men compete with horses during the traditional Afghan sport Buzkashi. The ancient game of Buzkashi is an Afghan national sport that is played between two teams of horsemen competing to throw a animal carcass into a scoring circle.

PHOTOGRAPH BY: JOHANNES EISELE / AFP / Getty Images

Istanbul, Turkey — Turkish riot policemen clash with Libyans in front of the consulate of Libya. Dozens of Libyans were arrested after they stormed the consulate, demanding financial aid to pay for treatment they received in Turkey for their injuries during the Libyan unrest.

PHOTOGRAPH BY: BULENT KILIC / AFP / Getty Images

Prizren, Kosovo — Sufi dervishes from the Bektashi Order participate in a ceremony to mark Nowruz. The Kosovo Sufi community performs centuries-old mystical practices, such as self-piercing with needles and knives as a way to earn salvation and find the path to God.

PHOTOGRAPH BY: Visar Kryeziu / Associated Press

Najaf, Iraq — Iraqi security forces patrol in the cemetery in the Shiite holy city of Najaf. The Iraqi government has tightened its security measures as Al Qaeda's front group in Iraq claimed Wednesday it was behind a wave of attacks to show how weak the nation's security is heading into next week's Arab League summit in Baghdad.

PHOTOGRAPH BY: Alaa al-Marjani / Associated Press

Bangkok, Thailand — A tourist walks through the Grand Palace in Bangkok.

PHOTOGRAPH BY: Sean Kilpatrick / Associated Press

Toulouse, France — Members of a special police forces unit leave after the scene after an assault on the apartment of Mohamed Merah ended with the death of the suspect in the shooting deaths of seven people.

PHOTOGRAPH BY: PASCAL PAVANI / AFP / Getty Images

Toulouse, France — A frame from a video broadcast on French TV channel France 2 shows a man believed to be Mohamed Mehra, the suspect in the fatal shootings of seven people who was killed in a police raid on his apartment after a 31-hour standoff,

PHOTOGRAPH BY: FRANCE 2 / EPA

Medan, Indonesia — Students burn tires and vandalize a government car while protesting the government's plan to raise fuel prices 33% next month to avoid a budget deficit.

PHOTOGRAPH BY: Binsar Bakkara / Associated Press

Makasar, Indonesia — A man runs through burning tires during student protests against the government's plans to raise fuel prices,

PHOTOGRAPH BY: JALIN / AFP / Getty Images

Bamako, Mali — Anxious residents run past soldiers in a Bamako street after Malian President Amadou Toumani Toure was forced to flee his palace during an overnight coup. Amadou is well and in a safe location, a loyalist military source said Thursday.

PHOTOGRAPH BY: HABIBOU KOUYATE / AFP / Getty Images

Bournemouth, England — A couple sit in what is expected to be confirmed as the world's largest deck chair on Bournemouth beach. The giant chair, built by sculptor Stuart Murdoch, weighs almost six tons and measures almost 28 feet tall.

PHOTOGRAPH BY: Chris Ison / Associated Press

Washington, D.C. — Women hold signs directed at Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney while protesting outside the Hyatt Regency hotel where Romney was scheduled to attend a fundraiser. Supporters of Planned Parenthood and the National Assn. for the Repeal of Abortion Laws participated in the protest against Romney's position on women's healthcare.

PHOTOGRAPH BY: Mark Wilson / Getty Images

Lisbon — Lisbon's Rossio train station is nearly deserted during a general strike, called by Portugal's main union, the General Confederation of Portuguese Workers, to protest austerity measures imposed by the government.

PHOTOGRAPH BY: Francisco Seco / Associated Press

New York — Police officers guard the perimeter after evicting Occupy Wall Street protesters from Union Square Park after a midnight curfew passed.

PHOTOGRAPH BY: Louis Lanzano / Associated Press

Istanbul, Turkey — Sparks shoot from a fire as Kurds celebrate Noruz, a festival traditionally know as the Iranian New Year, which corresponds to the arrival of spring. Norus is celebrated in Turkey, central Asian republics, Iraq, Azerbaijan and Afghanistan.

PHOTOGRAPH BY: BULENT KILIC / AFP / Getty Images

Guangzhou, China — Huang Sufang falls to the ground in despair after workers mistakenly demolished part of her home while tearing down another nearby building to make way for a new housing development, local media reported.

PHOTOGRAPH BY: AFP / Getty Images

Leuven, Belgium — A coffin is carried from St. Peter's Church after a funeral for seven children killed in a March 13 bus crash in Switzerland. The crash in a tunnel in southern Switzerland, claimed the lives of 28 people, including 22 children on their way home from a ski vacation.

PHOTOGRAPH BY: BRUNO FAHY / AFP / Getty Images

Nairobi, Kenya — A vendor fills jugs with water to sell in the Mathare slum, where a water shortage continues on World Water Day.

PHOTOGRAPH BY: TONY KARUMBA / AFP / Getty Images

Katmandu, Nepal — A costumed horse participates in the annual Ghode Jatra festival, or Horse Racing Day. According to legend, the festival is held to celebrate the victory over the demon Tundi who lived in the area known as Tundikhel. It is believed that the clamor of the horses' hooves keeps the demon's sprit away.

PHOTOGRAPH BY: Niranjan Shrestha / Associated Press

Washington, D.C. — A couple enjoys the annual bloom of cherry blossoms around Washington's Tidal Basin. It was 100 years ago this month that First Lady Helen Taft and the Viscountess Chinda, wife of the Japanese ambassador, planted two Yoshino cherry trees on the banks of the basin.

PHOTOGRAPH BY: Jacquelyn Martin / Associated Press

Ometepec, Mexico — Residents stand amid a damaged house in Ometepec, in Guerrero state, after a strong quake hit southwest Mexico. The powerful 7.6-magnitude earthquake caused residents in the capital several hundred miles away to rush out onto the streets, but there were no immediate reports of serious damage. The quake struck near the tourist resort of Acapulco, just after midday.

PHOTOGRAPH BY: PEDRO PARDO / AFP / Getty Images

Jakarta, Indonesia — An Indonesian police officer peeks out from a broken shield during a protest against the government's plan to raise subsidized fuel prices outside the presidential palace. The Indonesian government plans to raise the price of subsidized fuel in April to reduce costs in the state budget based on the economic situation of the country and rising global oil prices.

PHOTOGRAPH BY: MAST IRHAM / EPA

Jerusalem — The body of seven-year-old Miriam Monsonego is carried by relatives during the funeral of victims of Toulouse school shooting, at the Givat Shaun cemetery in Jerusalem. Three French-Israeli children and a teacher gunned down outside the Ozar Hatorah Jewish school in the city of Toulouse, southern France on March 19.

PHOTOGRAPH BY: GALI TIBBON / AFP / Getty Images

Athens — Dancers on stilts perform in front of the Athens Academy during a protest by Greek poets. The anti-austerity protest was held on World Poetry Day.

PHOTOGRAPH BY: Petros Giannakouris / Associated Press

London — Protesters demonstrate outside Downing Street against Chancellor of the Exchequer George Osborne's austerity budget. Osborne is expected to announce an increase in personal tax allowances in his budget and is to make a cut in the top rate of tax.

PHOTOGRAPH BY: ANDY RAIN / EPA

Erbil, Iraq — Kurdish Iraqis hold torches as part of Nawroz celebrations. Nawroz is the Kurdish new year, celebrated on the first day of spring. Kurds celebrate by wearing traditional clothes and going to the countryside to picnic, dance and listen to music.

PHOTOGRAPH BY: KAMAL AKRAYI / EPA

Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan — Wearing their traditional costumes, Kyrgyz girls dance at the Ala-Too Square during the annual celebration of Newroz, the ancient Persian festival marking the first day of spring and celebrated in central Asia.

PHOTOGRAPH BY: VYACHESLAV OSELEDKO / AFP / Getty Images

Medan, Indonesia — Smoke from burning tires billows as student protesters stage a demonstration against the government's plan to raise fuel prices.

PHOTOGRAPH BY: Binsar Bakkara / Associated Press

Agartala, India — A young Indian boy drinks water from a public tap. As the world gears up to celebrate World Water Day on Thursday, the U.N. estimates that more than one in six people worldwide do not have access to 5 to 13 gallons of safe drinking water a day to ensure basic needs for drinking, cooking and cleaning.

PHOTOGRAPH BY: Sushanta Das / Associated Press

Moritzburg, Germany — Maik Dannewitzsch fixes a Trabant car in the high ropes course of the adventure park near Dresden. The vintage car from the former German Democratic Republic will be a new attraction when the park opens its doors for the season at the end of the month.

PHOTOGRAPH BY: MATTHIAS HIEKEL / AFP / Getty Images

Hodenhagen, Germany — A young Bengal tiger lies on a scale during a veterinary check-up at the Serengeti Park. It is one of three tigers born on Feb. 14. The new visitor's season at the Serengeti Park, which houses over 1,500 animals of 96 species, begins this weekend.

PHOTOGRAPH BY: HOLGER HOLLEMANN / EPA

Newport Beach, Calif. — A bee approaches its landing as it pollinates a Black-eyed Susan on the first day of spring at the Upper Newport Bay Ecological Preserve in Newport Beach, Calif.

PHOTOGRAPH BY: Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times

Toulouse, France — A crowd reacts before a funeral convoy carrying coffins leaves the Ozar Hatorah Jewish school one day after a gun attack that killed three French-Israeli children and a Jewish teacher. The four will be buried in Israel.

PHOTOGRAPH BY: PHILIPPE DESMAZES / AFP / Getty Images

Diapaga, Burkina Faso — Two-year-old Ouobra Kompalemba, who suffers from severe malnutrition and bronchitis, receives milk through a catheter at a hospital. At least 20 million people are threatened by famine this year in the Sahel region, according to Action Against Hunger.

PHOTOGRAPH BY: RAPHAEL DE BENGY / AFP / Getty Images

Benghazi, Lybia — Libyan girls dressed in white as angels, one of them armed, flash a V for victory during a rally commemorating the first anniversary of confronting the armed forces of late Libyan dictator Moammar Kadafi.

PHOTOGRAPH BY: ABDULLAH DOMA / AFP / Getty Images

Cairo — Egyptian senior clerics gather to pay their final respects during the funeral for Pope Shenouda III at the Coptic Orthodox cathedral.

PHOTOGRAPH BY: Nasser Nasser / Associated Press

Ankara, Turkey — A man expresses his grief in front of the portrait of a relative killed in a helicopter crash in Afghanistan, during a ceremony at a military base in Ankara. A Turkish helicopter crashed into a house on the outskirts of Kabul on March 17, killing 12 Turkish soldiers and two Afghan civilians in what appeared to be Ankara's deadliest incident in Afghanistan.

PHOTOGRAPH BY: ADEM ALTAN / AFP / Getty Images

El Espinazo, Mexico — A believer asking the spirit of Mexican folk healer for a miracle is submerged in the mud at El Pozito. Thousands of believers took part in a procession seeking help from Nino Fidencio, who according to legend was well-known for performing painless operations without anesthesia. He died in 1938.

PHOTOGRAPH BY: JULIO CESAR AGUILAR / AFP / Getty Images

Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan — Kyrgyz riders play the traditional Central Asian sport Buzkashi in which mounted players compete for points by throwing a stuffed sheepskin into a well.

PHOTOGRAPH BY: VYACHESLAV OSELEDKO / AFP / Getty Images

London — Visitors walk through the restored entrance hall of Kensington Palace, which now features an exhibition of dresses worn by Princess Diana and Queen Victoria's wedding dress.

PHOTOGRAPH BY: MIGUEL MEDINA / AFP / Getty Images

Tunis, Tunisia — Tunisians wave national flags during a celebration of the country's independence day amid fears of a widening divide between secular and religious movements in the newly democratized nation.

PHOTOGRAPH BY: FETHI BELAID / AFP / Getty Images

Damascus, Syria — Syrian army soldiers search for rebels in a suburb of Damascus. An international human rights group accused Syria's armed opposition of carrying out serious abuses, including the kidnapping and torture of security forces, in a sign of the growing complexity of the yearlong uprising against President Bashar Assad.

PHOTOGRAPH BY: Associated Press

Beijing — A sales assistant in a fancy dress attempts to lure passersby into his shop. The head of China's central bank said conditions are ripe for Beijing to liberalize interest rates, which would boost domestic consumption as the nation's exports are hit by weaker overseas demand.

PHOTOGRAPH BY: ED JONES / AFP / Getty Images

Rostock, Germany — Bactrian camels come in for a closeup at the local zoo.

PHOTOGRAPH BY: BERND WUESTNECK / EPA

Seoul — An effigy of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un is put on a mock North Korean missile during a rally denouncing North Korea's plan to launch a long-range rocket in Seoul.

PHOTOGRAPH BY: Lee Jin-man / Associated Press

Washington, D.C. — The Jefferson Memorial in Washington, D.C., is seen as a backdrop to the cherry blossoms, which are in full bloom due to the early warm weather along the East Coast. The blossoms are expected to reach their peak Tuesday.

PHOTOGRAPH BY: KAREN BLEIER / AFP / Getty Images

Guwahati, India — An Asian Openbill stork searches for food in an agricultural field during sunset in Morigaon district of Assam state.

PHOTOGRAPH BY: STR / EPA

Toulouse, France — Young people walk away from the Ozar Hatorah Jewish school, where four people (three of them children) were killed and one seriously wounded when a gunman opened fire. This is the third gun attack in a week by a man who fled on a motorbike.

PHOTOGRAPH BY: REMY GABALDA / AFP / Getty Images

Al-Janoudia, Syria — A rebel of the Free Syrian Army, who have found refuge in the mountains close to Al-Janoudia village, in Idlib province in northern Syria, sits on the ground as he rests in an old storehouse, a year after a revolt against President Bashar al-Assad's regime erupted.

PHOTOGRAPH BY: GIORGOS MOUTAFIS / AFP / Getty Images

Syrian-Turkey border — Syrian refugees walk through woods helped by rebels from the Free Syrian Army as they attempt to cross the northwestern part of the Syrian border with neighboring Turkey, a year after a revolt against President Bashar al-Assad's regime erupted.

PHOTOGRAPH BY: GIORGOS MOUTAFIS / AFP / Getty Images

Rafah, Gaza Strip — Demonstrators wave Palestinian flags during a rally demanding that Egypt provide the Gaza Strip with electricity and diesel outside the Rafah border crossing with Egypt.

PHOTOGRAPH BY: Hatem Moussa / Associated Press

Male, Maldives — A supporter of former President Mohamed Nasheed throws a stone toward police during a protest near the Parliament against President Mohammed Waheed Hassan. The new president of the Maldives addressed lawmakers and opened Parliament amid vehement protests by the opposition on Monday, nearly six weeks after he took office in a contentious power transfer that his predecessor has called a coup.

PHOTOGRAPH BY: Sinan Hussain / AFP / Getty Images

Paris — French soldiers exit the Cathedral Saint-Louis carrying the coffin of late French filmmaker and war correspondent Pierre Schoendoerffer during a funeral ceremony at the Invalides. Schoendoerffer died March 14 at age 83.

PHOTOGRAPH BY: IAN LANGSDON / EPA

Ipswich, England — Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge, meets a young admirer during a visit to open the Treehouse Children's Hospice.

PHOTOGRAPH BY: WPA Pool / Getty Images

Cairo — Egyptian Christian Copts wait in a queue to enter Saint Mark's Coptic Cathedral in Cairo's al-Abbassiya district. Tens of thousands of grieving Coptic Christians bid farewell to Pope Shenuda III, the spiritual leader of the Middle East's largest Christian minority. Shenuda died on March 16 at the age of 88 after a long illness, setting in motion the process to elect a new patriarch for the Middle East's largest Christian community.

PHOTOGRAPH BY: GIANLUIGI GUERCIA / AFP / Getty Images