It’s never been easier to keep up with what’s going on in the world. The news is everywhere – in our Facebook feeds, on the morning commute, during that lazy half hour before you switch off the TV and go to bed. But the tide of global affairs is often more upsetting than uplifting and it can be tempting to bury our heads in the sand. As the saying goes: a picture is worth a thousand words, so to offer a different perspective we've rounded up some of the most memorable images of the week's events, captured by the best photojournalists on the planet.
Hindu devotees take a holy bath and perform rituals at Gangasagar Island, around 160 km south of Kolkata on 13th January 2018. More than 900,000 Hindu pilgrims and sadhus (holy men) are expected to gather at the confluence of the River Ganges and the Bay of Bengal during the Gangasagar Mela to take a 'holy dip' in the ocean on the occasion of Makar Sankranti, a holy day of the Hindu calendar considered to be of great religious significance in Hindu mythology.
Photo: Debajyoti Chakraborty/NurPhoto/Getty Images
A pet dog is blessed on Saint Anthony's day, dedicated to the animals by Spanish Christians, at San Anton Church in Madrid, Spain on 17th January 2018.
Photo: Burak Akbulut/Anadolu Agency/Getty Images
Relatives mourn during the funeral of Abdullah Zeidan, a 33-year-old fisherman, in Gaza City on 13th January 2018. A fisherman from the Gaza Strip was shot dead by the Egyptian army overnight for unclear reasons, Palestinian officials said on Saturday, calling for an immediate investigation into the incident.
Photo: MAHMUD HAMS/AFP/Getty Images
Gaël Monfils of France attempts to cool down between games in his second round match against Novak Djokovic of Serbia on day four of the 2018 Australian Open at Melbourne Park on 18th January 2018 in Melbourne, Australia.
Photo: Michael Dodge/Getty Images
Men ride horses through fire to purify and protect their horses during Las Luminarias festival at San Bartolomé de Pinares village near Madrid, Spain on 17th January 2018.
Photo: Burak Akbulut/Anadolu Agency/Getty Images
College students participate in a protest to defend press freedom in Manila on 17th January 2018. Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte's government urged reporters at a news website facing state-enforced closure to reinvent themselves as bloggers, rejecting allegations that Manila was cracking down on the free press.
Photo: NOEL CELIS/AFP/Getty Images
Skyscrapers are seen shrouded in fog in Hefei, in eastern China's Anhui province on 17th January 2018.
Photo: AFP/Getty Images
Palestinian protestors clash with Israeli security forces following a demonstration calling for the release of Palestinian prisoners from Israeli jails, on 13th January 2018 in the West Bank village of Nabi Saleh.
Photo: ABBAS MOMANI/AFP/Getty Images
France's Lola Esbrat and Andrei Novoselov compete in the pairs' free skating at the ISU European Figure Skating Championships in Moscow on 18th January 2018.
Photo: YURI KADOBNOV/AFP/Getty Images
German big wave surfer Sebastian Steudtner drops a wave during a surf session at Praia do Norte on 18th January 2018 in Nazaré, Portugal.
Photo: Octavio Passos/Getty Images
Members of the public look at 'Spectral' by Katarzyna Malejka and Joachim Slugocki in St James's Square during 'Lumiere London' festival of light on 18th January 2018 in London, England. Lumiere London is a four-night-long light festival spanning the British capital with more than 50 artworks by UK and international artists.
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