India's cosmic start to the New Year, an embrace from the Statue of Liberty: The week, in photos

Image: Indian Space Research Organisation / AFP
Indian Space Research Organisation’s PSLV-C58 rocket carrying the X-ray Polarimeter Satellite (XPoSat) lifts off from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharikota, Andhra Pradesh on New Year’s Day 2024. India's first dedicated X-ray astronomy satellite, the 469 kg XPoSat will study cosmic phenomena such as neutron stars, black holes, active galactic nuclei, and supernovae.
Image: Indian Space Research Organisation / AFP

Image: Kai Pfaffenbach / Reuters
Switzerland's Simon Ammann in action during qualification at the prestigious Four Hills annual ski jumping tournament in Innsbruck, Austria, on January 2, 2024. However, the competition at Innsbruck has been cancelled because of strong winds, with back-to-back events now set to be held in Bischofshofen,Salzburg instead.

Reindeers are seen in front of the northern lights (aurora borealis) illuminating the sky above a Sami camp outside the village of Breivikeidet near Tromso, Norway, beyond the Arctic Circle on January 1, 2024.

Image: Odd Anderson / AFP
An elephant chomps on a Christmas tree in its enclosure at the Zoologischer Garten zoo in Berlin, Germany, on January 4, 2024. It is a tradition at the Berlin Zoo to offer some animals the leftover trees that were not sold before the Christmas holidays.


Image: Jim Watson / AFP
World Bank President Ajay Banga works at his desk at the bank’s headquarters in Washington DC, US, on January 3, 2024. The World Bank is working to slash the time it takes to get projects off the ground as part of a push to both speed up and scale up the 79-year-old development lender, Banga told AFP.

Image: Javier Torres / AFP
French tightrope walker Nathan Paulin crosses Santiago’s main Alameda avenue on a 270-meter long taut rope, 50 meters above ground, to kick off the opening day of the ‘Teatro a Mil’, the largest performing arts festival in Santiago, Chile, on January 3, 2024. The holder of the record for the longest crossing in the world, Nathan shared that up there, what he seeks is freedom.

Image: Kim Kyung-Hoon/ Reuters
People stand near a collapsed building in the aftermath of an earthquake, in Wajima, Japan, January 3, 2024. According to the town's mayor, Masuhiro Izumiya, almost none of the houses in the fishing town of Wajima on Japan's west coast are standing.
 

Image: Quinn Rooney/Getty Images
Pat Cummins of Australia celebrates the dismissal of Shan Masood of Pakistan during day four of the Second Test Match between Australia and Pakistan at Melbourne Cricket Ground on December 29, 2023, in Melbourne, Australia. A fired-up Pat Cummins bagged five wickets and 10 for the match to earn Australia a nail-biting 79-run win in the second Test and clinch the series.
Image: Eduardo Munoz/ Reuters
A woman dressed as the Statue of Liberty steps into the Atlantic Ocean with her companion during the annual Coney Island Polar Bear Club New Year's Day plunge in Brooklyn, New York, U.S., January 1, 2024. Eduardo.


Image: Pilar Olivares/ Reuters
A devotee of Afro-Brazilian religion carries an offering to Yemanja, goddess of the sea, during a traditional New Year's Eve celebration in Copacabana Beach in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil on December 29, 2023. Thousands of people dressed in white flock to the beaches of Rio de Janeiro bearing flowers , candles, honey, fruit and other gifts on the feast day.