This Week in Photos, Week of Dec 30-Jan 5, 2012

Confetti falls as the Michigan Wolverines celebrate their win against the Virginia Tech Hokies during the Allstate Sugar Bowl at Mercedes-Benz Superdome in New Orleans, LA.

Hardy Dutch swimmers brave the icy North Sea in Scheveningen, Netherlands. A record number of 10,000 people took the plunge in this year's traditional New Year's dip. The high turnout was attributed to the mild weather with a sea temperature of 8 degrees compared to 4 degrees in 2010.

Austria's Thomas Morgenstern soars through the air during the qualification for the third event of the 4-hills ski jumping tournament in Innsbruck.

Motorcyclists wait for the start of stage 3 of the 2012 Dakar Rally from San Rafael to San Juan.

Fireworks light up the London skyline and Big Ben just after midnight on January 1, 2012 in London.

Rob Maitland of Australia collects a ball from the ocean during warm-up for the Water Polo by the Sea match between Australia and the US at Bondi Icebergs on Bondi Beach in Sydney.

A woman shows her ink-stained finger after casting her vote in Toukh, El-Kalubia governorate, northeast of Cairo. Egyptians voted in the 3rd round of a parliamentary election on Tuesday that has so far handed Islamists the biggest share of seats in an assembly that will be central in the planned transition from army rule.

Camper with Emirates Team New Zealand finishes third in the stage 2 sprint of leg 2 from Sharjah to Abu Dhabi to maintain their second placing overall in the second leg of the Volvo Ocean Race 2011-2012 from Cape Town to Abu Dhabi.

Molly the dog walks around dead herring on a beach at Kvennes in Nordreisa, northern Norway.

Buddhist monks take a ride on a swing outside the venue where Tibetan spiritual leader the Dalai Lama is addressing a teaching session on the third day of the Kalachakra festival in the eastern Indian city of Bodhgaya.

A white lion licks the glass wall of its enclosure as tourists visit a zoo in Nanning, China.

People take photographs of waves crashing against the harbour wall in Porthcawl, Wales.

Heather Royal ridden by Andrew Tinkler comes home to win The EPDS Racing Partnership National Hunt Novices' Hurdle Race at Huntingdon racecourse in Huntingdon, England.

Clipper Williams looks at ice formations at the Ice Castle at Silverthorne in Colorado. The Ice Castles at Silverthorne consists of man-made walkways, tunnels, and arches of ice with no supporting structures, some reaching up to a height of 30 to 40 feet.

Zookeeper Alison Westlake poses with Meerkats during the stock take at London. The annual number count of over 16, 000 mammals, birds, fish, reptiles, invertebrates and amphibians is a compulsory part of the zoo license renewal.