Vying for luck in Japan and COVID-19 concerns: Photos of the week

A ceremony to find the "luckiest man of the year" in Japan and updates on the Coronavirus outbreak in China and locations abroad --photos of the week from around the world. ...read more

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Men dressed in loincloths prepare to snatch a wooden stick called “shingi” tossed by the priest during a naked festival at Saidaiji Temple in Okayama, Japan. The person who grabs the wooden stick is considered the “luckiest man of the year”. (Kim Kyung-Hoon / REUTERS)

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A man stands atop the Kasbah (ancient fortress) of Ait-Ben-Haddou, where scenes depicting the fictional city of Yunkai from the HBO television series “Game of Thrones” were filmed, northwest of the city of Ouarzazate south of Morocco's High Atlas mountains. (Fadel Senna / AFP)

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Film producer Harvey Weinstein's defence attorneys Donna Rotunno and Damon Cheronis are seen at the New York Criminal Court as jurors deliberate on his rape and sexual assault charges, in New York, USA. (Lucas Jackson / REUTERS)

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Dancers of the State Opera ballet perform during a dress rehearsal for the traditional Opera Ball in Vienna, Austria. (Lisi Niesner / REUTERS)

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Dagmar Turner, 53, plays violin while surgeons remove her brain tumour at King's College Hospital in London, England. Doctors mapped her brain before the surgery to identify areas active when she played the instrument and those responsible for controlling language and movement. They then woke her mid-procedure to “ensure the surgeons did not damage any crucial areas”. (King's College Hospital via REUTERS)

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A model presents creations from the Moncler Autumn/Winter 2020 collection during Milan Fashion Week in Milan, Italy. (Alessandro Garofalo / REUTERS)

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Police officers wearing protective face masks ride horses on their way to visit residents in remote areas in Altay, farwest China's Xinjiang region, to promote the awareness of the COVID-19 virus. (AFP)

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A man snowboards down a slope overlooking Mount Yotei at a ski resort in Niseko, Hokkaido, Japan. “There’s a lot less snow,” said Nguyen Nguyen, a skier visiting from Hong Kong. “This is definitely the worst I’ve ever seen it.” (Jae C. Hong / AP)

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An employee restocks rolls of toilet paper at a market, in Hong Kong. Rumors that toilet paper and napkins could be used as masks emptied East Asian store shelves of paper goods. Three people with knives allegedly robbed a deliveryman outside a supermarket of precious toilet rolls reportedly worth more than 1,000 Hong Kong dollars. (Tyrone Siu / REUTERS)

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Dogs wearing masks are seen at a main shopping area, in downtown Shanghai, China, as the country deals with the outbreak of a new coronavirus. (Aly Song / REUTERS)

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People walk by a poster by Italian urban artist Salvatore Benintende aka “TVBOY” depicting Leonardo da Vinci's Mona Lisa wearing a facemask and holding a mobile phone reading “Mobile World Virus” in Barcelona, Spain, a week after the World Mobile Congress was cancelled due to fears stemming from the coronavirus that sparked an exodus of industry heavyweights. (Pau Barrena / AFP)

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A veterinarian offers apples to 54-year-old Asian elephant Mara in her enclosure at the former city zoo now known as Ecopark in Buenos Aires, Argentina. (Agustin Marcarian / REUTERS)

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US President Donald Trump speaks with supporters as he arrives in Palm Springs, California, USA. (Jim Watson / AFP)

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A passenger (C), among the first, leaves on foot after disembarking the Diamond Princess cruise ship in quarantine due to fears of the new COVID-19 coronavirus, at the Daikoku Pier Cruise Terminal in Yokohama, Japan. (Charly Triballeau / AFP)

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A reveller wearing a mask and a period costume takes part in the Venice Carnival in Italy. (Alberto Pizzoli / AFP)

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Protesters hold placards reading “Maragaret Macron, this time we will win” under a photomontage of late British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher and French President Emmanuel Macron as they demonstrate in front of Paris’ Louvre Museum as part of a multi-sector strike against the French government's pensions overhaul. (Alain Jocard / AFP)

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A Sadhu (Hindu holy man) looks on during the Hindu festival of Maha Shivaratri at the Pashupatinath Temple in Kathmandu, Nepal. (Prakash Mathema / AFP)

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A girl jumps from rocks at Brewarrina Weir which overflowed on the weekend for the first time in years, as rain water from upstream flowed into the once dry river beds in Brewarrina, Australia. The influx of water at the weir has also brought back to life the heritage listed Aboriginal fish traps, also known as Baiame's Ngunnhu. (Jenny Evans / Getty Images)

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Flood water surrounds a car abandoned in a car park after the River Trent burst its banks, in Gunthorpe, Nottinghamshire, in central England, after Storm Dennis caused flooding across large swathes of the country. A man died after falling into a river and the army was drafted in to help deal with heavy flooding and high winds. (Lindsey Parnaby / AFP)

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A vigil at the Brandenburg Gate to commemorate the victims of the Hanau shootings in Berlin, Germany. A local man is the main suspect in having shot dead nine people at two hookah bars in Hanau, and killing possibly his mother and then himself later on when police prepared to raid his apartment. Police suspect a right-wing motive to the attacks. (Emmanuele Contini / Getty Images)