The Week in Pictures: March 3 - 10

An orbital sunrise brightens this view of space shuttle Discovery's vertical stabilizer, orbital maneuvering system pods, docking mechanism, remote manipulator system/orbiter boom sensor system and payload bay on March 7. Discovery, NASA's most-traveled spacecraft, returned to Earth on March 9, wrapping up its 39th and final mission.
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Revelers of the Salgueiro samba school participate in the second night of the annual Carnival parade in the Sambadrome in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, on March 7.

Mardi Gras reveler Mike Turpin isn't done partying as a front loader collects beads and other debris left behind by revelers on Bourbon Street in the French Quarter of New Orleans, early on March 9. Ash Wednesday marks the end of Mardi Gras festivities and the beginning of the Lenten season for Catholics.

Dead sardines lie in the harbor area of Redondo Beach, south of Los Angeles, Calif., on March 8. Millions of fish washed up dead after apparently suffocating in the harbor, possibly while seeking shelter from a predator or simply becoming lost near a breakwater.

Libyan rebels fire rockets at government troops on March 9 near Ras Lanuf, Libya. Forces loyal to Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi bombed the key oil town, forcing rebel fighters to retreat.

A rebel fighter fires his machine gun at a Libyan military aircraft at a checkpoint in Ras Lanuf on March 7.

A Libyan rebel carries ammunition on the outskirts of Ras Lanouf, Libya, on March 10. Government forces drove hundreds of rebels from the strategic oil port with rockets and tank shells.

A man with his face covered in talcum powder poses for a photo during the El Dia de los Polvos (Powder Day) festival in the southern Spanish village of Tolox on March 8. During the carnival, people throw talcum powder at each other until they are completely covered with it.
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People watch from a nearby building as a fire burns in a slum in Mumbai, India, on March 4. The blaze gutted a large shantytown, home to hundreds of residents, next to Bandra station in Mumbai's suburbs. "Slumdog Millionaire" child star Rubina Ali said her home was among those that burned.

A trader works with three telephone receivers in the crude oil and natural gas options pit on the floor of the New York Mercantile Exchange on March 7.

A boy runs beside a moving train in Chittagong, Bangladesh, on March 8.
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