Pictures of the week: Thousands of penguins, the winter solstice and Christmas wild swimmers

The Independent’s picture editors bring you the best photography from all corners of the planet

Members of the Loch Insh Dippers wild swim group take part in a Christmas-themed swim in Loch Insh in the Cairngorms National Park near Aviemore, Scotland (PA)

Each week the picture editors at The Independent sort through hundreds of thousands images sent into us by photography agencies from all around the world.

These are some of the most eye-catching and the most striking images from culture, news, politics, sport and lifestyle.

You can also keep up with the latest photography making headlines via our Instagram.

(AFP/Getty)

A young member of a group from the northern Romanian city of Dorohoi wearing a beaded headpiece gestures during The Parade of Customs and Traditions in Bucharest.

(AFP/Getty)

Sikh boys take a selfie using a mobile phone during a national level Turban tying event held at the Golden Temple in Amritsar.

(AFP/Getty)

French President's wife Brigitte Macron and the French Justice Minister are pictured talking to the press with a Golden Retriever trained as a legal assistant dog for minor victims at Orleans’ courthouse, in Orleans, central France.

(AFP/Getty)

A winter swimming enthusiast swimming in a partly frozen lake after snowfall in Shenyang, in northeastern China’s Liaoning province.

(EPA)

Tigers play at an amusement park in Yongin, amid heavy snowfall in the region, South Korea.

(EPA)

A soon-to-get married couple poses in central Tokyo, Japan.

(Reuters)

Ambulance workers take part in a strike, amid a dispute with the government over pay, outside NHS London Ambulance Service in London.

(EPA)

Northern Lights (Aurora Borealis) illuminate the sky over Fairbanks, Alaska, USA.

(EPA)

Visitors enjoy the illumination of a Christmas tree at an amusement park in Tokyo, Japan.

(EPA)

Lionel Messi of Argentina touches the World Cup trophy during the awards ceremony after the FIFA World Cup 2022 Final between Argentina and France at Lusail stadium in Qatar.

(AFP/Getty)

Thousands of penguins on the Desolation Island, part of the Crozet Islands which are a sub-Antarctic archipelago of small islands in the southern Indian Ocean.

(Reuters)

People wearing Santa Claus outfits take part in a charity race to collect funds to help vulnerable families raising children, in Madrid, Spain.

(EPA)

Revellers hug stones as they take part in winter solstice celebrations at the ancient Stonehenge monument in Wiltshire, Britain.

(AFP/Getty)

US President Joe Biden and Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky meet in the Oval Office of the White House, in Washington DC.

(AFP/Getty)

Young koalas, the male ‘Yunga’ and female ‘Erlinga’, are pictured during their first outing at the koala house of the zoo in Duisburg, western Germany.

(PA)

Sunflowers display at the preview for Van Gogh Alive experience at the Festival Square, in Edinburgh.

(AFP/Getty)

An actress dressed as an angel performs live nativity scene at Postojna Cave in Postojna.

(Reuters)

Participants paddle in a boat during the traditional Isambo Beach Carnival, as part of the Christmas festivities, in Lake Victoria at Che's Bay in Kenya.