Some of the most compelling photographs from RFE/RL's coverage area and beyond for the 52nd week of 2017. For more photo galleries, see our Picture This archive.
Photos Of The Week #52
1
A seagull in front of a Ferris wheel at the Christmas market in Schwerin, Germany. (AP/Michael Probst)
2
Iranian students scuffle with police at the University of Tehran during a demonstration driven by anger over economic problems on December 30. (AFP/Stringer)
3
A girl wearing a bear costume dances during an annual ritual in Piatra Neamt in northern Romania. The tradition originated in pre-Christian times when dancers wearing colored costumes or animal furs went from house to house in villages singing and dancing to ward off evil. (AP/Vadim Ghirda)
4
Firefighters work at the scene of a four-alarm fire at an apartment building in the Bronx in New York City. At least 12 people were killed, including a 1-year-old child. Mayor Bill de Blasio said it was the worst fire tragedy the city had seen in 25 years. (epa-EFE/Alba Vigaray)
5
An Iranian woman raises her fist amid the smoke of tear gas during a protest at Tehran University on December 30. (AFP)
6
A firecracker explodes next to riot police during a protest rally against new health-care policies in La Paz, Bolivia. (Reuters/David Mercado)
7
A woman carrying balloons walks on a snow-covered street in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan. (AFP/Vyacheslav Oseledko)
8
A bird owner entices a macaw to perch on his arm during a campaign to encourage the use of paper horns instead of firecrackers in welcoming the New Year at Malabon Zoo in suburban Malabon city, north of Manila, in the Philippines. Zoo owner Manny Tangco says birds, dogs, and other animals are traumatized by exploding firecrackers as revelers welcome the New Year. (AP/Bullit Marquez)
9
A boy touches a plastic balloon depicting an aquarium at a Christmas market in central Moscow. (AFP/Yuri Kadobnov)
10
Herdsmen tame horses on a snow-covered pasture in Xilingol in the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region of China. (Reuters/Ma Jianquan)
11
Ukrainian soldiers released by Russia-backed separatists in a prisoner swap are reunited with their loved ones at Boryspil Airport in Kyiv on December 28. (RFE/RL/Serhiy Nuzhnenko)
12
Fishermen cover their heads and parts of their boats with blankets and straw as they wait to catch fish in the waters of Anchar Lake on a cold winter day in Srinagar. (Reuters/Danish Ismail)
13
A Rohingya refugee woman holds a child as she waits for a rice delivery at the Nayapara refugee camp near Cox's Bazar, Bangladesh. (Reuters/Marko Djurica)
14
Afghan women mourn inside a hospital compound after a suicide attack in Kabul killed at least 40 people at a Shi'ite cultural center on December 28. (Reuters/Mohammad Ismail)
15
A worker removes ice in a canal in a park at the Old Summer Palace in Beijing. (Reuters/Thomas Peter)
16
People dressed as Santa Claus ride bicycles through the streets of Tbilisi on December 28. (AFP/Vano Shlamov)
17
A swimmer climbs out of Prague's Vltava River during a traditional winter swimming event on December 26. (epa-EFE/Martin Divisek)
18
The Aurora Borealis, or the Northern Lights, illuminate the sky in the Lapland region of Finland. (Reuters)
19
A woman walks on December 25 as the sun shines over a snow-covered landscape near Ruderatshofen, southern Germany. (dpa/Karl-Josef Hildenbrand)
20
Berliners enjoy a traditional Christmas swim in Orankesee Lake on December 25. (Reuters/Hannibal Hanshke)
21
Catholics pray during a Christmas service at a church in the village of Soly, some 140 kilometers northwest of Minsk, Belarus. (AFP/Sergei Gapon)
22
Emergency workers attend the scene of a deadly bus crash that occurred on December 25 after the vehicle careered off a road and onto steps leading into an underground passageway in the Russian capital, Moscow. (TASS/Mikhail Pochuyev)
23
Pope Francis addresses a huge crowd in the Vatican during his annual Christmas speech on December 25. (AFP)
24
A dog dressed as Santa Claus takes part in the annual city race in Skopje, Macedonia, on December 24. (Reuters/Ognen Teofilovski)