Shi'a mark Ashura across the Muslim world, as Moscow battles rioters.
Photos Of The Week -- December 11-17
1
A shop assistant walks past TV screens during the broadcast of Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin's annual TV marathon question-and-answer show at a shop in a Moscow on December 16.
Photo by Natalia Kolesnikova for AFP
Photo by Natalia Kolesnikova for AFP
2
Afghan children run beside a Marder armored personnel carrier of the German Bundeswehr armed forces in the Chahar Dara district in the outskirts of Konduz, northern Afghanistan, on December 16.
Photo by Fabrizio Bensch for Reuters
Photo by Fabrizio Bensch for Reuters
3
Afghan children hold exercise books distributed by Belgian Army soldiers during a joint mission with German Bundeswehr soldiers in the city of Iman Sahib, north of Konduz, northern Afghanistan, on December 15.
Photo by Fabrizio Bensch for Reuters
Photo by Fabrizio Bensch for Reuters
4
Iraqi Shi'ite men flagellate themselves outside a mosque in central Baghdad on December 16 during Ashura commemorations marking the seventh-century killing of Imam Hussein, the grandson of Prophet Muhammad, in the Battle of Karbala in central Iraq.
Photo by Sabah Arar for AFP
Photo by Sabah Arar for AFP
5
Azeri Shi'a mark Ashura in the village of Nardaran outside Baku on December 16.
Photo by Turkhan Kerimov for RFE/RL
Photo by Turkhan Kerimov for RFE/RL
6
Men cover themselves in mud during the Ashura religious festival in Khorramabad, Iran, on December 16. Mourners cover themselves in mud to commemorate the death of Imam Hussein.
Photo by Morteza Nikoubazl for Reuters
Photo by Morteza Nikoubazl for Reuters
7
A man covered in mud prays during the Ashura religious festival in Khorramabad, southwest of Tehran, on December 16.
Photo by Morteza Nikoubazl for Reuters
Photo by Morteza Nikoubazl for Reuters
8
An Iraqi Shi'ite boy bleeds as he takes part in a ritual in the capital, Baghdad, on December 16 during the Ashura commemorations.
Photo by Ahmad al-Rubaye for AFP
Photo by Ahmad al-Rubaye for AFP
9
Children taking part in a religious passion play walk in the streets of Tehran during Ashura on December 15. Shi'a all over the world mourn the slaying of Imam Hussein during the first 10 days of the Islamic month of Muharram.
Photo by Caren Firouz for Reuters
Photo by Caren Firouz for Reuters
10
Riot police confront soccer fans demonstrating on Moscow's Manezh Square on December 11 in memory of a fellow fan killed the week before. Thousands of ultranationalists and soccer hooligans chanted racist slogans and attacked non-Slavic bystanders in the worst outbreak of racially motivated rioting in the Russian capital since the 1991 Soviet collapse.
Photo by Yuri Timofeyev for RFE/RL
Photo by Yuri Timofeyev for RFE/RL
11
Police detain a protester during an opposition rally in central Moscow on December 12. Hundreds of opposition protesters gathered for a rally called "For Russia without Putin" in Moscow's Pushkin Square.
Photo by Nikolai Korchekov for Reuters
Photo by Nikolai Korchekov for Reuters
12
A man holds a portrait of jailed Russian tycoon Mikhail Khodorkovsky during a rally in his support in St. Petersburg on December 12. About 300 people rallied ahead of a new court verdict set to be announced.
Photo by Kirill Kudryavtsev for AFP
Photo by Kirill Kudryavtsev for AFP