Some of the most compelling photographs from RFE/RL's broadcast region and beyond for Week #47.(32 PHOTOS)
Photos Of The Week #47
Updated
1
People dressed in the historic uniforms of the Imperial Russian Army take part in a reenactment of the 1812 Battle of Berezina, to mark the 200th anniversary of the battle, near the Belarusian village of Bryli, east of Minsk. The battle between the attacking Imperial Russian Army and Napoleon's retreating army ended in a victory for Russia and heavy losses for the French. (Reuters/Vasily Fedosenko)
2
U.S. President Barack Obama tours the reclining Buddha at the Wat Pho Royal Monastery in Bangkok, Thailand. Obama was on a three-country Asia tour, using his first postelection trek overseas to try to show he is serious about shifting the U.S. strategic focus eastward. (Reuters/Jason Reed)
3
Pakistani schoolchildren walk over corn in the village of Kasab in Farid Kot. (AFP/Arif Ali)
4
Shi'ite and Sunni Muslims gather as coffins of bomb blast victims arrive for funeral prayers in Rawalpindi, Pakistan. Muslim leaders gathered for a rare summit in Islamabad as militant attacks killed 36 people across the country on one of the deadliest days of violence claimed by the Taliban in months. (AFP/Farooq Naeem)
5
Pakistani Shi'ite Muslims flagellate themselves during a religious procession to mark the Day of Ashura, which commemorates the anniversary of the death of the Prophet Muhammad's grandson Imam Hussain in 680 A.D. (AFP/Farooq Naeem)
6
A Kashmiri Shi'ite Muslim performs an act of self-flagellation during an Ashura religious procession in Srinagar, India. (AFP/Rouf Bhat)
7
Israeli civilians sitting atop a hill in the city of Sderot watch as two Palestinian rockets fly toward southern Israel before a cease-fire on November 21. Israel and the Islamist Hamas movement ruling the Gaza Strip agreed to an Egyptian-sponsored cease-fire to halt an eight-day conflict that killed 162 Palestinians and five Israelis. (Reuters/Yannis Behrakis)
8
A Shi'ite Iraqi Muslim pilgrim waves a flag with the Arabic inscription "Oh Hussein" as people prepare for an Ashura ceremony in Karbala, the city where Imam Hussain died in battle in 680 A.D. (AFP/Ahmad al-Rubaye)
9
An activist covered in fake blood with a toy raccoon on his head protests on November 24 during an antifur demonstration in Paris. (AFP/Kenzo Tribouillard)
10
Pakistani rescue workers and ambulances gather at the site of the second of two bomb blasts in Karachi on November 21. (Reuters)
11
Indian sand artist Sudarshan Patnaik gives the final touches to a sand sculpture of Mohammad Ajmal Kasab, the lone survivor of the Pakistan-based militant squad responsible for a rampage through Mumbai that killed 166 people who was secretly hanged, on a beach in the eastern Indian state of Odisha. (Reuters)
12
The tops of high-rise buildings stick out from a blanket of thick fog covering Warsaw early one morning. (Reuters/Mateusz Olszowy)
14
Afghan refugees returning from Pakistan look at explosives and mines during an awareness program at the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees registration center in Jalalabad Province (Reuters/Parwiz)
15
Israeli soldiers perform morning prayers next to artillery shells at an Israeli Army deployment area near the Israel-Gaza Strip border. (AFP/Menahem Kahana)
16
A general view of destroyed government offices is seen after an Israeli air strike in Gaza City on November 21. (Reuters/Mohammed Salem)
17
Arab League Secretary-General Nabil Elaraby (center right) and senior Hamas leader Ismail Haniyah (third from left) visit a boy who Palestinian medics say was wounded in an Israeli air strike at a hospital in Gaza City. (AFP/Ahmed Zakot)
18
Palestinians gather around a destroyed car after an Israeli air strike in Gaza City. (Reuters/Ali Hassan)
19
Children line up at an orphanage in Kandahar, Afghanistan. Two decades of war has left some 1 million orphans and abandoned children across the country. (AFP/Mamoon Durrani)
20
An aerial view of the French military's Camp Nijrab in Afghanistan's Kapisa Province. France ended its combat mission in Afghanistan on November 20, withdrawing troops from the strategic province northeast of Kabul as part of a quickened departure from the war-torn country. Paris says all French combat soldiers will leave the country next month, two years before allied nations contributing to the 100,000-strong International Security Assistance Force are due to depart. (AFP/Joris Fioriti)
21
Afghan soldiers wait before a handover ceremony between the French Army and the Afghan National Army at Camp Nijrab in Kapisa Province as part of the withdrawal of French troops. French combat troops are due to pull out of Afghanistan by the end of the year. (Reuters/Eric Gaillard)
22
Afghan boys are silhouetted as they play football at dusk in Kabul. (Reuters/Mohammad Ismail)
23
A Hindu devotee prostrates herself in the sands near the Arabian Sea as she worships the Sun god during the Hindu religious festival Chhat Puja in Mumbai, India. During the festival, Hindu devotees worship the Sun god and fast all day for the betterment of their family and society. (Reuters/Vivek Prakash)
25
A French gunner remains alert and ready aboard a helicopter during a flight above Kapisa Valley, Afghanistan.
26
An aerial view of the Soyuz TMA-05M spacecraft after it touched down with crew members from the International Space Station near the town of Arkalyk, Kazakhstan, on November 19.
27
U.S. President Barack Obama kisses Aung San Suu Kyi during a visit to her residence in Yangon, Burma, on November 19.