Some of the most compelling photographs from RFE/RL's broadcast region and beyond for the 12th week of 2013. For more photo galleries, see our "Picture This" archive. (33 PHOTOS)
Photos Of The Week #12
1
Croatian soccer fans shout slogans prior to their team's World Cup 2014 qualification match against Serbia in Zagreb. (AFP/Dimitar Dilkoff)
2
A woman visits a World War II memorial, with tombs seen covered with snow, in the former village of Khatyn, some 60 kilometers northeast of Minsk, Belarus. (Reuters/Vasily Fedosenko)
3
Kosovar dervishes, adepts of Sufism, a mystical form of Islam that preaches tolerance and a search for understanding, take part in a ceremony in the prayer room in the town of Gjakova. (AFP/Armend Nimani)
4
Georgia's Geno Petriashvili celebrates after winning a bronze medal during the Free Style Wrestling 120kg bronze-medal match against Germany's Nick Matuhin at the Senior Wrestling European Championship in Tbilisi. (Reuters/David Mdzinarishvili)
5
A scientist wears an Aouda X Mars spacesuit simulator in the desert of Morocco. (Reuters/OeWF/Katja Zanella-Kux)
6
Palestinian groom Emad al-Malalha, 21, walks with Manal Abu Shanar, 17, his Egyptian bride inside a smuggling tunnel beneath the Gaza-Egypt border in the southern Gaza Strip. (Reuters/Ibraheem Abu Mustafa)
8
A child stands outside her family's tent near the site of a bomb attack in the Jalozai refugee camp in Pakistan's Nowshera district. (Reuters/Fayaz Aziz)
9
A woman jumps over a bonfire in southern Tehran during the Fire Feast held before Norouz celebrations. (AFP/Behrouz Mehri)
10
Ukraine's Tetyana Lavrenchuk celebrates after winning a bronze medal during the 59-kg match against Hungary's Gabriella Sleisz at the Senior Wrestling European Championship in Tbilisi, Georgia. (Reuters/David Mdzinarishvili)
11
Local residents say these are unexploded U.S. bombs left over from the 2003 Iraq War in the desert south of Samawa. Iraq marked the 10th anniversary of the U.S.-led invasion that ousted Saddam Hussein on March 19. (Reuters/Mohammed Ameen)
12
Goldfish are shown for sale in Tehran as part of the traditional Norouz celebrations marking the Persian New Year.
13
Pakistani schoolgirl Malala Yousafzai is pictured holding a backpack in Birmingham, England, before returning to school for the first time since she was shot in the head by the Taliban in October 2012 for campaigning for girls' education. The 15-year-old said she had "achieved her dream" and was looking forward to meeting new friends at the Edgbaston High School for Girls in Birmingham, where she is now living. Malala was flown to Britain after the attack for surgery for her head injuries and underwent several operations. (AFP/Malala Press Office)
14
Cypriot protesters lie on the ground with signs during a demonstration against an EU bailout deal outside the parliament in the capital, Nicosia. (AFP/Yiannis Kourtoglou)
15
The aurora borealis, or northern lights, seen in Tallinn, Estonia. (AFP/Raigo Pajula)
16
Cardinals witness Pope Francis's inauguration Mass on St. Peter's Square at the Vatican. (AFP/Andreas Solaro)
17
An Afghan girl smiles as she rides on a hand-operated Ferris wheel with other children in a slum on the outskirts of Islamabad, Pakistan. (Reuters/Faisal Mahmood)
18
A rare two-headed albino California kingsnake is displayed at the Moscow Zoo. According to zoo officials, the occurrence of two-headed snakes are one in a million and they usually don’t survive in the wild. (AFP/Katya Abramkina)
19
An image captured by NASA's "Curiosity" rover reveals interesting internal color in a rock on Mars that was broken by "Curiosity" when it drove over it.
20
Attendees photograph President Barack Obama with their mobile phones at a Women's History Month reception at the White House in Washington. (Reuters/Jonathan Ernst)
21
A military drill of the Korean People's Army is conducted at an undisclosed location in North Korea. (AFP/KCNA via KNS)
22
Nineteen-year-old Toofan, from the northern province of Mazandaran, poses for a portrait while he is dressed as Haji Firuz in downtown Tehran. Haji Firuz is the traditional herald of Nowruz, the Persian new year, who covers his face in soot or paints it in black, wears bright red clothes, and sings in the streets with a tambourine. (AFP/Behrouz Mehri)
24
Roman Catholic faithful hold a banner of Pope Francis in St. Peter's Square ahead of his inauguration Mass.
25
Revelers celebrate Ash Monday by participating in a colorful "flour war," a traditional festivity marking the end of the carnival season and the start of the 40-day Lent period, in the Greek port town of Galaxidi. (Reuters/Yannis Behrakis)
26
Palestinian laborers wait to cross into Jerusalem at an Israeli checkpoint in the West Bank town of Bethlehem. (Reuters/Ammar Awad)
28
A man kisses his camels in front of the Giza pyramids in Cairo as he waits for tourists. (Reuters/Asmaa Waguih)