Pictures of the Week: October 5 – 12

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From the Taliban shooting of a 14-year-old activist in Pakistan to the vice-presidential debate in Kentucky to angry protests against the German Chancellor’s visit in Greece and a human tower in Spain, TIME presents the best images of the week.

Oct. 6, 2012. A campaign poster of Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez is seen on an apartment building in Caracas. Jorge Silva—Reuters
Oct. 5, 2012. U.S. President Barack Obama arrives on stage during a campaign rally at Cleveland State University in Cleveland.Mandel Ngan—AFP
Oct. 8, 2012. Ultra-Orthodox Jewish men dance during Simhat Torah celebrations in Jerusalem's Mea Shearim neighborhood. The worshipers are marking the end of the annual cycle of the reading of the Torah and the beginning of the next cycle. Baz Ratner—Reuters
Oct. 8, 2012. A Pakistani child, her face covered with flies, whose family was displaced from their village in Pakistan's Sindh province by flooding in 2010, waits for her sister to dress her, at their makeshift home in a slum on the outskirts of Islamabad.Muhammed Muheisen—AP
Oct. 7, 2012. Members of the Colla 'Vella de Valls' climb as they construct a human tower during the 24th Tarragona Castells Comptetion in Tarragona, Spain. The 'Castellers' who build the human towers with precise techniques compete in groups, known as 'colles', at local festivals with aim to build the highest and most complex human tower. David Ramos—Getty Images
Oct. 7, 2012. Syrian refugee children play with materials they find, such as a piece of wood turned into glasses, in a camp at the Syrian-Turkish border near Azaz, Syria. The makeshift refugee camp is reported to be growing daily.May Sun—EPA
Oct. 8, 2012. A woman sunbathes on the beach amid vehicle tracks in Cannes, southeastern France.Lionel Cironneau—AP
Oct. 5, 2012. A member of the ''New Mexico Sunrise'' crew lets a child touch a balloon as it starts to inflate at Bellehaven Elementary school in Albuquerque as the start of the 2012 Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta kicks off.Jim Thompson—Albuquerque Journal/ZUMAPRESS.com
Oct. 6, 2012. Bodybuilders flex their muscles on stage during the Kosovo national bodybuilding championship in Pristina.Armend Nimani—AFP/Getty Images
Oct. 8, 2012. Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney speaks during a campaign rally in a downpour in Newport News, Va. Shannon Stapleton—Reuters
Oct. 5, 2012. Bahraini anti-government protesters, masked against tear gas, throw petrol bombs at a police water cannon truck during clashes with riot police in Sanabis, Bahrain.Hasan Jamali—AP
Oct. 5, 2012. A giant placard of a woman giving a kiss is set up by a road near Gaiole in Chianti, Italy.Gabriel Bouys—AFP/GettyImages
Oct. 6, 2012. A giant inflatable doll representing President Hugo Chavez stands on top of a building in Caracas.Ramon Espinosa—AP
Oct. 6, 2012. An Afghan man and child ride a donkey in a road leading into the small town of Baharak. The town is located in a fertile valley which is fed by the Kokcha river and is ringed by rugged arid mountains to the north and south.Roberto Schmidt—AFP/Getty Images
Oct. 6, 2012. Shinya Aoki of Japan celebrates by jumping in the air after defeating Arnaud Lepont of France during their lightweight Super Fight bout at the One Fighting Championship MIxed Martial Arts event in Singapore.Stephen Morrison—EPA
Oct. 6, 2012. Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney and his wife Ann walk backstage before his campaign appearance in Apopka, Fla. Charles Dharapak—AP
Oct. 7, 2012. People line up to cast their vote for the Venezuelan presidential elections in Caracas.Miguel Gutierrez—EPA
Oct. 7, 2012. A Syrian boy, who fled his home with his family due to fighting between government forces and rebels, stands near his tent at a refugee camp near the Turkish border in Azaz, Syria.Manu Brabo—AP
Oct. 7, 2012. A Syrian boy, who fled his home with his family due to fighting between government forces and rebels, holds a plate with food to eat at a refugee camp near the Turkish border, Azaz, Syria.Manu Brabo—AP
Oct. 7, 2012. An Indonesian child takes a nap as his mother works at a mosque in Jakarta.Adek Berry—AFP/Getty Images
Oct. 7, 2012. A young member of the Colla 'Vella de Valls' descends after bulding a human tower during the 24th Tarragona Castells Competition in Tarragona, Spain. David Ramos—Getty Images
Oct. 7, 2012. Pope Benedict XVI celebrates a mass in St. Peter's Square for the opening of the Synod of Bishops and proclamation of Spanish St John of Avila and German St Hildegard of Bingen as 'Doctors of the Church' in Vatican City.Franco Origlia—Getty Images
Oct. 7, 2012. Waitresses dance on tables in a beer tent on the final evening of the famous Bavarian "Oktoberfest" beer festival in Munich, southern Germany.Matthias Schrader—AP
Oct. 7, 2012. A view of the R Premadasa stadium at sunset through a hole in the scoreboard before the world Twenty20 final between Sri Lanka and the West Indies at R Premadasa Stadium, Colombo, Sri Lanka.Philip Brown—Reuters
Oct. 8, 2012. A Buddhist monk holds up a poster during a demonstration protesting against violence on Buddhists in Bangladesh in front of the Bangladesh Embassy in Yangon, Myanmar.Soe Zeya Tun—Reuters
Oct. 8, 2012. Rescue workers walk through the remains of a Sudanese military plane after it crashed at the North Korodofan State border near the capital Khartoum.Mohamed Nureldin Abdallah—Reuters
Oct. 8, 2012. A girl looks out from the window of her home as children play ping-pong outside in the ancient Nepalese city of Bhaktapur.Navesh Chitrakar—Reuters
Oct. 8, 2012. Palestinians look on during the funeral of Mohammed Makawi in Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip. Israel said that it struck targets in the Gaza Strip on Monday after Palestinian militants fired rockets at southern Israel, in what they said was a response to an Israeli air strike that killed one militant and wounded a second a day earlier. Ahmed Zakot—Reuters
Oct. 8, 2012. An Indian child rests with landless farmers as they stop for the night, during the "Jan Satyagraha" march to New Delhi to highlight the problems of India's landless, near Agra, India. Kevin Frayer—AP
Oct. 8, 2012. A Pakistani child who was displaced from a village in Pakistan's Sindh province by floods in 2010, lies on a bed inside his family's makeshift home, while his mother cleans dishes in a slum on the outskirts of Islamabad.Muhammed Muheisen—AP
Oct. 9, 2012. Carlos Daniel Gonzalez (L), 6, holds his sister Izabel, 4, as they are accompanied by authorities after unknown gunmen killed their parents and other relatives in the municipality of Villa Canales, 22 kilometers from Guatemala City.Saul Martinez—EPA
Oct. 9, 2012. Jerry Sandusky leaves the Centre County Courthouse after his sentencing in his child sex abuse case in Bellefonte, Pa. Pat Little—Reuters
Oct. 9, 2012. A demonstrator looks on during clashes with riot police in Athens. The city went into security lockdown for a landmark visit by German Chancellor Angela Merkel, an austerity hate figure in Greece whose arrival will be greeted by union and opposition party protests. Aris Messinis—AFP/Getty Images
Oct. 9, 2012. Riot police stand guard outside the parliament in Athens during a violent protest against the visit of Germany's Chancellor Angela Merkel.Yannis Behrakis—Reuters
Oct. 9, 2012. Protesters clash with riot policemen in front of the Parliament building in Athens. German Chancellor Angela Merkel praised the Greek government for making progress in implementing tough reforms and said more could be done to reduce the country's deficit. As the two leaders met, police clashed with protesters angry at painful austerity measures for which they blame Merkel.Alkis Konstantindis—EPA
Oct. 9, 2012. A naked protester runs past the parliament in Syntagma Square in Athens during a violent protest against the visit of Germany's Chancellor Angela Merkel.John Kolesidis—Reuters
Oct. 9, 2012. A wounded Pakistani girl, Malala Yousufzai, is moved to a helicopter to be taken to Peshawar for treatment in Mingora, Swat Valley, Pakistan. A Taliban gunman walked up to a school bus and shot and wounded a 14-year-old activist known for championing the education of girls and publicizing atrocities committed by the Taliban, officials said. Sherin Zada—AP
Oct. 9, 2012. Bernadine Sifoir, 7, poses for pictures at Gaston Margon, a camp for people displaced by the 2010 earthquake, in Port-au-Prince, Haiti.Dieu Nalio Chery—AP
Oct. 9, 2012. A man smokes a cigarette near a goat standing on a pole of a temple at Khokana in Lalitpur, Nepal.Navesh Chitrakar—Reuters
Oct. 9, 2012. Afghan National Police officers line up with their tea glasses before breakfast at the Police Academy in Kabul.Anja Niedringhaus—AP
Oct. 9, 2012. A child jumps on the waste products that are used to make poultry feed as she plays in a tannery at Hazaribagh in Dhaka, Bangladesh. Luxury leather goods sold across the world are produced in a slum area of Bangladesh's capital where workers, including children, are exposed to hazardous chemicals and often injured in horrific accidents, according to a study released on Tuesday. Andrew Biraj—Reuters
Oct. 9, 2012. 6-year-old Abel watches from his window as an excavator demolishes a neighbor's shack in the shantytown settlement of "El Gallinero" on the outskirts of Madrid. A handful of shacks were torn down under the orders of Madrid's town planning board.Susana Vera—Reuters
Oct. 10, 2012. A wounded Syrian man lies on a boat as he is transferred to Turkey over the Orontes river on the Turkish-Syrian border near the village of Hacipasa in Hatay province. Scores of Syrian civilians, many of them women with screaming children clinging to their necks, crossed Orontes, a narrow river marking the border with Turkey as they fled the fighting in Azmarin and surrounding villages. Osman Orsal—Reuters
Oct. 10, 2012. Coils of razor wire top the fence at the Israeli fence running along the Egyptian border in the Negev Desert. Jim Hollander—EPA
Oct. 10, 2012. 7-year-old amputee Deng plays with a ball at the Rehabilitation Centre of Juba, South Sudan. Deng's leg was amputated when he was 4-years-old after a mine he was playing with blew up in his house, killing his mother. Camille Lepage—AFP/Getty Images
Oct. 10, 2012. A dancer performs during Taiwan's National Day celebrations in front of the Presidential Office in Taipei. Pichi Chuang—Reuters
Oct. 10, 2012. Afghan honor police stand to attention during the third phase of a transfer of authority ceremony from the NATO-led troops to Afghan security forces in Kunar, province, east of Kabul.Rahmat Gul—AP
Oct.10, 2012. Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei's car is surrounded by well-wishers upon his arrival to the northeastern city of Bojnourd, Iran. parspix/ABACAPRESS.COM
Oct. 10, 2012. A supporter of the Pakistani political party Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM), center, reacts while she and other women chant prayers in support of 14-year-old schoolgirl Malala Yousufzai, who was shot on Tuesday by the Taliban for speaking out in support of education for women, at the MQM) headquarter in Karachi, Pakistan.Shakil Adil–AP
Oct. 10, 2012. Army Spc. Cory Allen kisses his daughter, Lacey Allen, during a welcome home ceremony for soldiers from the Army's 1st Battalion, 30th Infantry Regiment, at Fort Stewart, Ga. One hundred troops returned home after their first deployment to Afghanistan. Stephen Morton–AP
Oct. 11, 2012. Forces loyal to Syria's President Bashar al-Assad are seen after clashes with Free Syrian Army fighters in the Karm al-Gabal area in Aleppo.George Ourfalian—Reuters
Oct. 11, 2012. A Syrian child, wounded by Syrian Army shelling, lies in a truck bed after being treated by doctors at Dar al-Shifa hospital, Aleppo, Syria.Manu Brabo—AP
Oct. 11, 2012. Officials stand in front of a fire-damaged house in Baltimore, where an early morning fire claimed the lives of an adult and four children.Patrick Semansky—AP
Oct. 11, 2012. A free-swimming robot submarine, manoeuvres beneath sea ice in Eastern Antarctica in this picture made available on Oct. 11, 2012. Australian Antarctic Division/Reuters
Oct. 11, 2012. Vice-President Joe Biden shakes hands with Republican Vice-President nominee Paul Ryan at the Vice-Presidential debate at Centre College in Danville, Ky. Mark Reynolds—UPI/Landov
Oct.12, 2012. A worker smashes coal as he prepares to burn limestone at a nearby furnace inside a limestone mine in Quzhou, Zhejiang province, China.Reuters
Oct. 12, 2012. An element of a Goddess Durga idol representing an embryo of demon is installed by Indian artist Mukunda Mondal at a makeshift pandal in Calcutta, India, ahead of the Durga Puja festival. Piyal Adhikary—EPA
Oct. 11, 2012. An optical image of NGC 6543 from the first systematic survey of such objects in the solar neighbourhood made with NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory. A planetary nebula is a phase of stellar evolution that the sun should experience several billion years from now, when it expands to become a red giant and then sheds most of its outer layers, leaving behind a hot core that contracts to form a dense white dwarf star. Reuters/NASA/STScI

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