January 6, 2012 10:30 AM EST
F rom Iranian war games and the Nigerian oil spill to Korea after Kim Jong II and the Iowa caucuses, TIME’s photo department presents the best images of the week.
December 31, 2011. A man dips his hands in crude oil during a protest in Nigeria against petro giant Shell, which is accused of spilling 40,000 barrels of oil off the West African nation’s coast.
George Esiri—EPA January 2, 2012. An estimated 22 tons of dead herring washed up on Norway’s western coast in late December, including thousands on Kvaenes beach in northern Norway alone.
Jan Petter Jorgensen—AFP/Getty Images January 1, 2012. Iranian sailors aboard a ship in the Strait of Hormuz take part in a massive 10-day naval exercise. Ebrahim Noroozi—AFP/Getty Images January 3, 2012. Iran navy vessels and submarines take part in a navy parade during the "Velayat-90" navy exercises in the Oman Sea near the Strait of Hormuz in southern Iran. Norouzi Jamejam—ParsPix/ABACAUSA January 1, 2012. Devotees surround a Kumari, a young girl regarded as the earthly manifestation of a Hindu goddess, as priests pray for rainfall and a good harvest in Kathmandu. The Kathmandu Kumari, one of many around South Asia, emerges from her temple only about 12 times a year for religious observances.
Navesh Chitrakar—Reuters January 2, 2012. An Omani equestrian demonstrates his skills during the annual Royal Horse Racing Festival in Muscat, Oman. At the end of the festival, which features the Gulf state’s best Arabians, the Sultan Cup is awarded to the winner of the New Year race.
Mohammed Mahjoub—AFP/Getty Images January 1, 2012. The car of Alfie Cox of South Africa and his German co-driver Jurgen Schroder is engulfed in flames in a sand dune during Stage One of the 2012 Dakar Rally from Mar del Plata to Santa Rosa de la Pampa in Argentina. Both drivers emerged unhurt.
Bryn Lennon—Getty Images January 6, 2012. Believers sing and dance in the river Tundzha, as they celebrate Epiphany day in the town of Kalofer, Bulgaria. Traditionally, an Eastern Orthodox priest throws a cross in the river and it is believed that the one who retrieves it will be healthy through the year. Valentina Petrova—AP January 5, 2012. Athletes compete in the men's 4 x 7.5 km relay event of the IBU biathlon World Cup in Oberhof, eastern Germany. Robert Michael_AFP/Getty images January 1, 2011. Dozens had to be evacuated after a landslide ripped through the mountainous countryside outside Trondheim, Norway. Ned Alley—Scanpix/Reuters January 2, 2012. The hand of a dead man is partially covered by a tablecloth at a crime scene in Mazatlán, Mexico. According to local media, two men were killed after gunmen arrived on the scene by car and started shooting.
Stringer—Reuters January 4, 2012. Agents take part in the inauguration of the headquarters of Mexico City's investigative police agency, in Mexico City. Bernardo Montoya—Reuters December 31, 2011. The Circular Mound, a 16th century outdoor altar at the Temple of Heaven park in Beijing, is illuminated in celebration of New Year’s Eve.
Lintao Zhang—Getty Images December 31, 2011. Activists wear Guy Fawkes masks during New Year's Eve celebrations at Independence Square in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Lai Seng Sin—AP Photo January 1, 2012. South Koreans view the burning of Daljips, a wooden hut built on top of a hill, to celebrate the New Year near the border village of Panmunjom (DMZ) that separates North and South Korea. Ahn Young-joon—AP Photo January 1, 2012. A kaleidoscope of fireworks designed by Marc Newson explode over the Sydney Opera House and the Sydney Harbour Bridge. Over one and a half million Sydneysiders lined the harbor vantage points to watch the spectacular pyrotechnic display usher in the New Year. Torsten Blackwood—AFP/Getty Images January 1, 2012. Hardy Dutch swimmers brave the icy North Sea in Scheveningen,
Netherlands. A record 10,000 people took the plunge in this year’s traditional New Year’s dip.
Jasper Juinen—Getty Images December 30, 2011. A base jumper flies off the Skypark of the Marina Bay Sands resort in downtown Singapore. Seven professional base jumpers from around the world launched themselves off the Public Observation Deck of the Sands Sky Park in quick succession as part of the resort's New Year celebrations. Stephen Morrison—EPA December 30, 2011. A Palestinian protester hurls stones at Israeli soldiers during demonstrations against the expansion of the nearby Jewish settlement of Halamish in the West Bank village of Nabi Saleh. Majdi Mohammed—AP Photo December 30, 2011. Palestinians carry the body of militant Momen Abu Daf during his funeral in Gaza City. Israel killed the leader of an al Qaeda-inspired faction in the Gaza Strip, accusing him of involvement in firing rockets and a planned attack on the Jewish state from the neighboring Egyptian Sinai. Mohammed Salem—Reuters December 31, 2011. Burnt vegetation frames background mountains as a massive forest fire rages uncontrolled at the Torres del Paine National Park in the Patagonian steppe in southern Chile. Francisco Quiroz—AFP/Getty Images December 30, 2011. Relatives of victims who were killed in an air strike mourn during a funeral service in the Ortasu village of Uludere, Sirnak province, southeast Turkey. Stringer—EPA December 30, 2011. Muslims offer evening prayers inside a mosque in New Delhi. Adnan Abidi—Reuters January 4, 2012. Tibetan spiritual leader the Dalai Lama is silhouetted as he teaches an assembly of monks and devotees during the Kalachakra Buddhist festival in Bodh Gaya, Bihar, India. Bodh Gaya, is believed to be the place where Buddha attained enlightenment. Altaf Qadri—AP Photo January 1, 2012. Pope Benedict XVI, framed by a balloon, blesses the faithful during the Angelus prayer in St. Peter's square at the Vatican. Pier Paolo Cito—AP Photo January 3, 2012. People attend a mass rally at the Kim Il Sung Square in Pyongyang, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK). © Kcna/Xinhua/ZUMAPRESS.com January 3, 2012. Callista Gingrich, wife of Republican presidential candidate and former House Speaker Newt Gingrich, campaigns at Elly's Tea and Coffee House in Muscatine, Iowa. Charles Dharapak—AP Photo December 30, 2011. Republican presidential candidate Newt Gingrich casts a shadow as he speaks at a campaign event at the Wakonda Club in Des Moines, Iowa. Brendan Hoffman for TIME January 4, 2012. A worker collects votes for U.S. Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney at a caucus site in Merill Middle School, just outside downtown Des Moines. Zhang Jun—Xinhua/Landov January 3, 2012. Unused signs supporting Republican presidential candidate Texas Governor Rick Perry sit against a wall at his Iowa Caucus night rally in Des Moines, Iowa. Samantha Sais—Reuters January 3, 2012. Signs supporting Republican presidential candidate Rick Santorum, who narrowly lost the Iowa caucus to Mitt Romney. Danny Wilcox Frazier for TIME December 30, 2011. Fog descends upon Millennium Park as a lone pedestrian walks in front of a monolith projection at Crown Fountain, in Chicago. Charles Rex Arbogast—AP Photo January 4, 2012. Students run outside a classroom during the first day of school at an Islamic local school in Kuala Lumpur. Mohd Rasfan—AFP/Getty Images December 31, 2011. A baby cries in a hammock at a temporary shelter for homeless survivors of tropical storm Washi in the southern Philippines city of Cagayan de Oro on Mindanao island. Erik De Castro—Reuters January 5, 2012. A resident watches the high water level from his home in Dordrecht, The Netherlands, as continual heavy rainfall threatens local dykes. Robin Utrecht—EPA January 5, 2012. People dressed as a "Chinese Dragon", swim in water at the Beijing Aquarium in Beijing, China. The new year in Chinese calendar is the year of Dragon which will fall on January 21, 2012. ChinaFotoPress/Getty Images January 5, 2012. A student sits amid trees and bushes painted to beautify the campus on the first day of the new semester at Rangsit University in Bangkok. The university was affected last year by one of Thailand's worst floods in five decades. Sukree Sukplang—Reuters January 5, 2012. Visitors tour the Ice and Snow World in Harbin, capital of northeast China's Heilongjiang Province. The 28th China Harbin International Ice and Snow Festival and the 13th Harbin Ice and Snow World opened on Tuesday. © Wang Jianwei/Xinhua/ZUMAPRESS.com December 30, 2011. Stray dogs walk in front of the Red Fort as it is shrouded in dense morning fog in New Delhi, India. Kevin Frayer—AP Photo January 3, 2012. Afghan women clad in burqas walk past a tree in Bagram, north of Kabul. 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