--- description: From Obama's selfie at Mandela's memorial service and the execution of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un's uncle to the continuing protests in Kiev and Santa snuggling with a shark, TIME presents the best pictures of the week. title: Pictures of the Week: December 6 – December 13 image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt3265b586328d841b/6987e510e20a87bc4ca8840f/454261439.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [World](/section/world/) ## World Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [LightBox](/tag/time-section-lightbox/) ## LightBox Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # Pictures of the Week: December 6 - December 13 by [Phil Bicker](/author/phil-bicker/) ## Phil Bicker Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Dec 13, 2013 3:27 PM CUT  Dec. 8, 2013\. Parishioners attend church services at Regina Mundo Catholic Church as South Africans observe a national day of prayer for Nelson Mandela in Soweto, South Africa. Dec. 8, 2013\. Parishioners attend church services at Regina Mundo Catholic Church as South Africans observe a national day of prayer for Nelson Mandela in Soweto, South Africa.Justin Sullivan—Getty Images by [Phil Bicker](/author/phil-bicker/) ## Phil Bicker Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Dec 13, 2013 3:27 PM CUT From Obama’s selfie at Mandela’s memorial service and the execution of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un’s uncle to the continuing protests in Kiev and Santa snuggling with a shark, TIME presents the best pictures of the week. **(See also:** [**2013: The Year in 365 Pictures**](http://lightbox.time.com/2013/12/03/2013-the-year-in-365-pictures/ "undefined")**)**  Dec. 8, 2013\. Parishioners attend church services at Regina Mundo Catholic Church as South Africans observe a national day of prayer for Nelson Mandela in Soweto, South Africa. Justin Sullivan—Getty Images  Dec. 6, 2013\. People release balloons into the air in front of the Eiffel Tower to support four French journalists who are held hostage in Syria, in Paris. Jacky Naegelen—Reuters  Dec. 7, 2013\. Palestinians look out a window of a building damaged by an Israeli air strikes in the past during a rally marking the 46th anniversary of the founding of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP), in Gaza City. Suhaib Salem—Reuters  Dec. 9, 2013\. Ultra Orthodox Jewish men and Rabbis gather during a demonstration to support Ultra-Orthodox Jews who were detained for refusing to report to a military recruitment center in front of the Israeli military prison 6 near Haifa, Israel. Ariel Schalit—AP  Dec. 9, 2013\. People run away from a gunfire during a disarmament operation by French soldiers in Bangui, Central African Republic. Fred Dufour—AFP/Getty Images  Dec. 7, 2013\. Athletes compete during the men's 4x7,5km relay at the IBU Biathlon World Cup in Hochfilzen. Samuel Kubani—AFP/Getty Images  Dec. 7, 2013\. A model wearing a surgical mask as she parades a collection of gold jewelry at a park in Nanjing, east China's Jiangsu province. AFP/Getty Images  Dec. 9, 2013\. Taras, 18, an anti-government protester stand guard and raises an EU flag, a symbol of the protest movement, at one of the barricades defending Maidan Square against police and government supporters in Kiev, Ukraine. Etienne De Malglaive—Getty Images  Dec. 7, 2013\. Egyptian women supporters of ousted President Mohammed Morsi stand inside the defendants' cage in a courtroom in Alexandria, Egypt. Eman Helal—AP  Dec. 10, 2013\. U.S. President Barack Obama (R) and British Prime Minister David Cameron pose for a picture with Denmark's Prime Minister Helle Thorning Schmidt (C) next to U.S. First Lady Michelle Obama (R) during the memorial service of South African former president Nelson Mandela at the FNB Stadium (Soccer City) in Johannesburg. Roberto Schmidt—AFP/Getty Images  Dec. 06, 2013\. A view of the famous 'Morant's Curve' offering a beautiful view of the frozen Bow River and the Canadian Pacific Railway at Banff National park near Lake Louise, Canada. Joe Klamar—AFP/Getty Images  Dec. 7 2013\. Internally displaced people gather in the Don Bosco Center outside Bangui, Central African Republic. Jerome Delay—AP  Dec. 7, 2013\. People from Bouar welcome French militaries arriving from Cameroon, Central African Republic. Fred Dufour—AFP/Getty Images  Dec. 7, 2013\. Supporters stand in front of a giant Palestinian flag as they take part in a rally marking the 46th anniversary of the founding of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP), in Gaza City. Suhaib Salem—Reuters  Dec. 7, 2013\. South African Christians say prayers on a hilltop overlooking Johannesburg. Brent Stirton—Getty Images  Dec. 7, 2013\. Models pose at a barricade as they take part in a photo shoot for an art project, at Independence Square in Kiev. Stoyan Nenov—Reuters  Dec. 7, 2013\. A man burn tree branches on a field to make room for a new orchard next to Pielesti village, Romania. Daniel Mihailescu—AFP/Getty Images  Dec. 7, 2013\. Kalyanarat Ranasinghe's wife Dammika cries after receiving the flag that covered the casket of her husband, a Level II NYPD Traffic Enforcement Agent, during his wake service in New York. Eduardo Munoz—Reuters  Dec. 7, 2013\. Livestock huddle as they feed in an open field covered in ice near Corinth, Texas. Tony Gutierrez—AP  Dec. 8, 2013\. Buildings are shrouded in smog in Lianyungang, China. ChinaFotoPress/Getty Images  Dec. 8, 2013\. A Palestinian woman, hoping to cross into Egypt, carries her son as he looks out of a bus window while waiting at the Rafah crossing between Egypt and the southern Gaza Strip. Ibraheem Abu Mustafa—Reuters  Dec. 8, 2013\. A Christian worshipper prays on a hill overlooking the city of Johannesburg, South Africa. Bernat Armangue—AP  Dec. 8, 2013\. Philadelphia Eagles' DeSean Jackson celebrates in the snow after a touchdown during the second half of an NFL football game against the Detroit Lions, Sunday in Philadelphia. Matt Rourke—AP  Dec. 8, 2013\. Children ask for biscuits at a base camp held by French militaries in Bossembele. Fred Dufour—AFP/Getty Images  Dec. 8, 2013\. U.S. Marines Lt. Col. Clint Benfield (L) and Col. Ben Watson (R) talk under pictures of Queen Elizabeth, Afghan President Hamid Karzai and U.S. President Barack Obama at Camp Bastion, Afghanistan. Mark Wilson—Reuters  Dec. 9, 2013\. Nomadic shepherds from Rajasthan herd their sheep at a camp on the outskirts of New Delhi. Prakash Singh—AFP/Getty Images  Dec. 9, 2013\. A Christian man chases a suspected Seleka officer in civilian clothes with a knife near the airport in Bangui, Central African Republic. Jerome Delay—AP  Dec. 9, 2013\. Mobs of Christians attack suspected Seleka members near the airport in Bangui, Central African Republic. Jerome Delay—AP  Dec. 9, 2013\. A French soldier speaks to suspected Christian militia member Sincere Banyodi, 32, who lays wounded by machete blows in the Kokoro neighborhood of Bangui, Central African Republic. Jerome Delay—AP  Dec. 9, 2013\. People stand near a burning truck loaded with gasoline after it collided at Bintaro district in Jakarta, Indonesia. Beawiharta—Reuters  Dec. 9, 2013\. Tibetan exiles are taken in to detention by Indian policewomen during a protest against the alleged human rights abuses of Tibetans by the Chinese government outside the Chinese embassy on the eve of World Human Rights Day in New Delhi. Tsering Topgyal—AP  Dec. 9, 2013\. Anti-government protesters march with a large Thai national flag during a rally in Bangkok. Athit Perawongmetha—Reuters  Dec. 9, 2013\. A flock of pigeons flies with a prototype "parcelcopter" of German postal and logistics group Deutsche Post DHL in Bonn, Germany. Wolfgang Rattay—Rueters  Dec. 9, 2013\. Ultra-Orthodox Jews gather during a protest against their military conscription outside a military prison in Atlit, Israel. Uriel Sinai—Getty Images  Dec. 10, 2013\. Winter swimmers (R) try to pull an elderly man (L) out of icy waters after he was trapped in a partially frozen lake at a park in Changchun, Jilin province, China. Reuters  Dec. 9, 2013\. Police special forces in front of the Presidential Administration building, Kiev, Ukraine. Sergii Kharchenko—Demotix/Corbis  Dec. 9, 2013\. A man carries a wounded girl who survived what activists say was an air strike by forces loyal to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad in Aleppo's al-Ansari al-Sharqi neighborhood. Ammar Abdullah—Reuters  Dec. 10, 2013\. Construction continues of the Arena Amazonia stadium venue for the 2014 FIFA World Cup Brazil in Manaus, Brazil. Shaun Botterill—Getty Images  Dec. 10, 2013\. Drug users gather beneath an overpass in an area known as 'Cracolandia', or Crackland, in the Antares shantytown in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Mario Tama—Getty Images  Dec. 10, 2013\. Bus driver Edilson, 45, also known as "Fumassa", poses as he wears a Santa Claus outfit inside an urban bus decorated with Christmas motives in Santo Andre, outskirts of Sao Paulo, Brazil. Nacho Doce—Reuters  Dec. 10, 2013\. Attendees look down into a stadium entrance at the state memorial service for former South African President Nelson Mandela in the Soweto township of Johannesburg. Stephen Crowley—The New York Times/Redux  Dec. 10, 2013\. President Barrack Obama gestures as he speaks on stage during the memorial service for former South African president Nelson Mandela at the FNB Stadium in Soweto, near Johannesburg, South Africa. Markus Schreiber—AP  Dec. 10, 2013\. South African Archbishop and Honorary Elders Desmond Tutu (C) attends the memorial service of South African former president Nelson Mandela at the FNB Stadium (Soccer City) in Johannesburg. Roberto Schmidt—AFP/Getty Images  Dec. 10, 2013\. Pakistani Christian children hold placards bearing the image of late South African president Nelson Mandela as they take part in a rally to pay tribute Mandela in Islamabad. Aamir Qureshi—AFP/Getty Images  Dec. 10, 2013\. Protesters chained together block the entrance of an immigrant detention center in Elizabeth, New Jersey. John Moore—Getty Images  Dec. 11, 2013\. A young woman holds her baby in an elementary school of the Muslim district of Bangui, Central African Republic. Fred Dufour—AFP/Getty Images  Dec. 11, 2013\. People from neighboring villages watch a bullfight in Congjiang county, Guizhou province, China. China Daily/Information Corp - CDIC/Reuters  Dec. 11, 2013\. The Canary Wharf business district of east London taken from the Metropolitan Police helicopter is seen during a foggy morning in this photograph received via the Metropolitan Police in London. Metropolitan Police/Reuters  Dec. 11, 2013\. An aquarium staff member dressed in a Santa Claus costume embraces a Zebra shark as he swims with fish inside the Sunshine International Aquarium in Tokyo. Shizuo Kambayashi—AP  Dec. 11, 2013\. Pope Francis arrives at Saint Peter's Square for the weekly General Audience in Vatican City, Rome, Italy. Antonello Nusca—Polaris  Dec. 11, 2013\. Pope Francis attends the weekly general audience on Saint Peter's Square at the Vatican, Rome, Italy. Eric Vandeville—Abaca  Dec. 11, 2013\. A woman looks out of the dusty window after entering a bus to be transported to see the casket of Nelson Mandela at the Union Buildings in Pretoria, South Africa. Markus Schreiber—AP  Dec. 12, 2013\. The funeral procession with the hearse carrying the body of Nelson Mandela makes its way towards the Union Buildings in Pretoria, South Africa. Zhang Chen—Xinhua/Landov  Dec. 12, 2013\. The funeral procession with the hearse carrying the body of Nelson Mandela drives towards the Union Buildings in Pretoria, South Africa. Bernat Armangue—AP  Dec. 12, 2013\. South African mourners, wave and shout as the hearse carrying the body of former South African President Nelson Mandela passes by, in Pretoria, South Africa. Muhammed Muheisen—AP  Dec. 11, 2013\. Graca Machel, the widow of former South African President Nelson Mandela, pays her respects at his coffin as he lies in state at the Union Buildings in Pretoria. Reuters  Dec. 11, 2013\. A Free Syrian Army fighter throws snow at his fellow fighter in Khan Tuman, Aleppo. Ammar Abdullah—Reuters  Dec. 11, 2013\. Police and supporters of EU integration clash in one of the city streets, Kiev, Ukraine. Krasilnikov Stanislav—ITAR-TASS Photo/Corbis  Dec. 11, 2013\. The boys of Winchester Cathedral Choir enjoy a misty morning skate on the cathedral's ice rink which will be open until January 5th, in England. Chris Ison—PA Photos/Landov  Dec. 12, 2013\. Ultra-Orthodox Jewish men roll a snowball after a snowstorm at a park during winter in Jerusalem. Amir Cohen—Reuters  Dec. 12, 2013\. Young Indian children play at Sangam, the confluence of the Ganges, Yamuna and mythical Saraswati river ahead of the Magh Mela festival in Allahabad, India. Rajesh Kumar Singh—AP  Dec. 12, 2013\. North Korean airport officials stand on the snowy tarmac in front of the Pyongyang airport, currently under reconstruction, in Pyongyang North Korea. David Guttenfelder—AP  Dec. 12, 2013\. A Palestinian woman feeds her son at a school after being evacuated from their house that is flooded with rainwater, on a stormy day in Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip. Ibraheem Abu Mustafa—Reuters  Dec. 12, 2013\. Ukrainian and European Union flags fly over the newly-erected barricades at Independence Square in Kiev, Ukraine. Sergey Ponomarev—The New York Times/Redux  Dec. 12, 2013\. Policewomen are deployed to secure the compound of the prime minister's office, known as the Government House, as anti-government protesters gather behind its fence and gates in Bangkok, Thailand. Damir Sagolj—Reuters  Dec. 12, 2013\. New York Mayor-elect Bill de Blasio (top C) speaks to the media next to Lilliam Barrios-Paoli (top R), newly appointed Deputy Mayor for Health and Human Services, and Anthony Shorris, First Deputy Mayor, during a news conference in New York. Eduardo Munoz—Reuters  Dec. 12, 2013\. A baby whose family fled the U.S.-led war in Afghanistan rests in a cradle at a slum on the outskirts of Islamabad, Pakistan. Zohra Bensemra— Reuters  Dec. 12, 2013\. A Palestinian Bedouin boy protects himself from the rain after a storm damaged his family shack in Gaza City. Mohammed Abed—AFP/Getty Images  Dec. 12, 2013\. Young Syrian refugees build a snowman following a storm in a makeshift refugee camp in the Lebanese village of Baaloul in the Bekaa Valley, Lebanon. Mahmoud Zayyat—AFP/Getty Images  Dec. 12, 2013\. A Xhosa girl stands outside her home overlooking Qunu as preparations continue ahead of the funeral of former South African President Nelson Mandela in Qunu, South Africa. Dan Kitwood—Getty Images  Dec. 12, 2013\. An Indian labourer walks along a girder during the construction of a temporary pontoon bridge over the River Ganges for the upcoming Magh Mela festival in Allahabad, India. Sanjay Kanojia—AFP/Getty Images  Dec. 12, 2013\. Soldiers of the Presidential Guard Battalion stand at attention as a fellow guard member is tended to after fainting while waiting for the arrival of visiting French President Francois Hollande at the Planalto presidential palace, in Brasilia, Brazil. Eraldo Peres—AP  Dec. 12, 2013\. Santa Claus kites float in front of the Eiffel Tower as part of Christmas holiday season preparations in Paris, France. Jacky Naegelen— Reuters  Dec. 12, 2013\. Youths attempt to control a fire by pouring colored water after vehicles were torched and vandalized by Bangladesh's Jamaat-e-Islami party activists during clashes with police in Dhaka, Bangladesh. Andrew Biraj—Reuters  Dec. 12, 2013\. An anti-government demonstrator (L) points his finger at a policeman as they talk through the gate of the Government House in Bangkok, Thailand. Philippe Lopez—AFP/Getty Images  Dec. 12, 2013\. This photo released by Yonhap on December 13, 2013 shows Jang Song-Thaek (2nd-R) being escorted in court. North Korea has executed the uncle of its leader Kim Jong-un, state news agency KCNA announced. Yonhap/AFP/Getty Images  Dec. 13, 2013\. North Korean subway commuters gather around a public newspaper stand on the train platform in Pyongyang, North Korea to read the headlines about Jang Song Thaek, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un's uncle who was executed as a traitor. David Guttenfelder—AP  Dec 13, 2013\. Activists of Jamaat-e-Islami and its student wing, Islami Chhatra Shibir, torched four private cars and five motorcycles including two of police personnel at Motijheel in the capital after the Juma prayer i Dhaka, Bangladesh. reazsumon—Demotix/Corbis  Dec 13, 2013\. A woman swims in the pool at the David Citadel Hotel during a snow storm in Jerusalem. 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