Riots, rallies, festivities — the following gallery contains photos of some of the more notable events that occurred during the past week.
1/20
© Sputnik / Maksim Blinov
Soyuz-FG rocket carrying Soyuz TMA-19M spacecraft is being launched from the Baikonur cosmodrome. December 15.
Republican presidential candidate businessman Donald Trump gestures during the Republican Presidential Debate hosted by CNN, at The Venetian Las Vegas in Las Vegas, Nevada. December 15.
Soldiers of China's People's Liberation Army throw snow at each other during a winter training exercise near China's border with Russia in Heihe, Heilongjiang province. December 14, 2015.
Members of Kosovo's Parliament scatter after tear gas is set off in the chamber in Pristina. December 14.
5/20
© Sputnik / Alexandr Kryazhev
The participants of the Arena circus festival held in the Russian city of Novosibirsk prepare backstage for an event.
A mural is seen with a slum in the background on the bank of the Rio Negro river in Manaus, Amazonas state, Brazil. December 11.
7/20
© Sputnik / Valeriy Melnikov
Children attend school in a refugee settlement in al-Quneitra province of Syria.
Swimmers jump off a jetty to escape the heat at Henley Beach, west of Adelaide, Australia. December 17.
A participant peeks from his costume before the start of the the annual London Pantomime Horse Race in Greenwich, Britain. December 13.
A photographer looks at the sky at night to see the annual Geminid meteor shower on the Elva Hill in northern Italy. December 12.
A Yemeni tribesman from the Popular Resistance Committees, supporters of Yemen's Saudi-backed President Abedrabbo Mansour Hadi, fires a machine gun in the area of Sirwa, some 105 miles east of the capital Sanaa. December 14.
12/20
© Sputnik / Vladimir Pesnya
Russia's Evgenia Medvedeva competes during the figure skating Gran Prix Final in Barcelona. December 13.
People dressed as Santa Claus and wearing other holiday related outfits start their parade after meeting in Brooklyn's McCarren Park during the SantaCon 2015 in New York City. December 12.
14/20
© AP Photo / Michael Probst
German Chancellor Angela Merkel holds a toy wolf she got as a present during a party convention of the Christian Democrats (CDU) in Karlsruhe, Germany. December 14.
Two members of the "Sibspas" Siberian search and rescue group dressed as Santa Claus shake hands as they climb up the rock named "The Fourth Stolb" (the Fourth Pillar) at the Stolby National Nature Reserve during a training session of the Russian Emergencies Ministry outside the Siberian city of Krasnoyarskю December 15.
16/20
© Sputnik / Sergey Guneev
Russia's President Vladimir Putin (right) and US Secretary of State John Kerry during a meeting at the Kremlin. December 15.
Kurdish protesters clash with Turkish police in downtown Diyarbakir during a rally against the recent curfews imposed on Kurdish towns. December 14.
Men dressed as 'Krampuss' prepare to parade at Munich's Christmas market. December 13.
A migrant boy runs while holding a balloon outside the Tae Kwon Do stadium at the southern suburb of Faliro in Athens, Greece. December 16.
Voters at one of the polling stations in the Central African Republic capital of Bangui during the Constitutional Referendum. December 13.
