It’s never been easier to keep up with what’s going on in the world. The news is everywhere – in our Facebook feeds, on the morning commute, during that lazy half hour before you switch off the TV and go to bed. But the tide of global affairs is often more upsetting than uplifting and it can be tempting to bury our heads in the sand. As the saying goes: a picture is worth a thousand words, so to offer a different perspective we've rounded up some of the most memorable images of the week's events, captured by the best photojournalists on the planet.
A mourner lays roses at a memorial to victims at the site of the 2016 Christmas market terror attack at Breitscheidplatz on the attack's first anniversary on 19th December 2017 in Berlin, Germany. On 19th December 2016, Tunisian immigrant Anis Amri hijacked a truck after killing the driver and ploughed it into the Christmas market, killing 11 people and injuring 56 in an Islamist-motivated plot. Victims and their relatives met with Chancellor Merkel yesterday after expressing their frustration over what they feel has been an inadequate response by the German government to the victims' trauma.
Photo: Carsten Koall/Getty Images
Michael, 47, stands among Christmas decorations he and his friend put up outside Green Park underground station on 16th December 2017 in London, England. Michael has been homeless for two months after he was living in Grenfell Tower with his grandmother, who is now missing and presumed dead. He says he was put into a hotel by the local council after the tragedy but has since been removed after they were unable to verify his living status in the tower. Homeless charity Shelter have used official government and Freedom of Information data to estimate 307,000 people are sleeping rough or living in inadequate housing, which is an increase of 13,000 over the past year.
Photo: Chris J Ratcliffe/Getty Images
A rainbow is seen over the Hukou Waterfall at Ji County on 17th December 2017 in Linfen, Shanxi province of China.
Photo: VCG/VCG/Getty Images
A Palestinian woman takes a picture of a member of the Israeli security forces as he takes her picture in a street in Jerusalem on 16th December 2017, as demonstrations continue to flare in the Middle East and elsewhere over the US president's declaration of Jerusalem as Israel's capital.
Photo: AHMAD GHARABLI/AFP/Getty Images
Fallow deer stand on a field as snow falls near Moerfelden-Walldorf, central Germany, on 18th December 2017.
Photo: BORIS ROESSLER/AFP/Getty Images
Workers relax with dogs in front of ice sculptures at Ice and Snow World park in Harbin city in China on 18th December 2017. Ice and Snow World park will trial open in China's Heilongjiang province and will hold an Ice and Snow Festival from 5th January 2018 until the end of February.
Photo: Tao Zhang/Getty Images
Cats and people sharing time and space at the Cat Cafe 'Kociarnia' situated on Lubicz Street in Krakow, Poland on 19th December 2017. Cat lovers may drink coffee while playing and spending time with friendly cats.
Photo: Beata Zawrzel/NurPhoto/Getty Images
An aircraft performs during Qatar's national day celebrations in Doha on 18th December 2017.
Photo: STRINGER/AFP/Getty Images
An aerial view shows floating ice blocks cut from the frozen surface of Xiuhu Lake in Shenyang, northeastern China's Liaoning province on 20th December 2017. The ice blocks are used as part of winter tourism activities in the region.
Photo: AFP/Getty Images
Clouds above Huntcliff and the beach light up with dramatic colours during a winter sunrise on 20th December 2017 in Saltburn-by-the-Sea, England. Milder weather covers much of the country this week as the jet stream keeps low pressure systems further to the north in the run-up to Christmas.
Photo: Ian Forsyth/Getty Images
An image of a couple is seen on the foam of a cup of coffee, at The Tea Terrace in House of Fraser department store on 21st December 2017 in London, England. For £5.75, customers can send a photo to the barista, who then applies the image to the foam of the coffee using edible food dye, from a fine art printer.
Photo: Leon Neal/Getty Images
Demonstrators break a piñata with their eyes covered with a band written with the word 'Indifference' in Spanish while marching to protest against the Law of Internal Security, which militarises crime fighting in the country, along Reforma Avenue in Mexico City, Mexico on 20th December 2017.
Photo: Emilio Espejel/NurPhoto/Getty Images
Druids, pagans and revellers gather in the centre of Stonehenge, hoping to see the sun rise, as they take part in a winter solstice ceremony at the ancient neolithic monument near Amesbury on 22nd December 2017 in Wiltshire, England. Despite a forecast of cloud and rain, a large crowd gathered at the UNESCO-listed stone circle to celebrate the sunrise closest to the winter solstice, the shortest day of the year. The event is claimed to be more important in the pagan calendar than the summer solstice, because it marks the 'rebirth' of the sun for the new year.
Photo: Matt Cardy/Getty Images
US Marines from the 3rd Marine Expeditionary force deployed from Okinawa, Japan, participate in the winter military training exercise with South Korean marines on 19th December 2017 in Pyeongchang-gun, South Korea. US and South Korean marines participate in the endurance exercise in temperatures below minus 20 degrees Celsius as part of an exercise to defend the country from any possible attacks from North Korea.
Photo: Chung Sung-Jun/Getty ImagesLike what you see? How about some more R29 goodness, right here?
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