Stripped to the bone: Eye-catching photos of the week

Image: LUIS TATO / AFP

Members of the Dance Centre Kenya gather during a break in the production of the 'Nutcracker', a classical ballet traditionally performed in the Christmas period, at the Kenya National Theatre in Nairobi on December 2, 2023. In Kenya's pre-eminent and most diverse dance school, DCK's sponsorship plan in schools and informal settlements has already affected the lives of many aspiring dancers from disadvantaged backgrounds, some engaging in training programmes abroad with renowned international ballet schools.

Image: AFP

Boys walk past the debris strewn onshore on Marina Beach after heavy rains in Chennai on December 6, 2023. The plastic marine debris, a constant threat to the world's oceans and waterways, was caused by Cyclone Michaung, which made landfall on the southeast coast, and the chest-high water surged down the streets of India's southern city Chennai on December 5, 2023.

Image: Claire Spottiswoode / University of Cambridge / AFP

This file photo picture provided by the University of Cambridge shows Yao honey-hunter Seliano Rucunua holding a male honeyguide caught for research in Niassa Special Reserve in Mozambique. In parts of Africa, expert honey-hunters call out to a species of bird known as the greater honeyguide, which leads them to wild bee nests, a mutually beneficial practice. In a new study published on December 7, 2023, in Science, researchers have found that honeyguide birds in Tanzania and Mozambique distinguish between honey-hunters' calls, responding more readily to signals used in their local area.

Image: Pau BARRENA / AFP

In a striking protest, over 50 activists lay unclothed and spattered with artificial blood to challenge the ethics of fur farming and trade, called by international non-profit animal rights organisation AnimaNaturalis, in Plaza Catalunya, Barcelona, Spain on December 3, 2023. Mink, ferrets, foxes, rabbits, seals, otters, cows, chinchillas, and in China, even dogs and cats, are part of the large group of animals killed to turn their skins into clothing or fashion accessories. According to AnimaNaturalis, 'annually more than 32 million animals are slaughtered in the European Community alone to trade their skin.'

Image: Philip FONG / AFP

A cow munches at a dairy farm in Taiki of Hokkaido Prefecture, Japan, on December 6, 2023. Japan's space industry opened potentially a new chapter with a start-up testing a prototype rocket engine that runs on fuel derived purely from a plentiful local source: cow dung. The liquid "biomethane" used in the prototype was made entirely from gas derived from cow manure collected from two local dairy farms.

Image: Handout / Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) / AFP

This handout photo taken on December 2, 2023, by the Philippine Coast Guard shows an aerial view of Chinese vessels gathered by Whitsun Reef, around 320 kilometres west of Palawan Island, in disputed waters of the South China Sea. The Philippines said more than 135 Chinese vessels were "swarming" a reef off its coast, describing the boats' growing presence as "alarming".

Image: TIMOTHY A. CLARY / AFP

The shirt worn by the star striker Lionel Messi in the 2022 World Cup final match between Argentina and France on December 18, 2022, is displayed during a Sotheby's auction media preview of six 2022 FIFA World Cup match-worn shirts worn by Messi in New York City on November 30, 2023. The auction includes shirts worn in the final, semi-final, quarter-final, round of 16, and key group stage matches open for bidding from November 30, 2023, to December 14, 2023.

Image: Anthony WALLACE / AFP

Visitors look at recruitment notices during a job fair for North Korean defectors in Seoul on December 1, 2023. Defectors have struggled to integrate in South Korea, faced with linguistic, cultural and practical challenges in a country with rapid economic development. The job fair is one of many initiatives organised by the South Korean government that seeks to improve this.

Image: Tang Chhin Sothy / AFP

Tourists check in at the new Siem Reap-Angkor International Airport in Siem Reap province, Cambodia. Thailand, Cambodia and Vietnam are throwing up new airports and terminals, and a new airline is set to launch next year, banking on an expected boom in air travel in Southeast Asia, fuelled by Chinese and Indian tourists.