The week in pictures

December 6 — People check an ID list outside a polling station during parliamentary elections in Caracas, Venezuela. Most Western nations call the election a fraud by President Nicolas Maduro to retake the last state institution not in the hands of the Socialist Party.

December 6 — A man dressed as Santa Claus greets a child from inside a bubble during the Lights on Broadway event in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, the US. With Covid-19 cases rising in the US, the job of playing Santa has pivoted for health safety.

December 7 — Children arrive on a bike on the first day of a return to class during the coronavirus pandemic in the Manhattan borough of New York City in the US.

December 7 — Staff leave Newlands cricket ground in Cape Town after the  tour between SA and England was abandoned after Covid-19 infections among players and support staff.  

December 7 — A supporter of Ghana President Nana Akufo-Addo ahead of presidential and parliamentary elections in Accra, Ghana.

December 8 — At least 13 people were injured in a huge explosion at a chemicals factory on Otto Volek Road in New Germany, west of Durban, on Tuesday.

December 8 — Margaret Keenan, 90, is applauded by staff as she returns to her ward, becoming the first person in Britain to receive the Pfizer/BioNTech Covid-19 vaccine at University Hospital in Coventry, the UK.

December 8 — Police watch as residents of Chief Luthuli Park  township protest against their eviction, in Daveyton, Ekurhuleni.

December 9 — SpaceX’s first super heavy-lift Starship SN8 rocket explodes during a return-landing attempt after it launched from their facility on a test flight in Boca Chica, Texas, the US.

December 10 — Protesters commemorate International Human Rights Day on Thursday in Manila, Philippines. Human rights groups say torture and extrajudicial killings are taking place amid the Rodrigo Duterte government crackdown on activists and critics.

December 10 — Airbnb CEO Brian Chesky, top, Joe Gebbia, co-founder and chief product officer, left, and Nathan Blecharczyk, co-founder and chief strategy officer are shown on the Nasdaq MarketSite board as Airbnb launched its long-awaited IPO, in New York, the US.