The week's best photojournalism

In some of the week's most striking images, swimmers take the polar bear plunge, sumo champions perform, and more

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Australian batsman David Warner celebrates scoring a century against the West Indies on the final day of their third cricket test in Sydney.
Spectators await the start of play between Australia and the West Indies at Sydney Cricket Ground in Sydney, Australia.
(Image credit: (Zak Kaczmarek/Getty Images))

Zebras arrive at a new location in the Wildlands Adventure Zoo in Emmen, Netherlands.
(Image credit: (BAS CZERWINSKI/AFP/Getty Images))

Mongolian-born grand sumo champion Yokozuna Harumafuji (left) performs the New Year's ring-entering rite at the annual celebration for the New Year at Meiji Shrine in Tokyo, Japan.
(Image credit: (REUTERS/Yuya Shino))

People in costume wait to perform before the traditional Epiphany parade in Malaga, Spain.
(Image credit: (REUTERS/Jon Nazca))

A stroller is pushed along a snow covered bank of the Spree river after heavy snowfall in Berlin, Germany.
(Image credit: (REUTERS/Pawel Kopczynski))

A man dressed as one of the Three Wise Men kisses a child at Poniente Beach in Gijon, Spain.
(Image credit: (REUTERS/Eloy Alonso))

An 120-foot statue, covered in golden paint, of Mao Zedong is under construction in Tongxu County, China.
(Image credit: (REUTERS/Stringer))

Water covers Las Posas Road near Camarillo, California, after heavy rain from the first in a series of El Nino storms passed over the area.
(Image credit: (AP Photo/Joel Angel Juárez))

Swimmers participate in a New Year's Day polar bear plunge, called the Loony Dook swim, at South Queensferry in Scotland.
(Image credit: (REUTERS/Russell Cheyne))

Shi'ite Muslims in New Delhi, India, try to cross a barricade during a protest against the execution of cleric Nimr al-Nimr.
(Image credit: (REUTERS/Adnan Abidi))

Children wait to be sprinkled with holy water two days before the annual procession of the Black Nazarene in Manila, Philippines.
(Image credit: (REUTERS/Erik De Castro))

Australian batsman David Warner celebrates his score against the West Indies on the final day of their third cricket test match in Sydney, Australia.
(Image credit: (REUTERS/Jason Reed)**See the best photojournalism of 2015**)

Lauren Hansen
Lauren Hansen

Lauren Hansen produces The Week’s podcasts and videos and edits the photo blog, Captured. She also manages the production of the magazine's iPad app. A graduate of Kenyon College and Northwestern University, she previously worked at the BBC and Frontline. She knows a thing or two about pretty pictures and cute puppies, both of which she tweets about @mylaurenhansen.