The Observer's 20 photographs of the week

The best photojournalism of the week was dominated by potent and moving images from the devastation caused by Typhoon Haiyan to the Philippines. In this photograph by David Guttenfelder, a woman rests on a roadside with her family's belongings near the town of Tacloban Photograph: David Guttenfelder/AP

Here, a Filipino civil aviation worker mans the damaged control tower of the airport as C-130 aircrafts take part in evacuation operations in Tacloban Photograph: Philippe Lopez/AFP

Photographer Dan Kitwood took this aerial view showing the scale of the devastation to a coastal town on Eastern Samar Island Photograph: Dan Kitwood/Getty

A girl rests on top of a pedicab parked in front of toppled trees and poles left from Typhoon Haiyan. Hundreds of thousands of people were displaced by Typhoon Haiyan, which tore across several islands in the eastern Philippines Photograph: Aaron Favila/AP

Boys watch the Games of the Indigenous People in Cuiaba, Brazil, where around 1,600 Indians from 48 tribes celebrate the country's indigenous cultures Photograph: Felipe Dana/AP

Photographer Nacho Doche documented the deforestation of the Amazon rainforest to clear land for agriculture near Novo Progresso, Para State Photograph: Nacho Doce/Reuters

From the same series by Nacho Doce, a woman holds her daughter outside their home in the Amazon rainforest near the city of Uruara, Para State Photograph: Nacho Doce/Reuters

Photographer Diego Azubel uses a tilt-shift lens to comic effect in this image of people walking past a sculpture of a dog at the Parkview Green shopping mall in Beijing, China Photograph: Diego Azubel/EPA

A view of the newly-opened ice rink at Somerset House, London. The ice rink, which has become an annual event, will be open for the festive period Photograph: Lefteris Pitarakis/AP

Mohammed Al-Shaikh is a regular contributor to this gallery with his outstanding work from Bahrain. Here, Bahraini Shia girls take part in a ceremony marking Ashura, which commemorates the seventh century slaying of Imam Hussein, the grandson of Prophet Mohammed Photograph: Mohammed Al-Shaikh/AFP

Iranian Muslim Shia boys in Noosh Abad impersonate genies, the spiritual creatures mentioned in the Koran Photograph: Behrouz Mehri/AFP

Shia Muslims tend to a man after he flagellated himself during a Muharram procession ahead of Ashura in Amroha, India Photograph: Adnan Abidi/Reuters

In another photograph by Adnan Abidi this week, a woman carries her child while standing next to her burnt belongings after a fire broke out at a slum area in New Delhi, India Photograph: Adnan Abidi/Reuters

Photographed from the village of Tigapancur in Indonesia, Mount Sinabung spews pyroclastic smoke Photograph: Ulet Ifansasti/Getty

Miley Cyrus lights a joint as she performs during the MTV Europe Music Awards at the Ziggo Dome in Amsterdam Photograph: Sven Hoogerhuis/AFP

A fire bull chases a reveller during the Toro de Jubilo, the Fire Bull Festival, in Medinaceli, Spain. The festival is an ancient tradition from the bronze age. A bull is tied to a pylon and flammable balls attached to the bull's horns are lit before the animal is released Photograph: Andres Kudacki/AP

A Free Syrian Army fighter points his weapon through a hole in the wall inside a bedroom in Deir al-Zor, Syria Photograph: Khalil Ashawi/Reuters

Anti-government protesters aim laser beams at riot police during clashes in the village of Sanabis in Bahrain Photograph: Hamad I Mohammed/Reuters

People are silhouetted against a wall where people write chalk messages denouncing Toronto Mayor Rob Ford at City Hall. Toronto's embattled mayor, Rob Ford, admitted that he had bought illegal drugs in the past two years Photograph: Mark Blinch/Reuters

Palestinians look at Hamas militants as they rappel down a building during a military parade marking the first anniversary of the eight-day conflict with Israel, in Gaza City Photograph: Mohammed Salem/Reuters