Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina — A photograph of veteran U.S. diplomat Richard C. Holbrooke is pictured next to a Bosnia and Herzegovina flag at the U.S. embassy in Sarajevo on Tuesday. Holbrooke, 69, died Monday after surgery to repair a tear in his aorta and won posthumous praise in Bosnia for brokering the Dayton treaty that ended the 1992-95 war — even if peace since then has not been all that many had hoped for.

PHOTOGRAPH BY: DADO RUVIC / REUTERS

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Erfurt, Germany — An antinuclear protester holds a candle at a demonstration against the transport of nuclear waste. A train traveling from Cadarache in France with four castors containing nuclear waste is expected to arrive in the northeastern German city of Lubmin on Thursday.

PHOTOGRAPH BY: MARTIN SCHUTT / AFP/Getty Images

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Askelon, Israel — A Roman statue buried for centuries was unearthed by winter storms that hit the coast of Israel. The white marble figure of a woman in a toga and sandals was found in the remains of a cliff that crumbled under the force of winds, waves and rain at this ancient Israeli port.

PHOTOGRAPH BY: AMIR COHEN / REUTERS

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Ashulia, Bangladesh — A Bangladeshi firefighter is silhouetted by smoke from a blaze that swept through a factory that manufactures clothing for Western companies, killing at least 22 workers and injuring 100 more.

PHOTOGRAPH BY: MUNIR UZ ZAMAN / AFP/Getty Images

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Madrid — Cars drive along a Madrid street illuminated by Christmas lights.

PHOTOGRAPH BY: DOMINIQUE FAGET / AFP/Getty Images

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Buffalo, NY — A grounded JetBlue aircraft is almost invisible in the snow, part of a massive system hitting the Northeast causing major disruption in air travel.

PHOTOGRAPH BY: John Normile / Getty Images

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Gaza Strip — Condensation trails of an Israeli F16 fighter jet form circles in the sky above a rally marking the 23rd anniversary of the founding of Hamas. The Islamist movement's Gaza leader Ismail Haniya told a crowd numbering tens of thousands that Hamas will never recognize the Jewish state.

PHOTOGRAPH BY: ALI ALI / European Pressphoto Agency

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Park City, Utah — German athletes Tobias Wendl, right, and Tobias Arlt take a practice run for the World Cup luge competition at the Utah Olympic Park.

PHOTOGRAPH BY: George Frey / Associated Press

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Madrid — A worker peers down from a repair platform on the Torre Espacio building, one of several new skyscrapers in the Spanish capital's financial district.

PHOTOGRAPH BY: SERGIO PEREZ / REUTERS

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Kalameny, Slovakia — Juraj Markovic, 61, bathes in a natural thermal spring near the village of Kalameny as outdoor temperatures dropped well below freezing. The spring is one of many natural spas found in Slovakia's Liptov region.

PHOTOGRAPH BY: JOE KLAMAR / AFP/Getty Images

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Sana, Yemen — Veiled public school teachers demanding a pay raise take part in a protest outside the parliament building.

PHOTOGRAPH BY: Khaled Abdullah / REUTERS

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Beijing — A poster for the Chinese movie "Love Tactics" is pictured among trees at an open-air cinema.

PHOTOGRAPH BY: JASON LEE / REUTERS

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Leipzig, Germany — Heidi, a cross-eyed opossum, is safe in her enclosure at the city's zoo. In the wild, an animal with this condition would have a much-diminished chance of survival.

PHOTOGRAPH BY: HENDRIK SCHMIDT / AFP/Getty Images

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St. Petersburg — The Christmas fair in Alexandrovskiy Garden is adorned with lights.

PHOTOGRAPH BY: ALEXANDER DEMIANCHUK / REUTERS

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Apopka, Fla. — Icicles hang from a tree next to plants in a field covered with frost cloth at Dewars Nurseries. The plants are sprayed with water to help protect them from below-freezing temperatures.

PHOTOGRAPH BY: John Raoux / Associated Press

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Springhead, Fla. — Icicles cling to a strawberry plant. Farmers spray a fine mist of water on their crops to help protect the fruit from the subfreezing temperatures. Temperatures in central Florida dipped into the 20s.

PHOTOGRAPH BY: Chris O'Meara / Associated Press

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Rome — Antigovernment protesters clash with riot police near the Italian parliament. Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi's government narrowly won a key parliament confidence vote, staving off a demand for the premier's resignation made by the center-left opposition and a group of rebel conservatives.

PHOTOGRAPH BY: Guido Montani / EPA

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Rome — Police march as a police van and cars have been set on fire at Piazza del Popolo during a protest by youths to demand a change of government as parliament met to hold a crucial vote that could have toppled Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi. Berlusconi scraped through a crucial confidence vote in the lower house of parliament by 314 votes in favor and 311 against.

PHOTOGRAPH BY: Vincenzo Pinto / AFP / Getty Images

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Rome — Members of the People of Freedom party celebrate in parliament. Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi narrowly survived a no-confidence motion in the lower house of parliament, but the future of his government remained uncertain because of its wafer-thin majority.

PHOTOGRAPH BY: ALESSANDRO BIANCHI / Reuters

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London — Wikileaks founder Julian Assange arrives at Westminster Magistrates Court inside a prison van with red windows. A British judge granted bail to the WikiLeaks founder but he remained in custody pending a possible appeal.

PHOTOGRAPH BY: Oli Scarff / Getty Images

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Valley of Fire State Park, Nev. — A Geminid meteor streaks between peaks of the Seven Sisters rock formation in the Valley of Fire State Park in Nevada. The Geminid meteor shower appears to radiate from the constellation Gemini and is thought to be the result of debris cast off from an asteroid-like object. The shower is visible every December.

PHOTOGRAPH BY: Ethan Miller / Getty Images

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Zurich, Switzerland — King penguins are followed by visitors as they walk at the zoo.

PHOTOGRAPH BY: Steffen Schmidt / Associated Press

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Singapore — A child reaches out to touch foam used to simulate snow at a shopping mall. Singapore malls are taking advantage of the festive season to draw in customers through visual merchandising, advertising and year-end sales.

PHOTOGRAPH BY: Wong Maye-E / Associated Press

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Kunduz, Afghanistan — An Afghan girl looks on as she waits with women for the distribution of food by the German humanitarian organization KinderBerg International.

PHOTOGRAPH BY: FABRIZIO BENSCH / Reuters

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Kiev, Ukraine — A woman holds a portrait of a "liquidator," an emergency worker who fought the blaze at the Chernobyl nuclear reactor, as she walks past guards of honor during a commemoration ceremony.

PHOTOGRAPH BY: GLEB GARANICH / Reuters

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Oberhausen, Germany — A ray swims in its aquarium.

PHOTOGRAPH BY: Martin Meissner / Associated Press

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