Los Angeles — Snow capped mountains peak behind downtown Los Angeles as seen from Kenneth Hahn Regional Park.

PHOTOGRAPH BY: Christina House / For The Times

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Tiszaujvaros, Hungary — Hungarian sportsman Gyorgy Schirilla gestures as he swims in the icy waters of a lake in Tiszaujvaros. After his father's death in 1999, Schirilla picked up his practice of winter swimming.

PHOTOGRAPH BY: PETER KOHALMI / AFP/Getty Images

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Sieversdorf, Germany — A solitary tree covered with snow stands in a field under a blue winter sky. Forecasters have predicted cold temperatures for the region over the New Year's weekend.

PHOTOGRAPH BY: Patrick Pleul / EPA

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Westerland, Germany — A rose hip is covered in snow and hoarfrost in Westerland on the North Sea island of Sylt.

PHOTOGRAPH BY: PETER STEFFEN / DPA

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Panjin City, China — A migrant worker prepares steamed buns for the farmers' lunch in the wetlands of the Liaohe River delta.

PHOTOGRAPH BY: EPA

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Mumbai, India — Indian students burn an effigy that depicts tobacco as a demon. The event was organized to welcome the new year with a pledge to make Mumbai a tobacco-free city.

PHOTOGRAPH BY: Rajanish Kakade / Associated Press

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Warsaw — A couple stand at the illuminated Plac Baczynskiego in the community of Tychy.

PHOTOGRAPH BY: AGENCJA GAZETA / Reuters

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Wanjak, Sudan — Boys smile as World Food Program staffers distribute food to returnees from northern Sudan. People from Sudan's oil-producing south are widely expected to vote to split away to form Africa's newest nation in a referendum scheduled to take place on Jan. 9, part of a 2005 peace deal ending a civil war between north and south.

PHOTOGRAPH BY: GORAN TOMASEVIC / Reuters

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Allahabad, India — Linemen are silhouetted as they repair high-tension wires on the banks of the Ganges River.

PHOTOGRAPH BY: Rajesh Kumar Singh / Associated Press

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London — Members of the Etiwanda (Calif.) High School Marching Band rehearse in Trafalgar Square for London's New Year's Day parade.

PHOTOGRAPH BY: BEN STANSALL / AFP/Getty Images

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Melbourne, Australia — Acrobats perform during a promotional appearance for Le Grand Cirque. The international circus includes performers from Russia, China, South America, Africa, Europe and Outer Mongolia.

PHOTOGRAPH BY: WILLIAM WEST / AFP/Getty Images

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Athens — Police investigators search for evidence outside a court building after a bomb exploded, causing widespread damage but no injuries. The blast comes nearly two weeks before the trial of anarchists suspected of a parcel bomb campaign.

PHOTOGRAPH BY: LOUISA GOULIAMAKI / AFP/Getty Images

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Bethlehem, West Bank — Greek Orthodox priests clean the floor of the Church of the Nativity, the place where Christians believe Jesus Christ was born, as part of the preparations for the eastern Christians' Christmas celebrations.

PHOTOGRAPH BY: ABED AL HASHLAMOUN / EPA

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