Mitterfirmiansreut, Germany — Visitors stand around a snow church just after its inauguration in Mitterfirmiansreut. The church is made of 1,400 cubic meters of snow and aims to commemorate the winter of the years 1910/1911, when so much snow fell that believers of Mitterfirmiansreut were unable to go to church in neighboring Mauth, so they decided to build their own church — made of snow.

PHOTOGRAPH BY: ARMIN WEIGEL / AFP / Getty Images

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Moscow, Russia — A child walks amid snowmen built in a park in central Moscow. New Year's is the biggest holiday of the year in Russia, and is followed by the Orthodox Christmas on Jan. 7.

PHOTOGRAPH BY: NATALIA KOLESNIKOVA / AFP / Getty Images

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Beijing, China — Local residents enjoy skating and sliding on the frozen lakes of Shichahai district in Beijing. Winter has brought a light snowfall and temperatures rarely above freezing in China's capital.

PHOTOGRAPH BY: ADRIAN BRADSHAW / EPA

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Hefei China — Hundreds of Chinese queue up to buy train tickets at a railway station in Hefei, as they prepare to go back home for the lunar Chinese New Year. China's retail sales for the Lunar New Year holiday surged 19% year-on-year in one of the biggest rises in a decade, signaling a surge in domestic consumption according to state media.

PHOTOGRAPH BY: STR / AFP / Getty Images

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Dundigal, India — Indian air force cadets celebrate their graduation at the IAF academy in Dundigal. A total of 175 cadets including 30 women passed through the academy to join the force.

PHOTOGRAPH BY: Mahesh Kumar A / Associated Press

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Deep Space — Russian Soyuz TMA-03M spacecraft approaching the International Space Station for docking, carrying European Space Agency astronaut Andre Kuipers, NASA astronaut Donald Pettit and Russian cosmonaut Oleg Kononenko.

PHOTOGRAPH BY: ROSCOSMOS PRESS SERVICE / HANDOUT / EPA

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Chennai, India — An Indian man walks along the seashore amid high tidal waves in Chennai. The rough surf continued to slam the state of Tamilnadu's coastal areas under the influence of a severe cyclonic storm named "Thane" in the Bay of Bengal which is likely to cross the north coast between Nagapattinam and Chennai.

PHOTOGRAPH BY: NATHAN G / EPA

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Wuppertal, Germany — An animal keeper pulls reluctant a elephant calf named Uli onto a scale at a zoo in Wuppertal. Some 5000 animals were counted, measured and weighed as part of the inventory at the zoo.

PHOTOGRAPH BY: MARIUS BECKER / EPA

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Lienz, Austria — Third-place Mikaela Shiffrin of the USA celebrates in the finish area after the Alpine Skiing World Cup Women's slalom race in Lienz, Austria.

PHOTOGRAPH BY: HANS KLAUS TECHT / EPA

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Islamabad, Pakistan — Pakistani Parveen Asallam, 7, looks on while standing at the entrance of her family's home in a slum in Islamabad.

PHOTOGRAPH BY: Muhammed Muheisen / Associated Press

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Lorne, Australia — Lovefoxxx of CSS performs at the Falls Music Festival in Lorne, Australia

PHOTOGRAPH BY: Mark Metcalfe / Getty Images

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Rangoon, Myanmar — Myanmar rescue workers carry a body from a large unexplained explosion and fire in Yangon. At least 15 people were killed and dozens more injured in Myanmar's commercial hub and former capital.

PHOTOGRAPH BY: SOE THAN WIN / AFP / Getty Images

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Osh, Kyrgyzstan — A security guard stands near an overturned Russian-made Tupolev Tu-34 passenger jet at the airfield outside the southern Kyrgyz city of Osh, a day after the plane crash. The packed passenger jet flipped over and caught fire on landing yesterday in Osh, injuring at least six people, officials and witnesses said.

PHOTOGRAPH BY: JILDIZ BEKBAEVA / AFP / Getty Images

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Tokyo, Japan — A memorial service in Tokyo to mourn late North Korean leader Kim Jong Il was sponsored by by the General Assn. of Korean Residents in Japan.

PHOTOGRAPH BY: Ji Chunpeng / Associated Press

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Ahmadabad, India — Indian students of Swaminarayan Gurukul Vishwavidya Pratishthanam sit near a formation they made with lighted candles to welcome the new year in Ahmadabad.

PHOTOGRAPH BY: Ajit Solanki / Associated Press

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