Melegnano, Italy — Thousands of lights illuminate the home of Massimiliano Goglio, which he transforms each year into "Casa di Babbo Natale," or Santa's house.

PHOTOGRAPH BY: TIZIANA FABI / AFP/Getty Images

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London — A pedestrian uses a mobile device on Oxford Street in front of an advertisement for a lingerie store. British retailers hope Christmas sales will rescue a year in which high unemployment and the debt crisis have blighted consumer spending.

PHOTOGRAPH BY: Simon Dawson / Bloomberg

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Moscow — Eggs thrown by anti-gay protesters strike gay-rights activists staging a "kiss-in" outside Russia's parliament, where legislators planned to debate a bill imposing sanctions for providing minors with information on homosexuality. The legislative debate later was postponed until next month.

PHOTOGRAPH BY: ANDREY SMIRNOV / AFP/Getty Images

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Cancun, Mexico — A worker applies finishing touches to the Santuario de la Esperanza (Sanctuary of Hope) during preparations for the celebration of the end Friday of the so-called Maya Long Count Calendar.

PHOTOGRAPH BY: PEDRO PARDO / AFP / Getty Images

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Hanoi — Children play on the wreckage of a downed B-52 aircraft on display at the B-52 Victory Museum as Vietnam marks the 40th anniversary of the 1972 Christmas bombings of Hanoi by U.S. forces.

PHOTOGRAPH BY: HOANG DINH NAM / AFP/Getty Images

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Nangarhar, Afghanistan — Afghan police stand guard during the burning of confiscated opium. A United Nations agency last month reported that Afghans expanded their poppy fields by 18% this year as high opium prices continued to make the crop attractive.

PHOTOGRAPH BY: ABDUL MUEED / EPA

http://framework.latimes.com/?attachment_id=77146

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Stratford, Conn. — Mourners arrive for the funeral of first-grade teacher Victoria Soto, one of 26 people killed in last week's shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Conn.

PHOTOGRAPH BY: BRENDAN SMIALOWSKI / AFP/Getty Images

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New Delhi — Students and activists carry candles while protesting a gang rape of a medical student on a New Delhi bus that has sparked fresh concern for women's safety in in the city.

PHOTOGRAPH BY: SAJJAD HUSSAIN / AFP/Getty Images

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Tel Aviv — A model wears a creation of Israeli designer Hagit Witman for her label, Fishndag, in a show during Tel Aviv's fashion week.

PHOTOGRAPH BY: Ariel Schalit / Associated Press

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Enschede, Netherlands — Disc jockey Gerard Ekdom broadcasts from inside a glass house during a Dutch radio station’s fundraiser for the Red Cross. During the annual event, dubbed Serious Request, three DJs stay in the structure for six days without eating solid food.

PHOTOGRAPH BY: ADE JOHNSON / EPA

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Athens — A man walks past riot police as government workers rally during a 24-hour strike called to protest new austerity measures by Greece's government.

PHOTOGRAPH BY: ORESTIS PANAGIOTOU / EPA

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Rostock, Germany — Jellyfish are on display in an aquarium at the Darwineum, a zoo in Rostock that has had 120,000 visitors since opening in September.

PHOTOGRAPH BY: BERND WUESTNECK / AFP / Getty Images

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