Newark, N.J. — A person pushes a cart to spread salt on a snowy sidewalk at Military Park.

PHOTOGRAPH BY: Julio Cortez / Associated Press

http://framework.latimes.com/?attachment_id=77710

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Beijing — A group walks beneath a bridge on a frozen lake at the Summer Palace. Forecasts were predicting temperatures of around minus 20 degrees in the run-up to New Year's Day.

PHOTOGRAPH BY: ED JONES / AFP

http://framework.latimes.com/?attachment_id=77711

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Kabul, Afghanistan — Internally displaced Afghan women from Helmand province wait to receive winter supplies from the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees at the Charhi Qambar refugee camp on the outskirts of Kabul. Since the 2001 U.S.-led invasion brought down the Taliban, 3.8 million have returned, leaving 1.6 million behind, most born and brought up in Pakistan. In late October, the UNHCR boosted incentives for Afghans to return and around 10,000 Afghans went home from Oct. 23 to Nov. 30 -- more than double the number who were repatriated in the same period last year.

PHOTOGRAPH BY: SHAH MARAI / AFP

http://framework.latimes.com/?attachment_id=77712

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Kabul, Afghanistan — An Afghan man walks with his goat. Temperatures dropped to near freezing.

PHOTOGRAPH BY: Ahmad Jamshid / Associated Press

http://framework.latimes.com/?attachment_id=77713

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Rio de Janeiro — People enjoy Ipanema beach as a heat record of 109 degrees was reported, the highest temperature since 1915, according to the National Institute of Meteorology.

PHOTOGRAPH BY: VANDERLEI ALMEIDA / AFP

http://framework.latimes.com/?attachment_id=77714

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Rantau Panjang, Thailand — Children play in flood waters outside their home in Malaysia's northeastern town of Rantau Panjang, bordering Thailand. Floods triggered by torrential monsoons in Malaysia have claimed the life of a second victim although waters have subsided, allowing some evacuees to return home from relief centers, reports said.

PHOTOGRAPH BY: STR / AFP

http://framework.latimes.com/?attachment_id=77715

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Ichtershausen, Germany — Andreas Hempel throws a Nordmann fir into the air during the Christmas tree throw, which has taken place here for 13 years.

PHOTOGRAPH BY: MICHAEL†REICHEL / DPA

http://framework.latimes.com/?attachment_id=77716

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Beersheva, Israel — New Israeli air force pilots celebrate their graduation at the Hatzerim air force base in southern Israel.

PHOTOGRAPH BY: OLIVER WEIKEN / EPA

http://framework.latimes.com/?attachment_id=77717

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New Delhi — Policemen stop protesters from approaching a barricade on their way to India Gate while protesting against the recent gang-rape of a young woman in a moving bus in New Delhi. Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh pledged Thursday to take action to protect the nation's women while the young rape victim was flown to Singapore for treatment of severe internal injuries.

PHOTOGRAPH BY: Saurabh Das / Associated Press

http://framework.latimes.com/?attachment_id=77718

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Cali, Colombia — Colombian bullfighter Luis Bolivar performs a muleta pass during a bullfight at Canaveralejo bullring.

PHOTOGRAPH BY: LUIS ROBAYO / AFP

http://framework.latimes.com/?attachment_id=77719

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