Aleppo, Syria — Opponents of the Syrian government demonstrate in the neighborhood of Bustan Al-Qasr in Aleppo. Rebel forces have dug in to the north, east and south of Damascus, Syria's capital, and government troops have largely pulled back to a well-defended core, including the city center and loyal bastions to the west.

PHOTOGRAPH BY: Associated Press

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Aleppo, Syria — A Syrian child show injuries said to have been incurred during bombing by military warplanes.

PHOTOGRAPH BY: Associated Press

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Rome, Italy — A placard of former Pope Benedict XVI stands watch as pedestrians pass by.

PHOTOGRAPH BY: GABRIEL BOUYS / AFP / Getty Images

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Dusseldorf, Germany — Carnival figure-maker Jacques Tilly, left, and train manager Herman Schmitz push a likeness of former Pope Benedict XVI down a street.

PHOTOGRAPH BY: FEDERICO GAMBARINI / AFP / Getty Images

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Kew, England — Raindrops hang on to irises at the Royal Botanic Gardens.

PHOTOGRAPH BY: Dan Kitwood / Getty Images

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Berlin, Germany — Protesters scuffle with police at the East Side Gallery, which is the longest still-standing portion of the former Berlin Wall, following efforts by a construction company to remove a 30-foot long section in order to build apartments.

PHOTOGRAPH BY: Sean Gallup / Getty Images

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Bangkok, Thailand — A photograph taken through magnifying glass shows Dutch artist Leon Keer working on a 3-D painting as part of the Living Art Festival 2013.

PHOTOGRAPH BY: RUNGROJ YONGRIT / EPA

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Melbourne, Australia — An aerobatics team performs during the Australian International Airshow.

PHOTOGRAPH BY: PAUL CROCK / AFP / Getty Images

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Kadji, Mali — Malian soldiers guard handcuffed prisoners after they arrived by boat in Kadji, on the Niger river in northern Mali.

PHOTOGRAPH BY: JOEL SAGET / AFP / Getty Images

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Johannesburg South Africa — A still from a video made available by The Daily Sun shows Mido Macia, 27, a taxi driver and Mozambican national, as he is dragged behind a police van. Macia later died in police custody.

PHOTOGRAPH BY: STR / The Daily Sun

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Ofer, West Bank — A masked Palestinian kicks a burning tire during a support rally for Palestinian prisoners.

PHOTOGRAPH BY: Majdi Mohammed / Associated Press

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Srinagar, India — Kashmiri Muslim devotees pray at a shrine to Sufi saint Syed Abdul Qadir Jilani on his yearly commemoration day.

PHOTOGRAPH BY: Dar Yasin / Associated Press

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Sibolangit, Indonesia — A pangolin -- sometimes called a scaly anteater -- is released into the wild by conservation officials in North Sumatra. The animal is part of 128 pangolins confiscated by customs officers from a smuggler's boat off Sumatra island.

PHOTOGRAPH BY: Jefri Tarigan / Associated Press

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Pope Benedict XVI delivers his last blessing from the window of the pontiff's summer residence of Castel Gandolfo, near Rome.

PHOTOGRAPH BY: AP / L'Osservatore Romano

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Predazzo Trient, Italy, — Jan Matura of Czech Republic soars through the air during a trial jump of the Men's large hill individual ski jumping event at the Nordic Skiing World Championships.

PHOTOGRAPH BY: DANIEL KARMANN / EPA

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Tesero, Italy — Bernhard Gruber of Austria celebrates after taking second place in the Nordic Combined Gundersen competition at the FIS Nordic Skiing World Championships.

PHOTOGRAPH BY: BARBARA GINDL / EPA

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Castel Gandolfo, Italy — Pope Benedict XVI waves to faithful from a balcony upon arrival in Castel Gandolfo. Once he steps down later Thursday, Pope Benedict XVI will begin his retirement in the papal summer residence at Castel Gandolfo, a sumptuous villa outside Rome with ornamental gardens, breathtaking views and its own farm.

PHOTOGRAPH BY: VINCENZO PINTO / AFP

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London — Finishing touches are made to the monumental rice paper boat by renowned Chinese artist Zhu Jinshi at Olympia Exhibition Centre. The work is presented by Pearl Lam Galleries for the opening of the inaugural Art 13 London, an art fair.

PHOTOGRAPH BY: Bethany Clarke / Getty Images

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Bucharest, Romania — Inmates, photographed through a tinted window, stand outside at the Jilava Prison outside Bucharest. The Council of Europe organized a media visit to the prison, a day after a conference on drug abuse and rising HIV in prisons in Eastern Europe. Some 200 inmates in Jilava prison and two other Romanian jails have benefited from anti-drugs programs funded by the Norwegian government.

PHOTOGRAPH BY: Vadim Ghirda / Associated Press

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Cheonan, Korea — South Koreans, wearing traditional Korean costumes, carry torches as they march on a street during a ceremony to celebrate the March 1st Independence Movement Day, the anniversary of the 1919 uprising against Japanese colonial rule.

PHOTOGRAPH BY: Lee Jin-man / Associated Press

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Ofer, West Bank — A masked Palestinian stone thrower kicks a burning tire during a protest to support Palestinian prisoners outside Ofer, an Israeli military prison near Ramallah.

PHOTOGRAPH BY: Majdi Mohammed / Associated Press

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Jabal al-Zaweya, Syria — Sami, 32, steps into an underground Roman tomb used for shelter from Syrian government forces shelling and airstrikes. Across northern Syria, rebels, soldiers, and civilians are making use of the country's wealth of ancient and medieval antiquities to protect themselves from Syria's 2-year-old war. They are built of thick stone that has already withstood centuries, and are often located in strategic locations overlooking towns and roads.

PHOTOGRAPH BY: Hussein Malla / Associated Press

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Vatican City — Posters of Pope Benedict XVI bearing the message "You will always be with us, thank you" are plastered on a Vatican City wall as the pontiff held his last weekly public audience before he steps down Thursday. Benedict has led the Roman Catholic Church for eight years and is the first pope to retire since 1415.

PHOTOGRAPH BY: Christopher Furlong / Getty Images

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Vatican City — Pope Benedict XVI blesses the faithful, tens of thousands of whom jammed St. Peter's Square, at the end of his final general audience..

PHOTOGRAPH BY: GABRIEL BOUYS / AFP / Getty Images

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Maseru, Lesotho — Prince Harry dances with deaf children during a visit to the Kananelo Centre for the deaf, a project supported by his charity, Sentebale, which he cofounded with Lesotho's Prince Seeiso. Setebale provides aid to children who are victims of poverty and Lesotho's HIV/AIDS epidemic.

PHOTOGRAPH BY: Chris Jackson / Getty Images

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Sveti Nikole, Macedonia — A man salvages belongings from his home after three days of torrential rains brought widespread flooding, engulfing many villages and towns and damaging crops.

PHOTOGRAPH BY: ROBERT ATANASOVSKI / AFP / Getty Images

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Bucharest, Romania — A sedated lion taken from the estate of a notorious Romanian gangster is put on display for the media. Law enforcement officials and animal welfare specialists removed four lions and two bears that Ion Balint, known to Romanians as Nutzu the Pawnbroker, illegally kept on his estate and reportedly used to threaten uncooperative associates.

PHOTOGRAPH BY: Vadim Ghirda / Associated Press

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Dhaka, Bangladesh — Residents sift through the rubble after a fire struck a slum in the Kallayanpur neighborhood of Dhaka. The cause of the fire was not known and no casualties were reported.

PHOTOGRAPH BY: ABIR ABDULLAH / EPA

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Lapichi, Belarus — A man sells dried fish from the side of the road near the village of Lapichi.

PHOTOGRAPH BY: VIKTOR DRACHEV / AFP / Getty Images

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Constitucion, Chile — Survivors and relatives of victims of a devastating earthquake and tsunami that struck south-central Chile three years ago gather for an outdoor memorial ceremony. Constitucion was especially hard hit, with the tsunami destroying some 80% of the heart of the town.

PHOTOGRAPH BY: CAMILA LASSALLE / AFP / Getty Images

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Lhok Seumawe, Indonesia — Rohingyas look out a window at the immigration office in Indonesia. Around 120 Rohingyas, including six woman and two children, were rescued by local fisherman after getting stranded at sea while heading for Australia. The Rohingyas are a Muslim minority from Rakhine State in the west of predominantly Buddhist Myanmar.

PHOTOGRAPH BY: HOTLI SIMANJUNTAK / EPA

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Southfield, Mich. — Fog shrouds work crews repairing downed power lines after a storm that hit the nation's midsection dropped at least seven inches of snow on parts of Michigan and created dangerous driving conditions.

PHOTOGRAPH BY: Daniel Mears / Detroit News

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Tel Aviv — A man stands on his head before stepping into the Mediterranean Sea for a swim.

PHOTOGRAPH BY: Ariel Schalit / Associated Press

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Kansas City, Mo. — A pedestrian passes snow-covered cars and trees after the second major snowstorm in a week battered the nation's midsection, dropping at least half a foot of snow across Missouri and Kansas and cutting power to thousands.

PHOTOGRAPH BY: Keith Myers / The Kansas C ity Star

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Malkiya, Bahrain — A Bahraini anti-government protester flashes the victory sign as he stands behind old furniture set on fire in the street. Protests are being held in opposition villages nationwide demanding that the government release for burial the body of a 20-year-old who died last week from injuries sustained during earlier clashes with police.

PHOTOGRAPH BY: Hasan Jamali / Associated Press

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Paris — A model presents a creation by Ground Zero during the fall/winter 2013-2014 ready-to-wear collection show.

PHOTOGRAPH BY: MARTIN BUREAU / AFP

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Beijing — Visitors take souvenir photos in front of a giant video screen showing cultural images at Tiananmen Square.

PHOTOGRAPH BY: Andy Wong / Associated Press

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Kolkata, India — Indian commuters travel on a local train, part of one of the world's largest railway networks -- with about 14 million passengers daily. Indian Railway Minister Pawan Kumar Bansal is presenting the country's rail budget for next fiscal year in the parliament.

PHOTOGRAPH BY: Bikas Das / Associated Press

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Luxor, Egypt — An Egyptian policeman stands guard at the site of a deadly hot air balloon accident. A hot air balloon flying over the ancient city caught fire and crashed into a sugar cane field, killing at least 19 foreign tourists in one of the world's deadliest ballooning accidents and handing a new blow to Egypt's ailing tourism industry.

PHOTOGRAPH BY: Nasser Nasser / Associated Press

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Narathiwat, Thailand — Boys play in floodwaters in a school during heavy rainfall, as floods hit parts of Thailand's restive southern province. Thailand's southernmost provinces near the Malaysian border suffer almost daily gun and bomb attacks by shadowy insurgents fighting for greater autonomy.

PHOTOGRAPH BY: MADAREE TOHLALA / AFP

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Phoenix — A small jet is silhouetted against the rising moon Monday in the skies above Phoenix.

PHOTOGRAPH BY: Charlie Riedel / Associated Press

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Hannoversch Muenden, Germany — A tree hovers over roofs as it is transported by a helicopter. Several trees that threatened to fall on railway tracks were cut down and removed by air as the surrounding steep slopes made impossible a transport by truck.

PHOTOGRAPH BY: UWE ZUCCHI / DPA

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Dazhou, China — People take part in the traditional dragon dance in the molten iron. The dragon dance in molten iron, "Wu Huo Long" in Chinese, is a traditional custom to celebrate the Lantern Festival.

PHOTOGRAPH BY: Getty Images / Getty Images

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Pathum Thani, Thailand — Thousands of Thai Buddhist monks chant during a lantern lighting to celebrate Makha Bucha day at Dhammakaya Temple in Pathum Thani province, on the outskirts of Bangkok. Known as the day of the Fourfold Assembly, it is one of the holiest days to commemorate the day that Lord Buddha gave the first sermon on the essence of Buddhism in to his ordained 1,250 monk disciples.

PHOTOGRAPH BY: RUNGROJ YONGRIT / EPA

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Nakhon Pathom, Thailand — People walk around the Buddha statue holding candles for prayers during Makha Bucha Day at Buddhist Park. It is celebrated by Buddhist monks in local temples across Thailand.

PHOTOGRAPH BY: Athit Perawongmetha / Getty Images AsiaPac

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Allahabad, India — Thousands of Indian Hindu devotees walk across pontoon bridges at Sangam, the confluence of the Rivers Ganges, Yamuna and mythical Saraswati on Maghi Purnima, or the full-moon day, considered an auspicious bathing day, during the Maha Kumbh festival.

PHOTOGRAPH BY: Rajesh Kumar Singh / Associated Press

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Bhaktapur, Nepal — Nepalese Hindu devotees perform a bathing ritual on the last day of the month-long Swasthani Festival in the Hanumante River at Bhaktapur on the outskirts of Kathmandu.

PHOTOGRAPH BY: PRAKASH MATHEMA / AFP

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Ofer, West Bank — A Palestinian takes cover behind a trash container during clashes next to the Israeli military prison Ofer, south of the West Bank town of Ramallah. Palestinians clashed with Israeli soldiers in the West Bank after the funeral of a Palestinian who died in an Israeli jail.

PHOTOGRAPH BY: ATEF SAFADI / EPA

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Sair, West Bank — Palestinian mourners carry the body of Arafat Jaradat, an inmate who died in an Israeli prison, during his funeral in the West Bank village of Sair.

PHOTOGRAPH BY: MARCO LONGARI / AFP

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Vitoria, Spain — Footprints in the snow betray busy pedestrian traffic in a snow-covered street in Vitoria, northern Spain.

PHOTOGRAPH BY: ADRIAN RUIZ DE HIERRO / EFE

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Seaside Heights, N.J. — The sun rises in Seaside Heights, N.J., behind the Jet Star Roller Coaster, which has been sitting in the ocean after part of the Funtown Pier was destroyed during Superstorm Sandy last year. The private owners of the amusement pier are working with insurers to devise a plan to dismantle the ride and get it out of the ocean.

PHOTOGRAPH BY: Mel Evans / Associated Press

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