December 9, 2013
Interior Ministry personnel block a street during a snowy gathering of supporters of E.U. integration. Hundreds of protesters blocked several main streets in the center of the Ukrainian capital, eyewitnesses said, responding to calls from opposition leaders to defend their demonstration from possible police intervention.
December 12, 2013
People play in a snow-covered field during a storm. Snow blanketed most regions of Jordan, blocking highways in the south, causing power cuts across the capital, and closing down schools and government offices.
December 11, 2013
A woman looks out of a dusty window after boarding a bus to be transported to see the casket of Nelson Mandela at the Union Buildings. Mandela died at December 5 the age of 95.
December 10, 2013
Members of the public attend the Nelson Mandela memorial service at the FNB Stadium. More than 60 heads of state traveled to South Africa to attend a week of events commemorating the life of the former South African president.
December 8, 2013
Paramedics use a stretcher to carry an injured Atlético Paranaense fan after clashes between fans of Vasco da Gama and Atlético Paranaense during their Brazilian championship match. Dozens of fans fought a savage battle on the terraces at the match on Sunday, interrupting play for more than an hour and leaving at least three people reportedly hospitalized in serious condition.
December 10, 2013
Indian village woman harvest rice in a field. With nearly 70 percent of the country’s population living in rural areas, farming is vital to the economy.
December 8, 2013
Children ask for biscuits at a base camp held by the French military. French troops poured into the impoverished, landlocked country on December 7 after President François Hollande announced he was boosting a U.N.-mandated French force to 1,600 soldiers. French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius said on December 8 that nearly 400 people were killed in the last three days in violence in the capital, Bangui, but that calm had returned.
December 11, 2013
Indian gay rights activists embrace each other during a protest after the country’s top court ruled that a colonial-era law criminalizing homosexuality will remain in effect in India. The Supreme Court threw out a 2009 New Delhi High Court decision that struck down the law as unconstitutional, dealing a blow to gay activists who have argued for years for the chance to live openly in India’s deeply conservative society. After the ruling, dozens of activists outside the court began crying and hugging each other in consolation.
December 9, 2013
Anti-government protesters march with a large Thai national flag during a rally. Thai Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra dissolved parliament on Monday and called a snap election, but anti-government protest leaders pressed ahead with mass demonstrations seeking to install an unelected body to run the country.
December 11, 2013
Muslim women watch FOMAC troops stand guard outside the Nour Islam mosque as 16 bodies are loaded in a truck for burial. More than 500 people have been killed over the past week in sectarian fighting in Central African Republic, aid officials said Tuesday, as France reported that gunmen fatally shot two of its soldiers who were part of the intervention to disarm thousands of rebels accused of attacking civilians.
December 12, 2013
Israeli Arabs throw snowballs as snow covers the Dome of the Rock at the Al-Aqsa mosque compound in the backround. A heavy winter storm hit much of the Middle East, forcing the closure of roads and schools while covering widespread areas with snow and ice.
December 13, 2013
Men and boys prepare to slaughter six sheep ahead of a memorial service for Nelson Mandela in his birth village, also called the Mvezo Komkhulu, or “Great Place.”
December 8, 2013
A contestant bites the tail of one of the bulls to make it run faster, as he races a pair of bulls at an oxen race competition held at a paddy field.
December 10, 2013
French troops stand at the airport runway. President François Hollande flew into Central African Republic hours after two French soldiers were killed in fighting and praised his troops for tackling “horrendous violence” against women and children and helping avert a slide into civil war.
December 12, 2013
Ultra-Orthodox Jewish men walk on a snow-covered road. Schools and offices in Jerusalem and parts of the West Bank were closed and public transport briefly suspended after heavy snowfall on Thursday.
