A elderly Ukrainian woman passes by security personnel as they cordon off pro-EU demonstrators near the Ministry of Internal Affairs in Kyiv on December 20. (Reuters/Gleb Garanich)
Mikhail Khodorkovsky (left) is greeted by former German Foreign Minister Hans-Dietrich Genscher upon arriving in Berlin after his release from prison in Russia on December 20. (Reuters)
Pakistani security officials examine the site of a bomb explosion in Karachi on December 20. (AFP/Rizwan Tabassum)
U.S. President Barack Obama enjoys a moment of levity during his end-of-year press conference at the White House in Washington on December 20. (AFP/Nicholas Kamm)
A Yemeni boy fills up a jug of water in Sanaa where water supplies are under considerable strain. (Reuters/Mohamed al-Sayaghi)
Cadets hold each other for warmth as they sleep during a break from high intensity training at the Tianjiao Special Guard/Security Consultant camp on the outskirts of Beijing, China. (Reuters/Jason Lee)
Spectators look on as two fighting dogs attack each other during weekly dog fights on the outskirts of Kabul, Afghanistan. (AFP/Noorullah Shirzada)
Iranian families ride pedal boats in Chitgar Lake in western Tehran. (AFP/Atta Kenare)
Homeless people sleep at a subway entrance in Kyiv, Ukraine. (AFP/Yuriy Dyachyshyn)
Russian President Vladimir Putin gestures during his annual marathon news conference in Moscow on December 19. (epa/Sergei Ilnitsky)
A Sikh man prays at the Golden Temple, the holiest of Sikh shrines, on a dense foggy morning in Amritsar, India. (epa/Raminder Pal Singh)
Young homeless children sit on the ground during a foggy day in Peshawar, Pakistan. (AFP/A. Majeed)
An Afghan family during sunset in Herat. (AFP/Aref Karimi)
A sailing enthusiast dressed as Santa Claus sails his trimaran to mark the ending of the sailboat season during heavy snowfall on the Yenisei River outside Krasnoyarsk, Russia. (Reuters/Ilya Naymushin)
Afghan firefighters extinguish burning NATO military vehicles after a clash between Taliban and Afghan security forces in the Torkham area, near the Pakistan and Afghan border in Jalalabad, on December 18. (AFP/Omar Gul)
Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych (left) gives a wink to his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin during a signing ceremony after a meeting of the Russian-Ukrainian Interstate Commission at the Kremlin in Moscow, on December 17. (Reuters/Sergei Karpukhin)
A horse walks in the snow at the base of Mount Hermon in the Golan Heights near the Israel-Syria border on December 17. (Reuters/Nir Elias)
Whirling dervishes perform at the Galata Mevlevihane ("The Lodge of the Dervishes") in Istanbul. (AFP/Gurcan Ozturk)
The mother of a 27-year-old Pakistani man stabbed to death reacts as she leaves an Athens court where two suspected members of the Greek neo-Nazi party, Golden Dawn, accused of her son's murder, were scehduled to receive a verdict on December 18. (AFP/Aris Messinis)
A disabled antigovernment protester stands on Independence Square in Kyiv, Ukraine. (AFP/Yuriy Dyachyshyn)
A man helps an injured person following an air strike in Aleppo's in Syria on December 17. (AFP/Mohammed Al-Khatieb)
Aisha 11, carries coal to be used for cooking and heating from a brick-making factory in Jalalabad, Afghanistan. (Reuters/Parwiz)
A balloon vendor sells his wares on a cold and foggy morning in Lahore, Pakistan. (AFP/Arif Ali)
A rooster walks in a Roma camp in the Serb-majority town of Leposavic, Kosovo, on December 16. (AFP/Armend Nimani)
Cadets display their skills during a passing-out parade upon the completion of their basic training at the Shaheed Benazir Bhutto Elite Police Training Centre in Karachi, Pakistan. (Reuters/Athar Hussain)
A participant performs during the "Miss Pole Dance Kyrgyzstan 2013" competition in Bishkek. (AFP/Vyacheslav Oseledko)