The Week In Pictures
An opposition demonstrator armed with stones faces off with security forces in the Iranian capital, where clashes between police and protesters coincided with the Shiite Muslim religious holiday of Ashura. (AFP / Getty Images)
Green Bay’s Ryan Grant dives past Seattle’s Deon Grant (no relation) for a touchdown in the Packers’ 48-10 victory over the visiting Seahawks. Green Bay clinched a wild-card playoff berth with the win. (Morry Gash / Associated Press)
Ultra-Orthodox demonstrators gather outside the Intel plant in the Har Hotzvim industrial area to protest the factory’s decision to operate on the Sabbath. Protesters see the factory’s decision to operate on Saturdays as a grave desecration of the Jewish holy day of rest. (Menahem Kahana / AFP/Getty Images)
Volunteers work on a bird featured on the Odd Fellows & Rebekahs’ “Family First” float, featuring three adult birds surrounding a nest of soon-to-hatch eggs. (Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)
Cleveland cornerback Eric Wright, left, battles Oakland wide receiver Louis Murphy for a pass in the end zone during the fourth quarter. The play was originally ruled an interception; a replay determined that Wright did not have possession in bounds. The Browns defeated the visiting Raiders, 23-9. (Mark Duncan / Associated Press)
Horses and their riders scale barriers in the Williamhill.com/Blackjack Juvenile Novices’ Hurdle run at Kempton Park in Sunbury, England. (Alan Crowhurst / Getty Images)
Shiite Muslims in Sadr City, a neighborhood in the Iraqi capital, reenact the 7th century battle of Karbala during the religious holiday of Ashura. The holiday commemorates the death of Imam Hussein, a grandson of the prophet Muhammad. (Karim Kadim / Associated Press)
Spanish bullfighter Miguel de Pablo performs in the ring. (Luis Robayo / AFP/Getty Images)
Taiwanese demonstrators protest Taiwan’s and China’s cross-strait meetings as police stand guard outside of the hotel where the talks are being held in the central Taiwanese city of Taichung. China’s senior Taiwan envoy, Chen Yunlin, arrived there today for five days of trade negotiations with his Taiwanese counterpart, Chiang Pin-kung. Critics fear the Taiwanese government’s China-friendly policies are opening the door to eventual unification with the mainland. (Chiang Ying-ying / Associated Press)
Competitors set sail at the start ofthe 65th Sydney Hobart Yacht Race from Sydney. A group of 100 boats are competing in the 628-nautical mile race from the port of Sydney to Hobart, on the island of Tasmania. (Cameron Spencer / Getty Images)
Tennessee Titans quarterback Vince Young has his legs wrapped up by San Diego Chargers lineback Tim Dobbins in the third quarter. The Charger dominated the Titans, 42-17, on Friday to wrap up the No. 2 spot in the AFC. (John Russell / Associated Press)
A member of an ice swimming club swims with an umbrella in frozen-over Orankesee in Berlin. The group holds an annual Christmas Day swim in the lake. (Markus Schreiber / Associated Press)
Queen Elizabeth II receives flowers from children after a Christmas Day church service in Sandringham, England. (Alastair Grant / Associated Press)
Fouad Twal, the Latin patriarch of Jerusalem, blesses a statue of the baby Jesus in the grotto on the site where Christian tradition holds that the Virgin Mary gave birth to Christ. The ritual was carried out after the Christmas midnight Mass in the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem, West Bank. (Darren Whiteside / Getty Images)
A kimono-wearing woman, representing the new year, and a fellow diver dressed as Santa Claus perform during a ceremony at the Sunshine International Aquarium in Tokyo. (Kazuhiro Nogi / AFP/Getty Images)
South Korean climber Woo Nam-Chul, dressed as Santa Claus, rock-climbs during a Christmas event on Bukhan mountain near Seoul. (Jeon Heon-Kyun / EPA)
Pedestrians walk along Oxford Street, Europe’s busiest shopping street, in Westminster, London. Christmas comes just once a year -- and that’s one too many for European men. A recent study by Lands’ End Direct Merchants found that 48% of men consider Christmas shopping more stressful than being dumped by their girlfriend, losing their job or moving house. (Andy Rain / EPA)
Worshipers wait to enter a Catholic church for Christmas Mass in Beijing. China officially allows freedom of religion, but in practice, the ruling Communist Party restricts independent worship by forcing groups to register with the government. About 15 million Protestants and 5 million Catholics worship at official churches, according to government data. (Liu Jin / AFP / Getty Images)
A man dressed as Santa Claus hands out gifts as he rides his bicycle during a Christmas celebration in the province of East Java in Surabaya, Indonesia. (Trisnadi / Associated Press)
Pilgrims wait to enter the Grotto inside the Church of Nativity, traditionally believed by Christians to be the birthplace of Jesus Christ, in the West Bank town of Bethlehem. (Oded Balilty / Associated Press)
Visitors walk through a cemetary in Vaasa, Finland. It’s a Christmas Eve tradition for Finns to commemorate their deceased loved ones by placing candles on their graves. (Oliver Morin / AFP / Getty Images)
Members of the Ladove Medvede Swim Club walk into the freezing-cold Zlate Piesky, a lake and a summer resort, in northeastern Bratislava, Slovakia. More than 40 participants came out for a Christmas swim. (Samuel Kubani / AFP / Getty Images)
Sean Goldman, 9, hugs his stepfather, João Paulo Lins e Silva, as they arrive at the U.S. Consulate in Rio de Janeiro with Sergio Tostes, an attorney for the boy’s Brazilian family. David Goldman’s five-year international custody battle for his son ended today after the boy’s Brazilian relatives handed Sean over at the U.S. Consulate. Goldman, of Tinton Falls, N.J., and his son left Rio de Janeiro on a plane bound for the U.S. about three hours later. (Eduardo Naddar / Associated Press)
A tourist from Finland, at Bang Niang Beach in the seaside province of Phang Nga near southern Thailand’s Andaman Sea, releases a floating lantern in memorial of his friend who died five years ago in the tsunami that struck nations lining the Indian Ocean. The Dec. 26, 2004, tsunami, caused by a 9.2-magnitude earthquake off the coast of Indonesia’s Sumatra island, killed roughly 230,000 people in 11 countries. (Rungroj Yongrit / EPA)
A firefighter smiles at a resident as he walks on a flooded street in Venice. Much of the historic Italian city, including St. Mark’s Square, has been underwater since November 30 after a meteorological depression combined with the natural tide, officials said. (Andrea Pattaro / AFP/Getty Images)
Firemen battle to control a blaze as it engulfs a residential area in Makati City, a Manila suburb. The fire gutted around 700 structures, affecting about 3,000 families. (Noel Celis / AFP/Getty Images)
Marine Lance Cpl. Franklin Romans of the 2nd Battalion, 2nd Marines, searches a house during an operation in the Garmsir district of volatile Helmand province, in southern Afghanistan. (Kevin Frayer / Associated Press)
Amid smoke from a flare, a soldier attends a military ceremony in Cali, Colombia. (Christian Escobar Mora / Associated Press)
A baby elephant named Jamuna Toni plays with a minder at her enclosure at Hellabrunn Zoo in the southern German city of Munich. The Asian elephant baby was born two days earlier. (Joerg Koch / AFP/Getty Images)
A newborn male giraffe is seen through a sliding door to his enclosure at
A sea lion balances a Christmas present at the zoo in the northern German city of Hanover. Zoo keepers wrapped the animal’s food in the package. (Stefan Simonsen / AFP/Getty Images)
Sammy Hines, 3, gets a ride in a swing at San Clemente State Beach on Wednesday. Sammy and his family, who live in San Clemente, were out exploring the sand as two surfers carried their boards along the beach. (Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times)
Workers sift through debris surrounding the fuselage of American Airlines Flight 331 from Miami, which crash-landed in heavy rain Tuesday night, ending up just beyond the runway of Norman Manley International Airport in Kingston, Jamaica. More than 40 people were injured, at least four seriously, officials said. There were no fatalities. (Lloyd Robinson / Associated Press)
Shiite Muslim men gather to mark Ashura in the holy city of Karbala, 50 miles south of Baghdad. The festival of Ashura commemorates the martyrdom of Imam Hussein, a grandson of the prophet Muhammad, at the Battle of Karbala in the year 680. (Ahmed al-Husseini / Associated Press)
An investigator checks the remains of two vehicles after a Metrolink commuter train crash in Pacoima. At least two people -- the driver of the pickup and an infant from the sedan -- were rushed to a hospital in critical condition. (Irfan Khan / Los Angeles Times)
Shoppers and buses weave their way up and down Oxford Street in London. Today is expected to be the busiest shopping day of the year in Europe. (Andy Rain / EPA)
Lava cascades down the Philippines’ Mayon volcano in a mild eruption, as viewed from Legazpi City. (Bullit Marquez / Associated Press)
Children line up for free ice cream at an evacuation center in Legazpi City, southeast of Manila. The government has evacuated more than 47,000 people living inside a five-mile danger zone around the Mayon volcano in anticipation of an eruption.
The displaced face as many as four months in crowded evacuation centers, and the provincial government called on aid agencies to bring more supplies and help spread Christmas cheer. (Ted Aljibe / AFP/Getty Images)
Sen. Jon Kyl (R-Ariz.), left, speaks with Sen. Judd Gregg (R-N.H.), center, and Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-Ala.) before a Capitol news conference on pending healthcare legislation. The Senate is expected to vote on final passage of its national healthcare bill on Christmas Eve. (Win McNamee / Getty Images)
A Christian pilgrim touches the star of the Grotto in the Church of the Nativity, the traditional birthplace of Jesus Christ, in the West Bank city of Bethlehem. Scores of Christian pilgrims are preparing to gather there to celebrate Christmas. (Menahem Kahana / AFP/Getty Images)
Passengers of Spanish airline Air Comet block access to a terminal at Barajas airport in Madrid. Air Comet, which operates flights mainly between Madrid and Latin America, plans to announce a suspension of payments as it cannot pay it debts, news media reported. The decision came after a British judge ordered the carrier’s 13 planes to cease operations from Monday over its debts of about $20 million owed to Germany’s Nord Bank, news reports said, quoting union sources. (Pierre Philippe Marcou / AFP/Getty Images)
Friends of Shane Bauer, Sarah Shourd and Josh Fattal carry candles along Allston Way in Berkeley during a vigil for the three American hikers who strayed over the border from Iraq into Iran in July and have been held as spies by the Iranian government since. The three are UC Berkeley graduates. (D. Ross Cameron / Associated Press)
A member of the Falun Gong movement joins a protest in Taichung, Taiwan, against this week’s talks between Taiwanese officials and counterparts from mainland China. (Wally Santana / Associated Press)
A jetliner departs the airport in Luton, England. Heavy snowfall and freezing temperatures forced air and rail cancellations across Britain. (Oli Scarff / Getty Images)
Iraqi policewomen perform a weapons exercise during training at the police academy in Najaf, Iraq. (Alaa al-Marjani / Associated Press)
Mayon volcano, about 310 miles southeast of Manila in the central Philippines, spews ash anew in a mild eruption Tuesday. Almost all of the 47,000 residents living on the slopes of the volcano have moved to emergency shelters, and lava and earthquakes heralded what officials say could be a major eruption. (Bullit Marquez / Associated Press)
With the assistance of street photographer dressed as a tiger, the Chinese calendar sign for 2010, a council worker clears snow on Independence Square on Tuesday. (Nataliya Slipchuk AFP / Getty Images)
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Bugler Sgt. Maj. Dennis Edelbrock of the U.S. Army Band salutes after playing taps during burial services for Sgt. Daniel Frazier at Arlington National Cemetery on Tuesday. Frazier, 25, of St. Joseph, Mich., was killed Nov. 19 in Zabul Province, Afghanistan, from injuries caused by a suicide car-bomb attack on his unit. (Saul Loeb AFP / Getty Images)
Trees cast their shadows next to a chapel near Feldkirchen on Tuesday. (Uwe Lein / Associated Press)
Druid Arthur Uther Pendragon, formally known as John Rothwell, conducts a service at Stonehenge on Tuesday. Hundreds of people gathered at the famous stone circle to celebrate the sunrise closest to the
Children wear Santa Claus outfits as they play with fake snow in Shah Alam, outside Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, on Tuesday. (Lai Seng Sin / Associated Press)
People walk in Red Square, decorated for New Year and Christmas celebrations, with St. Basil Cathedral in the background Tuesday. (Mikhail Metzel / Associated Press)
The sun sets behind the Kansas Statehouse in Topeka on Monday, the winter solstice. (Charlie Riedel / Associated Press)
A child feeds pigeons in Timisoara, western
A Pakistani boy pushes a cart along the main street in Rawalpindi, Pakistan. (Muhammed Muheisen / Associated Press)
Thousands of mourners attend the funeral procession of Iranian cleric Ayatollah Hossein Ali Montazeri in the holy city of Qom. Full story (AFP / Getty Images)
A man watches the sea during a storm in Sete,
Switzerland’s Silvan Zurbriggen clears a gate during his first run of the Men’s FIS Alpine World Cup Slalom event in Val Badia. He finished with the fourth-best time. (Vincenzo Pinto / AFP/Getty Images)
Russian communists hold up a portrait of Josef Stalin as they queue to lay flowers at the Soviet dictator’s grave in Moscow’s Red Square to mark the 130th anniversary of his birth. He died in 1953. (Ivan Sekretarev / Associated Press)
Visitors walk through the snow near the Grosser Arber mountain, the highest peak in the Bavarian Forest with an elevation of 4,777 feet, near Bayerisch Eisenstein, Germany. (Armin Weigel / EPA)
A soldier looks out of the window of a bus before a commemoration at the Hero’s Cemetery in Bucharest, Romania. This week Romanians commemorate 20 years since President Nicolae Ceausescu fled the capital with his wife, Elena, during a popular uprising on Dec. 21 and Dec. 22, 1989. After being sentenced to death by a military court, the communist dictator and his wife were executed on Dec. 25. More than a thousand people are said to have lost their lives during the Romanian revolution. (Vadim Ghirda / Associated Press)
Fans attend a Kool & The Gang concert at José Martí Anti-Imperialist Plaza in Havana. The funk band became one of the few U.S. musical groups to play in Cuba recently despite Washington’s travel restrictions and the island’s communist government’s ambivalence toward rock and roll, hip-hop and other kinds of American music. (Ariana Cubillos / Associated Press)
Children watch television at a temporary shelter in Guinobatan township in Albay province after being evacuated to safer grounds ahead of an expected major eruption at the Philippines’ most active volcano. More than 3,000 villagers living near the rumbling Mayon volcano, located about 200 miles southeast of Manila, began to evacuate today after government troops threatened to force them out. Tens of thousands of people have already been evacuated from the foothills of Mayon, which today emitted lava fountains, powerful booming noises and other signs of an imminent eruption. (Ted Aljibe / AFP / Getty Images)
Afghan men look on as an elder speaks during a shura, or meeting, with Marines from the 2nd Battalion, 2nd Marines and local government officials in the Garmsir district of the volatile Helmand province in southern Afghanistan. The meeting was part of an operation in the area to push out insurgents. (Kevin Frayer / Associated Press)