First lady Michelle Obama -- with help from first dog Bo and five-year-old Jordan Akuoko -- reads "The Night Before Christmas" to children at the Children's National Medical Center in Washington.
Reuters
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A supporter of Egypt's President Mohamed Morsi indicates to his Koran to emphasize a point amid continued demonstrations in fiercely divided Cairo.
AFP/Getty Images
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A wolf bounds through a snowy field near the remote village of Sosnovy Bor, Belarus.
Reuters
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A meteor streaks across the sky over Lafayette, Ind., during the Geminid meteor shower.
AP
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Clergy members observe as employees at the French bell foundry Cornille Havard cast of the bronze bell "Anne-Genevieve," a replacement headed to the north tower of Notre-Dame de Paris Cathedral.
Reuters
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A young Syrian boy sports a scarf bearing the colors of the pre-Baath Syrian flag through the northern town of Darkush.
AFP/Getty Images
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A Santa-clad volunteer comforts an infant at the San Juan de Dios Hospital children's ward in Guatemala City.
Reuters
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A swimmer gets some exercise in the partially frozen Houhai Lake in Beijing as others choose to cross on foot.
Reuters
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Palestinian children play outside a mosque in Gaza City at sunset.
AFP/Getty Images
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Skaters, reflected in mirrored tiles, traverse the giant ice rink set up under the famous glass roof of Paris' Grand Palais.
AP
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Snow blankets the Piazza Duomo in Milan, Italy.
AFP/Getty Images
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US swimmer Ryan Lochte is met with some jealousy as he tries to hand his gold medal (for winning the men's 200m individual medley) to a local child at the FINA Short Course World Championships in Istanbul.