The World in a SNAP (10)

2. DECEMBER 25: A white whale, also known as beluga, puffs a ring at Kamogawa Sea World in Kamogawa, east of Tokyo, Japan. (Itsuo Inouye/Associated Press)

3. DECEMBER 25: Swiss guards line up as they wait for Pope Benedict XVI to deliver his "Urbi et Orbi" (to the City and to the World) speech from the central loggia of St. Peter's Basilica, at the Vatican. Benedict XVI called for an end to the bloodshed in Syria and the resumption of Israeli-Palestinian peace talks in his Christmas message, an appeal for peace that was challenged by deadly attacks on two Nigerian churches. (Andrew Medichini/Associated Press)

4. DECEMBER 25: Russia's Grandfather Frost rides in downtown St. Petersburg, Russia on his way from Veliky Ustyug to Moscow to take part in the New Year celebrations. (Dmitry Lovetsky/Associated Press

5. DECEMBER 25: Women pray during a Christmas mass in Islamabad, Pakistan. (Muhammed Muheisen/Associated Press)

6. DECEMBER 25: A boy holds a balloon after buying it from a vendor on Christmas day in a Christian neighborhood in Islamabad, Pakistan. (Muhammed Muheisen/Associated Press)

7. Chitwan, Nepal — Nepalese mahouts guide their elephants at Sauraha in Chitwan, southwest of Kathmandu. The three-day-long festival is celebrated with elephants, horses and bullock cart races as well as elephant soccer games and an elephant beauty pageant. PHOTOGRAPH BY: PRAKASH MATHEMA / AFP / Getty Images

8. Children dressed as angels arrive to reenact a nativity scene during Christmas celebrations in Sarajevo December 23, 2011. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic

9. A member of white garment Christian sect prays by a cross at the bar beach, where they live and worship in makeshift tents, in Lagos December 25, 2011. REUTERS/Akintunde Akinleye

10. Men sit for the examination to become religious scholars at the Jamia Binoria Al-Alamia Seminary Islamic Study School in Karachi December 24, 2011. About 1,300 students sat for the first semester exams to become religious scholars. REUTERS/Athar Hussain

11. Fatima, 21, a supporter of the political party Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (Pakistan's Movement for Justice) looks up as she attends a rally in Karachi December 25, 2011. REUTERS/Insiya Syed

12. An Occupy London Stock Exchange protestor wears a Santa hat and Guy Fawkes mask while sitting outside a tent on Christmas eve in front of St Pauls Cathedral in London, December 24, 2011. Protesters camping outside St. Paul's Cathedral will stay in place over the Christmas holidays after a judge presiding over an attempt to evict them deferred a decision until the new year. REUTERS/Finbarr O'Reilly

13. Residents wade in a river near a bridge destroyed by flash floods brought about by Typhoon Washi in Iligan city in southern Philippines December 25, 2011. The Philippines disaster agency said on Friday more than 1,000 people were missing from a storm and flash floods last week, sharply raising the number of victims unaccounted for as the true extent of the disaster became known. REUTERS/John Javellana

14. North Korean defector and artist Song Byeok paints next to another work of his, titled "Marilyn Monroe", which satirizes North Korean leader Kim Jong-il, at his atelier in Seoul December 23, 2011. Song, who previously worked as a propaganda painter in North Korea, defected to South Korea in 2002 and has since produced satirical paintings of the late North Korean leader and stereotypical imagery of the country. He had a debut exhibition of his paintings in January this year and will be having another exhibition in the U.S. in 2012. REUTERS/Kim Kyung-Hoon

15. Tourists visit ice sculptures during the lights testing period of the 13th Harbin Ice and Snow World in Harbin, Heilongjiang province Dec. 25, 2011. Source: REUTERS/Sheng Li

16. A horse carriage carrying tourists travels past ice sculptures during the lights testing period of the 13th Harbin Ice and Snow World in Harbin, Heilongjiang province Dec. 25, 2011. Source: REUTERS/Sheng Li

17. Tourists visit ice sculptures during the lights testing period of the 13th Harbin Ice and Snow World in Harbin, Heilongjiang province Dec. 25, 2011. Source: REUTERS/Sheng Li

18. A horse carriage carrying tourists travels past ice sculptures during the lights testing period of the 13th Harbin Ice and Snow World in Harbin, Heilongjiang province Dec. 25, 2011. - Source: REUTERS/Sheng Li

19. An employee pulls a dog sled carrying tourists in front of a snow sculpture ahead of the 13th Harbin Ice and Snow World in Harbin, Heilongjiang province Dec. 26, 2011. Source: REUTERS/Sheng Li

20. (Pope Benedict XVI leads Christmas Mass in Saint Peter's Basilica at the Vatican on Christmas Eve. Source: REUTERS/Max Rossi

21. A woman prays while attending Christmas Mass at St. Anthony's Church in Lahore, Pakistan. Source: REUTERS/Mohsin Raza

22. People dressed in Santa Claus costumes dance before they cut a 101-foot long cake as part of Christmas celebrations in Chandigarh, India Source: REUTERS/Ajay Verma

23. Father Frost, the Russian equivalent of Santa Claus, greets people during a parade in central St. Petersburg, Russia. Source: Alexander Demianchuk / Reuters

24. Members of the clergy pray in the Grotto, where Christians believe the Virgin Mary gave birth to Jesus, in the Church of the Nativity in the West Bank town of Bethlehem. (Reuters)

25. REUTERS/Navesh Chitrakar -- A Tharu woman wearing traditional ornaments participates in a parade to mark an Elephant Race event at Sauraha in Chitwan, about 170 km (106 miles) south of Kathmandu December 26, 2011. Elephants and mahouts from Chitwan will participate in the Elephant Race, which begins on Monday, where elephants will play in an exhibition soccer match and various other sports and activities.

26. DECEMBER 25: A fisherman carries the biggest fish caught during a winter fishing event as he poses for photographs on the frozen surface of Shitoukoumen Reservoir in Changchun, China, during the annual Changchun Ice and Snow Festival. (China Daily via Reuters)

27. DECEMBER 25: Tian Tian licks a 'panda cake' in her enclosure at Edinburgh Zoo in Scotland. The United Kingdom's only pair of giant pandas were treated to an extra helping of panda cake to celebrate their first Christmas in Scotland. Yang Guang and Tian Tian - or Sunshine and Sweetie - have been getting used to their new home in Edinburgh Zoo since arriving from China on Sunday December 4. (Andrew Milligan/PA)

28. DECEMBER 26: Investec Loyal of Australia competes during the annual Sydney to Hobart yacht race in Sydney, Australia. (Kurt Arrigo/Rolex/Reuters

29. DECEMBER 26: Elephants play an exhibition soccer match during the elephant festival in Sauraha, Chitwan, Nepal. (Niranjan Shrestha/Associated Press

30. DECEMBER 26: People carry balloons during a Christmas balloon parade in Panama City, Panama. (Arnulfo Franco/Associated Press

31. DECEMBER 26: People carry balloons during a Christmas balloon parade in Panama City, Panama. (Arnulfo Franco/Associated Press)

32. DECEMBER 26: Liu Xiaoming puts glasses made of cardboard onto his sand sculpture of the late North Korean leader Kim Jong-Il, at the Jiangtan Park on the banks of Yangtze River in Wuhan, China. (Reuters)

33. A winter swimmer jumps with a mop into the icy water of the Songhua River in Harbin, Heilongjiang province December 26, 2011. REUTERS/Sheng Li

34. A Tharu woman dressed in traditional attire smiles as she participates in a parade marking an Elephant Race event at Sauraha in Chitwan, about 170 km (106 miles) south of Kathmandu December 26, 2011. Elephants and mahouts from Chitwan will participate in the Elephant Race, which begins on Monday, where elephants will play in an exhibition soccer match and various other sports and activities. REUTERS/Navesh Chitrakar

35. Catholic faithful wear the typical dress of a "maruja", or woman mariner, during the annual procession for St. Benedict, who is also known in Brazil as the "black saint", in Braganca in the northeastern state of Para, December 26, 2011. The procession began in the 18th century when a group of black slaves were allowed by their owners to form the Fraternity of St. Benedict, and decided to dance through the streets as an expression of their gratitude. REUTERS/Paulo Santos

36. Children pray for family members who died in the 2004 tsunami, at their boarding school in Banda Aceh, Aceh province December 26, 2011. Survivors gathered in neighborhood mosques and homes to remember those killed by the tsunami triggered by an undersea earthquake off the island of Sumatra seven years ago. REUTERS/Tarmizy Harva

37. Supporters of Pakistan People's Party hold an image of Pakistan's former prime minister Benazir Bhutto during a candlelight vigil to commemorate her death anniversary in Lahore December 26, 2011. Bhutto was killed in a gun and suicide bomb attack after an election rally in the city of Rawalpindi on December 27, 2007, weeks after she returned to Pakistan after years in self-imposed exile. REUTERS/Mohsin Raza

38. Kim Ludbrook / EPA - In South Africa’s Fertility Caves, Christianity mixes with traditional beliefs - Members of the United Apostolic Church pray at the divine Fertility Caves deep in the Maloti Mountains near Clarens, South Africa, on Dec. 14. The congregants retain some of their traditional pre-Christian belief system of ancestor worship in parallel with their Christianity. Living in the caves are several witch doctors, known as sangomas, who help interactions with the spirit world

39. DECEMBER 28: A mahout paints his elephant's nails to prepare for a beauty contest during the Elephant Race event at Sauraha, Nepal. (Navesh Chitrakar/Reuters

40. DECEMBER 28: Indian paramilitary soldiers perform neck exercises after rehearsals for the upcoming Republic Day parade in New Delhi. (Manish Swarup/Associated Press

41. A limousine carrying a portrait of late North Korean leader Kim Jong Il leads his funeral procession in Pyongyang in this photo taken by Kyodo, on December 28, 2011. (Reuters/Kyodo)

42. New Delhi — Rickshaw drivers warm themselves around a bonfire on a cold morning as northern India continues to endure bitter cold, with the nationwide death toll rising to more than 100, according to news reports. PHOTOGRAPH BY: Kevin Frayer / Associated Press

43. Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan — A Kyrgyz girl joins crowds gathered at a holiday display including a New Year's tree at Ala-Too Square at the center of the nation's capital. PHOTOGRAPH BY: VYACHESLAV OSELEDKO / AFP

44. Palestinian women who are members of the security forces of Hamas demonstrate their skills during a graduation ceremony in Gaza City, Tuesday, Dec. 27, 2011. Hatem Moussa - ASSOCIATED PRESS

45. Artists of French performance art company "La Machine" work on an ice sculpture featuring a sperm whale on December 27, 2011 in Nantes, western France as part of christmas celebrations. FRANK PERRY - AFP/Getty Images

46. Pakistani Sajid Manzoor, 15, applies soap on his body while washing following his daily work at a brick factory on the outskirts of Islamabad, Pakistan, Tuesday, Dec. 27, 2011. Muhammed Muheisen - ASSOCIATED PRESS

47. DECEMBER 29: Sikh girls participate in a religious procession to celebrate the anniversary of the birth of Guru Gobind Singh in Jammu, India. Singh was born December 22, 1666 and is the tenth and last Sikh guru in a sacred lineage of ten Sikh gurus. (Channi Anand/Associated Press)

48. DECEMBER 29: A Sikh warrior blows fire from his mouth during a religious procession ahead of the anniversary of the birth of Guru Gobind Singh in Jammu, India. The celebration of Guru Gobind Singh, the tenth Sikh guru, will be on December 31. (Channi Anand/Associated Press)

49. DECEMBER 29: Organizers toss confetti from a window during the annual "air worthiness test" in Times Square. The Times Square Alliance conducted it's airworthiness test in preparation for the release of one ton of confetti by hand from various buildings in Times Square at midnight on New Year's Eve. (Lucas Jackson/Reuters)

50. A woman smokes a cigarette as she walks her pet dog on a pedestrian street in downtown Shanghai December 28, 2011. REUTERS/Aly Song