A person with bags in hand negotiates snow piled high in the aftermath of a storm in Philadelphia, Monday, Dec. 21, 2009. The weekend before Christmas is one of the busiest of the year, but snow that stretched from the Carolinas to New England closed malls and kept shoppers off treacherous roads.
Stalin's Birthday
Russian Communists hold red flags as they queue to lay flowers at the grave of Soviet dictator Josef Stalin to mark the 130th anniversary of his birth, as they walk along the Red Square in Moscow, Russia, Monday, Dec. 21, 2009. St Basil's Cathedral is seen at left and Lenin's mausoleum is at right.
South of the Border
An Egyptian soldier secures the Egyptian side of the border with the Gaza Strip, as seen from Rafah, southern Gaza Strip, Monday, Dec. 21, 2009. Negotiations for an Israel-Hamas prisoner exchange entered a crucial stage Monday, with Israeli Cabinet ministers huddling to decide whether to accept Islamic militants' demand to swap 1,000 Palestinian prisoners for a lone Israeli serviceman.
Traditional Crosses
Olive wood crosses are seen in a bucket at a factory in the biblical West Bank town of Bethlehem, Monday, Dec. 21, 2009. Olive wood carving came to Bethlehem in the 4th century with the building of the Church of the Nativity around the grotto where tradition holds Jesus was born.
Cold Weather
Indian villagers cross a bridge across River Ganges in the morning fog in Allahabad, India, Monday, Dec. 21, 2009. Cold conditions intensified in most parts of northern India Monday.
Funeral Ceremony
Pro-reform Iranians attend the funeral ceremony of Grand Ayatollah Hossein Ali Montazeri, the spiritual father of Iran's reform movement, shown in the poster, in the holy city of Qom, Iran, Monday, Dec. 21, 2009. Montazeri, who died Sunday at the age of 87, was a key figure in the 1979 Islamic Revolution who later accused his fellow clerical leaders of imposing dictatorship in the name of Islam.
Light Show
With the backdrop of illuminated Rainbow Bridge and Tokyo skyline, an image of elephant appears during Odaiba water illumination show in Tokyo, Monday, Dec. 21, 2009. The 15-minute slide show depicting the birth of the Earth, projected on a fan-shaped water screen created by a fountain set along a beach at the Tokyo Bay area, will be performed four times a day after dark until Jan. 11, 2010.
Sky-High Santas
A woman pushes a baby stroller past oversized inflatable Santa Clauses amid a spell of subfreezing temperatures in Warsaw, Poland, on Monday Dec. 21, 2009.