U.S. military personnel bow their heads in prayer during a casing ceremony at the former Sather Air Base in Baghdad, marking the official end of the war in Iraq on Dec. 15. The flag of the United States Forces in Iraq was retired at the ceremony to signal the nine-year war's end.

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Employees in Hangzhou, China, dry fish -- traditional fare for the new year. Produced locally, the fish are sold all over the country.

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Demonstrators rally in central Moscow on Dec. 10 to protest election fraud. Swelling resentment in Russia threatens to weaken Prime Minister Vladimir Putin's presidential run in March.

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U.S. President Barack Obama and Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki  participate in a wreath-laying ceremony at Arlington National Cemetery on Dec. 12. Al-Maliki visited Washington, D.C. for talks ahead of the full withdrawal of U.S. troops from Iraq on Dec. 31.

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Thousands of residents and soldiers pay their respects at the memorial for the Nanjing Massacre, marking the event's 74th anniversary on Dec. 13. The massacre, also known as the Rape of Nanking, saw hundreds of thousands of Chinese civilians and disarmed soldiers murdered by members of the Imperial Japanese Army.

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Geishas in Kyoto, Japan, catch a cab after meeting with a teacher in preparation for the annual Kotohajime ritual, the first celebrations of the new year.

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Veteran Indian politician L.K. Advani observes the anniversary of the 2001 Parliament attack in New Dehli, paying tribute to victims at the Parliament House.

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Under stormy skies, Hungarians Viktor Martin and Miklos Bezereti await the start of the Star Men's Keelboat race on Day 10 of the ISAF Sailing World Championships in Perth, Australia.

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Britain's national weather service issued severe weather warnings for parts of the island in anticipation of strong winds and storms over the next few days. Here, storm waves break on the sea wall behind houses on the Cobb in Lyme Regis, England.

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A natural gas drill rig stands outside of Rifle, Colorado. Cheap natural gas has eroded U.S. domestic demand for coal and has made the United States the world’s swing supplier of the power-plant fuel, the International Energy Agency said in a report.

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A Burmese man waits for a ferry in Yangon, Myanmar. Since a civilian government was elected in March, after five decades of military rule, the pace of change in Myanmar brought U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton to the country to discuss further paths to reform and hold crucial talks with activist Aung San Suu Kyi and top Burmese government officials.

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Dancers of the English National Ballet perform "The Nutcracker" at the Coliseum in London.

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The cupola on the Reichstag at sunrise in Berlin, where Germany's finance minister recently expressed cautious optimism about the tentative European Union deal reached last week in Brussels.

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