There are 27 reported dead -- including 18 children -- after a gunman opened fire at the Sandy Hook Elementary School in Sandy Hook, Connecticut on Dec 14. In this photo taken on the same day, a woman holds a child as people line up to enter the Newtown Methodist Church near the scene of the shooting.

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On Dec. 12, North Korea launched a long-range rocket and successfully placed a satellite into orbit for the first time. This picture, from North Korea's official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA), shows the rocket Unha-3 carrying the satellite Kwangmyongsong-3 on a large screen at a satellite control center in Cholsan county, North Pyongan province. Explore FP's coverage for a behind-the-scenes account of North Korea's nuclear deliberations and analysis of Barack Obama's North Korea policy.  

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Egyptian journalist El-Hosseiny Abou-Deif, who was hit in the head with a rubber bullet in last week's clashes at the presidential palace, died on Dec. 12, after spending a week in a coma. In this photo, taken that day in Cairo, two of the journalist's friends mourn his death after his body has been carried out from the morgue. The country's new draft constitution will be put to a referendum on Dec. 15.

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Israel has approved the building of 3,000 settler homes in the E1 settlement area. The development, which has been on hold for years due to pressure from the United States and European Union, will close East Jerusalem off from the West Bank. Above is a view of the E1 settlement area taken on Dec. 9 in Maale Adumim, West Bank.

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An honor guard passes by snow-covered trees after Kyrgyz President Almaz Atambayev arrived at Schloss Bellevue presidential palace in Berlin, Germany on Dec. 11. Heavy snowfalls hit much of Northern Europe over the past week.

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A supporter of Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez writes a message for him at a square in Caracas on Dec. 11. Venezuelan Vice President Nicolás Maduro reported that night that Chávez was stable after his surgery in Cuba. See Peter Wilson's profile of Maduro for more on the vice president and the future of Venezuelan politics.

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Dec. 13 was the 75th anniversary of the Nanjing massacre -- a mass killing and rape carried out by Japanese soldiers in the Chinese city of Nanjing. In this photo, a Nanjing massacre survivor is pictured between Chinese Buddhist monks at a Dec. 13 ceremony for the victims at the Memorial Museum in Nanjing.

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Fights broke out in the newly elected Ukrainian parlaiment in Kiev on Dec. 13 for the second time in two days. In this photo, opposition MPs tangle with two deputies whom they accused of defecting to the pro-government camp. 

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The U.S. Congress and the White House remain locked in a stalemate over negotiations to resolve the fiscal crisis. In this photo, taken in Washington, D.C. on Dec. 11, Speaker of the House John Boehner (R-OH) is on his way to address the House about the fiscal cliff negotiations.

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Members of the Swedish royal family and Nobel Prize laureates arrive for the Nobel Banquet in Stockholm, Sweden on Dec. 10.

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Japanese voters will go to the polls for a general election on Dec. 16. In this photo, former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, the leader of Japan's main opposition Liberal Democratic Party, gives a speech from the roof of a campaign car during his party's election campaign on Dec. 13 in Osaka, Japan. For more on the election, see our coverage of the role gangsters play in Japanese politics, the conservatives who could win the race, and the five reasons we should pay attention to the contest. 

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The United Nations announced on Dec. 11 that the number of Syrian refugees registered in neighboring countries and North Africa has passed half a million, a number that does not include many more unregistered refugees who have not yet come forward to seek help. In this photo, taken Dec. 12, Syrian refugees walk along the perimeter of a refugee camp on the Syrian border near the Turkish village of Apaydin.

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Dockside cranes in Hamburg are pictured during sunset on Dec. 11 as sub-zero temperatures gripped northern Germany.

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Even though the official religion of South Korea is Buddhism, about 30 percent of the country is Christian, and Christmas is one of the country's biggest holidays. In this photo, a South Korean diver clad in a Santa Claus costume swims with sardines at the COEX Aquarium in Seoul, South Korea on Dec. 8.

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Dec. 7 marked the 71st anniversary of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. This photo, taken annual memorial ceremony, depicts the names of fallen soldiers etched on the Remembrance Wall in the shrine room of the U.S.S. Arizona Memorial in Honolulu, Hawaii.  

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Indian firefighters attempt to control a fire that broke out at an electronics market in the old quarters of New Delhi on Dec. 13. The fire was supposedly triggered by a short circuit in one of the shops in the congested market.

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On Dec. 13, American anti-virus software pioneer John McAfee, who is wanted in Belize for questioning over his neighbor's murder last month, entered Guatemala illegally after more than three weeks on the run. This photo captures a smiling McAfee as he arrives at the Aurora International Airport in Guatemala City on Dec. 12. McAfee escaped immediate deportation to Belize; Guatemala decided to expel McAfee back to the United States instead.

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One Chinese villager has created tsunami-proof survival pods in anticipation of next week's Mayan-predicted apocalypse. This photo, taken on Dec. 11 in the village of Qiantun in Hebei province shows farmer Liu Qiyuan posing with the survival pods that he created and dubbed "Noah's Ark."

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