Flocks of starlings fly over a decorated Christmas tree as night falls in Rome, Italy. (AFP)

An Italian railways worker walks during a protest against the dismissal of 800 night trains workers, at the railways station in Milan. (AP)

A cracked windshield is seen at the site of a suicide bombing in Damascus, Syria. (AP)

A Syrian woman living in Jordan performs Friday prayers before protesting against Syrian President Bashar al-Assad in front of the Syrian embassy in Amman. (Reuters)

A woman holds a Czech flag as she watches the state funeral of former Czech President Vaclav Havel in Prague. (AP)

Egyptian girls look at army troops through a gap between concrete blocs, part of a barrier that the military set up to block the road and separate army troops from protesters, near Tahrir Square in Cairo. (AP)

Israeli soldiers fire tear gas at Palestinian protesters during a weekly demonstration against the construction and expansion of settlements on village lands in the West Bank village of Nabi Saleh, near Ramallah. (AFP)

An anti-government protester approaches police, unseen, with flowers and a national flag in Manama, Bahrain. (AP)

Children perform the Bharatnatyam, an Indian classical dance, during the inauguration of the 45th Senior National Indian Style Wrestling Championship in Hyderabad, December 23, 2011. (AP)

Chinese winter swimmers wearing Santa Claus costumes play soccer on a frozen lake ahead of Christmas in Shenyang, Liaoning province. (Reuters)

Elephants dressed in Santa Claus costumes perform for students ahead of the Christmas festival at a school in Ayutthaya province, Thailand. (AFP)

A boy stands in front of a house decorated with Christmas illuminations in downtown Hamburg, Germany. (Reuters)