A member of Egypt’s Republican Guard stands behind a barbed wire barricade, as the Guard blocks a road leading to the presidential palace in Cairo. (Reuters)

Rental bikes are covered with snow in central Brussels. Up to eight cm (three inches) of snow has fallen across Belgium since the early hours of Friday. (Reuters)

Two friends are reunited by chance while waiting to receive relief goods following the visit of Philippine President Benigno Aquino III at New Bataan township, Compostela Valley in southern Philippines. More than 310,000 people have lost their homes since Typhoon Bopha struck Tuesday. (AP)

Supporters of India’s ruling Congress party listen to a speech by party chief Sonia Gandhi during an election campaign rally ahead of the state assembly elections, in Godsamba village, about 270 km (168 miles) from Ahmedabad. (AP)

Rabbi Yehuda Teichtal, right, and Rabbi Segal Shmoel, left, install a giant Hanukkah Menorah, at the Pariser Platz in front of the Brandeburg Gate in Berlin, Germany. The eight-day Jewish Festival of Lights, Hanukkah, starts Dec. 8. (AP)

A lobster boat heads out to sea at dawn in South Portland, Maine. A red sky in the morning often indicates a storm system is moving east. (AP)

A sales assistant (L) holds an iPad mini next to a customer holding an iPad during the China launch of the iPad mini, in Wuhan, Hubei province. (Reuters)

Vendors are transported to the countryside in a vehicle called a ‘tap-tap’ through early morning traffic in Port-au-Prince, Haiti. (AP)

Pakistani laborers carry baskets of bananas at a fruit market in Lahore. Pakistan’s growth remains too weak, underlying inflation is high and the trade balance is heading in the wrong direction, the IMF said. (AFP)

Moscow’s Kremlin is reflected in decoration balls hung on a Christmas tree in Red Square. New Year’s is the biggest holiday of the year in Russia. (AP)

Pang and Tong of China perform during the pairs’ short program at the ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating Final in Sochi, Russia. Picture taken using multiple exposures. (Reuters)