Monday December 18, Our World in Pictures

December 18, 2017 Brooklyn Daily Eagle

AP Photo/Desmond Boylan

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CUBA — Honoring Saint Lazarus: A woman sleeps amid her candles, flowers and a live hen after making her pilgrimage to Saint Lazarus National Sanctuary Church in El Rincon to see the shrine of San Lazaro, who is revered as the protector of the sick, on Sunday. The annual pilgrimage draws Roman Catholics, as well as followers of Afro-Cuban Santeria for whom Saint Lazarus symbolizes the deity of Babalu-Aye, introduced by African slaves brought to Cuba when it was a Spanish colony.

NEPAL — Families Remember Ancestors: A Nepalese devotee walks toward the Bagmati River to perform rituals during the Gaya Aunsi Festival in Kathmandu on Monday. During the festival, people offer prayers and pay tribute to deceased family members. It is believed that doing the festival will help the departed souls find their way to heaven.

UKRAINE — Demonstrators Call for President’s Resignation: In this Monday photo, a woman passes by a tent camp placed by supporters of the Movement of New Forces, the political party led by Mikheil Saakashvili, in front of the Parliament building in Kiev. The streets around the Parliament have been the scene of recent protests demanding the resignation of Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko.

VATICAN CITY — Pope Celebrates Birthday: Pope Francis blows out a candle on his 81st birthday during a private audience with children at the Paul VI Audience Hall on Sunday.

CHILE — Poll Workers Dress Up: Electoral workers sport costumes during the presidential runoff election in Santiago on Sunday. Chileans decided Sunday whether to swing the world’s top copper-producing country to the right or maintain its center-left path in a fiercely contested election.

JAPAN — Panda Makes Early Public Debut: Female giant panda cub Xiang Xiang eats bamboo during a press preview on Monday at the Ueno Zoological Gardens in Tokyo. The baby panda made a special appearance before Tokyo’s governor, a group of local schoolchildren and the media one day ahead of its official public debut. Six-month- old Xiang Xiang was slated to debut Tuesday in a limited public viewing for avid fans who obtained tickets through a highly competitive lottery process.

SPAIN — Calls to Secede Damage Local Business: People buy items at a street stall in Barcelona on Monday. Jittery businessmen in Catalonia have put their investment plans on ice as they brace for the region’s upcoming parliamentary election on Thursday. Investors are spooked by signs the recent tumult over its latest bid to secede from Spain is hurting the local economy. Recent figures show Catalan retail sales and tourist arrivals are falling while unemployment edges higher.

ITALY – Santas Row in Venice: People wearing Santa Claus costumes row on Canal Grande in Venice, Italy, Sunday. Almost a hundred traditional rowing boats, of various kinds and sizes, for about two hundred rowers, gave life to the traditional water procession of the Santa Claus, parading along the Grand Canal.

CALIFORNIA – Wildfires Rage On: A firefighter takes a cell phone picture during a wildfire Saturday, in Montecito, Calif. The so-called Thomas Fire is now the third-largest in California history.

BELARUS – Woman Walks Through Snowy Fog: A woman makes her way through fog at a park in the Belarusian town of Novogrudok, 150 km (93 miles) west of the capital Minsk, Saturday, as temperature kept to around 0 degrees Celsius (32 Fahrenheit).

GERMANY – Rhino Walks Out the Door: A 1500-kilogram heavy black rhinoceros leaves its indoor enclosure through a curtain in the zoo in Frankfurt, Germany, Friday.