PHOTOS of the month: December, 2011

We bring you a presentation of some of the best photos from around the world in the month gone by

An Indian Navy soldier dispenses smoke from a canister during a dress rehearsal ahead of Navy Day celebrations in Mumbai, on December 2, 2011.

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A supporter of Anna Hazare waves the tricolour amid fumes emitted from fumigation work carried out by a health worker, at Bandra-Kurla Complex grounds in Mumbai, on December 26.

Hazare, who stoked public anger at scandal-prone leaders, threatened last week to renew protests at what he saw as watering down of the Lokpal bill.

Egyptian army soldiers arrest a female protester during clashes at Tahrir Square in Cairo, on December 17.

Soldiers beat demonstrators with batons in clashes that killed nine people and wounded more than 300, marring the first free election most Egyptians can remember.

A Palestinian demonstrator uses a sling to hurl a stone towards Israeli security forces during clashes at a weekly protest against a nearby Jewish settlement, in the West Bank village of Nabi Saleh, near Ramallah, on December 16.

Some 100 demonstrators took part in the protest almost a week after a Palestinian demonstrator died after succumbing to his wounds sustained during a similar protest in the village.

Professional cheerleaders entertain American troops at Camp Virginia in Kuwait, on December 16.

North Korea's new leader Kim Jong-un salutes as he accompanies the hearse carrying the coffin of late North Korean leader Kim Jong-il during his funeral procession in Pyongyang in this photo taken on December 28.

North Korea's military staged a huge funeral procession in the snowy streets of the capital Pyongyang for its deceased "dear leader," Kim Jong-il, readying a transition to his son, Kim Jong-un.

The body of North Korean leader Kim Jong-il lies in state at the Kumsusan Memorial Palace in Pyongyang in this picture released by the North's official KCNA news agency, on December 21.

North Korea was in seclusion a day after it announced the death of its leader Kim Jong-il, as concern mounted over what would happen next in the deeply secretive nation that is trying to build a nuclear arsenal.  

A masked protester shouts slogans as tyres are burned during a demonstration to commemorate the 10th anniversary of social and economic chaos that led to Fernando de la Rua's resignation of Argentinian presidency, in Buenos Aires, on December 20.  

People gather during a ceremony marking the first anniversary of the Tunisian Revolution in Sidi Bouzid, on December 17.

Tens of thousands of people packed a provincial town square to celebrate the first anniversary of Tunisia's democratic revolution in the place where it began, unleashing a tide of popular revolt that has transformed the Arab world.

US Mine Resistant Ambush Protected vehicles drive through Camp Adder before departing what is now known as Imam Ali Base near Nasiriyah, Iraq, on December 16.

The last convoy of US soldiers pulled out of Iraq in December, ending their withdrawal after nearly nine years of war and military intervention that cost almost 4,500 American and tens of thousands of Iraqi lives.  

Vegard-Haukoe Sklett of Norway soars through the air during the qualification run of the individual large hill ski jumping World Cup in Engelberg, Switzerland, on December 18.

Andreas Kofler of Austria won the competition ahead of second placed Kamil Stoch of Poland and third placed Anders Bardal of Norway.

General view of illuminated Christmas decorations at Monserrate church in Colombian capital of Bogota.

Tamara Llagas (left) reacts next to first runner-up Raquel Bonilla after winning the Miss Sevilla pageant in the Andalusian capital of Seville, on December 22.

The winner of the pageant will go on to compete in the Miss Spain beauty contest in 2012.  

People watch a sunset from Swoyambhunath Stupa in Kathmandu, on December 23.

A winter swimmer jumps with a mop into the icy water of the Songhua River at Harbin in Heilongjiang province of China, on December 26.

Shoppers run into Selfridges as the doors open for the start of the Boxing Day sale at their flagship store on Oxford Street in London, on December 26.

Troops yell in support at US President Barack Obama as he speaks at Fort Bragg in Fayetteville, North Carolina, on December 14.

A woman watches giant waves crashing on the seafront by Brighton pier in southern England, on December 15.

A police officer speaks to Zaynab al-Khawaja, the daughter of Human Rights activist Abdulhadi al-Khawaja, after she refused to leave after a sit-in at a roundabout in Budaiya Highway west of Manama in Bahrain, on December 15.

Hundreds of anti-government protesters tried to enter the highway for a sit-in during an anti-government protest. Riot-police dispersed them by firing tear gas and grenades.

Somali children look at a Transitional Federal Government soldier carrying a belt of machine gun ammunition during patrol along the Indian Ocean coastline in Burgabo, south of Kismayu, in Somalia, on December 14.

An electoral worker checks the identity of a veiled woman who arrived at a polling station to cast her vote during a second round of voting in parliamentary elections at a village in Beheira, 135 km north of Cairo, on December 14.

Egyptians voted in December as a part of a lengthy transition to civilian rule after generals took charge following Hosni Mubarak's removal from office in February.

Visitors look at Polipaka Gattaiah, who stands at seven-and-a-half feet and claims to be the tallest man in India, at the arts and crafts centre in Hyderabad, on December 11.

Gattaiah entertains people who visit the centre. Visitors often give money to the 38-year-old man and pose for photographs with him.

In March 2011, he was given a prosthetic foot by a charitable organisation after it was amputated a few years earlier because of an infection.

It is said to be the longest prosthetic foot ever made, according to local media. Gattaiah is paid Rs 6,500 rupees a month by the state tourism department, officials said.

A trader works on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange at the end of the trading day in New York, on December 12.

Bulgarian Muslim bride Fatme Kichukova has make-up applied to her face during her wedding ceremony in the village of Ribnovo, in the Rhodope Mountains, some 210 km south of Sofia, on December 11.

The remote mountain village of Ribnovo in southwest Bulgaria has kept its traditional winter marriage ceremony alive despite decades of Communist persecution, followed by poverty that forced many men to seek work abroad.

The wedding ritual was resurrected with vigour among the Pomaks-Slavs who converted to Islam under Ottoman rule.

Today Muslims make up 10 percent of Bulgaria's 7.4 million population. The highlight of the ceremony is the painting of the bride's face, where in a private rite open only to female in-laws, her face is covered in thick, chalky white paint and decorated with colourful sequins.

Israeli soldiers detain an activist during clashes in the West Bank village of Nabi Saleh, near Ramallah, on December 11.

The clashes erupted after the funeral of Palestinian demonstrator Mustafa Tamimi, who sustained a head injury during a Friday protest against an Israeli barrier and died of his wounds later.

Two men dressed as Santa Claus use a toilet in Citta' Sant'Angelo near Pescara in Italy, on December 10.  

A group of people dressed up as Santa Claus to attend the "European Meeting of Santa Claus" where they sang Christmas carols and interacted with passers-by to spread the joy of Christmas, according to organisers.

The earth's shadow falls on the moon as it undergoes a total lunar eclipse above the Sydney Harbour Bridge, on December 11.

A fire fighter evacuates a patient from AMRI hospital after it caught fire in Kolkata, on December 9.

Fire swept through the hospital in Kolkata, killing nearly 93 people, most of them patients, officials said.

A paratrooper glides through the air during a military parade by the Liberation Army to commemorate the establishment of Libyan National Army in Benghazi, Libya, on December 8.

A giraffe pokes its head out of a tent at the Circo Orfei, an Italian circus currently performing in Malta, in Floriana outside Valletta, on December 7.

Animal rights activists are calling on the Maltese government to ban animal circuses from the island, according to local media.

The circus organisers insist that their animals have all been bred in captivity and are not treated cruelly.