Best pictures from December 9
A preview performance of Cavalia's Odysseo featuring 68 horses and and 48 international cast members in Vancouver, British Columbia, Monday, December 9, 2013. The show takes place on a 1,393 square meter stage with a 302,000-litre lake and runs until January 12.Rafal Gerszak/The Globe and Mail
Police offers from different forces stage at Canlan Ice Sports on Dec. 9 2013. A funeral service was held for Constable John Zivcic at the Toronto Congress Centre on Dec. 9 2013. Zivcic, an officer from Toronto Police Service's 22 Division, succumbed from injuries he recieved in an accident when his crusier collided with another vehicle in Toronto's west end.Fred Lum/The Globe and Mail
Anti-government protesters march with a large Thai national flag during a rally in Bangkok December 9, 2013. Thai Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra dissolved parliament on Monday and called a snap election, but anti-government protest leaders pressed ahead with mass demonstrations seeking to install an unelected body to run the country.ATHIT PERAWONGMETHA/Reuters
A protester who painted his back participates in an anti-corruption day protest in Makassar, South Sulawesi province December 9, 2013. Hundreds of students held a mass rally in Makassar to mark anti-corruption day, according to local reports.YUSUF AHMAD/Reuters
Dust engulfs cleaners as they attempt to sweep up debris left behind by anti-government protesters who continue to occupy streets outside Government House in Bangkok December 10, 2013. Thai Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra dissolved parliament on Monday and called a snap election, but anti-government protest leaders pressed ahead with mass demonstrations in Bangkok seeking to install an unelected body to run the country.DYLAN MARTINEZ/Reuters
Children look on as riot police go to block a street near the presidential administration building during a gathering of supporters of EU integration in Kiev, December 9, 2013. Hundreds of protesters blocked several main streets in the center of Ukrainian capital Kiev on Monday, eyewitnesses said, responding to calls from opposition leaders to defend their demonstration from possible police intervention.STRINGER/Reuters
A girl runs past brick walls in the backyard of the house where Nelson Mandela resided in when he lived in the township of Soweto December 9, 2013. South African anti-apartheid hero Mandela died peacefully at home at the age of 95 on Thursday after months fighting a lung infection, leaving his nation and the world in mourning for a man revered as a moral giant.KAI PFAFFENBACH/Reuters
Interior Ministry personnel block a street during a gathering of supporters of EU integration in Kiev, December 9, 2013. Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovich backed a call for talks with the opposition on Monday to end weeks of protests in Kiev, but tension was high with pro-Europe demonstrators barricading their protest camp in preparation for police intervention.STRINGER/Reuters
U.S. soldiers line up to meet U.S. Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel before he departs from Kabul International Airport December 9, 2013.POOL/Reuters
A flock of pigeons flies with a prototype "parcelcopter" of German postal and logistics group Deutsche Post DHL in Bonn December 9, 2013. DHL on Monday showed its prototype "parcelcopter," which is a modified microdrone that costs 40,000 euros ($54,900) and can carry packages up to 1.2 kg (2.65 pounds).WOLFGANG RATTAY/Reuters
A typhoon survivor walks past damaged trees at typhoon-ravaged Tolosa town, Leyte province, central Philippines, Monday, Dec. 9, 2013. One month since Typhoon Haiyan, signs of progress in this shattered Philippine city are mixed with reminders of the scale of the disaster and the challenges ahead. Tens of thousands are living amid the ruins of their former lives, underneath shelters made from scavenged materials and handouts.Aaron Favila/The Associated Press
A young man stands on barricades defended by Pro-European Union activists next to the Ukrainian Government buildings in Kiev, Ukraine, Monday, Dec. 9, 2013. Hundreds of police in full riot gear flooded into the center of Kiev on Monday as mass anti-government protests gripped the Ukrainian capital for yet another week, raising fears of an imminent crackdown.Sergei Chuzavkov/The Associated Press
A South African boy holds a candle during a homage outside the Houghton home of the late former South African President Nelson Mandela in Johannesburg December 9, 2013. South African anti-apartheid hero Mandela died aged 95 at his Johannesburg home on December 5 after a prolonged lung infection.YANNIS BEHRAKIS/Reuters