A New Year tree stands outside the Kremlin in Moscow, in 2008. Shown from right in the background are: the Kremlin's St. Nicholas Tower, the Historical Museum, and the monument to Soviet Marshal Georgy Zhukov.
Mikhail Metzel/AP
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When the Soviet Union rejected religion, it ditched Christmas, too — but kept the tree. Nowadays, many Russian Jews continue the yolka (New Year tree) tradition, though they've taken it to America.
A trade card from the 1880s depicts a Santa Claus figure in a bird-themed sleigh pulled by reindeer as they are about the land on a rooftop to deliver presents from the huge sack of gifts.
Getty Images
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Children light candles during an overnight vigil at a protest camp in Juarez, Mexico, outside the manufacturing plant for the American-owned printer company Lexmark.
Mónica Ortiz Uribe/KJZZ
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A New Year tree stands outside the Kremlin in Moscow, in 2008. Shown from right in the background are: the Kremlin's St. Nicholas Tower, the Historical Museum, and the monument to Soviet Marshal Georgy Zhukov.
Mikhail Metzel/AP
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Though most hoverboards are made safely, poor quality lithium-ion batteries could be the main culprit behind the recent safety scares.
Christopher Furlong/Getty Images
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Dr. Irene Aguilar, a Democrat and Colorado state senator from Denver County, is also a medical internist and advocate of universal health care. She led this Denver rally in favor of the 2016 ballot measure.
John Daley/Colorado Public Radio
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Pope Francis caresses a baby at a charity in Rome on Friday. In keeping with his focus on the poor, he celebrated Mass at a soup kitchen at Rome's main train station.
AP
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In real life, Jonathan Sun is a Ph.D. candidate at MIT in the Department of Urban Studies + Planning. On Twitter, he's an alien who struggles with spelling and is baffled by human culture.
Courtesy of Jonathan Sun
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Film character BB-8 arrives at the world premiere of Star Wars: The Force Awakens at the TCL Chinese Theatre in Los Angeles on Dec.14.
Jordan Strauss/Invision/AP
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