Pictures of the day: December 29, 2016

We look at 13 pictur­es from events around the world

Afghan Hazara women beekeepers check beehives as they work at a bee farm in the Yakawlang District of Bamiyan Province. PHOTO: AFP

Iraqi pro-government forces patrol in the eastern part of the embattled Iraqi city of Mosul, during an ongoing military operation against Islamic State (IS) group militants. PHOTO: AFP

A woman in traditional costumes holds up her hat before performing in a traditional Verdiales Flamenco contest in Malaga. PHOTO: AFP

A man wearing a gas mask takes part in a protest against air pollution and to call for new measures to alleviate the country's suffocating air pollution in Skopje. PHOTO: AFP

Students from a Yeshiva religious school light candles on a menorah during the Jewish holiday of Hannukah, the festival of lights, in the central Israeli city of Bnei Brak near Tel Aviv. PHOTO: AFP

The sun sets behind the Houses of Parliament and the London Eye in central London. PHOTO: AFP

Iraqi people flee the Islamic State stronghold in the town of Bartella, east of Mosul. PHOTO: REUTERS

A man walks on the Pont des Arts bridge as the sun rises above the Seine River skyline in central Paris, France. PHOTO: REUTERS

A couple pose for a wedding photo at Erhai lake in Dali, southwest China's Yunnan province. PHOTO: REUTERS

A swan takes off in Hyde Park in London, Britain. PHOTO: REUTERS

Revellers dressed in mock military garb take part in the "Enfarinats" battle in the southeastern Spanish town of Ibi. During this 200-year-old traditional festival participants known as Els Enfarinats (those covered in flour) dress in military clothes and stage a mock coup d'etat as they battle using flour, eggs and firecrackers outside the city town hall as part of the celebrations of the Day of the Innocents. PHOTO: AFP

A woodcutter rides horses laden with wood during a deforestation near Sofia. PHOTO: AFP

A cat stretches on a counter top in a Chinese and western medicine shop in Hong Kong. Four-legged "assistants" can be found perched in certain shops across Hong Kong, keeping a nonchalant eye on business while the city does its non-stop bustle past their storefronts. PHOTO: AFP