What's on around the world in the past 24 hours

Sunni Muslim gunmen take position as one of them aims his rifle in the Sunni Muslim Bab al-Tebbaneh neighbourhood, in Tripoli, northern Lebanon, during clashes between Sunni Muslims and Alawites on Dec 5, 2012. A man was killed and 11 wounded in a second day of sectarian clashes in the Lebanese port city of Tripoli on Wednesday between gunmen loyal to opposing sides in neighbouring Syria's civil war, residents said. -- PHOTO : REUTERS

A man sits alone before a mass gathering for Satmar Hasidic Jews in New York on Dec 4, 2012. Thousands attended to celebrate the 68th anniversary of the rescue of their founder, Rabbi Joel Teitelbaum, from the clutches of the Nazis at the mass gathering. -- PHOTO : REUTERS

A policeman directs traffic at a busy street of downtown Shanghai Dec 5, 2012. While the opportunities are vast in China's estimated US$50 billion (S$61 billion) auto insurance industry, there are roadblocks aplenty - from poor driving standards to a new generation of car owners unfamiliar with the concept of buying protection against accidents and repairs. In 2010, China reported 3.9 million road accidents that killed 65,225 people and injured 254,075. For comparison, there were 30,797 fatal crashes in the United States in 2009, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, which has almost 2.5 times as many registered vehicles as China. -- PHOTO : REUTERS

A man walks past a protest against the level of homicide in Brazil by the non-governmental group Rio de Paz in Rio de Janeiro on Dec 5, 2012. Some 500,000 beans were placed over red sheets by the group to represent the number of people killed over the last 10 years in Brazil, according to Rio de Paz. -- PHOTO : REUTERS

Villagers wash their clothes amidst a destroyed banana plantation after Typhoon Bopha hit Compostela Valley, southern Philippines on Dec 5, 2012. Blocked roads and severed communications in the southern Philippines frustrated rescuers on Wednesday as teams searched for hundreds of people missing after the strongest typhoon this year killed at least 283 people. -- PHOTO : REUTERS

A man sits on a pavement next to his trolley loaded with metals he will sell in the Andalusian capital of Seville on Dec 5, 2012. -- PHOTO : REUTERS

A stop sign is seen outside the West Bank Jewish settlement of Maale Adumim near Jerusalem on Dec 5, 2012. Israel moved forward on Wednesday with plans to build some 3,000 settler homes in one of the most sensitive areas of the occupied West Bank, the E1 corridor near Jerusalem, in defiance of international protests. -- PHOTO : REUTERS

A woman walks past a closed down business in central London on Dec 5, 2012. British Finance Minister George Osborne said on Wednesday he would break a key debt promise and warned that growth would be weaker than expected in a bleak outlook that could damage his party's hopes of winning a 2015 election. -- PHOTO : REUTERS

Art patrons are reflected in an Untitled piece by Anish Kapoor at Art Basel in Miami Beach, Florida on Dec 5, 2012. -- PHOTO : REUTERS

A surfer loses control of his board as he trains at Banzai Beach in Santa Marinella, 40km north of Rome on Dec 5, 2012. Banzai Beach is the most famous surf spot of the Tyrrhenian sea with point-break waves and the bottom of the sea consisting of flat rocks. -- PHOTO : REUTERS

Jimmy Rider delivers an eight-foot tall Christmas tree on a trailer attached to his bicycle, as part of his Ever-Green Delivery service, in Somerville, Massachusetts on Dec 5, 2012. -- PHOTO : REUTERS

Actors dressed as (left to right) Joseph and the Three Wise Men, part of a live-human nativity scene, stroll past the US Capitol Building after demonstrating outside the nearby Supreme Court in Washington on Dec 5, 2012. The Christian Defence Coalition gathered with live actors and animals to demonstrate that such displays are protected by the First Amendment. The event was a reaction to other courts involvement in the banning of nativity scenes in some parts of the US. -- PHOTO : REUTERS