A girl goes up the escalators in the Comuna 13 neighborhood in Medellin, Colombia on Dec. 26, the day of their inauguration. The escalators are the first of their kind to be installed in a shantytown with high rates of urban violence. It is a system that will transform the mobility of the inhabitants of this district, replacing more than 350 concrete stairways. The escalators are composed of six sections and will benefit 12 thousand users.

A woman looks at the escalators in the Comuna 13 neighborhood in Medellin, Colombia on Dec. 26.

Children play as they take the escalators in the Comuna 13 neighborhood.

Rubbish is piled up in between parked cars in downtown Mexico City, Dec. 26. After city authorities shut down the Bordo Poniente landfill, one of the largest dumps in the world, garbage has started to accumulate and trucks have been slower to pick it up, according to local media.

A woman covers her face as she walks past piled up garbage that accumulated over the Christmas weekend in front of the Monument to Benito Juarez, one of Mexico's most important statesmen, in downtown Mexico City, Dec. 26. Garbage disposal workers complain that since last week's official closing of the Bordo Poniente city dump,one of the world's largest, they are backed up trying to get rid of the garbage.

Rubbish is piled up next to the monument of Mexico's late President Benito Juarez in Mexico City, Dec. 26.

Shoppers rush into a department store as it opens for Boxing Day sales in central London, Monday, Dec. 26. Despite disruptions caused by London's subway drivers striking over a pay dispute, large crowds of shoppers started flooding department stores in London as soon as doors opened early Monday.

Shoppers rush into a department store as it opens for Boxing Day sales in central London, Monday, Dec. 26. Despite disruptions caused by London's subway drivers striking over a pay dispute, large crowds of shoppers started flooding department stores in London as soon as doors opened early Monday.

A woman with sale bags sits on the bus 73 to King's Cross on Boxing Day in London on Dec. 26, during the first day of the post Christmas Sales. London's underground train service was virtually halted by a strike over pay today, disrupting the start of the post-Christmas sales and sporting fixtures. Most lines were shut or operating a vastly reduced service, with people forced to use buses or taxis to reach shops which are desperate for business after disappointing sales in recent months.

Members of the United Apostolic Church pray at the divine Fertility Caves deep in the Maloti Mountains near Clarens, South Africa, on Dec. 14. The congregants retain some of their traditional pre-Christian belief system of ancestor worship in parallel with their Christianity. Living in the caves are several witch doctors, known as sangomas, who help interactions with the spirit world

Members of the United Apostolic Church walk with candles through the caves as they move to the next praying area deep in South Africa's Maloti Mountains.

Phara Nyathela, right, and Eva Dipeere, left, hold the hand of a young boy as he and other members of the United Apostolic Church cleanse themselves of evil spirits as they immerse themselves in the freezing water of a waterfall at the caves. The ritual forms part of a belief system that includes pre-Christian traditions of ancestor worship as well as conventional Christianity.

A member of the United Apostolic Church prays after she immerses herself in the freezing waters of the waterfall.

Members of the United Apostolic Church leave the Fertility Caves before heading to a waterfall for a ritual cleansing.

Athletes dressed as Santa Claus jump into the Mediterranean sea as they take part in the Copa Nadal in the Spanish port of Barcelona, Spain, on Sunday, Dec. 25. The Copa Nadal (Christmas Cup) is a traditional swimming competition that takes place in Barcelona every December 25th, where participants swim 200 meters in the open sea in the port of Barcelona.

A Christmas Day reveller takes the plunge into the chilly waters on Brighton beach in Brighton, Britain, on Dec. 25. Hundreds of people flocked to Brighton beach for the annual Christmas day swim.

A swimmer reacts as he climbs a ladder to leave the Vltava river after a swim within the traditional Christmas winter swimming competition in Prague, Czech Republic, on Dec. 26. Enthusiast swimmers every year brave the cold waters of the Vltava river for a swim.

A winter swimmer jumps with a mop into the icy water of the Songhua River in Harbin, Heilongjiang province, China on Dec. 26, 2011.

Members of the 'Berlin Seals' club swim in the Oranke Lake with a water temperature of three degrees Celsius, wearing Christmas costumes in Berlin, Germany, on December 25. The winter swimmers traditionally meet on Christmas Day to take a swim together.

An old 80 metre high office building of Kunming municipal government is demolished in directional blasting on Dec. 25, in Kunming, Yunnan Province of China.

Dust rises as an old office building of Kunming municipal government is demolished in directional blasting on Dec. 25, in Kunming, Yunnan Province of China. The area will become a business center after directional blasting.

People walk past the debris after an old office building of Kunming municipal government was demolished in directional blasting on Dec. 25, in Kunming, Yunnan Province of China.

A horse-drawn carriage passes by ice sculptures during the light-testing period of the 13th Harbin Ice and Snow World in Harbin, China, Dec. 25. The Harbin International Ice and Snow Festival will be officially launched on January 5, 2012.

Tourists visit ice sculptures during the lights testing period of the 13th Harbin Ice and Snow World in Harbin, Heilongjiang province on Dec. 25, 2011. The Harbin International Ice and Snow Festival will be officially launched on January 5, 2012.

Eight month old Cooper Wall Wagner sticks his fingers in President Barack Obama's mouth as he poses for a picture with Cooper's parents Greg, right, and Meredith Wagner in Kaneohe, Hawaii, Dec. 25. The President and Mrs. Obama made their annual trip to greet current and retired members of the US military and their families and ate a Christmas Day meal in the Anderson Hall mess hall at Marine Corps Base Hawaii.