The state of our global economy: foreclosures, evictions, bankruptcies, layoffs, abandoned projects, and the people and industries caught in the middle. It can be difficult to capture financial pressures in photographs, but here a few recent glimpses into some of the places and lives affected by what some are calling the "Great Recession".   (edit: After reading some comments about this on Boing Boing, I was able to track down the location of the newspaper boxes in photo #30. The boxes belong to the San Francisco Chronicle, who I called and confirmed that the boxes had been removed per city rules, not due to recession. The photo came across the wire with the caption below, the contextual error was mine.) (35 photos total)

In places around the world where people observe Christmas, they do so with a wide variety of religious, secular and folk traditions. Most traditions are celebrations of the birth of Jesus Christ, (observed on December 25th in most places, on January 7th by some Eastern Orthodox churches), but many incorporate other customs and figures, such as Santa Claus, Father Frost, Saint Nicholas the Krampus and others. Last Tuesday, January 6th, was Epiphany, the day the Magi became the first religious figures to worship the infant Jesus Christ, and the conclusion of the Twelve Holy Days of the Christmas season. Here is a collection of people around the world observing traditions and ceremonies of the Christmas Season. (30 photos total)

Today is the opening day of the Harbin International Ice and Snow Sculpture Festival, in Harbin, China. The festival lasts for one month, and features large ice and snow sculptures, ice lanterns, swimming in the icy Songhua River and more. The northern hemisphere is a hospitable place for ice festivals these days, so in that spirit, here is a collection of recent photographs of all things frozen, and some of the ways we live and play with ice. (34 photos total)

Belarus is a country of 10 million citizens in the heart of Europe. Its president, Alexander Lukashenko, has been in power since 1994, and U.S. Presidential candidate John McCain recently described him as a "brutal dictator" and supports continued U.S. sanctions, imposed in reaction to rigged elections in 2006. This September, over 700 international observers will be on hand to monitor new parliamentary elections, and Lukashenko may be trying to warm up to the West. Here is a look at some recent scenes in and around Belarus. (19 photos total)

The northern hemisphere is feeling the summer heat. A number of heat waves have already rolled across parts of southern Europe,the United States and Asia. From swimming pools to rivers, wave pools, ocean beaches and more, here are some recent photos of people around the world having fun, competing and keeping cool in the water. (22 photos total)

North of downtown Baghdad, Iraq lies Sadr City and several other neighboring districts, predominantly shiite and impoverished. A recent lull in fighting between militias, and US and Iraqi armed forces has allowed security forces and aid supplies to return to the area. The truce remains tenuous, as a car bomb detonated yesterday in a crowded market, killing more than 50 Iraqis. Here are some images of daily life in and around Sadr City, Baghdad over the past several weeks. (16 photos total)