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Dominican Republic
http://www.irishtimes.com/blogs/gallery/files/2012/03/w1a.jpgSingle mother Evelyn de los Santos combs the hair of her daughters to prepare them for school in Capotillo, a slum of some 100,000 inhabitants along Ozama River in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic. Photograph: Ricardo Rojas/Reuters
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India
http://www.irishtimes.com/blogs/gallery/files/2012/03/w5a.jpgAnguri, a 26-year-old pregnant woman in labour, steps on stones to cross a river while holding a sickle in her hand as she tries to reach a waiting maternity ambulance in a rural area near the remote village of Chharchh, in the central Indian state of Madhya Pradesh. An innovative and free maternity ambulance service called 'Janani Express', run in partnership between the state government and the Unicef, is trying to increase the number of babies born in clinics. Photograph: Vivek Prakash/Reuters
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Colombia
http://www.irishtimes.com/blogs/gallery/files/2012/03/w4a.jpgColombian referee Samary Rodriguez walks through a locker room on her way to a match in the second division League B championship in Bogotá. The 34-year-old has been a professional soccer referee for the past 13 years and is now one of 22 women referees working in the A, B and C leagues. Photograph: John Vizcaino/Reuters
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Peru
http://www.irishtimes.com/blogs/gallery/files/2012/03/w3a.jpgVictoria Ochante (65) collects recycleable material at dawn at a street in Villa Maria del Triunfo, on the outskirts of Lima, Peru. Ms Ochante came from the highlands of Ayacucho about 30 years ago and has been trying to make a living the past year by recycling rubbish. She hopes to make enough money by collecting bottles, cans and other recyclable objects so that she can get a gynecological operation. Photograph: Mariana Bazo/Reuters
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China
http://www.irishtimes.com/blogs/gallery/files/2012/03/w2a.jpgAn officer puts a cap on a paramilitary recruit's head at a military base in Nanjing, Jiangsu province. China will increase spending on police, militia and other domestic security arms by 11.5 per cent to €84 billion this year. Photograph: Leo Lang/Reuters
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Mexico
http://www.irishtimes.com/blogs/gallery/files/2012/03/w10a.jpgA child plays with police tape at a crime scene in Apodaca on the outskirts of Monterrey, Mexico. Five suspected drug dealers were executed by gunmen inside a house, according to local media. Photograph: Daniel Becerril/Reuters
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Russia
http://www.irishtimes.com/blogs/gallery/files/2012/03/w6a.jpgActivists of Ukrainian group Femen prepare for an action at the recent presidential election in Moscow. Vladimir Putin secured victory to strengthen his hand in dealing with the biggest opposition protests since he rose to power 12 years ago. Photograph: Denis Sinyakov/Reuters
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China
http://www.irishtimes.com/blogs/gallery/files/2012/03/w7a.jpgPhysically disabled Liu Wei practises modern dance with her partner at an activity centre in Beijing. Twice a week, a group of 42 dancers, including 24 women with physical disabilities, have practiced modern dance using wheelchairs since 2009, according to the organiser. Photograph: Jason Lee/Reuters
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Mexico
http://www.irishtimes.com/blogs/gallery/files/2012/03/w8a.jpgHelena (L) and her sister Lizbeth pose for a photograph outside their home in the Mennonite community of Buenos Aires in the northern state of Chihuahua. Over 80,000 Mennonites live in Mexico after they established themselves for the first time in the 1920s. Mennonites' origins date back to Switzerland in the 16th century as part of the Reformation until a movement was founded by the Dutch priest Menno Simon who believed in a different interpretation of the scriptures, hence the name Mennonites, meaning 'Followers of Menno'. Photograph: Jose Luis Gonzalez/Reuters
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Jamaica
http://www.irishtimes.com/blogs/gallery/files/2012/03/w9a.jpgNurses watch from a balcony during a visit by Britain's prince Harry to Bustamente Children's Hospital in Kingston, Jamaica. Photograph: Chris Jackson/Reuters
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Iran
http://www.irishtimes.com/blogs/gallery/files/2012/03/w13a.jpgAn Iranian woman holds election leaflets as she stands on a street in central Tehran. Photograph: Morteza Nikoubazl/Reuters
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Canada
http://www.irishtimes.com/blogs/gallery/files/2012/03/w15a.jpgHigh school student Jessica Garcia (16) tends to a baby doll for her parenting class on the subway in Toronto, Ontario. Photograph: Hyungwon Kang/Reuters
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Russia
http://www.irishtimes.com/blogs/gallery/files/2012/03/w12a.jpgInmates take part in the 'Miss Spring 2012' beauty contest, held at women's penal colony number 10 at the Gornyi settlement, some 100km north of Russia's far eastern city of Vladivostok. Photograph: Yuri Maltsev/Reuters
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Yemen
http://www.irishtimes.com/blogs/gallery/files/2012/03/w11a.jpgA woman from the Akhdam community looks from behind the door of her hut in a slum area in Sanaa. As anti-government demonstrators in Yemen mourn a revolution they say power-hungry politicians stole, the weakest in society are protesting against prejudices that have left them on the margins of society for centuries. Photograph: Khaled Abdullah/Reuters
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Nicaragua
http://www.irishtimes.com/blogs/gallery/files/2012/03/w18a.jpgMigdalia Matamoros, a member of the cooperative 'El Recuerdo' from the Federation of Cooperatives of women producers of Nicaragua, rests after working on her field of onions. Photograph: Oswaldo Rivas/Reuters
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Cuba
http://www.irishtimes.com/blogs/gallery/files/2012/03/w16a.jpgCleaner Emilia Rodriguez (78) at her home in Havana. The granddaughter of Spanish immigrants, she has been a state employee all her adult life. For the last 30 years she has been cleaning apartment buildings, receiving a monthly salary of 250 pesos (€7). Photograph: Enrique de la Osa/Reuters
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Colombia
http://www.irishtimes.com/blogs/gallery/files/2012/03/w17a.jpgInmates wash the floor in Cartagena's Women's District Jail, Colombia, in preparation for an event marking International Women's Day. Photograph: Joaquin Sarmiento/Reuters
