The rising sun on New Year's behind Mt. Fuji, observed at Yamanashi prefecture, Japan (AFP)
Buddhist monks take up alms from Thais during a morning alms offering, part of New Year's celebrations in Bangkok, Thailand. (AP)
Confetti drops as a Filipino blows his paper horn welcoming the New Year in Manila's Rizal Park, Philippines. (AP)
South Koreans in traditional costumes perform to celebrate the New Year at Imjingak Pavilion in Paju near the border village of Panmunjom (Demilitarized Zone), South Korea, that has separated the two Koreas since the Korean War. (AP)
Fireworks illuminate the Hong Kong skyline above Victoria harbor during new years celebration. (AFP)
Fireworks explode from Taiwan's tallest skyscraper Taipei 101 during New Year celebrations in Taipei. (Reuters)
People enjoy the first rays of the sun in 2012 in Cancun, Mexico. (AP)
People celebrate New Year's Day on a beach in Durban, South Africa. (Reuters)
A child plays with colored water bubbles as Kenyans gather with their families at Uhuru Park, Nairobi, Kenya to celebrate the new year. (AP)
Shooters of the historic riflemen corps fire gun salutes to welcome the new year in Villingen-Schwenningen in the Black Forest, southern Germany. (AFP)
Fireworks explode over the Houses of Parliament, including St. Stephen's Tower which holds the bell known as Big Ben as London celebrates the arrival of New Years Day in London. (AP)
Russians celebrate the New Year on Red Square in Moscow, with the Kremlin in the background, right, and St. Basil's cathedral in background left. (AP)
Fireworks explode during the New Year celebrations over the Brandenburger Tor gate in Berlin, Germany. (Reuters)
Revelers celebrate on New Year's Eve at Times Square in New York, 31 December, 2011. (Reuters)
Indian artist Harwinder Singh Gill displays a creation made with 250 small flags of different countries reading "Happy New Year 2012" on New Year's eve in Amritsar, December 31, 2011. (AFP)
A sail boat passes in front of the sun as the last rays of sunlight of 2011 hit the waters off Waikiki Beach in Honolulu, Hawaii, December 31, 2011. Hawaii is one of the last places on earth that will usher in the New Year. (Reuters)
An injured Egyptian woman stands outside a courtroom in Cairo, Egypt. The trial of former President Hosni Mubarak has resumed amid speculation that a recent acquittal of policemen tried for killing Egyptian protesters could be a prelude to the dismissal of charges against the ousted leader. (AP)
Buddhist monks perform Kalachakra ritual dance during the Kalachakra Buddhist festival, in the town of Bodh Gaya, believed to be the place where Buddha attained enlightenment, Bihar, India. (AP)
A fire on a pulp mill plant is seen during a forest fire near Concepcion city some 500km (311 miles) south of Santiago, Chile. Around 10,000 hectares of land have been burned due to multiple fires near the city, local media reported. (Reuters)
Japan's Emperor Akihito (center L) and Empress Michiko (center R) wave to well-wishers with other members of the royal family during a public appearance for New Year celebrations at the Imperial Palace in Tokyo. (Reuters)
A winding tower of a former coal mine is pictured against the sunset in Moers, Germany. (AP)
Molly the dog walks around dead herring on a beach at Kvennes in Nordreisa, northern Norway. (Reuters)
A giant light installation of the flag of Switzerland, by Swiss artist Gerry Hofstetter, illuminates the north face of the Jungfrau mountain, next to the Eiger and Moench mountains (L) and above the city of Thun (bottom), as seen from Oberbuetschel, near Bern, January 1, 2012.
France's President Nicolas Sarkozy speaks with French cabin boy's military academy students at the Lanveoc-Poulmic naval airbase prior to deliver his New Year wishes to French army in Lanveoc, western France. (Reuters)
Policemen detains a protester during a rally against fuel subsidy removal on Ikorodu road in Nigeria's commercial capital Lagos. (Reuters)
A nomadic shepherd with his herd of sheep waits for the signal at a busy road junction in Noida on the outskirts of New Delhi, India. (Reuters)
North Koreans attend a mass rally at Kim Il-Sung square in Pyongyang. (Reuters)
A woman cries as an excavator demolishes her home during a forced eviction at the Borei Keila complex in Phnom Penh, Cambodia. (Reuters)
A elderly lady is holding on to a lamp post in the strong winds in South Shields, England. (AP)
Rows of tents set up for tropical storm Washi survivors in the southern Philippines city of Cagayan de Oro on Mindanao, January 2, 2012. (Reuters)
A Beluga whale poses with an orange on its head representing a "rice cake offering" as part of a New Year's attraction at the Hakkeijima Sea Paradise aquarium in Yokohama, suburban Tokyo, Japan. (AFP)
Germany's Richard Freitag soars through the air in front of Wilten Cathedral during the practice for the third event of the four-hills ski jumping tournament in Innsbruck, Austria. (Reuters)
Nepalese cheer during an environmental clean-up campaign in Kathmandu. (Reuters)
An Indian Border Security Force camel contingent participates during a rehearsal for India's Republic Day parade, amidst morning fog in New Delhi. (AP)
An Indonesian activist holds pair of sandals in solidarity with a 15 year-old boy, who is being prosecuted for lifting an old pair of sandals in Central Sulawesi province, at the office of Indonesian Commission for Child Protection in Jakarta. Thousands of Indonesians have dumped flip flops and other old sandals at police stations and prosecutor offices to show support for the boy who could face up to five years in prison - the same sentence given to many terrorists, drug pushers and rapists - if found guilty. (AP)
A worker mops the centerpiece of the Minton tiled floor at St. George's Hall in Liverpool, northern England. Visitors will be able to view the mosaic of over 30,000 tiles which was laid in 1852, from January 7 to 22. (Reuters)
Serena Williams of the United States collapses after twisting her left ankle in her match against Bojana Jovanovski of Serbia during the Brisbane International tennis tournament in Brisbane, Australia. (AP)
Visitors view the buildings made from blocks of ice at the Harbin International Ice and Snow festival held in Harbin in northeastern China's Heilongjiang province. (AP)
Adrian Walls, Team Leader of Birds, counts penguins at London Zoo in central London. (Reuters)
A layer of protective ice covers a new strawberry blossom in a field in Dover, Florida. Farmers spray a coating of water over their plants to help keep them from freeze damage. (AP)
Participants display their works during a calligraphy contest to celebrate the new year in Tokyo, Japan. (Reuters)
Residents and rescuers look at destroyed shanty houses after a landslide in a mining area in Pantukan town in Compostela Valley on the southern Philippine island of Mindanao. (Reuters)
Orphans from Malawi, whose parents died of AIDS, perform a Buddhist dance called the Guanyin of Thousand Hands during a cultural exchange program in Hong Kong. (Reuters)
Hana Abbas Lazim, 11, grieves at the hospital for her slain father, who was killed in a bomb attack in Sadr City eastern of Baghdad, Iraq. (AP)
A Guarani Indian child looks on as Indians are evicted by police from the Plaza Uruguay square in Asuncion, Paraguay. Asuncion
Venezuela's President Hugo Chavez kisses the hand of Miss World 2011 Ivian Sarcos of Venezuela after their meeting at the Miraflores Palace in Caracas, January 4, 2012. (Reuters)
Smoke and ash billows from Mount Etna by the Sicilian town of Zafferana, near Catania. The eruption of the Mount Etna volcano lasted a few hours and was the first in 2012. (AP)
Toyota's driver Giniel De Villiers, from South Africa, and co-driver Dirk Von Zitzewitz, from Germany, try to push their car after it went off the road during the fifth stage of the 2012 Argentina-Chile-Peru Dakar Rally between Chilecito and Fiambala in Argentina. (AP)
High water levels in Dordrecht in the Netherlands have led authorities to order the evacuation of about 800 people living in the north of the country, fearing heavy rains could cause a dyke to collapse. (AFP)
An Indian paramilitary solider stands guard outside a closed market during a shutdown in Srinagar. (AP)
A view of the Syrian police station building soon after an attack by a suicide bomber at Midan neighborhood of Damascus. (AP)
People walk past two of the four famous horse sculptures of the Anichkov Bridge on the Fontanka River in St.Petersburg, Russia. Light decorations for the Russia Orthodox Christmas celebrations, which falls on January 7, are seen in the background. (AP)
A child holds the cross as believers sing and dance at the river Tundzha, as they celebrate Epiphany in the town of Kalofer, Bulgaria. (AP)
A member of the clergy attends the Christmas procession outside the Church of the Nativity in the West Bank town of Bethlehem. (Reuters)
Cardinals follow the Eucharist for the Solemnity of Epiphany lead by Pope Benedict XVI at St. Peter's basilica at the Vatican, Italy. (AFP)
A young Buddhist monk sits in a niche made in a wall in the compound of Mahabodhi temple, believed to be the place where Buddha attained enlightenment, during the Kalachakra Buddhist festival in the town of Bodh Gaya, in the state of Bihar, India. (AP)
Sumo referee Shonosuke Kimura leads dew-sweeper (forerunner) Kyokutenho (C) and sumo grand champion Hakuho of Mongolia before Hakuho performs his ring entry forms to dedicate to the Meiji Shrine in Tokyo, Japan. (AP)
Jack Moule, 17, demonstrates a jet-ski during the opening day of The London Boat Show at the Excel Center in London, Britain. (AFP)
A young boy and his family join Taiwan's President Ma Ying-jeou and tens of thousands of supporters in a march to the Presidential Office through the main streets of Taipei. Taiwan will hold its presidential election on January 14, 2012. (AP)
The stricken container ship Rena sits on a reef about 14 nautical miles (22 km) from Tauranga, on the east coast of New Zealand's North Island after it separated into two. (Reuters)
An Afghan man protects his child from the cold on a road in Kabul, Afghanistan. (Reuters)
Visitors admire the elephant sculptures, including the popular "Delightful Durian" (C), created by Nat Posila and Ed Robinson, on display at the Singapore Botanic Gardens, Singapore. (Reuters)
Students hold earthen pitchers filled with water as they take a holy bath ahead of the Magh Mela festival during a ceremony in the western Indian city of Ahmedabad, India. (Reuters)
Pope Benedict XVI stands inside the Sistine Chapel at the Vatican. The pope baptized 16 babies in the splendor of the Sistine Chapel. (AP/L'Osservatore Romano)
A Kashmiri boy rows a traditional boat on the Dal Lake in Srinagar, India. Many parts of northern India received snowfall in recent days, closing roads and hindering transport in some parts of the region including the main highway in Jammu and Kashmir. (AP)
A little dog looks out of the snow in Lofer, Salzburg province, Austria. Heavy snowfall caused traffic problems in many parts of the country and causing a higher risk of avalanches in alpine regions. (AP)
A development on one of the islands of The World Islands project in Dubai, UAE, January 7, 2012. The World Islands are located approximately 4 km (2.5 miles) off the coast of Jumeirah. The man-made islands are collectively shaped into the continents of the world, and will consist of 300 small private artificial islands divided into four categories - private homes, estate homes, dream resorts, and community islands, according to the development company Nakheel Properties Group. (Reuters)
Athletes shoot during the 12.5 km women's mass start competition at the Biathlon World Cup in the eastern German ski resort of Oberhof. (Reuters)
Burma's pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi (front row, 2nd R) and National League for Democracy (NLD) party leader Tin Oo (front row, L) clap after cutting a ribbon during the opening ceremony of their party's new signboard at the head office in Rangoon. The NLD will be standing for the upcoming by-election on April 1. (Reuters)
Judges attend a ceremony to mark the beginning of the new legal year in Hong Kong. (Reuters)
Female supporters of Yemen's President Ali Abdullah Saleh rides a donkey during a rally demanding basic services from the new government in Sana'a. (AP)
A man carries a placard during a demonstration against soaring petrol prices following government's decision to abolish decades-old fuel subsidies in Lagos, Nigeria. (AFP)
Chefs, including Belgian chef Pierre Wynants (L), throw their hats in the air in an attempt to break the Guinness World Record for the largest gathering of people throwing chefs hats, at the Grand Place in Brussels, Belgium. There were 617 participants who successfully broke the record, organizers said. (Reuters)
18-year-old Thang, believed to be an Agent Orange victim according to locals who know his mother, waits for customers at a market in Hanoi. Thang, who comes from Vietnam's central province of Thanh Hoa, cannot remember his full name. (Reuters)
A devotee climbs and kisses the wooden cross of the Black Nazarene during a procession in Manila, Philippines. (Reuters)
Gulls swarm around a car in the parking lot at Edgewater Park in Cleveland, Ohio.(AP)
Visitors with their pets after worship at Ichigaya Kamegaoka Hachimangu in Tokyo, Japan. The shrine specially arranges the dates for pet-owners and their pets to offer the New Year's prayers together. (AP)
Two policemen on horses keep an eye on Republican presidential hopefuls' supporters outside a polling station at Webster School in Manchester, New Hampshire, USA. (AFP)
Indian workers cover elephant statues at Ambedkar Memorial Park in Lucknow. Workmen using truckloads of cloth raced to comply with election officials who ordered the statues of Chief Minister of Utter Pradesh state Mayawati, who is a hero to India's lowest castes, along with nearly 200 statues of elephants, her party's symbol, be covered. (AP)
A video game character "angry bird" sculpture made from piggy banks, an emblem of the opposition Democratic Progressive Party's (DPP) presidential candidate Tsai Ing-wen, is displayed outside her campaign office in Taichung, Taiwan. (AFP)
Migrant workers have an annual meal at a local construction site in Chengdu, Sichuan province, January 9, 2012. More than 1,400 migrant workers took part in the annual meal to celebrate the upcoming Chinese New Year. (Reuters)
A keeper looks inside the mouth of a South American sea lion at 'Tiergarten Schoenbrunn' Zoo in Vienna, Austria. (Reuters)
A full moon rises behind the Empire State Building and the Chrysler Building over the skyline of Manhattan in New York, January 9, 2012. (Reuters)
Delegates attend the opening session of the 5th Plenary Session of the 13th Shanghai Municipal People's Congress in Shanghai, China. (AP)
A mother protects her son as riot police search for stone-throwing residents during a violent demolition in suburban San Juan, east of Manila, Philippines. (AP)
South Korean Special Warfare Forces members during a winter exercise in an ice water in Pyeongchang (AP)
An Indian child eats mid-day meals organized by Government of Andhra Pradesh at a shanty area of Hyderabad. (AP)
Thousands of padlocks are fixed by lovers onto a fence on a train bridge over the Rhine in Cologne Germany. A German custom says that lovers who fix a lock to the fence and throw the key into the river Rhine will have their love forever locked. (AP)
Skiers compete during the men's ski cross World Cup event at Alpe d'Huez, French Alps. (AP)
Cyril Despres, of France, right, and Marc Coma, of Spain, race their KTMs in the 10th stage of the 2012 Argentina-Chile-Peru Dakar Rally between Iquique and Arica, Chile. (AP)
The Milky Way illuminates the sky above the dome of the Danish 1.54-meter telescope at ESO's La Silla Observatory in Chile. (AFP/Handout/European Southern Observatory/Z. Bardon)
Taiwan's President and Nationalist Party presidential candidate Ma Ying-jeou attends a news conference in Taipei. (Reuters)
Indian soldiers train on stunt motorcycles in preparation for an upcoming Republic Day parade in New Delhi. (AP)
An Afghan artist and his students display an oversized page from the Quran at the Naser Khusro Balkhi Library during an opening ceremony in Kabul. (AFP)
Anti-government protesters run through tear gas during clashes between protesters and riot police in the village of Diraz, west of Manama, Bahrain. Hundreds of anti-government protesters took to streets of Diraz demanding the downfall of the ruling family. (Reuters)
American volunteer Torrey Utne feeds a seal at the Pieterburen seal creche, north of the town of Groningen, northern Netherlands. Storms that have lashed the Dutch coast this year have created a wave of orphaned baby seals, some so young their umbilical cords are still attached, wrenched from their mothers and washed up on beaches and dikes. (AP)
Victoria Azarenka from Belarus returns the ball during her semi-final win over Agnieszka Radwanska of Poland at the Sydney International tennis event, Australia. (AFP)
Stern section of the stricken container ship Rena is almost totally submerged, about 14 nautical miles (22 km) from Tauranga, on the east coast of New Zealand's North Island. (Reuters)
A Filipino woman who arrived from Syria holds onto a document as she sits in a bus from the Manila International Airport in suburban Paranaque City, south of Manila. (AP)
Bangladeshi Muslim pilgrims stand on boats and offer Friday prayer on the banks of the River Turag in Tongi, on the outskirts of Dhaka. (AP)
Scaffoldings frame the bronze statue of Pope John Paul II by Italian sculptor Oliviero Rainaldi at the start of its restoration in Rome. The Vatican has criticized the artist for creating a sculpture that some mockingly say looks more like Fascist dictator Benito Mussolini than Pope John Paul II. (AP)
Lebanese men seen in a mirror stand outside their cars in Sawfar, on the international road linking Beirut and Damascus. (AFP)
An idol of Buddha is silhouetted at the Tibetan Monastery in Lumbini, south-west of Kathmandu, Nepal. (Reuters)
An Indian Hindu Sadhu (holy man) smokes cannabis at Gangasagar, south of Kolkata. Thousands of Hindu pilgrims have begun to converge for the Gangasagar Mela on January 14, on the occasion of Makar Sankranti, a holy day of the Hindu calendar. (AFP)
A dressed monkey sits at a roadside to earn money from passers-by for his owner in Islamabad, Pakistan. (AP)
Senior veterinary surgeon Irina Berezina holds the 5-month-old North American puma cub named Arnaldo during one of his walks after quarantine at the Royev Ruchey Zoo, in the suburb of Russia's Siberian city of Krasnoyarsk. (Reuters)
Romania's team with Nicolae Istrate, Emilian Peptea, Laurentiu Bogdan Otava and Cezar Florin Craciun sledge during the first competition race of the Four Man Bob World Cup in Schoenau, southern Germany. (AFP)
The Costa Concordia cruise ship that ran aground off the west coast of Italy, at Giglio island. Nearly 40 people are still missing, more than a day after the huge vessel foundered and keeled over with more than 4,000 on board. (Reuters)
Overcrowded trains prepare to leave for the city after the final prayer ceremony of Bishwa Ijtema in Tongi, on the outskirts of Dhaka, Bangladesh. (Reuters)
Protesters sit on the pavement surrounded by Romanian riot police in University Square in Bucharest. Police fired tear gas during an anti-government protest, the third consecutive day of demonstrations against austerity cuts and falling living standards. (AP)
Members of Team Sandtastic of Sarasota work to complete a large sand sculpture in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, representing the six Republican Presidential candidates, January 14, 2011. The heads in the sculpture represent (L-R) Mitt Romney, Newt Gingrich, Jon Huntsman, Rick Perry, Rick Santorum and Ron Paul. (Reuters)
Smoke rises above the Khazret Sultan mosque, regarded as the biggest in Central Asia, in Astana, Kazakhstan. (Reuters)
Residents distribute food to workers who have returned from Pharkant, a major jade mine in Burma, at Kawlin station at Kawlin township, northern Burma. Thousands of workers returned from the mine due to conflict between the Kachin Independence Army (KIA) and the government. (Reuters)
Models wear a creation of Salvatore Ferragamo men's Fall-Winter 2012-13 collection during the Milan Fashion Weekin Milan, Italy. (AP)
Australian cyclists crash on the track during the Men's Madison finals at the UCI Track Cycling World Cup in Beijing, China. (AFP)
A skier makes his way downhill in Kuehtai, Austrian province of Tyrol. (AP)
Former Utah Gov. Jon Huntsman waves to reporters inside the Myrtle Beach Convention Center in Myrtly Beach, South Carolina, as he leaves after announcing the suspension of his campaign for the GOP presidential nomination. (AFP)
A sadhu or Hindu holy man uses headphones to listen to a toy robot fortune teller at Sangam, the confluence of rivers Ganges, Yamuna, and mythical Saraswati during the annual month long Hindu religious fair of Magh Mela in Allahabad, India. (AP)
Demonstrators hold up placards in front of a line of anti-riot policemen outside the Philippine Senate during the impeachment trial of Supreme Court Chief Justice Renato Corona in Manila. (AP)
Lebanese Red Cross members carry a dead body as a rescue team, background, search for residents and dead bodies among the debris of a collapsed building, in Beirut. Security officials say the death toll from the collapse of a five-story residential building has risen to 18, most of them foreigners. (AP)
David Roth, president of the youth organization JUSO of the Swiss Social Democrats (SP), stands inside of the first igloo of the Occupy WEF movement at their camp site in the Swiss mountain resort of Davos, Switzerland. The Occupy WEF members will stay in a camp of several igloos to protest during the World Economic Forum which takes place from January 25 to 29. (Reuters)
Pedestrians walk through a dragon-shaped arch lantern, which is set up for the upcoming Spring Festival, at a local park in Chengdu, Sichuan province. The Lunar New Year, or Spring Festival, begins on January 23 and marks the start of the Year of the Dragon, according to the Chinese zodiac. (Reuters)
A woman falls off her board as she surfs in the Mediterranean sea off Tel Aviv during a windy winter, Israel. (Reuters)
Ukraine's team competes in the International Group Rhythmic Gymnastics event in east London, Britain. (Reuters)
A dancer performs on a watery stage suspended above the audience during the Fuerza Bruta (Brute Force) dress rehearsal at the upcoming Bread and Butter fashion trade show in Berlin, Germany. (Reuters)
Mushers and their dogs compete after the mass start of the eighth stage of the La Grande Odyssee sled dogs race in Bessans. The race crosses the Alps in France, covering over 1000 km (621 miles) over 11 days. (Reuters)
Wild fowl fly at sunrise in Quorn, central England. (Reuters)
Italian navy divers approach the cruise ship Costa Concordia after it ran aground on the tiny Tuscan island of Giglio. Naval divers used explosives to create holes in the hull of the cruise ship to speed the search for 29 missing passengers and crew while the seas remain relatively calm. (AP)
Indian soldiers from the Border Security Forces atop camels stand in front of the Presidential Palace during a ceremony in preparation for the annual Beating Retreat in New Delhi. (AP)
A rainbow appears over the Mediterranean city of Netanya, north of Tel Aviv, Israel. (AFP)
Tibetan exiles shout slogans after being detained by police during a protest outside the venue of a meeting between Chinese State Councilor Dai Bingguo, who is on a two-day visit for the 15th round of boundary talks, and India's National Security Adviser Shiv Shankar Menon in New Delhi. (Reuters)
Turkish soldiers carry the coffin of former Turkish Cypriot leader Rauf Denktash during his funeral procession in the Turkish -occupied northern part of the divided capital Nicosia, Cyprus. (AP)
A women carries a musical instrument case in London. (Reuters)
A man rides a horse through a bonfire in San Bartolome de Pinares, Spain, January 16, 2012, in honor of Saint Anthony, the patron saint of animals. (AP)
Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton laughs after receiving a Los Angeles Lakers basketball jersey as a gift from global cultural ambassador and former NBA basketball star Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, at the State Department in Washington. (AP)
Bahraini anti-government protesters kneel in the street and gesture toward riot police in Manama. (AP)
A protester from Occupy London outside the High Court following news that the City of London Corporation has won its legal bid to evict anti-capitalist protesters from outside St Paul's Cathedral, in London. (AP)
A tribal militant loyal to the powerful al-Ahmar family looks on as barricades they have erected during recent fighting with security forces are being removed in Sana'a, Yemen. (Reuters)
Members of the Azerbaijan team compete in the International Group Rhythmic Gymnastics event in east London. (Reuters)
A model wears a creation by Nicola Formichetti, and Sebastien Teigne for Thierry Mugler fashion house's Men's fall-winter 2012-2013 collection, presented in Paris, France. (AP)
A giant statue of a Buddhist deity with a tiger stands on a decorated floating platform to mark the upcoming Lunar New Year celebrations in Singapore. (AFP)
Penguins wear traditional Korean hanbok costumes as part of a Lunar New Year event at an aquarium in Seoul, South Korea. (Reuters)
A model with artificial eyelashes during a show by fashion brand Kaviar Gauche at the Fashion Week in Berlin, Germany. (AP)
Jonathan Pathri, a survivor of the capsized Italian cruise ship Costa Concordia, is greeted by his parents on his arrival at Rajiv Gandhi International airport in Hyderabad, India. (AP)
The Palestinian Shuafat refugee camp behind Israel's controversial separation barrier in east Jerusalem (AFP)
Protesters gather in front of the Agos newspaper office during a demonstration to mark the fifth anniversary of the killing of Turkish-Armenian editor Hrant Dink in Istanbul, Turkey. (Reuters)
A billboard worker in a cherry picker does some work on video screen displaying flames in Times Square in New York City, January 18, 2012. (AFP)
Children stand in line to receive food at a camp in Hodan district in Mogadishu, Somalia. (Reuters)
The peloton is seen during the third stage of the 2012 Tour Down Under in Victor Harbour, Australia. The cycling's World Tour is held over six stages from January 15 to 22. (AFP)
A ferris wheel at sunset in Nice, France (AFP)
The shadow of Republican presidential candidate, Rep. Ron Paul, is cast against the South Carolina state flag as he waits to be introduced at a campaign rally in an airplane hanger in North Charleston, South Carolina. (AP)
A Swiss guard salutes as Pope Benedict XVI delivers his blessing upon leaving the Pope Paul VI hall at the Vatican at the end of a special audience for members of the Neocathecumenal Way movement. (AP)
The grounded Costa Concordia cruise ship is framed by rocks off the tiny Tuscan island of Giglio, Italy. (AP)
A medium performs a traditional mask dance during the Shikali festival in Lalitpur, Nepal. (Reuters)
Protesters seen through the Syrian national flag chant slogans during an anti-regime protest in front of the Syrian embassy in Amman, Jordan. (AP)
Alexandr Dolgopolov of Ukraine prepares to hit a return to Bernard Tomic of Australia during their men's singles match at the Australian Open tennis tournament in Melbourne, Australia. (Reuters)
This NASA composite image of the Herschel in far-infrared and XMM-Newton's X-ray images shows how hot young stars are sculpting and interacting with surrounding ultra-cool gas and dust, which, at only a few degrees above absolute zero, is the critical material for star formation. (AFP)
Male giraffe calf Ng'ombe stands in front of his mother Nyiri at the zoo in Cologne, Germany. (AP)
Hindu devotees cross a newly constructed temporary bridge at Sangam, the confluence of rivers Ganges and Yamuna, in Allahabad, India. (AP)
Actors wearing traditional costumes march through a small door as they prepare to take part in an ancient Qing Dynasty ceremony in which emperors prayed for good harvest and fortune, during the opening of the temple fair at Ditan Park, also known as the Temple of Earth, in Beijing, China. (Reuters)
Hundreds of supporters of different religious and political parties take part in an anti-US and Indian rally organized by the Difa-e-Pakistan Council in Rawalpindi, Pakistan. (Reuters)
Police walk past a barrier set on fire by residents of the Pinheirinho slum, who are resisting police arrival to evict them by court order, in Sao Jose dos Campos, 50 miles (80 km) northeast of Sao Paulo, Brazil. (Reuters)
French soldiers carry the coffins of comrades during a ceremony on the runway of Kabul Airport after four French troops were shot dead by a man wearing an Afghan uniform at Gwam base, in eastern Afghanistan. (AFP)
A canopy of lights shines over newly fallen snow in Christopher Columbus Park in Boston, January 21, 2012. (AP)
A pink flamingo (Phoenicopterus ruber), born in captivity ten days ago, is seen at the zoo in Cali, Columbia January 21, 2012. (Reuters)
Models present a creation by Netherlands' fashion designer Walter Van Beirendonck during his Men's fall-winter 2012/2013 fashion collection presented in Paris, France, January 21, 2012. (AP)
An Ivory Coast fan, wearing a mask in the colors of the Ivory Coast national flag, cheers in a street in Malabo, Equatorial Guinea. (Reuters)
A demonstrator holds Egyptian flags during a protest against the newly elected lawmakers in front of Egypt's parliament in Cairo. (Reuters)
Thousands of people visit a lantern festival to celebrate the Chinese New Year of the Dragon in Shanghai, China. (AFP)
Devotees take a holy bath at the Bagmati River at Pashupatinath Temple during the Swasthani Bratakatha festival in Kathmandu, Nepal. (Reuters)
A wave breaks over what remains of the Maltese-registered cargo ship the TK Bremen on the Kerminihy beach in Erdeven, France. (Reuters)
The snow-covered church of the village of Jenisberg near the Swiss mountain resort of Davos, Switzerland. (Reuters)
Models present creations by French designer Alexis Mabille as part of his Haute Couture Spring-Summer 2012 fashion show in Paris, France. (Reuters)
A Burkina Faso supporter during the African Nations Cup soccer match against Angola at Estadio de Malabo "Malabo Stadium", in Malabo, Equatorial Guinea, January 22, 2012 (Reuters)
Supporters of United Progressive Alliance Chairperson and Congress Party President Sonia Gandhi wave as her helicopter hovers above a Congress election campaign rally in Gurdaspur, India. (AFP)
Fireworks explode over Victoria Harbour in Hong Kong. Thousands watched the fireworks display on the second day of Chinese New Year to usher in the Year of the Dragon. (AFP)
Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin instructs a trainee during a judo demonstration at a regional judo center in the city of Kemerovo. (Reuters)
Oil recovery experts climb onto the grounded cruise ship Costa Concordia off the Tuscan island of Giglio, Italy. (AP)
German Chancellor Angela Merkel reacts as she strokes the golden goose given to her by Carnival Prince Frank I. and Princess Petra I of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern at the Chancellery in Berlin. (AFP)
Japanese wild monkeys enjoy an open-air hot spring at the Jigokudani (Hell's Valley) Monkey Park, at Yamanouchi town near Shigakogen ski resort, in Nagano prefecture. (AFP)
Colorful flowers are planted in traditional wooden clogs from the Netherlands at the International trade fair for plants in the city of Essen, Germany. (AP)
Egyptians carry an obelisk with the names of people, who died during the 18-day uprising a year ago in Cairo's Tahrir Square, to mark the first anniversary of the popular uprising. (AP)
Greeks struggle as they wait to receive free onions and other vegetables offered by farmers in Syntagma Square. Farmers from the Thebes and Viotia district north of Athens handed out tons of agricultural products to protest media reports that waste from local industries has polluted their crops with hexavalent chromium, making it dangerous for consumption. (Reuters)
A prisoner on a hunger strike has his mouth sewn with a wire at a prison in Bishkek. More than 1,000 inmates throughout Kyrgyzstan have taken part in protests in what local media reported as a response to authorities cutting privileges for criminal offenders with prominence. (Reuters)
An old MK II model Jaguar car is on display, hanging from the outer wall of a parking lot building, as part of its decoration, in Bordeaux, eastern France. (AFP)
A 'Blue Marble' image of the Earth taken from the VIIRS instrument aboard NASA's most recently launched Earth-observing satellite - Suomi NPP. (Reuters/NASA)
The aurora borealis near the city of Tromsoe in northern Norway (Reuters)
An African guineafowl in the sun at the zoo in Gelsenkirchen, Germany. (AP)
Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard is escorted to safety by body guards and police through a crowd of rowdy protesters following a ceremony to mark country's national day in Canberra. (AP)
Indian Border Security Force soldiers ride camels during the Republic Day parade in New Delhi. (AP)
An honor guard before the welcoming ceremony for Spain Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy at the chancellery in Berlin, Germany. (AP)
Rescue workers carry the body of a victim after a building collapsed in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. (AP)
Lawmakers from the leftist Palikot's Movement cover their faces with masks as they protest against the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement, during a parliament session, in Warsaw, Poland. (AP)
This enhanced-color image shows sand dunes trapped in an impact crater in Noachis Terra, Mars. (NASA/JPL-Caltech/Univ. of Arizona)
A snow-covered house stands near the village of Destne v Orlickych horach, Czech Republic. (AP)
A riot policeman removes pictures of Mohammed Ebrahim Yacoub, 18, who died in police custody, from a wall in the eastern village of Sitra, Bahrain. (AP)
A member of the UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency (L) acts as a soldier during a 'refugee run' where business people and politicans attending the World Economic Forum play the role of people fleeing conflicts and persecution, Davos, Switzerland. (AP)
A rescuer works amidst the debris of a collapsed building in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. (Reuters)
A t-shirt held by a college student depicts U.S. President Barack Obama as a superhero as he delivers remarks on college affordability at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor. (Reuters)
A man smells a flower during the Holocaust remembrance memorial in Chisinau, Moldova. (AP)
People light incense to pray for wealth and fortune on the 5th day of the Chinese Lunar New Year at Dongyue Temple in Beijing. (Reuters)
Mounted Indian Border Security force soldiers leave at end of the final dress rehearsal of the Beating Retreat, in New Delhi, India. (AP)
Performers from Cirque Du Soleil take part in a dress rehearsal of the show "Zarkana" in Moscow's Kremlin Palace, Russia. (Reuters)
Two pelicans rest in the zoo of Frankfurt, Germany. (AP)
Novak Djokovic of Serbia kisses the trophy after defeating Rafael Nadal of Spain in their men's singles final match at the Australian Open Tennis tournament in Melbourne. (Reuters)
Underprivileged Indian children dressed in costume to look like the late Mahatma Gandhi arrive on a bus before attempting a world record in Kolkata. (AP)
A pedestrian walks past a firecrackers formation in front of a newly opened store in Wuhan, Hubei province, China. (Reuters)
A car decorated of white balloons on Moscow's Garden Ring road during a protest in Moscow, Russia. Hundreds of cars flying white ribbons or white balloons are driving around Garden Ring to show support for a protest movement against Prime Minister Vladimir Putin. (AP)
A competitor in fancy dress jumps into water during the Tough Guy event in Perton, central England. (Reuters)
Greenpeace activists set fire to the chemical sign of carbon dioxide that is mounted on a boat on Templin to protest against the local state premier's energy policies in Potsdam near Berlin, Germany, near the venue of a party leaders' meeting of the Social Democratic Party. (Reuters)
Burma's opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi talks to supporters at Yae Phyu village in Dawei township. Aung San Suu Kyi called for changes to the military-drafted constitution in her first political trip since ending a boycott of the country's political system last year and announcing plans to run for parliament. (Reuters)
A musher rides his dog sled during the second International dog sled race "Zavirukha-2012" ("Snowstorm-2012") near the village of Orlovschina, about 30 km (18 miles) west of Minsk, Belarus, January 28, 2012. (Reuters)
Competitors make their way during the Marcialonga cross-country ski event, in Cavalese, Italy. (AP)
The main dragon lantern is lightened up during a rehearsal of the 2012 Taipei Lantern Festival in Taipei, Taiwan. (AP)
Two commuters walk in an empty hall of Belgium's second busiest train station in Ghent. Belgium's three main unions are joining hands in a 24-hour strike to protest national budgetary measures that have in part been imposed on Belgium by the European Union. (AP)
Rawalpindi's busiest road is reflected in mirrors displayed for sale at an automotive accessories shop in the old city. (AP)
An immigrant pushes an empty shopping trolley past graffiti in a poor Athens neighborhood. Poverty has visibly increased on the streets of the Greek capital with a population of four million people. (Reuters)
An Indian student with his face painted participates in a march for peace and communal harmony to mark the death anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi in Mumbai, India. (AP)
Meerkats huddle together as it rains at the Dusit Zoo in Bangkok, Thailand. (AP)
A protester throws a Molotov cocktail at riot police during clashes in Cheraga, on the outskirts of Algiers in Algeria. Anger erupted after a local man was stabbed to death. (Reuters)
Laborers remove kites tangled up in electric power cables after the end of the kite flying season in the western Indian city of Ahmedabad. (Reuters)
Reed sprouts are covered with thick ice at lake Zwischenahner Meer ind Bad Zwischenahn, northern Germany. After a period of relatively mild weather a cold spell has reached central and eastern Europe. (AP)
Men dressed in sheepskin costumes for a carnival celebration walk on the way to the Pyrenees village of Ituren, northern Spain. The tradition is to march through the village every year in a ritual to purify the harvest land from evil spirits and to welcome the coming Spring. (AP)
Gabon's artist Pierre Philippe Ekouaga paints a mural on a wall, representing the Panthers of Gabon, nickname of the national soccer team, in Libreville, Gabon, during the African Cup of Nations. (AP)
South Korean boy group ZE:A, also known as Children of the Empire, perform during the MBC Music Festival in Seoul, South Korea. (AP)
