1Pope Benedict XVI leads his Angelus prayer from the window of his private apartment in Saint Peter’s Square at the Vatican. (Reuters)
2Hundreds of holiday makers usher in the new year at the Jomo Kenyatta Public beach Mombasa, Kenya. (AP)
3A reveler writes the number 2013 with sparklers ahead of New Year’s Day at an air temperature of about -25 degrees Celsius (-13 F) in a forest outside Russia’s Siberian city of Krasnoyarsk, December 31, 2012. (Reuters)
4Fireworks explode above Copacabana beach in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. More than two million people gathered along Rio’s most famous beach to witness the 20-minute display and celebrate the beginning of a new year. (Reuters)
5Royal Saudi Air Force jets fly during a graduation ceremony for air force officers at King Faisal Air Academy in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. (Reuters)
6Buddhist devotees light oil lamps at Gangaramaya temple as a part of celebrations for the new year in Colombo, Sri Lanka. (Reuters)
7Pleasure boats travel on the River Nile during New Year’s Eve celebrations near Tahrir Square in Cairo, Egypt, December 31, 2012. (Reuters)
8Firefighters try to extinguish a fire at the Hangzhou Yusei Machinery Co., Ltd in Xiaoshan District in Hangzhou, Zhejiang Province, China. (Reuters)
9Czech Republic’s Lukas Hlava crashes during the second jumping of the 61st four-hills ski jumping tournament in Garmisch-Partenkirchen, southern Germany. (Reuters)
10People celebrate the New Year at the Piazza San Marco in Venice, Italy. (AFP)
11Fireworks are seen over Times Square during New Year celebrations in New York. (Reuters)
1Chadian soldiers, who are fighting in support of Central African Republic president Francois Bozize, ride on their trucks in a convoy on the road leading to Damara, about 70km (44 miles) north of the capital Bangui, Central African Republic. (AP)
2Water drips from an icicle as snow melts in Lawrence, Kansas, USA. (AP)
3More than 10,000 pieces of shark fins are dried on the rooftop of a factory building in Hong Kong. Local sales of the luxurious gourmet food have fallen in recent years due to its controversial nature, but activists demand a total shark fin ban in the city. (Reuters)
4A Sri Lankan asylum seeker, who was rescued from a troubled boat adrift trying to reach Australia, looks out from a porthole of a rescue ship upon arrival at Teluk Bayur port in Padang, West Sumatra, Indonesia. Officials said they rescued 46 asylum seekers after their boat broke down while trying to reach Australia. (AP)
5Hoarfrost covers the fur cap and scarf of a child walking on a bank of the Yenisey River in air temperatures about minus 30 degrees Celsius (minus 22 degrees Fahrenheit) during winter outside the Siberian city of Krasnoyarsk, Russia. (Reuters)
6Monks prepare for a debate in Seda, Sichuan province, China, January 1, 2013. (Tongqi Huang/China/VOA reader)
7An Afghan man sits with his children amid thick blankets at a refugee camp in Herat, Afghanistan. Hundreds of families living in makeshift shelters huddle together with temperatures dropping to -10 Celsius (14 Fahrenheit) at night in the city. (AFP)
8The Royal Dutch Shell drilling rig Kulluk off a small island near Kodiak Island on the south coast of the U.S. state of Alaska, January 1, 2013 (AP/U.S. Coast Guard)
9Women march during a rally organized by Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit protesting for justice and security for women, in New Delhi, India. (Reuters)
10Pakistani fruit vendors wait for customers on a roadside on the outskirts of Islamabad. (AP)
11Visitors look at an exhibit on display during the opening of ‘Art Experiment’ exhibition sponsored by the British Council at Garage Center for Contemporary Culture’s in Moscow’s Gorky Park, Russia. (AP)
1A student attending a winter military camp reacts during a training session in Ansan, south of Seoul, South Korea. Hundreds of students between 11 and 17 years old attend winter boot camp training courses every year. (Reuters)
2Palestinians perform during a rally celebrating the 48th anniversary of the Fatah movement, in the West Bank city of Nablus. (AP)
3Indian daredevils perform car and bike stunts during an annual fair in Mumbai. (AFP)
4High waves hit the coastline in Saint-Gilles, western part of French overseas’ island of La Reunion, as cyclone Dumile lashed the island. Winds of up to 180 kilometers per hour (110 miles per hour) and torrential rain caused extensive damage to the electricity network after cyclone Dumile passed within 90 kilometers of the island’s west coast. (AFP)
5Iranian mourners attend a ceremony commemorating Arbaeen, the final day of the annual 40-day mourning period for the seventh century martyrdom of Imam Hussein, the grandson of Prophet Muhammad, in Tehran. (AP)
6Zoo keeper Jeff Lambert with leaf insects during the annual stock take at London Zoo, UK (Reuters)
7Firefighters try to extinguish a fire at a tannery in Wenzhou, Zhejiang province, China. (Reuters)
8A devotee smokes hashish outside the shrine of Muslim Sufi Saint Data Ganj Bakhsh during his death anniversary in Lahore, Pakistan. Devotees celebrate the last of three days of the 969th festival of Hazrat Ali Bin Usman popularly known as Data Gunj Bakhsh. (Reuters)
9A father reacts after the death of two of his children, whom activists said were killed by shelling by forces loyal to Syria’s President Bashar al-Assad, at al-Ansari area in Aleppo, Syria. (Reuters)
10Neighborhood of Xeren, municipality of Duque de Caxias, some 50 km from Rio de Janeiro’s downtown in Brazil is seen after heavy downpours caused the overflowing of rivers and triggered mudslides. (AFP)
1Supporters of political and religious group Ahl-i-Sunnat Wal Jamaat (ASWJ) raise their hands during a protest rally against the targeted killings of their leaders in Karachi , Pakistan. (Reuters)
2A child uses a megaphone to lead others in chanting Free Syrian Army slogans during a demonstration in the neighborhood of Bustan Al-Qasr, Aleppo, Syria. (Reuters)
3Businessmen wearing Shinto vests offer prayers before the alter at the start of the new business year at Kanda Myojin Shrine in Tokyo. About 3,000 company representatives visit the shrine during the first few days of the new year seeking good luck and prosperous businesses. (Reuters)
4A Palestinian woman, wearing a scarf and a Fatah headband takes part in Fatah’s first mass rally in Gaza since Hamas seized control of the territory in 2007. Friday wrapped up a week of festivities celebrating the 48th anniversary of Fatah taking up arms against Israel. (AFP)
5A canvas featuring late former Czech President Vaclav Havel wearing a T-shirt with the portraits of presidential candidate and Czech FM Karel Schwarzenberg is seen on a building in Prague. The country’s first-ever direct presidential election starts January 11 to replace outgoing President Vaclav Klaus. (Reuters)
6Buddhist monks participate in a procession to mark the 2,600th anniversary of the enlightenment of Lord Buddha, on the outskirts of Bangkok, Thailand. (Reuters)
7Jordanian security policemen stand on alert behind a flag that reads ‘there is no God but Allah, and Mohammed is his Prophet.’ during a rally by Jordanian and Syrian followers of the banned Islamic-oriented Hizb Al-Tahrir, Liberation Party, in front of the Syrian embassy in Amman. Hundreds of protesters shouted slogans proclaiming that Syria will have an Islamic state after the toppling of Bashar Assad and his regime. (AP)
8A young boy walks past aluminum buckets displayed for sale on a street in Dhaka, Bangladesh. The buckets are kept for use in case of fire at garment factories. (AP)
9Anglers try to catch fish from the Bosphorus off Galata Bridge in early morning heavy fog in Istanbul, Turkey. (AFP)
10Naga Sadhus, or Naked Hindu holy men, arrive during a religious procession towards the Sangam, the confluence of rivers Ganges, Yamuna and mythical Saraswati, as part of the Mahakumbh festival in Allahabad, India. (AP)
11A man dressed up as an astronaut walks down the Champs-Elysees avenue in Paris. (AFP)
1Men in traditional ‘Befana’ costumes compete in the ‘Regatta of Befane’ (witches’ race) on the Grand Canal in Venice, Italy. (Reuters)
2A Pakistani man looks through a broken window of the Jaffar Express train after an attack at a railway station in Quetta in restive Baluchistan province, killed at least five people and seriously injured 20 others. (AFP)
3Men jump into the waters of a lake in an attempt to grab a wooden cross on Epiphany Day in Sofia, Bulgaria. Orthodox priests throughout the country bless the waters by throwing a cross into it as worshipers try to retrieve the cross. It is strongly believed that catching the cross brings health and prosperity to the person who catches it. (Reuters)
4Spain’s Guell Gerard Farres rides his Honda motorcycle during the first stage of the Dakar Rally 2013, from Lima to Pisco, January 5, 2013. (Reuters)
5Indians wearing traditional Assamese attire raise their khol, a traditional percussion instrument of Assam, as they participate in an attempt to create a Guinness record, in Titabar, about 350 kilometers (219 miles) east of Gauhati, India. 14,833 people participated in the event. (AP)
6A house destroyed by a bushfire is seen in ruins in Dunalley, about 40 kilometres (25 miles) east of Hobart, January 5, 2013. Over 100 homes have been destroyed in Australia’s island state of Tasmania by dozens of bush fires, driven by record high temperatures last week across the country. (Reuters)
7Newly ordained bishops lay on the floor as Pope Benedict XVI leads the Epiphany mass in Saint Peter’s Basilica at the Vatican. (Reuters)
8In celebration of Twelfth Night, marking the end of the twelve days of winter festivities, an actor representing The Holly Man walks past St Paul’s Cathedral, in a free performance by The Bankside Mummers on the Bankside, near Shakespeare?s Globe, in London. (AP)
9Australian cricket captain Michael Clarke (R) and teammate Ed Cowan run between the wickets on the fourth day of the third cricket Test match between Australia and Sri Lanka at the Sydney Cricket Ground, Australia. (AFP)
10Members of the Edo Firemanship Preservation Association display their balancing skills atop bamboo ladders during a New Year demonstration by the fire brigade in Tokyo, Japan. (Reuters)
1A boy cycles through floodwaters on a highway during a winter storm in Beirut, Lebanon. (Reuters)
2China’s Li Na casts a shadow as she hits a shot during her first round match against Christina McHale of the U.S. at the Sydney International tennis tournament, Australia. (Reuters)
3Construction cranes are seen as Muslims circle the Kaaba and pray during Umrah, at the Grand Mosque in the holy city of Mecca, January 6, 2013. The area surrounding the Grand Mosque is currently undergoing an expansion to accommodate more pilgrims, Umrah performers and visitors. (Reuters)
4People skate on chained sleds on a frozen lake in Beijing, China. (Reuters)
5Dancers perform at Independence Square ahead of the inauguration ceremony of President-elect John Dramani Mahama, in Accra, Ghana. (AP)
6Models present creations from the MAN Autumn/Winter 2013 collection during ‘London Collections: Men’ in London. (Reuters)
7A person looks at waves of the Mediterranean sea in Tel Aviv, Israel. (AP)
8Georgians with national flags take part in a religious procession to mark the Orthodox Christmas, in Tbilisi, Georgia. Christmas falls on January 7 for Orthodox Christians that use the old Julian calendar. (AP)
9Motorcyclists compete during the second stage of the Dakar Rally 2013 in Pisco, Peru, January 6, 2013. (Reuters)
10A man dressed as ‘Trapajon’ representing entities of nature wait in a forest before the Vijanera festival starts in the small village of Silio, northern Spain. The Vijanera masquerade, of pre-Roman origin, is the first carnival of the year in Europe symbolizing the triumph of good over evil and involving the participation of crowds of residents wearing different masks, animal skins and brightly colored clothing with its own complex function. (AP)
11A woman shows off a Sculpteo 3DPCase iPhone case featuring two faces looking at each other at the opening press event of the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, USA. The case was created with the company’s app which utilizes the aid of a 3D printer to create the form. (Reuters)
1Qatar’s Kasola Mohammed (L) confronts Oman’s Ahmed Mubarak al Hahaijri during their Gulf Cup tournament soccer match at Isa Sports City in Isa Town, Bahrain. (Reuters)
2Thai policemen and soldiers take up position during a search for explosives in the village of Raman after local farmers alerted them to suspicious activities in Yala province, south of Bangkok. (Reuters)
3U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton holds up a football helmet with the State Department logo on it, presented by Deputy Secretary of State Thomas Nides (C), who joked that ‘Washington is a contact sport,’ January 7, 2013. Clinton resumed her official duties, five days after being released from a hospital for treatment of a blood clot. (Reuters)
4A man polishes a snow sculpture in preparation for Shenyang International Ice and Snow Festival, Liaoning province, China. The festival kicks off on January 10, 2013. (Reuters)
5Lionel Messi of Argentina, FIFA World Player of the Year 2012, holds his FIFA Ballon d’Or trophy during the FIFA Ballon d’Or 2012 soccer awards ceremony at the Kongresshaus in Zurich, Switzerland, January 7, 2013. (Reuters)
6Waves crash onto the shore of the southern Lebanese city of Sidon. Stormy weather, including high winds and heavy rainfall, lashed the eastern Mediterranean coast, downing power lines and trees and causing several injuries in a number of countries. (AFP)
7Sumo grand champion or Yokozuna Hakuho displays the sumo ceremonial stamping form during the New Year’s ring entering ceremony at Meiji Shrine in Tokyo, Japan. (AP)
8Sculptures called ‘Flossis’ by German artist Rosalie are seen on a building in Duesseldorf, western Germany. The installation consists of 29 sculptures, each measuring 4,20 m high and 2,50 m wide. (AFP)
1Ethnic Chinese pay a visit to a temple in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, as it is decorated Chinese traditional lanterns in preparation of the upcoming Chinese New Year. (AP)
2Executive Chairman of Google, Eric Schmidt, stands near a statue of the late North Korean leader Kim Il Sung during a tour of a the Grand Peoples Study House in Pyongyang, North Korea. (AP)
3A Syrian refugee stands on top of a water tank at Zaatari refugee camp, near the Syrian border in Mafraq, Jordan. The unusual weather was a particularly harsh blow for the vulnerable Syrian refugees, especially about 50,000 sheltering in the Zaatari tent camp in Jordan’s northern desert. (AP)
4A Catholic devotee manages to get closer to kiss the cross of the centuries-old image of the Black Nazarene in a raucous celebration on its feast day in Manila, Philippines. (AP)
5A doll covered with mud lies on the ground after a flood hit the village of Bat Hefer, central Israel. (AP)
6A group of men perform physical exercise training as the sun sets at Galle Face green in Colombo, Sri Lanka. (Reuters)
7A wildfire near Deans Gap, Australia, crosses the Princes Highway, January 8, 2013. Firefighters are battling scores of wildfires in southeastern Australia as authorities evacuate national parks and warned that hot, dry and windy conditions were combining to raise the threat to its highest alert level. (AP/NSW Rural Fire Service)
8People play with snow after a heavy snowstorm in the desert near Tabuk, 1500 km (932 miles) from Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. (Reuters)
9Buddhist monks release paper lanterns into the sky in Suphan Buri province, Thailand, during a traditional pilgrimage to pay homage to Lord Buddha and bless the country as it enters the new year. (Reuters)
10Injured passengers of the Seastreak Wall Street ferry are aided, in New York. The ferry from Atlantic Highlands, New Jersey, banged into the mooring as it arrived at South Street in lower Manhattan during morning rush hour, injuring as many as 50 people. (AP)
11Workers set up folding chairs in preparation for the presidential inauguration ceremony at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C. President Barack Obama will be ceremonially sworn in for his second term on January 21, 2013. (AFP)
12Two flamingos slap their beaks in their enclosure during the annual inventory at the zoo in Magdeburg, eastern Germany. (AFP)
1Actress Emma Stone and 2013 Oscar host Seth MacFarlane present the 85th Academy Awards nominations for Best Actress in Beverly Hills, California. The 85th Annual Academy Awards will take place on February 24 at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles. (AP)
2French President Francois Hollande visits Amplitude Systemes manufacture in Pessac near Bordeaux, southwestern France. (Reuters)
3A supporter of Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez gathers with others outside Miraflores Presidential Palace during an event in homage to Chavez, in Caracas. (AFP)
4Yamaha rider David Casteu of France competes during the 5th stage of the 2013 Dakar Rally from Arequipa, Peru, to Arica, Chile, January 9, 2013.
5Security officers walk away as a man mourns next to the bodies of his wife and daughter, who were gunned down outside their house as they attempted to escape when suspected Orma raiders attacked their village of Kibusu in Kenya. (AP)
6A student is hit by a jet of water during a protest against the government to demand changes in the public state education system in Santiago, Chile. (Reuters)
7A portrait of late founder member of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) Sakine Cansiz is seen at the Kurdish cultural center in Paris, France. Three female Kurdish activists were fatally shot in Paris overnight in execution-style killings. (Reuters)
8A man walks near palm trees as snow falls in Jerusalem’s old city. Heavy overnight snowfall turned the Holy City and much of the region white, bringing hordes of excited children onto the streets. (AFP)
9A woman descends a stairway that was decorated by Chilean artist Jorge Selaron, which he titled the ‘Selaron Stairway’ in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Selaron, 54, an eccentric artist and longtime Rio resident who created the massive, colorful tile stairway in the bohemian Lapa district that’s popular with tourists, was found dead on the stairway on January 10, 2013. (AP)
10Voodoo worshipers make sacrifice at the beach during the annual Voodoo Festival in Ouidah, Benin. (AP)
11French athlete Philippe Croizon (C), whose arms and legs were amputated after an electric shock accident in March 1994, is helped by an unidentified diver to enter a 33-meter deep pool, the world’s deepest pool built to train professional divers, at Nemo33 diving center in Brussels, Belgium. (Reuters)
12A young Himba girl smiles for a photo in northern Namibia near the Angola border (Jeff Leach/Namibia/VOA reader)
1Members of various non-governmental organizations hold lighted candles during a protest in Islamabad against bomb blasts a day earlier in Quetta. (Reuters)
2Supporters of Sri Lanka’?s President Mahinda Rajapaksa light firecrackers to celebrate after hearing the result of a vote to impeach Chief Justice Shirani Bandaranayake in Colombo. Parliament voted overwhelmingly to impeach the justice, deepening a standoff between the judiciary and the government, which is controlled by the country’s most powerful family. (AP)
3An off-duty North Korean traffic policeman laces up ice skates as his colleagues sit nearby at an ice skating rink in Pyongyang. (AP)
4A flag with a portrait of jailed Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) leader Abdullah Ocalan is seen in front of the entrance of the Kurdistan Information Center in Paris, where three female Kurdish activists were found shot dead Thursday. (Reuters)
5Activists of India?’s main opposition Bharatiya Janata Party shout slogans during a protest against Pakistan in Jammu, India. India has formally complained about an attack on an Indian army patrol in the disputed Himalayan region of Kashmir that killed two soldiers. (AP)
6Puppies sit in a kennel at a frontier guards’ cynology center near Smorgon, some 140 km northwest of Minsk, Belarus. The center prepares instructors to handle trained dogs that guard the country’s borders and also sells puppies and dogs, found not fit for guard service, to civilians. (Reuters)
7A Hindu devotee prays as he takes a holy dip in the waters of the Ganges River ahead of the ‘Kumbh Mela’, or Pitcher Festival, in Allahabad, India. (Reuters)
8Workers make the final touches on the Museum of Civilizations from Europe and the Mediterranean (MuCEM) in Marseille. The museum, based in the Fort Saint-Jean overlooking the southern French city, will open later this year as Marseille celebrates being the 2013 European Capital of Culture. (Reuters)
9A Greek Orthodox priest sits on a platform at the Athens’ Larissa metro station. (AFP)
10Katie Uhlaender from the United States starts her first run of the women’s Skeleton World Cup race in Koenigssee, Germany. (AP)
11A cloud formation tinged with red dust travels across the Indian Ocean near Onslow on the Western Australia coast in this handout image. Picture taken January 9. (Reuters/Brett Martin/fishwrecked.com/Handout)
12Employees wearing panda costumes stand in front of giant ice sculptures during the Harbin International Ice and Snow World Festival in Harbin, Heilongjiang province, China. (Reuters)
1A steam train enters Farringdon underground station in London. The train, an 1898-built steam engine known as Met Locomotive No 1, pulled carriages along part of the Hammersmith & City Line, as part of the celebrations to mark 150th anniversary of the world’s oldest underground passenger railway. (Reuters)
2Flowers laid by relatives of the 32 victims of the Costa Concordia cruise shipwreck float on the sea off the Tuscan Island of Isola del Giglio, Italy to mark the first anniversary of the grounding. (AP)
3Cyclists compete during the French cyclo-cross championships in Nommay. (AFP)
4Miss New York Mallory Hytes Hagan (L), 23, reacts after being named Miss America 2013 during the Miss America Pageant in Las Vegas. (Reuters)
5A man sweeps an exposed tiled area of the earthquake-damaged Santa Ana Catholic church, where he now lives, in Port-au-Prince, Haiti. (AP)
6Artist from Studio de Cirque Company performs in the sky during ‘Place des Anges’ at the Cours d’Estienne d’Orves in Marseille, France. The event marks the start of a year, leading to a cultural renaissance in France’s second-largest metropolitan area. (AFP)
7A Japanese physical fitness enthusiast touches a large ice cube while dipping in icy water with others during a winter ritual to keep themselves fit and display their perseverance at Teppozu Inari Shinto Shrine in Tokyo. (AP)
8Passengers look at a man not wearing pants, while riding in the subway during the annual ‘No Pants Subway Ride’ in Shanghai, China. (Reuters)
9A forensic investigator inspects bullet shells at a crime scene after a shooting at Ameca town outside Guadalajara, Mexico, January 12, 2013. (Reuters)
1Indian Hindu holy men, or Sadhus, are silhouetted as they celebrate in the water at Sangam, the confluence of the rivers Ganges, Yamuna and mythical Saraswati, during the royal bath on Makar Sankranti at the start of the Maha Kumbh Mela in Allahabad. (Reuters)
2Supporters of Pakistani Sunni Muslim cleric Tahir-ul-Qadri listen to speeches while awaiting his arrival in Islamabad, as a youth runs across the street holding a national flag. (AP)
3The crescent moon is seen behind an ice sculpture during ice and snow sculptures festival at the ‘Eight Lakes’ Park-Resort outside Almaty, Kazakhstan. (Reuters)
4Young Tunisian boys make victory signs during a gathering as part of the festivities marking the second anniversary of the uprising that ousted long-time dictator Zine El Abidine Ben Ali, in Tunis. (AFP)
5Yacouba Konate, 56, wears a French flag to show his support for the French military intervention in Mali, in the capital, Bamako. (Reuters)
6Air pollution hangs over the skyline as the sun rises over Beijing’s central business district. Dense smog shrouded the city with pollution at hazardous levels for a fourth day and residents were advised to stay indoors. (AFP)
7A couple looks at reproductions of work by Russian classical painter Vasily Surikov, displayed in ice frames, during an international festival of snow and ice sculpture called ‘The Magical Ice of the Siberia’ next to the Yenisei River in Krasnoyarsk, Russia. (Reuters)
8Maria Sharapova of Russia signs autographs after defeating compatriot Olga Puchkova in their women’s singles match at the Australian Open tennis tournament in Melbourne. (Reuters)
9Young women dressed in kimonos walk on a snow-covered street to attend a coming-of-age ceremony in Tokyo. A storm system grasped central Japan Monday, causing heavy snowfall around the capital city. (AFP)
10An employee works on a dragon lantern at a traditional lantern factory for the coming Chinese Lunar New Year, in Zibo, Shandong province. The Lunar New Year, or the Spring Festival, begins on February 10 and marks the start of the Year of the Snake. (Reuters)
11A flock of ducks is being fed on a pond at the Royal Lazienki Park in Warsaw, Poland. (Reuters)
12Revelers pose while parading in the streets during a carnival marking the Orthodox St. Vasilij Day in the village of Vevcani, some 170 km (106 miles) from the Macedonian capital Skopje. The annual carnival features a 1,400-year-old celebration with pagan roots. (Reuters)
1A French soldier peers into the barrel of a tank at a Malian air base in Bamako. France hit Islamist rebels in Mali with fresh air strikes and deployed armored cars, stepping up its intervention in the West African state as regional allies struggled to accelerate their plans to send in troops. (Reuters)
2U.S. Defense Secretary Leon Panetta (L), accompanied by Portugal’s Defence Minister Jose Pedro Aguiar-Branco, attends a news conference at Sao Juliao fortress, on the outskirts of Lisbon. (Reuters)
3Snow covers the historic windmills at Kinderdijk, the Netherlands. In 1997 the windmills were put on the UNESCO World Heritage list. (AFP)
4Bull tamers try to control a bull during the bull-taming sport called Jallikattu, in Palamedu, about 575 kilometers (359 miles) south of Chennai, India. (AP)
5A local train derails and crashes into a residential building in Saltsjobaden outside Stockholm, Sweden. (Reuters)
6Kuwait’s goalkeeper Nawaf Al Khaldi (L) attempts to save the ball against UAE’s Ali Ahmed al-Hajri (R) during their Gulf Cup Tournament semi-final soccer match in Isa Town, Bahrain. (Reuters)
7Waves hit the road along the sea near Cayenne in French Guiana. The coast of Guiana switched to ‘red alert’ as several houses in Rémire-Montjoly (10 kms from Cayenne) have been ‘damaged’ due to high tides. (AFP)
1Pro-democracy lawmaker Leung Kwok-hung, also known as ‘Long Hair,’ is blocked by security officials as he tries to approach Hong Kong Chief Executive Leung Chun-ying inside the Legislative Council in Hong Kong. (Reuters)
2Gun shop customers shop for weapons at the Bullet Hole gun shop in Sarasota, Florida, as they listen to live streaming video of an announcement about gun control by U.S. President Barack Obama. Obama proposed a new assault weapons ban and mandatory background checks for all gun buyers. (Reuters)
3Supporters of moderate preacher Tahir-ul Qadri rest on the third day of a protest rally in Islamabad, Pakistan. Protesters call on the government to quit after the Supreme Court ordered the arrest of the prime minister. (AFP)
4Two train drivers shake hands from their train windows after stopping at Gara de Nord railway station during a two-hour protest by railway workers over delayed salary payments in Bucharest, Romania. (Reuters)
5Ice covers an orange at an orange grove in Redlands, California, USA, January 15, 2013. (AP)
6An Afghan truck driver is seen through the broken windshield of his vehicle at the site of a suicide attack near the Afghan intelligence agency headquarters in Kabul. (AFP)
7A fisherman looks at mass of dead fish floating near the Jatiluhur dam, following torrential rains around the area in West Java, Indonesia. (AP)
8A helicopter crashes when it hit a crane at a building site in central London during morning rush hour and plunged to the ground, killing two people and engulfing several cars in flames. (AFP/Victor Jimenez)
9An endangered poison frog (Oophaga histrionica) at the Santa Fe Zoo in Medellin, Colombia. (Reuters)
1Two workers adjust U.S. flags on the Capitol as preparations continue for the second inauguration of President Barack Obama in Washington, D.C. (AFP)
2Residents cross a flooded area in Jakarta. Heavy monsoonal rains triggered severe flooding in large swathes of the Indonesian capital Jakarta, with many government offices and businesses forced to closed. (Reuters)
3General view of the entrance of a tunnel dug by thieves in order to enter the safe deposit room of a bank in Berlin, Germany. Robbers dug the 100-foot (30 meter) long passage, which was discovered by police, from a nearby underground parking garage into a branch of Berliner Volksbank and stole the contents of several hundred safe-deposit boxes. (Reuters)
4A woman walks near a merry-go-round at Rossio square in Lisbon, Portugal, January 16, 2013. (Reuters)
5A worker loads Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) cylinders onto his cycle-rickshaw in Kolkata, India. (Reuters)
6People carry the coffins of the Kurdish activists, who were shot in Paris, during a funeral ceremony in Diyarbakir, the largest city in Turkey’s mainly Kurdish southeast. (Reuters)
7Miniature portraits of former Chinese Chairman Mao Zedong on grains of rice, created by Taiwanese artist Chen Forng-shean, are displayed on a pencil in Taipei. The grains of rice are each about 0.5 cm (0.2 inches) long and 0.3cm (0.12 inches) high. (Reuters)
8People travel on an overcrowded train in Cairo, Egypt. (Reuters)
9A tripod-toting photographer looks for a spot to capture the early-morning light at Portland Head Light, in Cape Elizabeth, Maine, USA. (AP)
10A model presents a creation of designer Patrick Mohr at the Mercedes Benz Fashion Week for autumn-winter 2013 in Berlin, Germany. (AP)
11A man rides a horse through a bonfire in honor of Saint Anthony, the patron saint of animals in San Bartolome de Pinares, Spain, January 16, 2013. (AP)
1An Indonesian soldier helps evacuate an old man in a flooded street in Jakarta. Flood waters were gradually receding from the main streets of the teeming capital city on Friday. (AP)
2Smoke billows from a burning car that burst into flames after gunmen opened fire on the convoy of Lebanese Youth and Sports Minister Faisal Karami in Tripoli. Armed protesters demanding the release of Islamist prisoners opened fire on the convoy. Karami was not harmed, but three others were wounded. (AFP)
3An activist, who lost an eye during clashes with police in November 2011, chants slogans as he joins soccer fans during a protest in Cairo. Hundreds gathered to demand justice for 74 people killed in a stadium stampede last year, as a court prepared to issue a verdict in the case. (Reuters)
4Cows stand in a burned-out paddock after wildfires swept through the township of Seaton, Australia. Wildfires raging across southern Australia have killed one man and destroyed several homes. (AP)
5Christian Orthodox pilgrims march toward the Jordan River before a baptism ceremony as part of the Orthodox Feast of the Epiphany at the Qasr al-Yahud baptismal site in the West Bank. (AFP)
6A fan of Iraq watches her team play during their Gulf Cup tournament final soccer match against UAE in Isa Town, Bahrain. (Reuters)
7A Belarus Orthodox believer plunges into icy waters as a priest blesses him on the eve of the Epiphany holiday in Pilnitsa some 30 km outside Minsk. Thousands of believers jump into holes cut in ice, braving freezing temperatures to mark Epiphany, when they take part in a baptism ceremony. (AFP)
8Indian Sikh devotees light candles at the Golden Temple in Amritsar. Sikhs are celebrating the 348th birth anniversary of the 10th Sikh Guru Gobind Singh. (AFP)
9The sun sets over the men’s singles match between David Ferrer of Spain and Marcos Baghdatis of Cyprus at the Australian Open tennis tournament in Melbourne. (Reuters)
10Performers dressed in Lama monk costumes blow horns during a ceremony marking the beginning of a week-long winter fishing festival in Kangping county, Liaoning province, China. (AP)
11Tourists are silhouetted as they watch sunset from the roof of a wooden boat on the Tonle Sap River near Chroy Changvar village in Phnom Penh, Cambodia. (AP)
12Four youths make snow angels in Parliament Square next to the Houses of Parliament in central London. A band of heavy snow affected most of Britain on Friday, bringing chaos to roads, and causing power cuts and school closures. (Reuters)
1President Barack Obama is officially sworn-in by Chief Justice John Roberts in the Blue Room of the White House during the 57th Presidential Inauguration in Washington, D.C. Next to Obama are First Lady Michelle Obama, holding the Robinson Family Bible, and daughters Malia and Sasha. (AP)
2A Malian soldier peeks through a doorway behind which Malian and French soldiers are stationed in Niono. France and West African leaders called on other world powers to commit money and logistical support for African armies readying their troops to join French soldiers already battling al-Qaeda-linked militants in Mali. (Reuters)
3A Burmese monk and a novice are seen walking on a road toward Zalun, a small town in Irrawaddy Division, Burma, December 5, 2012. (Photo by Soe Paing/USA/VOA reader)
4‘Tamborilleros’ wearing their uniform shelter from the rain, march in the traditional ‘La Tamborrada’, during ‘El Dia Grande’, the main day of San Sebastian feasts, in the Basque city of San Sebastian, northern Spain. (AP)
5Flood victims scramble for drinking water at Pluit district in Jakarta, Indonesia. Severe floods left more than 18,000 people homeless. (Reuters)
6A woman with a child passes by the ruins of an abandoned restaurant in a park in Skopje, Macedonia. (AP)
7Serbia’s Novak Djokovic celebrates his fourth round win over Switzerland’s Stanislas Wawrinka at the Australian Open tennis championship in Melbourne, Australia. (AP)
8People enjoy the snow at Greenwich Park in London. (Reuters)
9Commuters ride on the roof of a train as they come back to the city after attending the final prayer of Biswa Ijtema in Dhaka, Bangladesh. Thousands of Muslims joined the Akheri Munajat, the final supplication as the second phase of the Muslims congregation. (Reuters)
10A man wearing a medieval costume casts his ballot at a polling station in Hanover in the central state of Lower Saxony, northern Germany. (AFP)
11Performers participate in the opening ceremony of the Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON 2013) soccer tournament in Soweto, South Africa, January 19, 2013. (Reuters)
1The Inaugural Parade begins along Pennsylvania Avenue following the second inauguration of U.S. President Barack Obama in Washington, D.C. (AFP)
2Beyonce sings the U.S. National Anthem as President Barack Obama (R) and Senator Charles Schumer (D-NY) listen during swearing-in ceremonies on the West front of the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C. (Reuters)
3President Barack Obama speaks at the ceremonial swearing-in at the U.S. Capitol during the 57th Presidential Inauguration in Washington, D.C. (AP)
4U.S. President Barack Obama is sworn in by Supreme Court Chief of Justice John Roberts, as First Lady Michelle Obama looks on during inauguration ceremonies in Washington, D.C. (Reuters)
5Dr. Bernice King, center right, and Christine King Farris, left, the daughter and sister of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., applaud while watching a broadcast as President Barack Obama is inaugurated following the Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. holiday commemorative service at the Ebenezer Baptist Church, in Atlanta, Georgia. (AP)
6Secret Service snipers walk on the plaza on the East front of the U.S. Capitol before the 57th inauguration ceremonies for US President Barack Obama and Vice President Joe Biden, in Washington, D.C. (Reuters)
7Spectators react on the National Mall during the 57th inauguration ceremonies for U.S. President Barack Obama and Vice President Joe Biden on the West front of the U.S. Capitol, in Washington, D.C. (Reuters)
8Security lines Pennsylvania Avenue in Washington, D.C., prior to the start of the 57th Presidential Inaugural Parade. (AP)
9Austrian rescue personnel stand in front of two demolished S45 trains after a train crash in Vienna, Austria. (Reuters)
10A hunter shelters under a bridge during a snow storm in the Glens of Antrim near Cargan, Northern Ireland. (Reuters)
11Algerian firemen carry a coffin containing a person killed during the gas facility hostage situation, at the morgue in Ain Amenas, Algeria, (AP)
12A NYPD officer leads demonstrators over the Brooklyn bridge toward downtown Manhattan during a One Million Moms for Gun Control Rally in New York. (AP)
13Firefighters work at the site where a helicopter crashed into a residential area of Sao Paulo, Brazil. According to authorities, the pilot flying the private helicopter died, and three passengers were injured. (AP)
14Models present creations by Belgian designer Raf Simons as part of the Haute Couture Spring-Summer 2013 fashion show for French house Dior in Paris, France. (Reuters)
15A man stands next to a bronze sculpture of a baby, that has been painted white, titled ‘Planet’ by British artist Marc Quinn at Garden by the Bay in Singapore. (AFP)
1Cossack cadets toss their rifles as they practice for an upcoming performance to mark the130th anniversary of the founding of the Novocherkassk Cossack cadet corps, outside a cathedral in the southern Russian city of Novocherkassk. (Reuters)
2A woman walks near a tram at the Alfama neighborhood in Lisbon, Portugal. (Reuters)
3U.S. President Barack Obama and first lady Michelle Obama dance during the Commander-In-Chief Inaugural ball at the Washington Convention Center during the 57th Presidential Inauguration in Washington, D.C, January 21, 2013.
4A woman climbs during the opening of a rope park at the Shimbulak Ski Resort in the Tien Shan mountains outside Almaty, Kazakhstan. The newly opened park is world’s highest rope park mounted on artificial supports, said its designers. (Reuters)
5Musicians sit outside the National Congress before the state of the nation speech by Bolivia’s President Evo Morales in La Paz. (AP)
6A Pakistan woman steps on recyclable plastic bags drying in the sun in Lahore. (AFP)
7Fans watch the tennis action at Rod Laver Arena during the Australian Open tennis tournament in Melbourne. (Reuters)
8Umbrellas are displayed in front of Seoul City Hall in Seoul, South Korea. (AP)
9Neeta, 11, helps her father as she carries material to be used for burning fire in a kiln at a brickyard on the outskirts of Kota, in India’s desert state of Rajasthan. (Reuters)
10A snowman sits on a bench on Hampstead Heath in London. (AP)
1Steam from a heating plant rises as at temperatures of -14 degrees Celsius (-6.8 degrees Fahrenheit) are recorded in Minsk, Belarus. (AP)
2A person drives a donkey cart as a fire burns fields along the road between Sango and Niono used by Malian and French convoys heading to Diabaly, which was seized last week by Islamists and then heavily bombed by French planes. (AFP)
3U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton pounds her fists as she responds to intense questioning on the September attacks on U.S. diplomatic sites in Benghazi, Libya, during a Senate Foreign Relations Committee hearing on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C. (Reuters)
4Indian Hindu pilgrims travel on boats to take a holy dip at Sangam, the confluence of the Rivers Ganges, Yamuna and the mythical Saraswati during the Maha Kumbh Mela in Allahabad, India. (AFP)
5A man looks at a flat-rental leaflet in the Andalusian capital of Seville, Spain. (AFP)
6Brazilian graffiti artist Eduardo Kobra (center) puts the final touches to his 56-meter tall artwork in tribute to architect Oscar Niemeyer, one of the 20th century’s most influential modernist architects, at the financial center on Sao Paulo’s Avenida Paulista, January 22, 2013. Niemeyer died in December 2012, aged 104. (Reuters)
7A man shows his ink-stained finger after voting at a polling station in Amman. Jordanians voted in their first parliamentary elections since the Arab Spring revolts. (Reuters)
8Ice-covered trucks are blanketed in smoke after a warehouse fire in Chicago, Illinois, USA. Fire department officials said it is the biggest fire the department has had to battle in years and one-third of all Chicago firefighters were on the scene at one point or another trying to put out the flames. (Reuters)
9A model presents a creation by French designer Jean Paul Gaultier as part of the Haute Couture Spring-Summer 2013 fashion show in Paris, France. (Reuters)
1Egyptian protesters try to tear down a cement wall built to prevent them from reaching parliament and the Cabinet building near Tahrir Square in Cairo. (AP)
2A man watches the religious service during the funeral of Romanian engineer TIberiu Costache, who was killed during the hostage crisis in Algeria, in the village of Tatarani, Romania. (AP)
3Nearly 200,000 light-years from Earth, the Large Magellanic Cloud, a satellite galaxy of the Milky Way, floats in space, in a long and slow dance around our galaxy. Vast clouds of gas within it slowly collapse to form new stars. In turn, these light up the gas clouds in a riot of colors. (ESA/NASA/Hubble)
4Sloane Stephens of U.S. hits a forehand return to Victoria Azarenka of Belarus during their semifinal match at the Australian Open tennis championship in Melbourne, Australia. (AP)
5Iranians take photos with their mobile phones of authorities carrying out the court-ordered amputation of the fingers of a convicted thief, 29, not pictured, in a public square in the southern Iranian city of Shiraz. The man was convicted for being part of a 10-member gang that carried out burglaries in the city. He was sentenced to the amputation of three fingers, the confiscation of his property and three years in prison. (AP)
6A woman rides along a street on a hazy day in Haozhou, Anhui province, China. A fresh cold front will hit northern China next week and it is expected to disperse the fog that has shrouded the country in recent days, meteorological authorities said. (Reuters)
7French military personnel and their vehicles are seen aboard a U.S. Air Force transport aircraft before departing for Mali from Istres airbase, near Marseille, southern France. (AP)
8Young monks are on the way to have their meal in the Changlie monastery in Aba prefecture, Sichuan province, China. (Tongqi Huang/China/VOA reader)
9Followers of the Shi’ite sect chew qat, a mild stimulant, as they attend a rally to mark the birth anniversary of the Prophet Muhammad in Sana’a, Yemen. (Reuters)
10Ghana fans cheer their team during their African Nations Cup Group B soccer match against Mali at the Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium in Port Elizabeth, South Africa. (Reuters)
1Egyptian protesters hang a giant banner in the colors of Egypt’s national flag on barbed wires in front of anti-riot soldiers at the entrance to the presidential palace in Cairo. (AP)
2A female Indian Border Security Force (BSF) officer, center, leads a squad of her male and few female colleagues during their passing out ceremony in Bangalore. BSF with a total strength of about 250,000 personnel including women is one of the world’s largest border patrol forces. (AP)
3Young men sell homemade French and Malian flags at a junction in downtown Bamako, Mali. (Reuters)
4An Indian Muslim boy holds a religious flag and walks in a procession to mark the birth anniversary of Prophet Mohammed in Mumbai. (AP)
5Local residents ride on a bamboo raft in a flooded street in northern Jakarta, Indonesia. Government officials have downplayed predictions that heavy rain and rising tides due to the full moon could cause the worst flood in the past six years. (AP)
6Ultra-Orthodox Jewish visitors look at a display of Nazi flags at Yad Vashem’s Holocaust History Museum in Jerusalem ahead of International Holocaust Remembrance Day which will be marked on January 27. (Reuters)
7Cyclists are seen on the Octavio Frias de Oliveira Bridge as they participate in the World Bike Tour in Sao Paulo, Brazil. The event involves 8,000 people that will ride their bicycles for a better quality of life, according to the organizers. (Reuters)
8Sara Errani (R) and Roberta Vinci of Italy kiss their trophy after defeating Ashleigh Barty and Casey Dellacqua of Australia in their women’s doubles final match at the Australian Open tennis tournament in Melbourne. (Reuters)
9Nepalese children walk home from school at Bhaktapur. Bhaktapur, also known as the city of devotees, is an ancient city and part of the Katmandu valley, which holds the status of a World Heritage Site. (AP)
10A Zambian soccer fan reacts, during the African Cup of Nations Group C soccer match against Nigeria at Mbombela Stadium, in Nelspruit, South Africa. (AP)
11A delivery van drives on alley near Hanover, northern Germany, at dawn. Weather forecasts predict cold and sunny weather for the weekend in large parts of the country. (AP)
12Matt Gone, the ‘Checkered Man,’ poses during the Venezuela Expo Tattoo in Caracas. (Reuters)
1Serbia’s Novak Djokovic kisses his trophy after defeating Britain’s Andy Murray in the men’s final at the Australian Open tennis championship in Melbourne, Australia. (AP)
2An Indonesian Chinese man cleans the Buddha statue in the preparation for the Lunar New Year celebrations in Satya Buddha Temple in Medan, North Sumatra, Indonesia. (AP)
3White and red roses are placed on a memorial at the former Nazi concentration camp Buchenwald near Weimar, Germany, to mark International Holocaust Day. (AP)
4A man walks out of a burning building after a Syrian Air force air strike in Ain Tarma neighbourhood of Damascus. (Reuters)
5Spanish players raise the trophy after winning the final match of the Handball World Championships between Spain and Denmark at Palau Sant Jordi in Barcelona, Spain. (AP)
6A Nepalese Hindu priest, center, carries the idol of a deity as devotees get ready to take a holy dip at the Salinadi River on the first day of Madhav Narayan festival, in Sankhu, northeast of Katmandu, Nepal. (AP)
1Uais Khan, 62, shovels sand and salt into an oven at a factory in Rawalpindi, Pakistan. Heated sand and salt are later used to cook corn overnight, before the corn is sold as a popular street food dish. (Reuters)
2Riot policemen beat a protester opposing Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi, during clashes along Qasr Al Nil bridge, which leads to Tahrir Square in Cairo. (Reuters)
3A woman walks past the well, where the bodies of suspected Islamist rebels had been dumped in Sevare, Mali, according to Human Rights Watch. (Reuters)
4Relatives of victims of the fire at Boate Kiss nightclub attend a collective wake in the southern city of Santa Maria, 187 miles (301 km) west of the state capital Porto Alegre, Brazil, January 27, 2013. The nightclub fire killed at least 232 people in Santa Maria. (Reuters)
5A Saudi man is reflected in a mirror in his flooded home after heavy rain in Tabuk, 1500 km (932 miles) from Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. (Reuters)
6Australia’s Matthew Wade dives to stop the ball during the Twenty20 international cricket match against Sri Lanka at the Melbourne Cricket Ground, Australia. (Reuters)
7Gwanghwamun, the main gate of the Gyeongbukgung Palace in Seoul, South Korea, is seen at night. (Photo by Liu Guan-Dong/South Korea/VOA reader)
8Actor Bryan Cranston poses backstage with his awards for outstanding male actor in a drama series for ‘Breaking Bad’ and for outstanding cast in a motion picture for ‘Argo’ at the 19th annual Screen Actors Guild Awards in Los Angeles, California, January 27, 2013. (Reuters)
9A hat house is seen in Benishangul-Gumuz, a rural area of Ethiopia. (Photo by Aboma Shuramu/Ethiopia/VOA reader)
10A man climbs up an artificially made wall of ice near the Swiss mountain resort of Pontresina, Switzerland. (Reuters)
11Mahadev Bharti (right), a Sadhu or a Hindu holy man, who said he stands at 18-inch (46 cm), speaks with a fellow Sadhu inside a tent on the banks of the river Ganges during the ongoing ‘Kumbh Mela’, or Pitcher Festival, in the northern Indian city of Allahabad. (Reuters)
1Dancers perform during the opening ceremony of the 10th Special Olympics World Winter Games in Pyeongchang, South Korea. (AP)
2A woman wearing a mask walks amid heavy haze on a winter day in Beijing, China. Beijing’s air pollution returns to ‘hazardous’ levels, two weeks after record readings of small particles in the air sparked a public outcry. (Reuters)
3Bodyguards carry Zlatomir Ivanov (center) after he was shot in front of the central court building in downtown Sofia, Bulgaria. An unidentified gunman shot and wounded the reputed Bulgarian crime boss, nicknamed ‘The Beret’, the latest blow to the center-right government’s efforts to to restore the rule of law and improve the Balkan country’s image. (Reuters)
4A caved-in area with buildings collapsed inside is seen near the construction site of a new subway line in Guangzhou, Guangdong province, China, January 28, 2013. (Reuters)
5A vendor throws water on a pile of carrots as he waits for customers on the outskirts of Jalalabad city, Afghanistan. (Reuters)
6The driver takes a nap while waiting for guests to visit the Vinh Trang pagoda in My Tho, the capital city of Tien Giang province, Vietnam. (Photo by Hillary Tran/Vietnam/VOA reader)
7U.S. golfer Tiger Woods lets go of his driver on his follow through while hitting off the 9th tee during final round play at the Farmers Insurance Open in San Diego, California, January 28, 2013. (Reuters)
8The ring-like swirls of dust filling the Andromeda galaxy stand out colorfully in this new image from the Herschel Space Observatory, a European Space Agency mission that receives important NASA participation. (ESA/NASA/JPL-Caltech/NHSC)
9Cyclists compete in the 97-km first stage of the Tour of Qatar women’s cycling race from Doha to Mesaieed, Qatar. (Reuters)
10Guizer Jarl Stephen Grant raises his axe as he gestures to the the other Jarl Squad vikings to start their march around Lerwick on the morning of the Up Helly Aa fire festival in the Shetland Islands, Scotland. The festival, introduced by men returning from the Napoleonic Wars of the early 19th century, takes place annually on the last Tuesday of January. (Reuters)
01 Free Syrian Army fighters run for cover as a tank shell explodes on a wall during heavy fighting in the Ain Tarma neighborhood of Damascus, Syria.
02 An employee walks through the Maserati's new manufacturing factory in Turin, Italy.
03 People cross a flooded area after heavy rain in Tabuk, 1500 km (932 miles) from Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
04 In this photo released by the Korea Aerospace Research Institute, South Korea's rocket lifts off from its launch pad at the Naro Space Center in Goheung. South Korea says it has successfully launched a satellite into orbit from its own soil for the first time.
05 School children dressed as Mahatma Gandhi assemble to mark his death anniversary in the southern Indian city of Chennai.
06 NASA astronaut Kevin Ford, Expedition 34 commander, watches a water bubble float freely between him and the camera, showing his image refracted, in the Unity node of the International Space Station.
07 Blood stains are seen on snow at the site of a plane crash outside Almaty, January 29, 2013. The passenger plane crashed in thick fog near Kazakhstan's commercial capital Almaty and broke into pieces when it hit the ground, killing all 21 people on board.
08 A photographer takes a photo as Germany's team pilot Francesco Friedrich (front), Gino Gerhardi, Axel Christ and Thorsten Margis speed down the Horse Shoe Corner during the fourth training run of the four-man competition at the Bobsleigh and Skeleton World Championships 2013, in the Swiss mountain resort of St. Moritz, Switzerland.
09 Riot police firing tear gas chase Bahraini anti-government protesters throwing petrol bombs in Manama, Bahrain.
10 A bright yellow butterfly is seen on a flower at the campus of Vinh Trang pagoda in My Tho, the capital city of Tien Giang province, Vietnam. (Photo by Hillary Tran/Vietnam/VOA reader)
11 An Ivory Coast supporter reacts before the African Nations Cup (AFCON 2013) Group D soccer match against Algeria in Rustenburg, South Africa.
01 A museum guard displays a burnt ancient manuscript at the Ahmed Baba Institute, or Ahmed Baba Center for Documentation and Research, in Timbuktu, Mali. The majority of Timbuktu's ancient manuscripts appear to be safe and undamaged, experts said, rejecting some media reports of their widespread destruction.
02 The famous landmark fish market in the harbor of Hamburg, Germany, is seen flooded.
03 Burma's opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi poses for the media after receiving the Gwangju Prize for Human Rights 2004 during an awarding ceremony in Gwangju, south of Seoul, South Korea.
04 Destroyed buildings are seen on a deserted street in Homs, Syria, January 30, 2013.
05 An Indian villager participates in a bullock cart race during a rural sports festival, also known as the 'Indian Rural Olympics' in Kila Raipur, near Ludhiana, in the northern Indian state of Punjab.
06 A cleaner sweeps the floor as she walks past an illuminated sign depicting people walking, at Spain's Santander headquarters in Boadilla del Monte outside Madrid.
07 A passenger plane lands as workers dismantle an abandoned aircraft at Murtala Muhammed International Airport in Lagos, Nigeria. Nigerian aviation officials have begun trying to dismantle and remove the hulks of abandoned airplanes from airports around the country.
08 The public takes photographs of 'Gabriel', the new and biggest bell, as it is hoisted from a trailer truck in front of Notre-Dame de Paris Cathedral in Paris, France, after being transported with the seven other replacement bronze bells from Normandy.
09 A Sotheby's employee laughs near 'Untitled' by Anish Kapoor from 2011 at Sotheby's in London. The artwork is expected to earn £450,000-650,000 (US$725,000-$1 million) when it goes on sale at Sotheby's Contemporary Art Evening Auction in London on Feburary 12, 2013.
10 Members of a SWAT team prepare to enter the home of a suspected gunman who fired shots inside an office building during business hours, in Phoenix, Arizona, January 30, 2013. A gunman opened fire in the office building during a legal mediation meeting, shooting a lawyer and two other people before fleeing, officials said.
