The Week in Pictures | Jan. 3–9, 2011 - Framework - Photos and Video - Visual Storytelling from the Los Angeles Times

Gaza City — A Greek Orthodox priest holds up a cross during Christmas services at a Greek Orthodox church in Gaza City. Christmas falls on Jan. 7 for Orthodox Christians in Eastern Orthodox churches that use the Julian calendar instead of the 16th century Gregorian calendar adopted by Catholics and Protestants and commonly used in secular life around the world.

PHOTOGRAPH BY: ALI ALI / EPA

Kiev, Ukraine — Worshipers light candles in a church to mark the Orthodox Christmas in Kiev, Ukraine. Christmas falls on Jan. 7 for Orthodox Christians in the Holy Land, Ukraine and other Orthodox churches that use the old Julian calendar instead of the 16th century Gregorian calendar.

PHOTOGRAPH BY: Efrem Lukatsky / Associated Press

Omsk, Russia — A participant runs during a traditional Christmas Half Marathon in Omsk, Russia. The temperatures in Omsk dropped to minus-22 Fahrenheit.

PHOTOGRAPH BY: ALEXEY MALGAVKO / AFP / Getty IMages

Harbin, China — A man walks in a pagoda ice structure in a park on the sidelines of 27th Harbin International Ice and Snow Festival in Harbin, China. The annual festival attracts tourists from China and overseas who brave below-zero temperatures to see giant ice and snow sculptures.

PHOTOGRAPH BY: HOW HWEE YOUNG / EPA

Philadelphia — A young man walks through snow during a winter storm in Philadelphia.

PHOTOGRAPH BY: Matt Rourke / AP

Barcelona, Spain — Customers wearing only underwear queue outside a Desigual store on the first day of sales in Barcelona, Spain. The company offered free clothing to customers who visited their stores donning only underwear.

PHOTOGRAPH BY: JOSEP LAGO / AFP / Getty Images

Madrid — An honor guard adjusts his hat as he waits for the arrival of South Korean Prime Minister Kim Hwang-sik at Madrid's Moncloa Palace.

PHOTOGRAPH BY: SUSANA VERA / Reuters

Juba, Sudan — Rally participants show support for the upcoming independence referendum in the southern Sudanese city of Juba. South Sudan, one of the world's poorest countries, is preparing for Sunday's referendum following a historic 2005 peace treaty that brought to an end decades of civil war between the Arab north and predominantly Christian and animist south.

PHOTOGRAPH BY: Spencer Platt / Getty Images

Hyderabad, India — A police officer fires a tear gas shell at protesters demanding a separate Telangana state carved out of the southern Andhra Pradesh state during a demonstration in Hyderabad, India.

PHOTOGRAPH BY: Reuters

Bilin, West Bank — A Palestinian man covers his head with a plastic bag to protect himself from tear gas fired by Israeli soldiers during a weekly protest against the controversial Israeli barrier, in the West Bank village of Bilin.

PHOTOGRAPH BY: MOHAMAD TOROKMAN / Reuters

Algiers, Algeria — A youth set fires in the streets of the Belcourt district of Algiers during a protest over the rising cost of living.

PHOTOGRAPH BY: Associated Press

Manilia — A replica of the Black Nazarene is carried during a procession along a main street in Quiapo, Philippines. The Black Nazarene is a life-sized, dark-colored, wooden sculpture of Jesus that traveled all the way from Mexico.

PHOTOGRAPH BY: ROMEO RANOCO / Reuters

Tokyo — Japan's highest mountain, Mt. Fuji, looms in the background between skyscrapers in Tokyo's Shinjuku area during the sunset.

PHOTOGRAPH BY: KAZUHIRO NOGI / AFP / Getty Images

Las Vegas — An attendee tests a touch screen display demonstrating the power of Intel's second- generation core processors at the 2011 International Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas. CES, the world's largest annual consumer technology trade show, runs Jan. 6-9.

PHOTOGRAPH BY: ROBYN BECK / AFP/Getty Images

Tokyo — A man is reflected in an electronic quotation board in Tokyo. Japanese shares surged 1.44% to end the day at an eight-month high, lifted by the strength of Wall Street stocks and optimism for a U.S. recovery.

PHOTOGRAPH BY: KAZUHIRO NOGI / AFP/Getty Images

Alexandria, Egypt — Riot police stand guard near the Orthodox church where Saturday's bomb attacks took place during Orthodox Christmas Mass. Egypt tightened security around churches on Thursday, the eve of Coptic Christmas.

PHOTOGRAPH BY: ASMAA WAGUIH / REUTERS

Bogor, Indonesia — Januar, a 3-day-old Sumatran elephant, stands close to his 22-year-old mother, Kartini, at the Taman Safari park in Bogor. The park has 45 Sumatran elephants after the addition of the newborn pachyderm.

PHOTOGRAPH BY: SUPRI / REUTERS

Khartoum, Sudan — Southern Sudanese boys living in north Sudan stand outside their house at the Hadj Yoasf district in Khartoum.

PHOTOGRAPH BY: MOHAMED NURELDIN ABDALLAH / REUTERS

Ahmedabad, India — People shop at an open-air vegetable and fruit market in the western Indian city of Ahmedabad.

PHOTOGRAPH BY: AMIT DAVE / REUTERS

Stuttgart, Germany — German Foreign Minister and Free Democrat Party leader Guido Westerwelle delivers an address during the FDP's traditional epiphany meeting in Stuttgart.

PHOTOGRAPH BY: ALEX DOMANSKI / REUTERS

Bucharest, Romania — A man is licked by his horse after the annual race on Epiphany Day in the village of Pietrosani. Epiphany Day falls on Jan. 6 each year and celebrates the end of the Christmas season in Romania.

PHOTOGRAPH BY: BOGDAN CRISTEL / REUTERS

Sofia, Bulgaria — Bulgarians jump into icy water to compete in finding a cross in the middle of a lake in Sofia on Epiphany Day. It is believed that the man who is the first to grab the cross, which is thrown into the water by an Eastern Orthodox priest, will be healthy throughout the new year.

PHOTOGRAPH BY: NIKOLAY DOYCHINOV / AFP / Getty Images

Kalofer, Bulgaria — Bulgarian men perform the traditional Bulgarian "Horo" dance in the icy winter waters of the Tundzha river in the town of Kalofer, as part of the Epiphany Day celebrations.

PHOTOGRAPH BY: DIMITAR DILKOFF / AFP / Getty Images

Istanbul, Turkey — Greek Orthodox swimmers hold a wooden cross in the Bosphorus river's Golden Horn after a Mass as part of celebrations of Epiphany Day at the Church of Fener Orthodox Patriarchiate in Istanbul.

PHOTOGRAPH BY: MUSTAFA OZER / AFP / Getty Images

Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan — People celebrate Christmas in Bishkek. Christmas falls on Jan. 7 for Orthodox Christians in the the Middle East, Russia and other Orthodox churches that use the old Julian calendar instead of the 16th century Gregorian calendar adopted by Catholics, Protestants, Greek Orthodox and commonly used in secular life around the world.

PHOTOGRAPH BY: VYACHESLAV OSELEDKO / AFP / Getty Images

Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Germany — Participants jump with their their sled to the finish line of the traditional horn sledge race in a valley near the Bavarian village of Garmisch-Partenkirchen. More than 90 sleds took part in the event.

PHOTOGRAPH BY: CHRISTOF STACHE / AFP / Getty Images

Rockhampton, Australia — The welcome sign on the outskirts of Rockhampton, Australia, is surrounded by floodwaters. All eyes are on the community as it braces for the swollen Fitzroy River to reach its peak amid the flood crisis in Queensland that has caused 10 deaths and affected more than 200,000 people across an area as large as France and Germany combined.

PHOTOGRAPH BY: Jonathan Wood / Getty Images

Calcutta, India — A sadhu, or Hindu holy man, smokes marijuana at a transit camp. Pilgrims are arriving in Calcutta before proceeding onward for an annual holy dip at Gangasagar, the confluence of Ganges River and Bay of Bengal.

PHOTOGRAPH BY: Bikas Das / Associated Press

Harbin, China — Divers perform with Beluga whales at Harbin Polarland, a polar animal aquarium and amusement park in Harbin.

PHOTOGRAPH BY: HOW HWEE YOUNG / EPA

Voerde, Germany — A firefighter pulls a stag with a rope on the iced-up Tenderingsees lake in Voerde. Tossing a lasso cowboy-style, a member of the local fire department in Huenxe helped to rescue a herd of deer from the ice-covered lake. Five animals broke through the ice and were stuck, according to a representative of the fire department.

PHOTOGRAPH BY: EPA

Rio de Janeiro, Brazil — A police officer patrols during an operation to take control of the Morro Sao Joao slum. Rio de Janeiro's police say they've taken over three adjacent slums as part of an ongoing program to increase security and clamp down on drug trafficking.

PHOTOGRAPH BY: Felipe Dana / Associated Press

Hebron, West Bank — Hamas lawmaker Jamal Natish, right, greets Ahmed Iwaiwai, one of six Hamas detainees freed from a Palestinian Authority prison by order of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas.

PHOTOGRAPH BY: Nasser Shiyoukhi / Associated Press

Juba, Sudan — A supporter of the upcoming referendum on southern independence adjusts a banner on a car during a rally in Juba.

PHOTOGRAPH BY: GORAN TOMASEVIC / REUTERS

Kochi, India — A family fishes in the waters of the Periyar river on the outskirts of the southern Indian city of Kochi.

PHOTOGRAPH BY: REUTERS

Slubice, Poland — Against the backdrop of the German city of Frankfurt an der Oder, two boys stand on the iced-over River Oder in Slubice, Poland, beneath a bridge spanning the two countries.

PHOTOGRAPH BY: THOMAS PETER / REUTERS

London — A worker cleans windows from a suspended platform on a building in London. British construction contracted last month for the first time since February 2010, suggesting the sector will make a small contribution at best to growth in gross domestic product in the fourth quarter.

PHOTOGRAPH BY: STEFAN WERMUTH / REUTERS

La Vang, Vietnam — Catholics attend Mass at La Vang Basilica in Vietnam's central Quang Tri province, part of a three-day conclusion to Holy Year celebrations.

PHOTOGRAPH BY: KHAM / REUTERS

Tokyo — People take part in the 47th annual New Year calligraphy contest in Tokyo. Almost 3,000 hopefuls participated in the event to celebrate the start of the New Year.

PHOTOGRAPH BY: TOSHIFUMI KITAMURA / AFP/Getty Images

Hanover, Germany — Agathe, a cane toad, negotiates a toy scale during an animal inventory at the Hanover zoo. All inhabitants of the zoo will be counted, weighed and measured during the weeklong inventory. Agathe weighed in at a touch over 4 pounds.

PHOTOGRAPH BY: HOLGER HOLLEMANN / AFP/Getty Images

Bokaro, India — Villagers warm themselves around a coal fire in Jharkhand state. Many parts of the country have been experiencing colder temperatures than normal for this time of year.

PHOTOGRAPH BY: Kevin Frayer / Associated Press

Malaga, Spain — Sevilla FC's Brazilian striker Luis Fabiano trips and falls over Argentine defender Martin Demichelis of Malaga during the Spanish King's Cup quarterfinals return match at Rosaleda stadium. The game marked Demichelis' Spanish debut.

PHOTOGRAPH BY: JORGE ZAPATA / European Pressphoto Agency

Calama, Chile — Mitsubishi's driver Guilherme Spinelli and co-driver Youssef Haddad, both from Brazil, compete during the fourth stage of the 2011 Argentina-Chile Dakar Rally between Jujuy, Argentina, and Calama, Chile.

PHOTOGRAPH BY: Natacha Pisarenko / Associated Press

Buenos Aires, Argentina — Three 7-week-old white lion cubs, the first to be born in South America according to zoo officials, make a cautious first public appearance at the Buenos Aires zoo.

PHOTOGRAPH BY: Eduardo Di Baia / Associated Press

Rio de Janeiro, Brazil — A sea of new cars are parked at the port in Rio de Janeiro. Sales of passenger vehicles and small trucks in Brazil grew 11% in 2010, hitting a record of 3.3 million vehicles sold during the year.

PHOTOGRAPH BY: VANDERLEI ALMEIDA / AFP/Getty Images

Salzburg, Austria — A skier becomes airborne during a trial jump at the Four Hills Tournament of the Ski Jumping World Cup in Bischofshofen.

PHOTOGRAPH BY: BARBARA GINDL / European Pressphoto Agency

Tbilisi, Georgia — 80-year-old Ciuri Kakabadze, left, and 77-year-old Yuri Merabovpose smile as they win first prize in the Super Grandmother and Super Grandfather beauty contest in Tbilisi.

PHOTOGRAPH BY: VANO SHLAMOV / AFP/Getty Images

Rockhampton, Australia — A vehicle drives down the flooded runway at Rockhampton Airport after the swollen Fitzroy River broke its banks and inundated much of the city. Hundreds of Australians scrambled in the rain to build levee banks and evacuate hospital patients as floods that have deluged and cut off 40 towns rolled downstream.

PHOTOGRAPH BY: TORSTEN BLACKWOOD / AFP / Getty Images

Ankara, Turkey — Demonstrators are sprayed by riot-police water cannons during a rally of about 500 students protesting the Islamic-rooted government in Ankara, Turkey.

PHOTOGRAPH BY: ADEM ALTAN / AFP / Getty Images

Bethlehem, West Bank — A worshiper lights a candle in the Church of the Nativity, the site revered as the birthplace of Jesus, in Israel's West Bank town of Bethlehem, ahead of the Eastern Orthodox Christmas.

PHOTOGRAPH BY: DARREN WHITESIDE / Reuters

Oberhof, Germany — The eyelashes of a horse at the eastern German ski resort of Oberhof are covered by frost.

PHOTOGRAPH BY: CHRISTIAN CHARISIUS / Reuters

Gijon, Spain — A man dressed as one of the Three Wise Men greets the crowd after arriving at Gijon port. Traditionally, children in Spain receive their Christmas presents on the morning of Jan. 6 delivered by the Three Wise Men.

PHOTOGRAPH BY: ELOY ALONSO / Reuters

Quneitra, Syria — Druze Nabeeh Farhat, of Buqata in the Israeli-annexed Golan Heights, escorts his Syrian bride, Samar Khayal, through a U.N.-monitored checkpoint between Israel and Syria. Khayal abandoned her family in Syria to marry Farhat, a man she had never seen before, and to live in neighboring Israel.

PHOTOGRAPH BY: JACK GUEZ / AFP / Getty Images

Kharaghodha, India — A worker in India presses soil and salt crystals with his feet at a salt factory in Kharaghodha village, west of Ahmedabad.

PHOTOGRAPH BY: AMIT DAVE / Reuters

Ramat Gan, Israel — Tzvika, an injured female turtle, walks with the aid of her newly attached wheels at the Wildlife Hospital in the Ramat Gan Safari near Tel Aviv. About two months ago, Tzvika was run over by a lawn mower and suffered severe damage to her shell and a spinal injury that affected her ability to use her rear limbs. The wheels elevate the turtle to keep the shell from being worn down and enable her to walk.

PHOTOGRAPH BY: NIR ELIAS / Reuters

Kolkata, India — A Hindu pilgrim adjusts her hair in Kolkata, India. Hindu pilgrims by the thousands are heading to the Gangasagar Mela, or Ganga Sagar Fair, in West Bengal to take a dip in the sacred waters of the Ganga River.

PHOTOGRAPH BY: DESHAKALYAN CHOWDHURY / AFP / Getty Images

Medan, Indonesia — Twelve-year-old Amri in Indonesia scavenges through trash in Medan, North Sumatra. Amri helps his family survive by looking for food and other goods in dumps.

PHOTOGRAPH BY: SUTANTA ADITYA / AFP / Getty Images

Harbin, China — Fireworks erupt over massive ice sculptures during the opening of the 27th Harbin International Ice and Snow Festival in Harbin, China. The festival is an annual three-month event featuring hundreds of activities related to snow and ice.

PHOTOGRAPH BY: HOW HWEE YOUNG / EPA

Harbin, China — The stalls of food and beer vendors glow at dusk at the 12th Harbin Ice and Snow World show in Heilongjiang province.

PHOTOGRAPH BY: DAVID GRAY / REUTERS

London — Cast members of "Totem," Cirque du Soleil's new production, perform at the famous Royal Albert Hall in the South Kensington neighborhood.

PHOTOGRAPH BY: CARL DE SOUZA / AFP/Getty Images

Sofia, Bulgaria — A cross on the Alexander Nevsky cathedral is silhouetted against a darkened sky during a partial eclipse of the sun.

PHOTOGRAPH BY: STOYAN NENOV / REUTERS

Jujuy, Argentina — Cyril Despres of France rides his KTM through rock formations during the third stage of the South American Dakar Rally 2011 from Tucuman to Jujuy in Argentina.

PHOTOGRAPH BY: ERIC GAILLARD / REUTERS

Prague, Czech Republic — Polar bears play at the city's zoo.

PHOTOGRAPH BY: Petr David Josek / Associated Press

Doha, Qatar — Roger Federer of Switzerland serves to Thomas Schoorel of the Netherlands during their first-round match at the Qatar Open tennis tournament. Federer won, 7-6 (3), 6-3.

PHOTOGRAPH BY: European Pressphoto Agency

Doha, Qatar — The skyline of Doha, which is hosting the Qatar Open tennis tournament.

PHOTOGRAPH BY: Christof Koepsel / Getty Images

Los Angeles — Sean Kang, dressed like pop singer Michael Jackson, stands in front of the Criminal Courts building where the preliminary hearing for Dr. Conrad Murray was being held. Murray is charged with involuntary manslaughter in the death of the singer.

PHOTOGRAPH BY: Genaro Molina / Los Angeles Times

Sacramento — California Governor Jerry Brown and his wife Anne Gust Brown walk from their loft to the Capital building with Sutter, Brown's sister Kathleen Brown's dog, for his second day in office.

PHOTOGRAPH BY: Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times

Malaga, Spain — A seagull is silhouetted against the sun at dawn during a partial solar eclipse on Guadalmar beach in Malaga. The partial eclipse will be visible near sunrise over most of Europe and northeastern Asia.

PHOTOGRAPH BY: Jon Nazca / Reuters

Pyeongchang, South Korean — Shirtless officers of the South Korean Special Warfare Forces hurl snow during a winter exercise in Pyeongchang.

PHOTOGRAPH BY: Lee Jin-man / Associated Press

Rostov-on-Don, Russia — A girl with cat makeup holds her 3-month-old Canadian Hairless during a cat exhibition dedicated to the new year holiday in Rostov-on-Don.

PHOTOGRAPH BY: Vladimir Konstantinov / Reuters

London — Mammal keeper Kate Sanders with black-capped squirrel monkeys during the ZSL London Zoo's annual inventory count. Zookeepers are conducting an annual headcount on over 16,000 different creatures including over 10,000 invertebrates, 4,700 fish and 100 reptiles.

PHOTOGRAPH BY: Suzanne Plunkett / Reuters

Calcutta — A performer dressed as Spider-Man meets children during a live show in the eastern Indian city of Calcutta. The Spider-Man live performance is part of a promotional event organized by the Disney XD TV channel and will also be presented in the cities of Ahemedabad, Delhi, Mumbai and Hyderabad for the first time ever.

PHOTOGRAPH BY: Piyal Adhikary / EPA

Harbin, China — Workmen hang from a crane as they put the finishing touches to an ice sculpture for the 12th Harbin Ice and Snow World display in the northern city of Harbin. The Harbin International Ice and Snow Festival will be officially launched Wednesday.

PHOTOGRAPH BY: David Gray / Reuters

Malaga, Spain — Malaga's new soccer player Julio Baptista of Brazil heads a ball during his official presentation at the Rosaleda stadium in Malaga.

PHOTOGRAPH BY: Sergio Torres / Associated Press

New Delhi — Members of Christian organizations and supporters of Binayak Sen take part in a candle-lit protest at India Gate in New Delhi. Protestors gathered to demonstrate against the life sentence handed out to doctor and social activist Binayak Sen on charges of sedition in Chhattisgarh state. Amnesty International has described Sen as a "prisoner of conscience," but the court insisted that the doctor helped outlawed Maoist guerrillas in the insurgency-riven state.

PHOTOGRAPH BY: Manan Vatsyayana / AFP / Getty Images

Islamabad, Pakistan — A supporter of the main ruling Pakistan People's Party reacts after the killing of Punjab Gov. Salman Taseer in Islamabad. Taseer was shot dead near his Islamabad home on Jan. 4 in a political assassination that threatens to sink the nuclear-armed country ever deeper into chaos.

PHOTOGRAPH BY: Farooq Naeem / AFP / Getty Images

Rockhampton, Australia — An aerial view showing mango trees surrounded by the rising floodwaters of the Fitzroy River west of Rockhampton.

PHOTOGRAPH BY: Janie Barrett / EPA

Juba, Sudan — A traditionally dressed man dances during a rally in Juba.

PHOTOGRAPH BY: Goran Tomasevic / Reuters

Sacramento — California Gov. Jerry Brown delivers his inaugural address at the Sacramento Memorial Auditorium.

PHOTOGRAPH BY: Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times

Santa Monica — A couple taking in a view of the Pacific embrace as the latest in a series of storms moves out of Southern California, leaving a gorgeous sunset in its wake.

PHOTOGRAPH BY: Lawrence K. Ho / Los Angeles Times

Gorman, Calif. — Snow and ice encase a car in Gorman. A section of Interstate 5 through the Grapevine was closed in both directions for much of the day because of treacherous driving conditions caused by a winter storm.

PHOTOGRAPH BY: Anne Cusack / Los Angeles Times

Las Vegas, Nev. — A little snowman left by visitors rests on the leaves of a plant in the Red Rock National Conservation Area near Las Vegas. A passing winter storm left several inches of snow behind.

PHOTOGRAPH BY: Ethan Miller / Getty Images

Frankfurt, Germany — A figurine of a bull sets the hoped-for tone in front of the DAX board during the first trading day of 2011 at the Frankfurt Stock Exchange.

PHOTOGRAPH BY: Alex Domanski / Reuters

Sr. Petersburg, Russia — People make their way toward Dvortsovaya Square to watch a laser show in front of the State Hermitage Museum in celebration of the New Year.

PHOTOGRAPH BY: Alexander Demianchuk / Reuters

Budapest, Hungary — Greenpeace activists wearing eyeball-inspired helmets gather outside the Foreign Ministry building in Budapest. With Hungary having assumed the rotating presidency of the European Union on Jan. 1, the activists want the government to tackle issues such as carbon dioxide emissions, genetically modified crops, pollution and renewable energy.

PHOTOGRAPH BY: Laszlo Balogh / Reuters

Alexandria, Egypt — A Coptic Orthodox priest consults his iPhone before conducting prayers for relatives of the victims of a New Year's Day. The attack killed 21.

PHOTOGRAPH BY: Asmaa Waguih / Reuters

Binh Duong, Vietnam — A worker inspects bags of coffee beans piled high at a warehouse owned by the Communist Party in Vietnam's southern province of Binh Duong. The country is the world's second-largest producer of coffee after Brazil.

PHOTOGRAPH BY: Kham / Reuters

New York City — Garbage bags piled up on W. 45th St. broke the fall of a would-be suicide jumper after he leaped from a ninth-floor window. The man survived because of landing on the heap of trash, uncollected since the city's massive snowstorm a week ago.

PHOTOGRAPH BY: Shannon Stapleton / Reuters

Yokohama, Japan — With the Year of the Rabbit beginning next month, Leo, an 8-year-old sea lion, uses a paintbrush and an easel to write the word "rabbit" in Chinese. The attraction, at the Hakkeijima Sea Paradise aquarium in suburban Tokyo, is part of the New Year celebrations.

PHOTOGRAPH BY: Yoshikazu Tsuno / AFP/Getty Images

Sydney, Australia — Three spectators wearing Queen Elizabeth masks watch the fifth Ashes Test Match between Australia and England at the Sydney Cricket Ground.

PHOTOGRAPH BY: Tim Wimborne / Reuters

Tucuman, Argentina — Nasser Al-Attiyah of Qatar drives his VW Touareg in the second stage of the third South American 2011 Dakar Rally from Cordoba to Tucuman, taking second place.

PHOTOGRAPH BY: ERIC GAILLARD / REUTERS

Buffalo, NY — Russians Andrei Sergeyev, #26, and Artyom Voronin, #15, defend against Johan Larsson of Sweden during the 2011 IIHF World U20 Championship Semi-Final game between Sweden and Russia.

PHOTOGRAPH BY: Rick Stewart / Getty Images

Kiev, Ukraine — A mother and son sled down a slope as they enjoy a sunny winter day.

PHOTOGRAPH BY: Efrem Lukatsky / Associated Press

Jilin, China — A couple take wedding photos beside trees coated with frost along the Songhua River.

PHOTOGRAPH BY: Zhu Wanchang / Associated Press

Zhangjiajie, China — Event assistants help Chen Kecai to get out of a glass container during a cold-endurance competition against Jin Songhao on the Tianmen Mountain. Chen and Jin competed by staying in a glass container filled with ice wearing only a pair of shorts. Jin won the competition with 120 minutes in the container, which outscored Chen's 118 minutes. Chen set the Guinness record for the longest time spent in direct full-body contact with ice on March 14, 2010 with 1 hour, 48 minutes, 21 seconds.

PHOTOGRAPH BY: Reuters

Harbin, China — A man takes a photograph using a camera phone as he walks past an ice sculpture on a main street in the northern Chinese city of Harbin. The sculpture is part of the Harbin International Ice and Snow Festival, which will be officially launched on Jan. 5.

PHOTOGRAPH BY: David Gray / Reuters

Innsbruck, Austria — Russia's Pavel Karelin takes off from the ramp during practice for the third event of the Four Hills ski jumping tournament in Innsbruck, Austria.

PHOTOGRAPH BY: Kai Pfaffenbach / Reuters

London — Kimberley Dunne, center, and other burlesque enthusiasts in front of the National Gallery in central London's Trafalgar Square, during a world-record attempt to break what they called the "World's Largest Burlesque Dance."

PHOTOGRAPH BY: Lefteris Pitarakis / Associated Press

Cairo — Riot police try to put out a fire during clashes with Egyptian Christians in front of al-Abasseya Cathedral in Cairo. Angry Coptic Christians clashed with police as they demanded more protection for Egypt's Christians following a New Year's Day church bombing that killed 21 of their brethren.

PHOTOGRAPH BY: Mohamed Abd El Ghany / Reuters

Islamabad, Pakistan — A Pakistani man and a boy collect wood to be used for heating on a cold and foggy morning in Islamabad.

PHOTOGRAPH BY: Muhammed Muheisen / Associated Press

Pyongyang, North Korea — In the North Korean capital of Pyongyang, about 100,000 people gathered Monday in the city's central square for the annual New Year's rally to display loyalty to leader Kim Jong Il.

PHOTOGRAPH BY: Associated Press

Singapore — Tourists relax in an infinity pool on the roof of the Marina Bay Sands Hotel tower in Singapore. The city's two huge casino resorts, which together cost more than $10 billion to build, are the crown jewels of a decade-long effort to diversify the island's economy toward services such as tourism and finance and lessen dependence on manufacturing.

PHOTOGRAPH BY: Wong Maye-E / Associated Press

Malaga, Spain — Malaga's new football player, Argentinian Martin Demichelis, throws his scarf to fans during his official presentation at the Rosaleda Stadium in Malaga.

PHOTOGRAPH BY: Jorge Guerrero / AFP / Getty Images

Rockhampton, Australia — Rising flood waters spread across the runway of the airport at Rockhampton, in eastern Queensland. The Australian military and emergency services were battling massive flooding in the country's northeast that has left at least one person dead, amid warnings the worst of the devastation is yet to come.

PHOTOGRAPH BY: Mechielsen Lyndon / AFP / Getty IMages

Mexico City, Mexico — An activist of AnimaNaturalis of Mexico demonstrates inside a cage to protest against the commercial sale of pets, at Alameda Central Park.

PHOTOGRAPH BY: Ronaldo Schmidt / AFP / Getty Images