Thai mahouts ride on top of their elephants during celebrations for the annual Loy Krathong festival in Ayutthaya province, Thailand. Believers float krathongs in rivers, canals or ponds during the festival, which is held as a symbolic apology to the goddess of the river. (Reuters)

A devotee takes a ritual bath at the water tank of the illuminated Bangla Sahib Sikh temple on the birth anniversary of Guru Nanak in New Delhi, India. (AP)

South Korean protesters are sprayed with water by riot police during a rally near the National Assembly in Seoul, against a Free Trade Agreement between South Korea and the United States. (AP)

Anti-government protesters shout slogans demanding the ouster of Yemen's President Ali Abdullah Saleh during a rally against immunity for him in a deal, in Sana'a. (Reuters)

An Afghan refugee child looks out of a window in Kabul, Afghanistan. (AP)

A man walks in a bus lane next to a morning rush hour traffic jam in Jakarta, Indonesia. (Reuters)

Campaigners for change of media regulation, with one in a puppet of James Murdoch, Chief executive of News Corporation Europe and Asia, protest outside the Houses of Parliament in London. James Murdoch is due to appear at the House of Commons Select Committee for the second time for questioning on phone hacking. (AP)

Stalactites hanging in the upper cave of the Jeita Grotto in north of Beirut, Lebanon. Jeita Grotto, a compound of caves located 20 km north of Beirut in the Valley of Nahr al-Kalb (Dog River), is a finalist candidate representing Lebanon in the New Seven Wonders of the World campaign. (AP)

A man dressed as Father Christmas collects wish lists from children at a special Christmas post office in the village of Himmelpfort (Heaven's Gate), north of Berlin, Germany. (Reuters)

A creation by designer Jean-Paul Goude and used in 1989 for the French Revolution bicentennial is seen at the Arts Decoratifs museum in Paris, France. (AP)