Chadian 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)

Water drips from an icicle as snow melts in Lawrence, Kansas, USA. (AP)

More 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)

A 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)

Hoarfrost 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)

Monks prepare for a debate in Seda, Sichuan province, China, January 1, 2013. (Tongqi Huang/China/VOA reader)

An 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)

The 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)

Women march during a rally organized by Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit protesting for justice and security for women, in New Delhi, India. (Reuters)

Pakistani fruit vendors wait for customers on a roadside on the outskirts of Islamabad. (AP)

Visitors 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)