Ethnic Chinese pay a visit to a temple in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, as it decorated Chinese traditional lanterns in preparation of the upcoming Chinese New Year. (AP)

Executive 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)

A 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)

A Catholic devotee manages to get closer to kiss the rear end of the cross of the centuries-old image of the Black Nazarene in a raucous celebration on its feast day in Manila, Philippines. (AP)

A doll covered with mud lies on the floor after a flood hit the village of Bat Hefer, central Israel. (AP)

A group of men perform physical exercise training as sun set at Galle Face green in Colombo, Sri Lanka. (Reuters)

A 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)

People play with snow after a heavy snowstorm in the desert near Tabuk, 1500 km (932 miles) from Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. (Reuters)

Buddhist 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)

Injured 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)

Workers 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)

Two flamingos slap their beaks in their enclosure during the annual inventory at the zoo in Magdeburg, eastern Germany. (AFP)