24 hours in pictures

Belgrade, Serbia: A woman walks in a snow-covered park Photograph: Marko Djurica/Reuters

British Columbia, Canada: The sun sets over the mountains and waters surrounding Howe Sound near Horseshoe Bay Photograph: Jonathan Hayward/AP

Gauhati, India: Dairy farmer Bimal Kalita has been running his farm with his brother Dhruba Kalita since 1993 and has about 100 buffaloes Photograph: Anupam Nath/AP

Hefei, China: The sun rises as a labourer installs scaffolding at a high-speed railway viaduct construction site in Anhui province. China plans to build 13,000km (8,078 miles) of high-speed railway by 2012, more than the rest of the world combined Photograph: Jianan Yu/Reuters

Kathmandu, Nepal: A couple blow soap bubbles during the New Year parade. Nepal's Gurung community celebrated the new year on Thursday, which marks the end of the year of the tiger and the beginning of the year of the cat Photograph: Shruti Shrestha/Reuters

Abidjan, Ivory Coast: Supporters of the Ivory Coast's incumbent leader Laurent Gbagbo hold a national flag during a rally in Yopougon. During last month's election, Gbagbo was declared the loser but he has steadfastly refused to relinquish power Photograph: Thierry Gouegnon/Reuters

Kolkata, India: Residents of a slum sit beside the ruins at Santoshpur Bazar, where four children died when 16 shanties were gutted in a fire during the night Photograph: Deshakalyan Chowdhury/AFP/Getty Images

Manila, Philippines: The national flag is raised during celebrations for the 114th anniversary of the death of Philippine national hero Jose Rizal at Rizal Park Photograph: Romeo Ranoco/Reuters

New York, USA: A woman pins wishes written on confetti to the Carnival New Year's Eve wishing wall at the Times Square information center. The wishes will flutter down on celebrants ushering in 2011 in the square Photograph: Mary Altaffer/AP

Oberstdorf, Germany: Michael Uhrmann of Germany soars through the air during the first of four ski jumping world cup events at the Four Hills ski jumping tournament Photograph: Michael Dalder/Reuters

Paris, France: Portraits of two French journalists abducted in Afghanistan are projected on the Arc de Triomphe monument to mark the first anniversary of their abduction. Stéphane Taponier (left) and Hervé Guesquière, who both work for France 3 television, were seized along with three Afghan colleagues in an area northeast of Kabul rife with anti-government insurgents Photograph: Fred Dufour/AFP/Getty Images

Quebec, Canada: Skiers wear lights as they head downhill in the dark at Le Massif de Charlevoix in Petite-Rivière-Saint François Photograph: Jacques Boissinot/AP

Queensland, Australia: The town of Dalby is flooded after days of torrential downpours deluged parts of central and southern Queensland state. Thousands of homes and businesses have had to be abandoned, roads have been cut off and one town's entire population has been forced to evacuate Photograph: Jeff Camden/AP

Vienna, Austria: Austrian maestro Franz Welser-Möst conducts the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra during a rehearsal for the traditional New Year's concert in the golden hall of Vienna's Musikverein Photograph: Ronald Zak/AP