24 hours in pictures

Mumbai, India: Indian soldiers perform the Mallakhamb, traditional Indian gymnastics on a vertical wooden pole during a rehearsal for Victory Day celebrations Photograph: Rajanish Kakade/AP

Surat, India: a woman displays her finger after casting her vote in the first phase of the Gujarat assembly elections Photograph: Hindustan Times via Getty Images

Hebei province, China: tourists take photos on a rebuilt part of the Great Wall in Luanping Photograph: Alexander F. Yuan/AP

Karachi, Pakistan: a boy holds metal retrieved from computer circuit boards Photograph: Athar Hussain/Reuters

Barcelona, Spain: a cat sits on fishing nets at the port Photograph: Emilio Morenatti/AP

Hebei province, China: people soak in the hot spring in Xingtai on a snowy day Photograph: Chen Lei/Chen Lei/Xinhua Press/Corbis

Madrid, Spain: a girl looks out from under a banner during a protest against the latest government spending cuts on education Photograph: Daniel Ochoa De Olza/AP

Gaza: a Palestinian man stands in front of rubble in an area hit by Israeli air strikes in the recent conflict Photograph: APAimages/Rex Features

Seville, Spain: a girl holds on to balloons as she sits on the shoulders of a man in the Andalusian capital Photograph: Marcelo del Pozo/Reuters

Cairo, Egypt: smog envelops the capital city Photograph: Hassan Ammar/AP

Atmeh, Syria: children stand next to tents at a camp for displaced Syrians. They fled their homes with their families after air strikes by government forces Photograph: Muhammed Muheisen/AP

Beijing, China: a local man swims in the frozen Houhai lake Photograph: Jason Lee/Reuters

Aleppo province, Syria: young boys attend school in a part of the province under the control of the Free Syria Army Photograph: Manu Brabo/AP

Taipei, Taiwan: the city as night draws in Photograph: Xing Guangli/Xing Guangli/Xinhua Press/Corbis