

A youth in Islamabad, Pakistan, stands by the road collecting money in preparation for the prophet Muhammad's birthday, which comes next week. Muslims, mostly Sunni, celebrate the prophet's birthday with traditional festivities all over the world on the 12th day of Rabi-ul-Awal, the third month on the Islamic calendar. Muhammed Muheisen/AP
Tea party member Martha Stamp of Wakefield, R.I., listens during the 38th annual Conservative Political Action Conference meeting at the Marriott Wardman Park Hotel in Washington. Larry Downing/Reuters
Suspected Somali pirates sit on the deck of an Indian Coast Guard vessel with their faces covered with cloth sacks in Mumbai, India. Twenty-eight pirates were presented to the media today after they were captured following an incident in the Indian Ocean. Vivek Prakash/Reuters
Firefighters inspect the aftermath of a fatal explosion in a residential neighborhood in Allentown, Pa. Matt Rourke/AP
The cheerleading team from Taiwan's Shih Hsin University rehearse for Friday's Chingay parade in Singapore. Chingay, which means 'the art of masquerade' in Chinese Hokkien dialect, is an annual street parade with floats that is held during the Chinese lunar New Year period. Tim Chong/Reuters
A crew member prepares a hot air balloon at the start of the four-day 16th Hot Air Balloon festival at Clark Economic Zone at Clark Field, Pampanga Province, north of Manila. Twenty-seven participants from Europe, Asia, and the United States are taking part in the annual festival that attracts thousands of local and foreign tourists. Bullit Marquez/AP
A man walks past snow-covered traditional gates at a park in Beijing. The Chinese capital had its first snow of the winter after the longest period without snow in 60 years. Ng Han Guan/AP
Worshipers gather around candles stuck to jars with honey during a religious mass in the church of the Presentation of the Blessed Virgin in the city of Blagoevgrad, Bulgaria. The day of Saint Haralampi, the Orthodox patron saint of bee-keepers, is celebrated every Feb. 10. Oleg Popov/Reuters
Valmiki community members, a prominent lower caste community in Punjab State, shout slogans atop a lorry during a protest demanding restoration of the holiness of the Valmiki pilgrimage site and construction of a Valmiki temple, in Amritsar, India. Altaf Qadri/AP
The swirling landscape of stars known as the North American nebula is shown in this image released by NASA. In this new infrared view from NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope, clusters of young stars (about one million years old) can be found throughout the image. Slightly older but still very young stars (about 3 to 5 million years) are also liberally scattered across the complex. The Spitzer image contains data from both its infrared array camera and multiband imaging photometer. NASA/JPL-Caltech/Reuters
Jordan's prime minister, Marouf Bakhit (r.), and Interior Minister Saad Hayel Srour receive greetings from tribal Bedouin leaders in Amman, Jordan. Jordan's King Abdullah swore in a new government on Wednesday, led by former Gen. Bakhit who has promised to widen public freedoms in response to anti-government protests inspired by uprisings in Tunisia and Egypt. Muhammad Hamed/Reuters
Verizon Wireless customers brave the cold while waiting in line for their chance to own the Apple iPhone 4, in Cherry Hill, N.J. Douglas Bovitt/AP
Prison department employees wear masks that read 'Forbidden to speak' as they demonstrate in front of the courthouse in Nice, France, with French lawyers and judges during a nationwide slow-down protest in treating court cases. French courts of justice faced paralysis when judges started canceling all but vital business on Monday after the president accused the judiciary of sloppy work in the case of a gory death that has captivated the nation. Eric Gaillard/Reuters
Bangladeshi journalists jostle to get closer to the ICC World Cup trophy on display at a newspaper office in Dhaka, Bangladesh. The ICC Cricket World Cup is slated to begin on Feb. 19. Pavel Rahman/AP
Trees are silhouetted against the early-morning sky in Salina, Kan. The local temperature hit a record low of 15 degrees below zero. Tom Dorsey/The Salina Journal/AP
Afghan refugee children react during a show organized by the non-profit Hashoo Foundation in a tent at their camp on the outskirts of Islamabad, Pakistan. Muhammed Muheisen/AP
Firefighters use a foam gun to extinguish a fire during a joint training exercise between the Emergency Ministry and airport services at Yemelyanovo Airport in the Siberian city of Krasnoyarsk, Russia. The exercise was intended to simulate a fire resulting from a crash landing. Ilya Naymushin/Reuters
A cat sits on a chair at a coffee shop usually frequented by tourists in the Khan al-Khalili bazaar in Old Cairo. Tara Todras-Whitehill/AP