Friday: The day in photos

An Iraqi girl smiles at a U.S. soldier at a checkpoint in the Dora neighborhood of Baghdad.  (Loay Hameed / Associated Press)

Indian Air Force personnel march during the Republic Day parade rehearsal in New Delhi.  (Gurinder Osan / Associated Press)

People struggle to get food handouts from a local charity in a neighborhood heavily damaged by Israeli troops outside Gaza City.  (Spencer Platt / Getty Images)

A Saudi man follows the soccer match between Al Hilal and Al Nasr during their Saudi professional league game at a stadium in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.  (Hassan Ammar / Associated Press)

Children and others attending funeral services for Roberto Lopez Jr. wear T-shirts with an image of the 4-year-old boy printed on them at the Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels. Lopez was killed by a stray bullet during a gang confrontation on Jan. 13 in Los Angeles.  (Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times)

Charles Zavrel of the Harrisburg Bureau of Fire pretends to be a person in trouble as he takes part in ice rescue training on the Susquehanna River in Harrisburg, Pa.  (Carolyn Kaster / Associated Press)

A Bulgarian dancer known as a “kuker” performs during the International Festival of the Masquerade Games in the town of Pernik. During the festival, participants sport multicolored masks while the main dancer, laden with bells to drive away sickness and evil spirits, sways like a head of wheat heavy with grain.  (Boryana Katsarova / AFP/Getty Images)

A musher and his team compete in the Sedivackuv Long, said to be one of the most difficult extreme sled dog races in Europe, in the village of Destne, about 100 miles northeast of Prague, Czech Republic.  (Petr David Josek / Associated Press)

A child carries flowers to commemorate the victims of an attack at a day-care center in Sint-Gillis, Dendermonde, Belgium. Two children and one adult were stabbed to death, Belgian government officials said. The assailant, wearing black-and-white-striped makeup and with bright-red hair, entered the school with a knife and began attacking people wildly, according to media reports. He was captured later by authorities using helicopters and sniffer dogs.  (Benoit Doppagne / EPA)

Members of the Dundee Diehards reenactment team perform a drill Jan. 22 at the site of the Battle of Isandlwana near Dundee, South Africa. The group performed in replica uniforms and with original weapons to mark the 130th anniversary of the battle between British and Zulu forces during the Anglo-Zulu War.  (John Robinson / EPA)

A visitor can’t ask for a more cooperative subject as she snaps pictures of polar bear Wilbaer in his pool at the Wilhelma Zoo in Stuttgart, Germany. Wilbaer turned a year old on Dec. 10.  (Nigel Treblin / AFP/Getty Images)

Travelers take the escalators on their way to catching their trains at the Beijing West Railway Station in China’s capital. China’s trains are packed as millions head back home to celebrate the Chinese New Year (also know as Spring Festival) with their families. The Year of the Ox begins Jan. 26.  (Diego Azubel / EPA)

An Israeli police officer and a Palestinian man argue after the police denied entry to the Al Aqsa Mosque, citing security reasons, near east Jerusalem’s Old City.  (Dan Balilty / Associated Press)

Pakistani tribesmen reach for biscuits distributed by Pakistan’s largest Islamic party, Jamaat-e-Islami, after a demonstration near parliament in the capital, Islamabad. Hundreds of protesters demanded an end to U.S. missile attacks against Taliban militants in the areas bordering Afghanistan.  (Emilio Morenatti / Associated Press)

Fair hostess Tanja demonstrates the hair-raising effects of a Van de Graaff generator at the Enertec International Trade Fair for Energy in Leipzig, Germany.  (Jens Schlueter / AFP / Getty Images)

Mourners gather at the funeral of Stanislav Markelov, a Russian human rights lawyer, in Moscow. Rights activists say his killing on a central Moscow street has spotlighted the risks faced by Russians who fight for justice, comparing the killing Monday to the 2006 slaying of investigative journalist Anna Politkovskaya.  (Mikhail Metzel / Associated Press)

Taiwanese tennis fans show off their national colors at the Australian Open in Melbourne. Their countryman Yen-hsun Lu lost in third-round play to Tommy Robredo of Spain.  (How Hwee Young / EPA)