Sri Lankan pro-Palestinian civil rights activists hold placards during a solidarity protest in front of the South African embassy in Colombo, Sri Lanka, 08 January 2024. Sri Lankan pro-Palestinian civil rights activists staged a solidarity protest in front of the South African embassy in Colombo amid filing a case against Israel at the International Court of Justice (ICJ). Picture: EPA-EFE/CHAMILA KARUNARATHNE Catholic devotees participate in the procession marking the feast day of the Black Nazarene at the Quirino Grandstand park in Manila, Philippines, 09 January 2024. The Black Nazarene feast day honoring Jesus Christ is one of the first major celebrations for Catholics at the start of every year, and is highlighted by a whole day procession of barefoot devotees. Picture: EPA-EFE/ROLEX DELA PENA People skate on frozen flooded meadows in the Ryptsjerksterpolder, the Netherlands, 09 January 2024. Due to the cold, with temperatures around freezing during the day and light to moderate frost at night, skating is possible in various places in the country. Picture: EPA-EFE/JILMER POSTMA A Muslim devotee performs a stunt during a religious procession on the occasion of the annual Urs festival at the shrine of Sufi saint Khwaja Moinuddin Chishti, in Ajmer on January 8, 2024. (Photo by Himanshu SHARMA / AFP) US rapper Megan Thee Stallion arrives for the premiere of Paramount Pictures' "Mean Girls" at AMC Lincoln Square in New York on January 8, 2024. (Photo by KENA BETANCUR / AFP) A vendor sells kites adorned with ‘Lohri’ greetings, ahead of the winter festival celebrated across northern India involving bonfires, festive food and kite flying, at a shop in Amritsar on January 9, 2024. (Photo by Narinder NANU / AFP) Ice covers a bench on the shore of Lake Balaton in Balatonfenyves, Hungary, 09 January 2024, as the temperature dropped to minus 6 degrees Celsius accompanied by strong winds in the region. Picture: EPA-EFE/GYORGY VARGA This aerial view shows a car passing a snow-covered road intersection close to Saint-Pierre-de-Plesguen, western France, on January 9, 2024. (Photo by Damien MEYER / AFP) A shipyard worker polishes a propeller at a dockyard on the banks of the Buriganga River in Dhaka on January 9, 2024. (Photo by Indranil MUKHERJEE / AFP) Cuban veterans participate in a parade commemorating the 65th anniversary of Fidel Castro's entry in Havana on January 8, 2024. (Photo by ADALBERTO ROQUE / AFP) A woman looks on after taking a picture outside the Forbidden City in Beijing on January 9, 2024. (Photo by WANG Zhao / AFP) This aerial photo shows bullet trains leaving Nanjing south railway station in Nanjing, in eastern China's Jiangsu province on January 9, 2024. (Photo by AFP) A worker produces lanterns at a factory in Yantai, in eastern China's Shandong province on January 8, 2024. (Photo by AFP) Afghan student attends a class at a school that was damaged in conflict before the Taliban took over the government, in Kandahar, Afghanistan, 08 January 2024. Schools in Kandahar, including one in Panjawai district, struggle with war-related damages, hindering students' education. Bullet-riddled walls, broken windows, and lack of basic facilities like toilets and water compound the challenges. While the Kandahar Education Department has repaired 81 schools with external aid and is working on 31 more, the need for building and repairing schools in remote areas remains pressing. Picture: EPA-EFE/STRINGER MORE: 24 hours in pictures, 8 January 2024