Strange and unusual

Chen Kecai (L) and Jin Songhao are seen in glass containers during a cold endurance competition on the Tianmen Mountain in Zhangjiajie, Hubei province, Chile. Chen and Jin competed by staying in a glass container filled with ice wearing only a pair of shorts. Jin won the competition with 120 minutes in the container, which outscored Chen's 118 minutes. Chen set the Guinness record for the longest time spent in direct full body contact with ice with 1 hour 48 minutes 21 seconds, local media reported. (REUTERS)
Revellers parade the streets during a carnival in the village of Vevcani, some 170 km (106 miles) from the Macedonian capital Skopje. Vevcani village marks the Orthodox St. Vasilij Day annually with a carnival that features a 1,400-year-old celebration with pagan roots. The highlights of the carnival include a political satire where masked villagers act out current events. (REUTERS)
A participants dressed in a shark costume runs from the cold waters of English Bay while taking part in the 91st Polar Bear Swim in Vancouver, British Columbia. (REUTERS)
An employee cleans a parquet, with installations called "Les tetes" (Heads) and "Double voitures" (Double automobiles) by French artist Fabrice Hybert in the foreground, at an exhibition at the Museum of modern art in Russia's Siberian city of Krasnoyarsk. (REUTERS)
Japanese women in kimonos ride a roller-coaster during their Coming of Age Day event at an amusement park in Tokyo. The Coming of Age day is held annually on the second Monday of January to congratulate all those who have reached the age of 20 years old. According to a local report, about 1,240,000 men and women who were born in 1990, reached the coming of age this year and this figure is the smallest number since 1968 in the world's oldest major country. (REUTERS)
A caparisoned elephant is seen during the annual temple festival in the southern Indian city of Kochi. The festival features a colourful procession of decorated elephants and drum concerts. (REUTERS)
People take part in the 10th Annual No Pants Subway Ride in New York City. The event, organised by Improv Everywhere, involves participants who strip down to their underwear as they go about their normal routine. (REUTERS)
Prothesis are seen inside the Handicap International center in Port-au-Prince January 10, 2011. Thousands of people lost limbs in the earthquake, which left more than 1 million Haitians homeless and living in misery in the already poor, calamity-prone Caribbean nation. The center, run by Handicap International, provides rehabilitation, therapy and prosthetic limbs for amputees. (REUTERS)
A child plays with his doll outside the St. Teresa's church in Juba, south Sudan. (REUTERS)
Burlesque enthusiasts and staff of a holiday travel firm pose in costume for photographers outside the National Gallery at Trafalgar Square in London. The stunt was organised by Virgin Holidays in an attempt to break the world record for the world's largest burlesque dance. (REUTERS)
A man wearing a Batman costume gestures towards a bull in an improvised bullring during the annual bullfight festival in Zapote, near San Jose. More than 350 bullfighters participated in the traditional end of year bullfight. (REUTERS)
A woman places her hand on her son's head as he lies buried in sand up to his neck during a partial solar eclipse at Karachi's Clifton beach. Yasir, a seven-year-old handicapped boy, joined people with disabilities who were buried chest-deep during the partial solar eclipse on Tuesday, as part of a traditional superstition that it would bring healing to their bodies. (REUTERS)
Tzvika, an injured female turtle, walks with the aid of her newly attached wheels at the Wildlife Hospital in the Ramat Gan Safari near Tel Aviv. About two months ago, Tzvika was run over by a lawn mower and suffered severe damage to her shell, and a spinal injury that affected her ability to use her rear limbs. The wheels, attached by veterinarians at the safari, elevate the turtle to keep the shell from being worn down and enable her to walk. (REUTERS)
Maurice Irvine looks up at some of his pies during a photocall, after being named World Scotch Pie Champion, in Dunfermline, Scotland. The competition, now in its twelfth year, received four hundred different kinds of pies from over fifty butchers and bakers. (REUTERS)
Members of the Edo Firemanship Preservation Association perform atop bamboo ladders during a New Year demonstration by the fire brigade in Tokyo. (REUTERS)