Jan 13, 2014

Jan. 13 Daily Brief: Macedonian carnival, Muslims celebrate Prophet Mohammed’s birth and a pantsless commute for thousands part of flashmob

Macedonian carnival, Muslims celebrate Prophet Mohammed’s birth, a pantsless commute for thousands part of flashmob and more in today’s daily brief.

: Dozens of people take a dip during the annual kanchu suiyoku midwinter cold water bath at Teppozu Inari Shrine in Chuo Ward, Tokyo, on Sunday. About 100 people prayed for good health and other wishes over the coming year while sitting for several minutes in a tub of 6 degrees C (about 42.8 degrees F) water set up at the shrine. Stand-alone photo. (The Yomiuri Shimbun)

: Men swing on a pole in Union Square park after the No Pants Subway Ride in New York January 13, 2013. The event is an annual flash mob and occurs in different cities around the world, according to its organisers. (Reuters/ /Carlo Allegri)

: People take part in a rally to protest against the law, passed in late December 2012, that bans Americans from adopting Russian children, with a toy seen inside a glass jar in the foreground, in St. Petersburg, January 13, 2013. Thousands of demonstrators gathered for a march in Moscow on Sunday to protest against a ban on Americans adopting Russian children, saying President Vladimir Putin’s government had made orphans pawns in a political dispute. The sticker reads “I’m against Putin”. (Reuters/Alexander Demianchuk)

: Passengers react to seeing a man take off his pants on the subway during the annual “No Pants Subway Ride” in Shanghai January 13, 2013. The event, organised by performance art group Improv Everywhere, involves participants who strip down to their underwear as they go about their normal routine. (Reuters/Aly Song)

: A participant of “No Pants Subway Ride”stands in a subway train in Mexico City January 13, 2013. The event is organized by Flashmob Mexico where participants have to strip down to their underwear as they go about their normal routine, said organisers. (Reuters/Henry Romero)

: A woman displaced from fighting in Bor walks out of the river carrying a mosquito net in Minkaman, in Awerial county, Lakes state, in South Sudan January 13, 2014. According to Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, there are currently around 84,000 displaced people in the the area. (Andreea Campeanu/Reuters)

: Disguised revelers take part in a carnival procession through the village of Vevchani, south-western Macedonia, on January 13, 2014. The Vevchani carnival is 1.400 years old and is held every year on the eve of the feast of Saint Basil (January 14), which also marks the beginning of the New Year according to the Julian calendar, observed by the Macedonian Orthodox Church. (Robert Atanasovskia/AFP/Getty Images)

: Disguised revelers take part in a carnival procession through the village of Vevchani, south-western Macedonia, on January 13, 2014. The Vevchani carnival is 1.400 years old and is held every year on the eve of the feast of Saint Basil (January 14), which also marks the beginning of the New Year according to the Julian calendar, observed by the Macedonian Orthodox Church. (Robert Atanasovskia/AFP/Getty Images)

: A disguised reveler takes part in a carnival procession through the village of Vevchani, south-western Macedonia, on January 13, 2014. The Vevchani carnival is 1.400 years old and is held every year on the eve of the feast of Saint Basil (January 14), which also marks the beginning of the New Year according to the Julian calendar, observed by the Macedonian Orthodox Church. (Robert Atanasovskia/AFP/Getty Images)

: A girl looks at concrete slabs from the former Berlin wall decorated with likenesses of (from R) Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad , Chad’s President Idriss Deby, Sudan’s President Omar Al-Bashir, former North Korean leader Kim Jong-il, Zimbabwe’s President Robert Mugabe, and Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, by French artist Guillaume Kashima, near the city’s Checkpoint Charlie area in Berlin on January 13, 2013. (John MacDougall/AFP/Getty Images)

: Local residents dressed in Belarussian traditional costumes hold torches as they perform traditional “Koliady” rituals on January 13, 2014 in the village of Semezhevo, some 160 km south of Minsk. Koliady is an ancient pagan holiday initially celebrated on winter solstice but since appropriated to celebrate Christmas, Julian calendar’s New Year, and other winter holidays. (Viktor Drachev/AFP/Getty Images)

: The landmark “Tiger & Turtle” sculpture that resembles a roaller coaster is pictured at the former zinc smeltery’s grounds Krupp Mannesmann in the Angerpark in Duisburg-Wanheim on January 13, 2013. 120 tons of galvanised steel are mounted and welded for the sculpture on the heap. The walkway area will amount to 220 metres including 249 steps. (Patrick Stollarz/AFP/Getty Images)

: Pakistani residents carry torches during celebrations on the eve of Eid Milad-un-Nabi, the birth of the Prophet, in Lahore on January 13, 2014. Pakistani Muslims will celebrate the birth of the Prophet Mohammed on January 14. (Arif ALIArif Ali/AFP/Getty Images)