24 hours in pictures

Damascus, Syria: The Syrian president, Bashar al-Assad, shakes hands with the US under secretary for political affairs William Burns Photograph: Louai Beshara/AFP/Getty Images Photograph: Louai Beshara/guardian.co.uk Whistler, Canada: The 'Peak to Peak' gondola stretches above a layer of fog between the Whistler and Blackcomb mountains during the 2010 Winter Olympics Photograph: Mike Segar/Reuters Photograph: Mike Segar/guardian.co.uk Oristano, Italy: A Sartiglia knight performs during the 545th carnival in Sardinia Photograph: Mario Laporta/AFP/Getty Images Photograph: Mario Laporta/guardian.co.uk Cairo, Egypt: The mummy of Tutankhamun's grandmother Queen Tiye goes on display for the media during a press conference Photograph: Nasser Nasser/AP Photograph: Nasser Nasser/guardian.co.uk Beijing, China: Folk artists wait before their performance at a temple fair to mark Chinese New Year Photograph: Grace Liang/Reuters Photograph: Grace Liang/guardian.co.uk Muzaffargarh, Pakistan: A soldier offers morning prayers during a military exercise Photograph: Khalid Tanveer/AP Photograph: Khalid Tanveer/guardian.co.uk Goyang, South Korea: Newlyweds celebrate after a mass wedding organised by the Unification Church Photograph: Reuters Photograph: /guardian.co.uk Port-au-Prince, Haiti: A man pauses while digging for items to salvage from a building destroyed in last month's earthquake Photograph: Dario Lopez-Mills/AP Photograph: Dario Lopez-Mills/guardian.co.uk Strumica, Macedonia: A man in fancy dress attends a carnival procession Photograph: Boris Grdanoski/AP Photograph: Boris Grdanoski/guardian.co.uk Kathmandu, Nepal: A Buddhist monk puts up prayer flags for Lhosar, the Tibetan New Year, at Bouddhanath Stupa Photograph: Narendra Shrestha/EPA Photograph: Narendra Shrestha/guardian.co.uk San Martin Tilcajete, Mexico: A youth covers himself in oil and ash to ward off evil spirits during a festival before Lent Photograph: /Reuters Photograph: /guardian.co.uk New Orleans, US: A member of the Mondo Kayo Social and Marching Club takes part in a Mardi Gras parade Photograph: Patrick Semansky/Getty Images Photograph: Patrick Semansky/guardian.co.uk