Thousands of Guatemalans climbed atop a volcano and staged a demonstration calling for an end to the surging domestic violence in their country.

Nearly 12,000 people, mostly youngsters, joined the event which was named the “walk for life” on top of Volcan de Agua or “Water Volcano”. The country’s new president, Otto Perez, also joined the campaigners. Perez descended on the peak of the mountain in a helicopter and presented a national flag to the protesters.

According to figures, nearly 700 women get killed each year in the country in cases of domestic violence. The 12,3800-feet peak, close to the city of Antigua, is inactive. It is situated nearly 45 miles southeast of Guatemala City.

People climb up the Volcan de Agua to participate in the Subida por la Vida event to campaign for peace, about 60 km from Guatemala City. (Reuters)

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Pedestrians walk past an art piece with images of a dragon and other Chinese Zodiac figures created by cutting patterns in paper as part of Lunar New Year celebrations at a shopping mall in Nanjing, Jiangsu province. The Lunar New Year, or Spring Festival, begins on Jan. 23 and marks the start of the Year of the Dragon, according to the Chinese zodiac. (REUTERS/China Daily China Dail)

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David Roth, president of the youth organization JUSO of the Swiss Social Democrats (SP), stands inside of the first igloo of the Occupy WEF movement at their camp site in the Swiss mountain resort of Davos, Switzerland. The Occupy WEF members will stay in a camp of several igloos to protest during the World Economic Forum which takes place from January 25 to 29. (Reuters)

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Chinese New Year 2012 will be celebrated on Monday, Jan. 23, marking the beginning of the year of the water dragon and the 4709th year of the Chinese calendar. The holiday is the most important in China and will be met with scores of fireworks and festivities in China, Taiwan and across the globe.

Visitors take pictures in front of a dragon-shaped lantern which has been set up for the upcoming Lunar New Year in Beijing. The Lunar New Year, or Spring Festival, begins on Jan. 23 and marks the start of the Year of the Dragon, according to the Chinese zodiac. (REUTERS/China Daily)

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The 100th anniversary edition of the South Florida Fair is being celebrated sort of like a wedding. It seems a stretch, but hear us out: There’s something old, as in some of the most popular, tried-and-true returning favorites that the festival, running from January 13-29 at the South Florida Fairgrounds, has to offer, plus special things to commemorate the fair’s big birthday.

Fairgoers enjoy the midway during Thursday’s soft opening of the 2012 South Florida Fair. (Allen Eyestone/The Palm Beach Post)

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Apple cancelled its scheduled sale of iPhone 4S in one of its stores in China’s capital Beijing on January 13.

Crowds outside the store in the Sanlitun district were waiting on queues overnight. There were incidents of scuffle between shoppers and the store’s security staff when shoppers, hundreds of them, were told that the sales had been cancelled. Some of people waiting outside the store pelted eggs. The police intervened later and took away some of the shoppers.

A woman is dragged away by police after she refused to leave from the front of the Apple store in the Beijing district of Sanlitun. (Reuters)

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The world’s most challenging off-road endurance race, the Dakar Rally 2012 is being contested by more than 350 entrants, racing motorcycles, quads, cars and trucks across more than 5,500 miles of mountains and desert, from Argentina’s Atlantic coast, through Chile to the Pacific coast of Peru.

The race, covering 14 stages, began January 1 and will conclude January 15 in Lima.

Click images to zoom and enjoy the real men!

Marc Coma of Spain races his KTM in the 10th stage. (Jerome Prevost/Associated Press)

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The Lorne Pier to Pub is an annual, 1.2-km open water swimming race held in January at Lorne, a town located on the Great Ocean Road in Victoria, Australia. It began in the 1970s, when members of the Lorne Surf Life Saving Club dared each other to dive from the pier, swim through Louttit Bay and finish by body-surfing the waves onto the Lorne foreshore, before attending the Lorne Pub.

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A firm in China is readying a new batch of women bodyguards to service its clients. The candidates have to undergo rigorous training for 8-10 months before they assume their responsibilities. They are expected to guard wealthy, high-class women seeking protection.

Nearly 20 young women participated in the training session organised by Tianjiao Special Guard/Security Consultant Ltd, based in Sanya in the country’s Hainan province. The session, in fact, marked the first open group training for female bodyguards in China.

A trainee dressed in swimming suit steps on stomachs of other trainees with the help of a trainer during training session in Sanya. (Reuters)

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A girl looks at lantern decorations for the upcoming Chinese Lunar New Year at a park in Neihuang county, Henan province January 6, 2012. The Lunar New Year begins on January 23 and marks the start of the Year of the Dragon, according to the Chinese zodiac. (REUTERS / China Daily)

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