From business people who pray for prosperity in the new year at the Kandamyojin shrine to a baby orangutan that clings to its mother at a zoo in the suburb of Dehiwala, these highlights will give you the information you need about everything important that happened this day.

Check them out for more information and start to see our world through photos!

Tokyo, Japan

Business people pray for prosperity in the new year at the Kandamyojin shrine. 4 January is the first business day of the year in Japan

Photograph: Kimimasa Mayama/EPA

Washington, US

Nancy Pelosi (left), newly elected speaker of the House, greets Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez at a mock swearing-in event at the Capitol. Ocasio-Cortez, 29, in November became the youngest woman to serve in Congress

Photograph: Joshua Roberts/Reuters

Sydney, Australia

Supporters known as the Richies, after the former Australian cricketer Richie Benaud, on the second day of the fourth test against India

Photograph: Dan Himbrechts/AAP

Jalalabad, Afghanistan

Firefighters tackle a blaze at a market

Photograph: Parwiz/Reuters

Palm Springs, US

Glenn Close accepts the Icon award for her performance in The Wife at the Palm Springs international film festival

Photograph: Chris Pizzello/Invision/AP

Hawaii, US

Derek Ho practices for the Da Hui Backdoor Shootout surf contest on Oahu’s North Shore

Photograph: Brian Bielmann/AFP/Getty Images

Pasto, Colombia

A dancer at the annual six-day Blacks and Whites’ carnival

Photograph: Juan Barreto/AFP/Getty Images

Allahabad, India

A Naga sadhu, or Hindu holy man, takes part in a procession towards the Sangam, the confluence of the Ganges, Yamuna and mythical Saraswati rivers, as part of the Kumbh festival

Photograph: Rajesh Kumar Singh/AP

Colombo, Sri Lanka

A baby orangutan clings to its mother at a zoo in the suburb of Dehiwala

Photograph: Lakruwan Wanniarachchi/AFP/Getty