People walk past One World Trade Center, the central skyscraper under construction at Ground Zero. The price tag for One World Trade has recently been valued at $3.8 billion, which would make it the world's most expensive new office tower. The 1,776-foot skyscraper is expected to be completed at the end of 2013. – AFP Photo

Two men dig through the layer of ice that covers what remains of the water in the Miyun reservoir near the drought-stricken village of Zhuanghuyu. The world is running out of time to make sure there is enough food, water and energy to meet the needs of a rapidly growing population and to avoid sending up to 3 billion people into poverty, a U.N. report warned. It adds that by 2030, the world will need at least 50 percent more food, 45 percent more energy and 30 percent more water, according to U.N. estimates. – Reuters Photo

A street food vendor serves lunch for his customers near central Jakarta business district. Worries about persistent inflation across Asia are giving policymakers a headache on how to bolster their economies without spurring inflation in coming months. – Reuters Photo

Credit Canada counsellor Randolph Taylor poses with jars of cut-up client credit cards at his office in Toronto. The two jars are filled with shards of credit cards, chopped up by the clients whose staggering indebtedness drove them to the front line of Canada's household debt crisis. – Reuters Photo

Pakistani labourers work at a small prawn factory in Karachi. The exports of seafood increased by 16.48 percent during the first half of the current fiscal year. – AFP Photo

Labourers pick out gravel from coal along a conveyor belt at a coal mine in Huaibei, Anhui province. China's factory sector expanded slightly in January, confounding expectations for a contraction and supporting hopes the world's second-biggest economy will avoid a hard landing, a government purchasing managers' index showed. – Reuters Photo

The characteristic Mercedes stars are stored in a box before they get installed on the bonnet of a Mercedes S-class limousine during a photo opportunity at the plant of German car manufacturer Mercedes Benz in Sindelfingen near Stuttgart. – Reuters Photo

An unfinished hotel building is seen near the ruins of the "Cortijo Jurado" building in Malaga, southern Spain. Many residential building projects in the country have come to a standstill due to the financial crisis. – Reuters Photo

A vendor inspects 0.20 carat diamonds during the 3rd Antwerp Diamond Trade Fair in Antwerp. Several hundred top diamond dealers and manufacturers gathered at the Antwerp Diamond Trade Fair and voiced concerns that polished diamond prices may struggle to hold onto gains in the first quarter of 2012. – Reuters Photo

Beef stew meat is displayed at Marina Meats in San Francisco, California. Severe drought is a contributing factor in the declining cattle count, which has sent wholesale beef prices up 6.4 percent in the past 12 months. The price for a pound of beef peaked in price at $1.98 a pound on November 23, the highest price since 2004. – AFP Photo

Students listen to representatives of private companies and local governments as they attend a job fair in Tokyo. With Japan's population shrinking and ageing, some of the most dynamic names in Japanese business world are now beginning to question that model as they look for growth in international markets. – AFP Photo

A worker picks out roses in preparation for the upcoming Valentine's Day, at a farm in Cajica. But a troubled global economy and bad weather has some growers in Colombia worried about this year's crop. Colombia exports 450 million flowers for Valentine's Day, and flower farmers say that day alone accounts for 12 percent of their annual income. – Reuters Photo