LolliTop

Destination Calabria

2012-02-01T11:11:00.000+02:00

The Known Universe

2012-01-30T11:07:00.000+02:00

The Known Universe takes viewers from the Himalayas through our atmosphere and the inky black of space to the afterglow of the Big Bang. Every star, planet, and quasar seen in the film is possible because of the world's most complete four-dimensional map of the universe, the Digital Universe Atlas that is maintained and updated by astrophysicists at the American Museum of Natural History. The new film, created by the Museum, is part of an exhibition, Visions of the Cosmos: From the Milky Ocean to an Evolving Universe, at the Rubin Museum of Art in Manhattan through May 2010.

Data: Digital Universe, American Museum of Natural History
http://www.haydenplanetarium.org/universe/

Visualization Software: Uniview by SCISS

Director: Carter Emmart
Curator: Ben R. Oppenheimer
Producer: Michael Hoffman
Executive Producer: Ro Kinzler
Co-Executive Producer: Martin Brauen
Manager, Digital Universe Atlas: Brian Abbott

Music: Suke Cerulo

For more information visit http://www.amnh.org

strange friendships (54 photos)

2012-01-29T10:54:00.000+02:00

bikers in cinema

2012-01-28T19:39:00.000+02:00

The Page Turner

2012-01-27T08:31:00.000+02:00

happy new year 2012

2012-01-25T08:12:00.002+02:00

Megaupload shut down by the U.S. Justice Department :(

2012-01-22T20:54:00.004+02:00

Megaupload Limited,^[1] better known for its closed websites including the top-15 file hosting website megaupload.com,^[1] is an online Hong Kong-based company established in 2005 that ran a number of online services related to file storage and viewing. The domain names were seized and the sites shut down by the U.S. Justice Department on 19 January 2012, following their indictment and arrests of the owners for allegedly operating as an organization dedicated to copyright infringement.^[5]
The shutdown led to what activist group Anonymous calls "the single largest Internet attack in its history" in retaliation.^[6] The case itself has not yet been heard at trial.

new label / banner for megaupload...

ad

Satellite Spots Costa Concordia Shipwreck

2012-01-21T12:14:00.003+02:00

click the photo to enlarge to 3.243px × 3249px

remember to breathe!

2012-01-20T18:55:00.000+02:00

DERINKUYU, an ancient underground city

2012-01-20T12:15:00.000+02:00

Girl play piano with no finger on one hand

2012-01-19T11:54:00.000+02:00

The art of sleeping in a box

2012-01-18T11:39:00.000+02:00

This is a How-to with lots of pictures to make it easy. Start with simply sleeping on your back.

or on your side.

Consider using the top flap of the box as a pillow.

If you are longhaired, use the benefit of your coat and tail.

Remember that you and your box must nearly become one.

Use your imagination: try an S-like position.

or an inverted C-like position...

or even an L-like one.

If you totally trust your humans, relax your back legs to the maximum.

Sometimes O-like positions do not fit the box well, but you can always experiment.

If the box is rather small, try sticking your paws & tail out of it...

or stretch just one paw out, like this (back paw).

or like this (front paw).

Invite your friend to join you.

and enjoy it.

Your humans may wonder how you can sleep like that.

ignore them and enjoy..

Perhaps they will not even notice you.

To avoid unwanted attention, choose a box that matches your fur color. or you can trying hide in an absolutely unexpected box.

This position is for experienced yoga cats.

as well as this one.

Even small boxes will do in a pinch.

You can use any box-like structure you can find to get some practice.

Just remember to be creative!

There are two means of refuge from the miseries of life
Music and cats - Albert Schweitzer

Hubble telescope

2012-01-17T11:09:00.000+02:00

The Hubble Space Telescope is arobotic telescope located on the outer edge of the atmosphere, in circularorbit around the Earth at 593 km above sea level, with an orbital periodbetween 96 and 97 minutes at a speed 28,000 km / h. Named as a tribute to EdwinHubble, was launched into orbit on 24 April 1990 as a joint project of NASA andESA, thus inaugurating the GreatObservatories program.
Cylindrically shaped Hubble weighs 11 tons. Its length is 13.2 m and itsmaximum diameter is 4.2 meters.
The telescope can obtain images with higher optical resolution
0.1 seconds of arc.

The roof is on fire

2012-01-16T09:13:00.000+02:00

Japan's nuclear exclusion zone

2012-01-14T16:48:00.000+02:00

What does a sudden evacuation look like? After everyone is gone, what happens to the places they've abandoned? National Geographic Magazine sent Associated Press photographer David Guttenfelder to the nuclear exclusion zone around Japan's Fukushima Daiichi power plant to find out. Evacuated shortly after the March 11 earthquake and tsunami led to a nuclear radiation crisis, the area has been largely untouched, with food rotting on store shelves and children's backpacks waiting in classrooms. The area may face the same fate as the town of Pripyat, Ukraine after the Chernobyl disaster 25 years ago. This isn't the first time Guttenfelder has gotten a rare glimpse of a place few see, as The Big Picture featured his photographs of North Korea in an earlier post. Collected here are Guttenfelder's haunting images just released of a place abandoned, and of people dealing with the loss.

In this April 7, 2011 photo, local police wearing white suits to protect them from radiation, search for bodies along a river inside Odaka, Japan. Weeks after authorities had searched for victims and started recovery in other tsunami-hit regions, cleanup crews hadn't yet been dispatched around the crippled reactors because of high radiation levels. (AP Photographer David Guttenfelder on assignment for National Geographic Magazine)

In this June 8, 2011 photo, residents wearing protective suits gather in a gym in Hirono, Japan for a briefing before being escorted to their homes inside the exclusion zone to retrieve a few small items. The government allowed strictly controlled visits by residents and each person had to be tightly screened for radioactive contamination upon return. (AP Photo/AP Photographer David Guttenfelder on assignment for National Geographic Magazine)

In this July 24, 2011 photo, residents wearing protective suits inside a bus in Hirono, Japan wait to be escorted to their homes inside the exclusion zone for the first time since the March 11 tsunami to retrieve a few small personal items. (AP Photographer David Guttenfelder on assignment for National Geographic Magazine)

In this June 8, 2011 photo, employees of the Tokyo Electric Power Co. (TEPCO) bow deeply as a bus passes by carrying people originally living in towns inside the exclusion zone near the damaged nuclear power plant which is operated by TEPCO. (AP Photographer David Guttenfelder on assignment for National Geographic Magazine)

In this July 26, 2011 photo, Junko Shimizu packs her husband's suit to take out of their evacuated home in Namie, Japan during a government organized visit inside the exclusion zone for families to collect a few of their belongings. The Shimizu family chose to take with them important documents, their best clothing, their daughter's wedding kimono, and family photos, among other important small items. (AP Photographer David Guttenfelder on assignment for National Geographic)

In this July 16, 2011 photo, a noodle restaurant sits abandoned along the main highway near Futaba, Japan, less than six miles from the damaged nuclear power plant. (AP Photographer David Guttenfelder on assignment for National Geographic)

In this July 26, 2011 photo, rice and tempura mildews in bowls left on the tables of a restaurant in Namie, Japan, that was hastily abandoned after the earthquake struck on March 11. (AP Photographer David Guttenfelder on assignment for National Geographic)

In this July 13, 2011 photo, cans of beer lie dislodged inside a flood-damaged vending machine in an abandoned neighborhood in Naraha, Japan inside the nuclear exclusion zone. (AP Photographer David Guttenfelder on assignment for National Geographic)

In this June 7, 2011 photo, residents of a nursing home in Itate, Japan rest in a community room. Itate is located northwest, and just outside of the official nuclear exclusion zone but registers some of the highest levels of radiation in the prefecture and was largely abandoned over the summer. Employees of the nursing home say that some residents of the nursing home elected to stay behind because they are old enough that they do not fear the long-term effects of exposure to radiation. Employees of the facility had mostly moved away but commute to work and rotate their shifts to limit their own exposure. (AP Photographer David Guttenfelder on assignment for National Geographic Magazine)

In this July 10, 2011 photo, the sun rises in the abandoned town of Namie, Japan, near the damaged Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant. (AP Photographer David Guttenfelder on assignment for National Geographic)

In this June 5, 2011 photo, an animal rights activist wearing a white suit to protect him from radiation, tries to guide a car through an overgrown mountain road near Naraha, Japan as he and his colleagues bypass police barricades to enter the nuclear exclusion zone so they can feed and rescue abandoned animals. (AP Photographer David Guttenfelder on assignment for National Geographic Magazine)

In this June 5, 2011 photo, two stray pet dogs fight in the deserted streets of Okuma, Japan. In the early days of the crisis, roaming farm animals and pets were everywhere inside the no-go zone. But by midsummer, some animals had been rescued and a number of others had perished of starvation and disease. (AP Photographer David Guttenfelder on assignment for National Geographic Magazine)

In this June 5, 2011 photo, Japanese animal rights activists Leo Hoshi (right) and Kei Asanuma grill meat to attract stray dogs as they try to rescue pets that evacuees from the nuclear exclusion zone left behind in the contaminated town of Okuma, Japan just three kilometers from the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant. (AP Photographer David Guttenfelder on assignment for National Geographic Magazine)

In this June 18, 2011 photo, a farmer's pig rests in a puddle on main street near the train station in central Namie, Japan less then six miles from the crippled nuclear reactor. Farmers across the area had to hastily leave their homes and were unable to evacuate livestock, or return to the irradiated zone to care for them. (AP Photographer David Guttenfelder on assignment for National Geographic Magazine)

In this June 18, 2011 photo, a hog naps after eating a meal inside an abandoned feed store and wandering the deserted streets of radiation-contaminated Namie, Japan. (AP Photographer David Guttenfelder on assignment for National Geographic Magazine)

In this June 8, 2011 photo, Keigo Sakamoto holds two of his dogs in the front yard of his house. Sakamoto, a Japanese egg farmer, lives in Naraha on the 12-mile boundary line of the exclusion zone around the damaged nuclear power station. He is allowed to stay in his home but must bypass the police barricades and lost his livelihood when the neighbors and nearby towns were evacuated. (AP Photographer David Guttenfelder on assignment for National Geographic Magazine)

In this July 9, 2011 photo, a family member's portrait, dislodged and shattered by the March 11 earthquake, hangs on the wall of an abandoned farmhouse in Naraha, Japan within the exclusion zone. (AP Photographer David Guttenfelder on assignment for National Geographic)

In this July 22, 2011 photo, a woman shops for groceries despite the shelves being mostly empty during the final days of a gradual process of evacuation of the town of Itate, Japan. Itate is northwest, and just outside of the official nuclear exclusion zone, but registers some of the highest levels of radiation in the prefecture and was largely abandoned over the summer. (AP Photographer David Guttenfelder on assignment for National Geographic Magazine)

In this June 19, 2011 photo, a stray pet cat rests inside a dryer at an abandoned coin laundry in central Namie, Japan less than six miles from the crippled nuclear reactor. (AP Photographer David Guttenfelder on assignment for National Geographic Magazine)

In this July 8, 2011 photo, a member of the Namie, Japan school board wears a protective suit while measuring radiation levels in a field in his community inside the nuclear exclusion zone. (AP Photographer David Guttenfelder on assignment for National Geographic Magazine)

In this July 26, 2011 photo, a member of the Namie, Japan school board checks the hands of a colleague as they measure radiation levels in a baseball and soccer field in their community inside the nuclear exclusion zone. (AP Photographer David Guttenfelder on assignment for National Geographic Magazine)

In this June 9, 2011 photo, an evacuee lies down in her makeshift temporary home on the floor of the Big Palette convention center in Koriyama, Japan. Tens of thousands of people fled their homes surrounding the damaged nuclear power plant. (AP Photographer David Guttenfelder on assignment for National Geographic Magazine)

In this June 9, 2011 photo, evacuee Nobuko Sanpei, 74, eats rice in her cardboard-box home on a hallway floor in a convention center in Koriyama, Japan. Sanpei, who has since moved to a small apartment, farmed rice with her husband in Tomioka, Japan less than six miles from the power station. (AP Photographer David Guttenfelder on assignment for National Geographic Magazine)

In this June 9, 2011 photo, 69-year-old and tattooed Toyoo Ide bathes with fellow evacuees in a traditional Japanese-style bath set up in a tent by Japan's Self-Defense Forces at an evacuation center in Koriyama, Japan. "There's no water or electricity now, but if there were, I'd go back, radioactivity or not. I'd go back today. I can't live in a stranger's town," said Ide who was a lifelong employee of the nuclear power plant. (AP Photographer David Guttenfelder on assignment for National Geographic Magazine)

In this June 26, 2011 photo, vines grow across the highway near the town of Tomioka, Japan inside the nuclear exclusion zone. (AP Photographer David Guttenfelder on assignment for National Geographic Magazine)

In this June 18, 2011 photo, packaged items lie on the floor of a convenience store in Futaba, Japan near the nuclear power plant. The items were left untouched since the earthquake shook the region on March 11. (AP Photographer David Guttenfelder on assignment for National Geographic Magazine)

In this June 22, 2011 photo, Fuyono Kitayama, 83, cries after her last calf is loaded into a truck as she and her husband prepare to be evacuated from Itate, Japan. Itate is northwest, and just outside of the official nuclear exclusion zone but registers some of the highest levels of radiation in the prefecture and was largely abandoned over the summer. (AP Photographer David Guttenfelder on assignment for National Geographic Magazine)

In this July 24, 2011 photo, ships that washed inland with the tsunami sit along a road inside the nuclear contaminated exclusion zone in Namie, Japan. (AP Photographer David Guttenfelder on assignment for National Geographic Magazine)

This July 8, 2011 photo shows a waterlogged family photo album left behind in the town of Namie, Japan on Fukushima's tsunami-ravaged coast. In the pictures the children are dressed in fine kimonos worn during a traditional celebration when children turn three, five, and seven. (AP Photographer David Guttenfelder on assignment for National Geographic Magazine)

In this July 8, 2011 photo, empty chairs sit around a theater inside a building next to the mayor's office where residents of Namie, Japan spent the first night after the tsunami struck. Months after the earthquake, tsunami, and nuclear reactor disaster sent the town of Namie's residents fleeing, few have been allowed to return for brief visits. Public and private buildings have been left largely untouched since the disaster struck. (AP Photographer David Guttenfelder on assignment for National Geographic)

In this July 26, 2011 photo, meal debris and personal effects lie on the floor of the gymnasium at Karino Elementary School, which was used as an evacuation shelter shortly after the nuclear crisis erupted, in the town of Namie, Japan. (AP Photographer David Guttenfelder on assignment for National Geographic Magazine)

This July 8, 2011 photo shows the damaged gymnasium floor which sank after tsunami waves swept across the neighborhood at a school near the coast in Namie, Japan. The signs on the school stage were placed before the March 11 quake and tsunami in preparation for a graduation ceremony. (AP Photographer David Guttenfelder on assignment for National Geographic Magazine)

In this July 10, 2011 photo, a water mark cuts across the backs of theater seats at a planetarium in Namie, Japan after tsunami waves swept across parts of the town. (AP Photographer David Guttenfelder on assignment for National Geographic)

In this July 26, 2011 photo, oranges, which were left behind when the town of Namie, Japan was evacuated, rot on the shelves and floor of the town's main supermarket. (AP Photographer David Guttenfelder on assignment for National Geographic)

In this June 18, 2011 photo, a mud-caked television remote control device sits on a table above a mud-covered and cracked floor of an abandoned home in Odaka, Japan in the wake of the March 11 earthquake and tsunami. (AP Photographer David Guttenfelder on assignment for National Geographic Magazine)

In this June 19, 2011 photo, children's desks, backpacks, and school supplies lie abandoned inside an earthquake-rattled primary school classroom in Namie, Japan. Months have gone by since the students fled following the March 11, 2011 earthquake and tsunami, and it is uncertain when or if the children will be able to return or reclaim their possessions. (AP Photographer David Guttenfelder on assignment for National Geographic Magazine)#

In this June 21, 2011 photo, police with glowing wands and vests and wearing protective face masks guard a road leading into the nuclear exclusion zone near the city of Minami-Soma, Japan. The sign behind them reads "Keep Out" in Japanese. (AP Photographer David Guttenfelder on assignment for National Geographic Magazine)#

In this July 10, 2011 photo, traffic lights blink on the deserted main street in the radiation-contaminated and abandoned town of Namie, Japan. (AP Photographer David Guttenfelder on assignment for National Geographic Magazine)#

This July 25, 2011 photo shows the radiation-contaminated and abandoned town of Namie, Japan at dawn. (AP Photographer David Guttenfelder on assignment for National Geographic Magazine)#

banned ad for Bienalle at Athens 2011

2012-01-14T07:26:00.000+02:00

The art of sleeping in a box

2012-01-13T16:25:00.000+02:00

This is a How-to with lots of pictures to make it easy.

Start with simply sleeping on your back…. or on your side.

Consider using the top flap of the box as a pillow.

If you are longhaired, use the benefit of your coat and tail.

Remember that you and your box must nearly become one.

Use your imagination: try an S-like position.

or an inverted C-like position...

or even an L-like one.

If you totally trust your humans, relax your back legs to the maximum.

Sometimes O-like positions do not fit the box well, but you can always experiment.

If the box is rather small, try sticking your paws & tail out of it...

or stretch just one paw out, like this (back paw).

or like this (front paw).

Invite your friend to join you.

and enjoy it.

Your humans may wonder how you can sleep like that.

ignore them and enjoy..

Perhaps they will not even notice you.

To avoid unwanted attention, choose a box that matches your fur color.

or you can trying hide in an absolutely unexpected box.

This position is for experienced yoga cats.

as well as this one.

Even small boxes will do in a pinch.

You can use any box-like structure you can find to get some practice.

Just remember to be creative!

There are two means of refuge from the miseries of life

Music and cats - Albert Schweitzer

Crawling

2012-01-12T15:27:00.000+02:00

Scenes from Iraq

2012-01-11T16:53:00.000+02:00

As 2011 ends, Iraqis confront their challenges with neither the presence of US troops, nor the shadow of Saddam Hussein, who was executed five years ago today. He had ruled since 1979, although he'd been a power player in the government since 1968. The American occupation ended officially on December 15, eight years after the 2003 invasion. Sectarian strife still plagues Iraq, and although the violence lessened from near-civil war levels in 2006, the pullout of American forces has seen a return of hostilities. While the number of American casualties of the occupation stands at 4,487, figures for Iraqi casualties have no such certainty. Some estimates put the figure as high as 100,000. Now conflicts new and old wait to be dealt with by a country free to decide its own fate for the first time in generations. Sectarian struggle, problems with water and electricity delivery, and war-ravaged infrastructure are just a few of the issues facing Iraqis today. Gathered here are recent images of Iraq as it looks ahead to 2012. The last four images are portraits by Reuters photographer Shannon Stapleton, who asked ordinary Iraqis for their thoughts on their future after the pullout of American forces.

A man smokes a water pipe at a cafe on Mutanabi Street in Baghdad on December 9, 2011. (Thaier al-Sudani/Reuters)

A female taxi driver fetches a passenger in Arbil on November 19, 2011. Inspired by the success stories of the ladies' taxi services in Lebanon and Dubai, 25-year old civil engineer Lana Khoshabaan has recently started an all-women taxi firm, in the Kurdish city of Arbil. The black cars, imprinted with the words "PNK TAXI" are dispatched upon calls to pick up female passengers from all parts of Arbil. (Azad Lashkari/Reuters)

Yasser Yassin, a 9-year-old who left school, works at a garage in Baghdad on November 15, 2011. (Saad Shalash/Reuters)

A girl holds balloons inside the Al-Zawraa Amusement Park in Baghdad on December 2, 2011. (Shannon Stapleton/Reuters)

A woman and children pause at a camp allocated for widows in Baghdad on December 11, 2011. There may be 1.5 million widows, nearly 10 percent of the female population of Iraq. (Mohammed Ameen/Reuters)

A widow works on a sewing machine at her house in Baghdad's Sadr city on October 23, 2011. An estimated two million women are primary breadwinners in Iraq. (Kareem Raheem/Reuters)

Widows work in a dairy factory in Kerbala on November 5, 2011. (Mushtaq Muhammed/Reuters)

Investors work the phones at the Iraq Stock Exchange during trading hours in Baghdad December 12, 2011. The Iraq Stock Exchange began its operations in June of 2004 and operates under the Iraq Securities Commission, an independent commission similar to the US Securities and Exchange Commission. (Shannon Stapleton/Reuters)

An Iraqi man looks at anti-US cartoons displayed at an exhibition in Karbala on November 28, 2011. (Mohammed Sawaf/AFP/Getty Images)

Bishop Shlemon Warduni gestures to a member of his congregation following Christmas day mass at the Virgin Mary Chaldean Christian church (Church of Our Lady of Sacred Heart) in Baghdad on December 25, 2011. Warduni estimates that Iraq's Christian population, put at between 800,000 to 1.2 million before the 2003 US-led invasion, had halved since then. (Ahmad Al-Rubaye/AFP/Getty Images)

An Iraqi man rides a motorbike in the Karrada district of Baghdad on December 13, 2011. (Saad Shalash//Reuters)

A woman and her child beg at the Shurja wholesale market in central Baghdad on December 5, 2011. Shurja, Baghdad's largest and oldest wholesale market, was the target of several major bomb and militant attacks after the US-led invasion in 2003. (Saad Shalash//Reuters)

Women walk through a market in Falluja on December 6, 2011. As US forces pull out of Iraq, residents and officials there say they leave behind bullet-riddled homes, destroyed infrastructure and a worrying increase in birth defects and maladies in a city polluted by weapons and war chemicals. (Mohanned Faisal/Reuters)

A man reads a book on Mutanabi Street in Baghdad on December 9, 2011. (Thaier al-Sudani/Reuters)

An Iraqi vendor carries a crate of fish to be transported to the market on Abu Nawas street along the Tigris River in Baghdad on December 10, 2011. (Shannon Stapleton/Reuters)

Residents prepare food for pilgrims attending the religious ceremony of Ashura in Baghdad on December 6, 2011. The festival, commemorated by Shi'ite Muslims, marks the martyrdom of the Prophet Mohammad's grandson Hussein in the battle of Karbala in Iraq in the year 680. (Saad Shalash/Reuters)

A woman sells legumes at a market in Baghdad's Sadr City on December 16, 2011. (Mohammed Ameen/Reuters)

A man works at his shop selling traditional hand-made copperware in Baghdad on December 20, 2011. Al-Safafeer Souq is one of the Iraqi capital's street markets selling traditional and cultural goods ranging from souvenir items to antiques. (Mohammed Ameen/Reuters)

A woman looks at Santa Claus dolls while shopping in Baghdad on December 27, 2011. (Saad Shalash/Reuters)

A man fishes across from the Green Zone on the Tigris River in Baghdad on December 2, 2011. (Shannon Stapleton/Reuters)

A traffic signal glows at dusk along a street near Kahramana Square in Baghdad on December 10, 2011. (Shannon Stapleton/Reuters)

Iraqi men play soccer on a field along Abu Nawas street across from the Green Zone on the Tigris River in Baghdad on December 10, 2011. (Shannon Stapleton/Reuters)

Residents protest a decision announcing Diyala province as autonomous, outside the headquarters of the Diyala local government in Baquba on December 13, 2011. (Stringer/Reuters)

Iraqi soldiers celebrate after training at Basmaya military base in Baghdad on November 22, 2011. (Mohammed Ameen/Reuters)

Members of Iraq's federal police bomb squad parade with their remote Explosive Ordnance Disposal vehicles during the seventh anniversary of the founding of the federal police in Baghdad on November 22, 2011. (Saad Shalash/Reuters)

A boy stands near the site of a car bomb attack in Baghdad's Shaab District on December 22, 2011. The death toll from a series of bomb attacks in the Iraqi capital climbed to at least 40, with scores wounded. More than 10 explosions struck Baghdad in the first apparently coordinated attack on the capital since a crisis erupted between its Shiite-led government and Sunni rivals after the withdrawal of the last US troops. (Thaier al-Sudani/Reuters)

A man wounded in a bomb attack is treated at a hospital in Baghdad on December 5, 2011. (Kareem Raheem/Reuters)

Residents inspect a damaged church after a bomb attack in central Kirkuk on August 15, 2011. Iraqis are still troubled by almost daily bombings, attacks and killings that are as much a part of their lives as power shortages, security checkpoints and government food rations. (Ako Rasheed/Reuters)

Iraqi security forces arrest suspected militants during a raid in Basra on December 23, 2011. They were arrested on suspicion of blowing up an oil pipeline. (Atef Hassan/Reuters)

An Iraqi security force officer guards one of three suspects accused of taking part in the killing of Shiite Muslim pilgrims, on December 26, 2011, near Ramadi, in the Sunni Muslim dominated province of Anbar. The alleged planners and gunmen killed 22 pilgrims in September 2011 as they were traveling from Karbala, one of the holiest Shiite Muslim shrines to neighboring Syria. (Azhar Shallal/AFP/Getty Images)

An Iraqi boy is taken away from a suspected militant who has been accused of killing his father at the height of the sectarian slaughter in 2006-07, during a presentation to the media at the Interior Ministry in Baghdad on November 21, 2011. A total of 22 suspected militants were presented to the media on Monday as they await their trial. (Saad Shalash/Reuters)

A man excavates a newly-discovered mass grave in the desert of western Anbar province on April 14, 2011. Tens of thousands of Iraqis were killed or went missing in the sectarian conflict in 2006-2007 unleashed by the US-led invasion in 2003. Many of the missing were never found, and the excavation of mass graves that may provide answers for the relatives of the dead is considered a critical step in healing after years of war. (Ali al-Mashhadani/Reuters)

Kharar Haider,12, a young student, poses for a portrait at a soccer field along the Tigris River across from the Green Zone in Baghdad on December 10, 2011. When asked, "What do you see for the future of Iraq now that the United States military is leaving the country ?'', Haider replied, "I don't think we will have more problems and it is better than when Saddam was here. We have no heating or light in school. I don't think that is going to get better." (Shannon Stapleton/Reuters)

Roaua Mansour ,18, a mother, poses for a portrait in her home in Baghdad on December 11, 2011. When asked, "What do you see for the future of Iraq now that the United States military is leaving the country?'', Mansour replied, "I was just a young girl when the Americans came. I used to walk with the US soldiers and take pictures with them and they talked with me. They gave me pencils, and school books. I hope things get better but security is still the main problem here." (Shannon Stapleton/Reuters)

Ihab Najam, 23, an unemployed former security guard, poses for a portrait at his home in Baghdad on December 11, 2011. When asked, "What do you see for the future of Iraq now that the United States military is leaving the country?'', Najam replied, "I expect worse days to come now. When the Americans leave, the Iraqi army will not be able to fight al Queda. Even when the Americans were here they could not stop all the bombings, and neither will the Iraqis." (Shannon Stapleton/Reuters)

Saad Moslem ,63, a fishmonger, poses for a portrait inside a fish market in Baghdad on December 10, 2011. When asked, "What do you see for the future of Iraq now that the United States military is leaving the country?'', Moslem replied, "Iraq is more stable now. I hope everything is going to be fine. All depends on God. In my neighborhood there is no electricity, no water. We have to buy water to drink. Hopefully nothing will happen." (Shannon Stapleton/Reuters)#

genesis

2012-01-10T16:30:00.000+02:00

FOTOGRAFIAS HISTORICA

2012-01-09T17:05:00.000+02:00

2012: Marking the New Year

2012-01-08T16:56:00.000+02:00

Around the world people celebrated with fireworks, kisses, blessings, gatherings, cheers, watching the sunrise and plunges into icy bodies of water to welcome in a new year. Here's a look back at how some of them marked the transition.

Fireworks explode in the sky over Bucharest, Romania, at midnight, Sunday, Jan. 1, 2012, during street celebrations of the new year. Large crowds gathered downtown Romania's capital taking advantage of the dry weather to attend the celebrations. (Vadim Ghirda/Associated Press)

Steve Macwithey kisses Lauren Macwithey in Times Square during a celebration to mark the start of the new year in New York, Jan. 1, 2012. (Kena Betancur/Reuters)

The historic riflemen corps fire gun salutes to welcome the new year on Jan. 1, 2012 in Villingen-Schwenningen in the Black Forest, southern Germany. The traditional shooting has taken place for the first time in the year 1633. (Patrick Seeger/AFP/Getty Images)

A long time exposure shows Filipino youths creating "2012" to bring in the New Year with sparklers at a public park in Manila. Filipinos welcomed in the New Year with fireworks and celebrations. (Romeo Gacad/AFP/Getty Images)

Family members raise their hands to receive the first sunrays of 2012 in Cancun, Mexico, Sunday, Jan. 1, 2012. ( Israel Leal/Associated Press)

Malaysians react as they watch fireworks explode during New Year celebrations at Independence Square in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, Sunday, Jan. 1, 2012. (Lai Seng Sin/Associated Press)

Patty Pique, of Jackson, Tenn., comes to Peach Drop 2012 to celebrate their New Year's Eve at Underground Atlanta, Dec. 31, 2011, in Atlanta. (Hyosub Shin/Associated Press/Atlanta Journal-Constitution)

Wishes for 2012 written on confetti that will be released in New York's Times Square during the New Year celebration are on display at the Times Square visitor center, Thursday, Dec. 29, 2011 in New York. The Times Square Alliance conducted it's airworthiness test Thursday in preparation for the release of one ton of confetti by hand from various buildings in Times Square at midnight on New YearI`s Eve. (Mary Altaffer/Associated Press)

Revelers cheer behind police barricades in Times Square in anticipation of midnight on New Year's Eve, Saturday, Dec. 31, 2011, in New York. Some revelers, wearing party hats and "2012" glasses, began camping out Saturday morning, as workers readied bags stuffed with hundreds of balloons and technicians put colored filters on klieg lights. (John Minchillo/Associated Press)

Workman begin the task of cleaning up after thousands of revelers gathered in New York's Times Square to celebrate the ball drop at the annual New Years Eve celebration on Dec. 31, 2011 in New York City. (Jemal Countess/Getty Images)

Fireworks light up the London skyline and Big Ben just after midnight on Jan. 1, 2012 in London, England. Thousands of people lined the banks of the River Thames in central London to see in the New Year with a spectacular fireworks display. (Dan Kitwood/Getty Images)

Fireworks explode over the Sydney Harbour Bridge and Opera House during a pyrotechnic show to celebrate the New Year Jan. 1, 2012. (Daniel Munoz/Reuters)

Fireworks light the sky above the Quadriga at the Brandenburg Gate in Berlin shortly after midnight, greeting the New Year, Sunday, Jan. 1, 2012. Hundred thousands of people celebrated the beginning of the New Year 2012 in Germany's capital. (Michael Sohn/Associated Press)

People gather to celebrate the new year 2012 at the Temple of Heaven, the city's historic landmark in Beijing on Jan. 1, 2012. Spectacular fireworks and crowded parties will ring in the New Year for people around the world, as billions mark the end of 2011 with noisy celebrations from Sydney to Stockholm. (Jin/Agence/AFP/Getty Images)

Confetti drops as a Filipino blows his paper horn as they welcome the New Year at Manila's Rizal Park, Philippines on Sunday Jan. 1, 2012. More than 200 people have been injured by illegal firecrackers and celebratory gunfire in the Philippines despite a government campaign against reckless New Year revelries, officials recently said. (Aaron Favila/Associated Press)

A Pakistani barber gives a 2012 hair cut on a man to celebrate New Year at a barber shop in Rawalpindi, on Dec. 31, 2011. (Strdel/AFP/Getty Images)

A friend pours Jon Knebel, of Iowa City, Iowa, a glass of champagne at Airliner in Iowa City on Jan. 1, 2011. ( David Scrivner/Associated Pres/The Gazette)

People dance during New Year's celebrations in Madrid, Spain, Jan. 1, 2012. (Andres Kudacki/Associated Press)

A couple stands in a doorway at sunrise wearing fancy dress following New Year celebrations, in Pamplona northern Spain, Sunday, Jan. 1, 2012. (Alvaro Barrientos/Associated Press)

People gather on Red Square to celebrate the New Year Day in Moscow, January 1, 2012. (Denis Sinyakov/Reuters)

Vikings lead the torchlight procession as it makes its way along Princess Street for the start of the New Year celebrations Dec. 30, 2011 in Edinburgh, Scotland. Thousands of people joined in the torchlight procession, followed by the burning of a Viking long ship, to mark the start of Edinburgh's Hogmanay celebrations. (Jeff J Mitchell/Getty Images)

Artists perform in the streets of Johannesburg on Dec. 31, 2011 during the New Year's carnival. (Stephane De Sakutin/AFP/Getty Images)

People make offerings to Yemanja, the Goddess of the Sea of the Afro-American religion Umbanda, on Dec. 31, 2011 at a Paranoa Lake beach in Brasi¨-lia. Hundreds of worshippers are gathering at this place of the Brazilian capital to make their offerings and pray for the new year. (Pedro Ladeira/AFP/Getty Images)

Young Sri Lankan boys play with firecrackers on the eve of the New Year, as the sun sets in Colombo, Sri Lanka, Saturday, Dec. 31, 2011. (Eranga Jayawardena/Associated Press)

Pakistani civil rights activists shout slogans in a peace rally to mark the New Year in Lahore on Jan. 1, 2012. Three people were killed and at least 60 wounded by stray bullets in the port city of Karachi today as Pakistanis celebrated the new year by firing their guns into the air, police said. (Arif Ali/AFP/Getty Images)

Sri Lankan Buddhist devotee offers prayers at a Kelaniya Temple in Kelaniya on Jan. 1, 2012. Many Sri Lankans marked the beginning of the New Year with religious ceremonies. ( Ishara S.Kodikara/AFP/Getty Images)

Marco Fois of Italy dives into Rome's river Tiber as part of traditional New Year celebrations on Jan. 1, 2011. Divers jump from the Cavour bridge, continuing an annual tradition which dates back to 1946. (Gabriel Bouys/AFP/Getty Images)

Hardy Dutch swimmers brave the icy North Sea on Jan. 1, 2012 in Scheveningen, Netherlands. A record number of 10,000 people took the plunge in this year's traditional New Year's dip. The high turnout was attributed to the mild weather with a sea temperature of 8 degrees compared to 4 degrees last year. (Jasper Juinen/Getty Images)

A man takes part in the annual Coney Island Polar Bear Club New Year's Day swim at Coney Island on Jan. 1, 2012 in the Brooklyn borough of New York City. The Coney Island Polar Bear Club claims to be the oldest winter bathing organization in the U.S. and attracts hundreds to the beach for the annual swim in the Atlantic Ocean. (Allison Joyce/Getty Images)

Chinese winter swimmers perform a dragon dance on a frozen lake to celebrate the New Year in Shenyang in northeast China's Liaoning province, Sunday, Jan. 1, 2012. (Associated Press)

Revelers run into English Bay during the annual New Year's Day Polar Bear Swim in Vancouver, British Columbia on Jan. 1, 2012. (Ben Nelms/Reuters)

A couple kiss during the New Year's Day Looney Dook swim at South Queensferry in Scotland Jan. 1, 2012. (David Moir/Reuters)

NATO troops from the U.S.-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) celebrate New Year's Eve in Kabul Dec. 31, 2011. (Omar Sobhani/Reuters)

A shaman performs a ritual for good luck in 2012 as he prays in front of an image of Argentina's President Cristina Fernandez in Lima, Peru, Thursday Dec. 29, 2011. Fernandez was diagnosed with treatable thyroid cancer on Tuesday, and will undergo surgery on Jan. 4. (Karel Navarro/Associated Press)

Children of migrant workers lie on the snow to form the number "2012" while celebrating the coming new year in front of a snow sculpture in Harbin, in northeastern China's Heilongjiang province, Friday, Dec. 30, 2011. (Associated Press)

A man lights an Old Man effigy which symbolizes burning the past and getting ready to start a happy New Year without bad memories of the past in Mumbai, India, Sunday, Jan. 1, 2012. (Rafiq Maqbool/Associated Press)

The New Year sunrise lights up an area devastated by the March 2011 tsunami in Kesennuma, Miyagi prefecture, in this photo taken by Kyodo on Jan 1, 2012. The tsunami reached three-fourths of the height of the tower seen in the center. (Kyodo/Reuters)

A young girl from the Gurung community attired in festive clothing participates in a parade to mark Tamu Loshar, or New Year of the Gurung community, in Katmandu, Nepal, Friday, Dec. 30, 2011. (Niranjan Shrestha/Associated Press)

Confetti pours from volunteers on the second floor of the Creative Discovery falls onto the several hundred children crowded together to celebrated the turning of a new year during the New Year's at Noon celebration at the museum, Saturday, Dec. 31, 2011, in Chattanooga Tenn. ( Jenna Walker/Associated Press/Chattanooga Times Free Press)

In a Sunday, Jan. 1, 2011 photo, Jolene Anthony (left) holds her daughter, Kylee, while her husband, John Anthony, holds their son, John, at Rapid City Regional Hospital in Rapid City, S.D.. Baby John was the first baby of the new year at the hospital while his sister was the last baby of 2011. (Ryan Soderlin/Associated Press/Rapid City Journal)

A New Year's hat is seen among other debris in Times Square after 2012 New Year's Eve celebrations in New York, Sunday, Jan. 1, 2012. (Tina Fineberg/Associated Press)

Stayin' Alive (original rare version)

2012-01-07T01:16:00.000+02:00

50 best photos from The Natural World

2012-01-06T01:19:00.000+02:00

We share our world with many other species and live in an ever-changing environment. Fortunately, photographers around the world have captured the moments and beauty that allow us to see amazing views of this awe-inspiring planet. This is a collection of favorite photos from The Natural World gallery in 2011, a showcase of images of animals and environment that runs on Boston.com throughout the year. Next week's posts will take a look at the year in photos, so stay tuned. -Leanne Burden Seidel (50 photos total)

Seahorses are displayed at an endangered species exhibition at London Zoo. ( Dan Kitwood/Getty Images)

A buffalo cools off in a pond in the outskirts of Jammu in Kashmir. (Mukesh Gupta/Reuters)

Lightning flashes around the ash plume of the Puyehue-Cordon Caulle volcano chain near Entrelagos, Chile. (Carlos Gutierrez/Reuters)

An Abyssinian Colobus baby yawns at the Nogeyama Zoological Gardens in Yokohama, Japan. (Itsuo Inouye/Associated Press)

Clouds roll in and out of Paris, Texas, behind the Eiffel Tower replica. (Sam Craft/The Paris News via Associated Press)#

A zebra stands in its enclosure in the Berlin zoo. (Johannes Eisele/AFP/Getty Images)

A lion's mane jellyfish swims beneath the waters at the Farne Islands, England. The archipelago of 16 to 28 separate islands (depending on the tide) off Northumberland is a summer home to many kinds of wildlife. (Dan Kitwood/Getty Images)

A female Amur tiger, Iris, licks its 7-week-old cub during one of their first walks in an open-air cage at the Royev Ruchey zoo in Krasnoyarsk, Russia. The Amur tiger is an endangered species. (Ilya Naymushin/Reuters)

A snake at a snake farm in Zisiqiao village, also known as the snake town, in Zhejiang Province, China. Residents raise more than 3 million snakes a year for food and medicinal purposes. (Aly Song/Reuters)#

A swarm of bees, partly loaded with pollen, returns to its hive in Frankfurt am Main, Germany. (Frank Rumpenhorst/AFP/Getty Images)

A one-week-old jaguar cub plays with her mother Rosa Salvaje at the National Zoo in Managua, Nicaragua. (Esteban Felix/Associated Press)#

A water bird flies over a Danube Delta canal next to Tulcea city, east of Bucharest. (Daniel Mihailescu/AFP/Getty Images)

A rare baby Siamese crocodile hatches from an egg at the Lao Zoo outside Vientiane, Laos. Last month, 20 baby crocodiles were hatched from eggs found in a lake in southern Laos; they will eventually be released into the wild. (Wildlife Conservation Society/Associated Press)

Two 3-month-old crowned lemurs lay on their mother's back at the zoo in Mulhouse, France. Every year there are about 250 to 350 births at the Mulhouse zoo. (Sebastien Bozon/AFP/Getty Images)#

Horses fight during the Rapa Das Bestas traditional event in Sabucedo, Spain. Hundreds of wild horses are rounded up, trimmed, and groomed in Spain's northwestern region of Galicia on the first weekend of July. (Miguel Vidal/Reuters)

A swan walks through a green field in Kamp-Lintfort, Germany. (Roland Weihrauch/AFP/Getty Images)

A chameleon waits to be weighed and measured in the reptile house at the London Zoo. Every year the keepers record the heights and weights of more than 750 different species in the International Species Information System, where they can be shared with zoos across the world. (Ki Price/AFP/Getty Images)

Iblis, an Asiatic lion, plays with a recycled Christmas tree in his enclosure at the Chester Zoo in England. Unsold Christmas trees donated to the zoo are used in the animal enrichment program. (Phil Noble/Reuters)

A pony grazes in a meadow at sunset in Lausanne, Switzerland. (Fabrice Coffrini/AFP/Getty Images)

A murmuration of starlings fill the evening sky above Gretna, Scotland. (Scott Heppell/Associated Press)#

Water drops cling to the bottom of a leaf in Harrisonburg, Va. (Justin Falls/Daily News Record, via Associated Press)

Kamchatka brown bear Mascha and one of her two 3-month-old cubs nuzzle in Hagenbecks Zoo in Hamburg, Germany. (Fabian Bimmer/Reuters)

Ana Julia Torres kisses Jupiter, a lion rescued from a circus 12 years ago, at Villa Lorena shelter, in Cali, Colombia. Torres, 52, a teacher, founded the shelter, which protects about 600 animals seized from drug traffickers, circuses, animal traffickers, or abandoned by their owners. (Luis Robayo/AFP/Getty Images)

Lesser flamingoes rest on their only breeding ground, Lake Natron, at the foot of Ol Doinyo Lengai in Tanzania. (Tony Karumba/AFP/Getty Images)

Marine life is rich in the Indonesian waters of Raja Ampat between the Pacific and Indian oceans. (Ebram Harimurti/AFP/Getty Images)

An Egyptian goose attacks its reflection in Anish Kapoor's sculpture "Sky Mirror 2006" in Hyde Park in London. (Luke MacGregor /Reuters)

A new blue phalaenopsis orchid called "Blue Mystique" is sold by Bachman's florists in Minneapolis. The color is achieved using a patented process from Europe that colors the flowers from the inside. (Chris Polydoroff/The St. Paul Pioneer Press via Associated Press)#

A colony of Gentoo penguins enters the water at the Sea Life London Aquarium in central London. The nine Gentoos are a new adition to the aquarium after being transfered from Edinburgh Zoo's thriving colony. (Ben Stansall/AFP/Getty Images)

A cat clings to a rock surrounded by rapids in Akron Falls Park in Akron, N.Y. (David Duprey/Associated Press)

A giant panda cub holds on to a log at the Chengdu Research Base of Giant Panda Breeding in China. (China Daily/Reuters)

A black rhino is transported by helicopter in South Africa. Nineteen of the critically endangered animals established by the WWF Black Rhino Range Expansion Project were moved from the Eastern Cape to a new location in Limpopo province. (Green Renaissance-World Wildlife Fund/Associated Press)

Csui, a male African leopard, reacts after being vaccinated in Nyiregyhaza Animal Park in Hungary. (Attila Balazs/Associated Press)

A bird sits on a perch in Sausalito, Calif., as clouds passed over the San Francisco skyline. (Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)

Tam Dao, a 2-week-old Francois leaf monkey, is presented to the media at Taronga zoo in Sydney. Less than 1,000 of the monkeys exist in the wild. (Daneil Munoz/Reuters)

A polar bear jumps into the water at the St.-Felicien Wildlife Zoo in Quebec. (Mathieu Belanger/Reuters)

A cicada emerges from its shell at a home in Fort Smith, Ark. There are more than 1,500 species of cicada. (Kaia Larsen/Times Record via Associated Press)

A 4-day-old African spurred tortoise, one of eight babies, sunbathes on its mother's head in the animal park in Nyiregyhaza, Hungary. (Attila Balazs/MTI via Associated Press)

An owl perches in front of Greenpeace activists who were arrested for raising an inflatable model of a wind turbine in front of Congress in Brasilia. (Ueslei Marcelino/Reuters)

Long-tailed mayflies mate on the surface of the Tisza river near Tiszakurt, Hungary. Millions of these short-lived mayflies engage in a frantic rush to mate and reproduce before they perish in just a few hours. (Laszlo Balogh/Reuters)

A pink flamingo (Phoenicopterus ruber) rests at the zoo in Cali, Valle del Cauca department, Colombia. (Luis Robayo/AFP/Getty Images)

Sheep graze on a field at the Siennese clays area near Asciano, Italy. The Crete Senesi, located in Tuscany, consists of an untouched natural landscape of hills and woods. (Max Rossi/Reuters)

An Asian elephant sprays sand in its enclosure at the zoo in Karlsruhe, Germany. (Alex Domanski/Reuters)

Shinmoedake volcano erupts between Miyazaki and Kagoshima prefectures, Japan. (Kyodo/Reuters)

Rapeseed blooms in a field near Prevonloup, Switzerland. ( Fabrice Coffrini/AFP/Getty Images)

A pair of great gray owls, or Lapland owls, sit inside an open air cage at the Royev Ruchey zoo in Russia's Siberian city of Krasnoyarsk.( Ilya Naymushin/Reuters)

Tree frogs sit on a leaf at an amphibian feeding camp outside Hanoi. Vietnam's first amphibian breeding farm was established in 2004 with the aim of promoting environmental awareness, conservation, and for export as pets. (Kham /Reuters)

A turtle swims with sardines at the COEX Aquarium in Seoul, South Korea. (Lee Jin-man/Associated Press)

A duck sits on top of volcanic ash from the eruption of the Grimsvotn volcano on a farm west of Skaftafell, Iceland. (Lucas Jackson/Reuters)

A hawk attacks a rabbit during an annual traditional hunting competition near the village of Uzynagash, Kazakhstan. (Shamil Zhumatov/Reuters)

An eight-month-old baby sloth Camillo yawns at the zoo in Halle, eastern Germany. (Waltraud Grubitzsch/DPA via AFP/Getty Images)

Homelessness around the world

2012-01-05T02:26:00.000+02:00

Boston conducted its 32nd census of the city’s homeless population earlier this week. A report to the United Nations in 2005 stated there were an estimated 100 million homeless people in the world, and an additional 1.6 billion living without adequate housing. Here are some images of homelessness across the globe, collected from wire images this year.

01. John Filliger who has been homeless for the past five years, lies wrapped in bedding on Washington Street in the heart of the Downtown Crossing area of Boston Dec. 12. Filliger, who was offered a bed in a shelter for the evening, stayed on the street for the night and was counted in the annual homeless census. (Charles Krupa/Associated Press)

02. A homeless man keeps himself warm near a bonfire on the pavement in New Delhi, India, Dec. 13. According to a news agency, India's Supreme Court has directed state governments to build adequate number of night shelters to ensure that no homeless person has to sleep under the open sky this winter. Though India is famous for its brutally hot summers, temperatures fall sharply for a few weeks in Dec. and Jan. Poor people, particularly those living on the streets, are the worst hit. (Mustafa Quraishi/Associated Press)

03. Beverly McKinney, 63, sleeps in her wheelchair at St. Martin de Porres Church in Yorba Linda, Ca., because a knee injury prevents her from sleeping on the floor, she said. Her possessions include two blankets, food, spare clothes and her husband's ashes. She has been homeless since his death in Aug. (Mindy Schauer/Associated Press/Orange County Regsiter)

04. Wiley James Hickman peeks over the school bus seat on his way to school at Libby Booth Elemantery in Reno, Nev. By Washoe County School District's definition, Wiley is a Child in Transition, or homeless. (Andy Barron/Associated Press/The Reno Gazette-Journal)

05. Homeless Egyptian children play near electoral campaign posters in Giza, southwest of Cairo on Dec. 13 ahead of the second phase of voting in parliamentary elections. (Mohammed Abed/AFP/Getty Images)

06. A homeless man warms his foot by the flames of a fire in Kabul, Afghanistan. (Ahmad Masood/Reuters)

07. A homeless man sleeps on the pavement early in the morning during Spain's General Elections on Nov. 20 in Barcelona. Spaniards are going to the polls today to vote for Spain's new Prime Minister and 208 directly elected seats in the Senate, the Spanish Parliament's upper house. (David Ramos/Getty Images)

08. Shoppers pass a homeless woman on Fifth Avenue on "Black Friday" Nov. 25 in New York City. Marking the start of the holiday shopping season, "Black Friday" is one of American retailers' busiest days of the year. (Michael Nagle/Getty Images)

09. Residents sift through the ruins of their houses after a fire in Makati city, Metro Manila. Fire razed at least 900 shanty houses leaving more than 2,000 families homeless, police said. (Erik De Castro/Reuters)

10. Pakistanis walk past a homeless woman resting on a railway bridge in Rawalpindi on Nov.13. A United Nations report on global poverty, has pointed to higher poverty levels in India rather than Pakistan and India, the world's second fastest growing economy, has been ranked as poorer than in Pakistan. (Farooq Naeem/AFP/Getty Images)

11. A homeless man eats outside the Hospital San Juan de Dios in Guatemala City Nov. 29. According to the National Coordinator for Disaster Reduction more than 1,400 homeless people have sought refuge in 13 shelters around the country due to low temperatures. (Jorge Dan Lopez/Reuters)

12. A homeless man waits to get food donations beside a street in Las Vegas on Nov. 13. The Labor Department said the economy managed to break away from three months of 9.1 percent unemployment in October, but that jobs are being generated at a pace that offers little succor to the 14 million Americans looking for work. US officials have launched an independent review process in which individuals can challenge foreclosures carried out by 14 major lenders in the wake of the 2008 financial crisis. Independent consultants would assess if borrowers lost out financially "through errors, misrepresentations or other deficiencies in foreclosure practices," the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency said. (Jewel Samad/AFP/Getty Images)

13. A homeless man sleeps in a park as birds look for food in Colombo, Sri Lanka Nov. 24. (Gemunu Amarasinghe/Associated Press)

14. Shoppers walk past a homeless man begging along a pavement n in Sydney Dec. 8. Australia's unemployment rate unexpectedly rose to 5.3 percent in Nov., data showed on Dec. 8, with the number of people at work falling as businesses cut costs. (Torsten Blackwood/AFP/Getty Images)

15. A homeless man begs for money during the launch of the Christmas celebrations and the illumination of Athens central Syntagma square Dec. 9. There will be no central Christmas tree in Athens this year, and the city estimated the cost of the 2011 Christmas celebrations at 200,000 euros (267,400 US dollars), roughly 10 percent of the previous year's spendings for the season. (Louisa Gouliamaki/AFP/Getty Images)

16. Homeless people sit inside a shelter named The Crypt (Die Gruft) in Vienna Dec. 1. The Crypt is a facility cared by Caritas and solicits for donations from the public during the cold winter season. (Lisi Niesner/Reuters)

17. A homeless man sits on the stairs in front of the BNP Paribas Bank at la Defense business district, near Paris Nov. 10. The European Union warned that the 17 country eurozone could slip back into recession next year as the debt crisis spins out of control. The EU's economic watchdog, the European Commission, predicted that the eurozone will grow only a paltry 0.5 percent in 2012 way down from its earlier forecast of 1.8 percent growth. EU unemployment will be stuck at 9.5 percent for the foreseeable future. (Michel Euler/Associated Press)

18. An Armenian family from Georgia waits in the emergency room of the Angers University Hospital in Angers, western France Nov. 9. The family was sent to the hospital by members of SAMU Social, a social humanitarian emergency service to assist the homeless. Asylum seekers from Sudan, Somalia, Eritrea and eastern Europe are demanding the right to remain in France. The city of Angers asked for greater provision of humanitarian aid to cope with the large number of asylum seekers. (Stephane Mahe/Reuters)

19. A homeless man stands in the sunny part of a central Athens alley to get warm Dec. 9. Debt-crippled Greece is heading for a fourth year of recession among high unemployment. The country's statistical authority said Friday that the economy shrunk 5 percent on the year in the third quarter, compared to 7.4 percent on the year in the April-June period. (Petros Giannakouris/Associated Press)

20. A homeless man sleeps outside a bank in Athens Nov. 25. Since the debt crisis erupted in late 2009, tens of thousands of people have lost their jobs or businesses and many others struggle on in employment where they haven't seen a paycheck in months. The number of homeless has shot up by about a quarter over the past two years to reach an estimated 20,000, social workers say. (Petros Giannakouris/Associated Press)

21. Children from a local skate club distribute food to the homeless along a street in Las Vegas on Nov. 13. The Labor Department said the economy managed to break away from three months of 9.1 percent unemployment in October, but that jobs are being generated at a pace that offers little succor to the 14 million Americans looking for work. (Jewel Samad/AFP/Getty Images)

22. A woman sits on a mattress in a municipal shelter in Guatemala City Nov. 29. According to Guatemala's National Coordinator for Disaster Reduction more than 1,400 homeless people have sought refuge in 13 shelters around the country due to low temperatures. (Jorge Dan Lopez/Reuters)

23. Two men play cards Nov. 23 in a house that was destroyed by the earthquake in the Fort Nationale neighborhood of Port-au-Prince, Haiti. An ambitious reconstruction panel, co-chaired former US President Bill Clinton, was created 3 months after the Jan. 2010 earhtquake to coordinate the efforts to rebuild Haiti after the quake destroyed much of the capital and surrounding area, throwing more than a million homeless into huge, squalid resettlement camps. Almost two years after an earthquake devastated Haiti, less than half the $4.6 billion in pledged aid has been distributed and political squabbling is threatening to bringing a coordinated reconstruction efforts to an abrupt halt. (Ramon Espinosa/Associated Press)

24. Angelic Davis, holds, her three-month-old son Richard Williams IV at a homeless shelter in Dallas Dec. 12. The recession and unemployment have created a man made disaster that has caused a steady increase in the number of homeless children in Texas. (Lm Otero/Associated Press)

25. Homeless people sleep in an open ground area near the Jama Masjid mosque in New Delhi, India Dec. 13. According to a news agency, India's Supreme Court has directed state governments to build adequate number of night shelters to ensure that no homeless person has to sleep under the open sky this winter. (ustafa Quraishi/Associated Press)

26. A homeless man covers himself with a plastic banner to shield himself from the cold near Jama Masjid mosque in New Delhi, India. (Mustafa Quraishi/Associated Press)

27. A homeless man, with a sign that reads in Spanish "Tigres champion" hanging from his neck and a cap with the words Merry Christmas begs for money in Monterrey, Mexico Dec. 12. Tigres won Mexico's Apertura 2011 soccer championship after defeating Santos Laguna 3-1 at home on Dec 11. (Daniel Jayo/Associated Press)

28. Jackie Millet, 60, who is homeless, poses for a photo at the Occupy Eugene site Dec. 7 in Eugene, Ore. "For the homeless we need a place to be. We don't need to be criminalized," Millet said. (Kevin Clark/Associated Press/The Register-Guard)

29. A homeless woman and her child sleep on a bench in a park in Manila's Chinatown Dec. 13. (Erik De Castro/Reuters)

30. Homeless women look on during the baptism of former homeless alcoholic Sergei Ratov in Stavropol, Russia. The Brotherhood of the Holy Spirit is a group of around 70 reformed alcoholics and drug users who have built a rehabilitation centre outside Stavropol, with the support of the Orthodox church. (Eduard Korniyenko/Reuters)

31. Clients line up at St. Martin de Porres Church in Yorba Linda, Ca. The church takes in about 150 homeless people bused from Fullerton and Santa Ana, offering them a hot meal, new socks and backpacks and a warm place to sleep for the evening. (Mindy Schauer/Orange County Register, via Associated Press

Evanescence - My Immortal

2012-01-03T15:04:00.000+02:00

Toilet paper of Chuck Norris

2012-01-03T07:47:00.000+02:00

Megan Fox Emporio Armani 2011

2012-01-02T23:16:00.000+02:00

History Exam Commercial

2012-01-02T08:03:00.001+02:00

happy new year!

2012-01-01T15:55:00.000+02:00

Best fails of 2011

2011-12-31T08:27:00.000+02:00

happy new year!

The 2011 Year in 132 Pictures. Take a deeeep breath

2011-12-31T01:22:00.000+02:00

Any "best of" list must surely be subjective. This one is no different. Choosing the best photographs of the year is an enormously difficult task, with many terrific photographs slipping through the cracks. But with major news events as a guide, and with single images I fell in love with throughout the year forcing their way into the edit, I look at my favorite pictures from the first four months of the year. Two main stories dominated headlines in the first part of the year: the Japan earthquake and tsunami, and the rising of the Arab Spring. The protests in the Middle East would spread to Greece, Spain, and eventually inspire the Occupy movement in Western nations. Other stories included a historic wave of tornados in the U.S., a Royal wedding in London, and the creation of the world's newest nation in South Sudan. Images from the rest of the year will follow in posts later this week.

A wave caused by a tsunami flows into the city of Miyako from the Heigawa estuary in Iwate Prefecture after a magnitude 8.9 earthquake struck Japan March 11, 2011. (Mainichi Shimbun /Reuters)

A pleasure boat sits on top of a building amid a sea of debris in Otsuchi town in Iwate prefecture on March 14, 2011. (Yomiuri Shimbun/AFP/Getty Images)

Sixty-six-year-old Yoshikatsu Hiratsuka cries in front of his collapsed house with a family member still missing, possibly buried in the rubble, at Onagawa town in Miyagi prefecture on March 17, 2011. (Yomiuri Shimbun/AFP/Getty Images)

Vehicle headlamps illuminated a disaster area in Yamada town in Iwate prefecture on March 16, 2011. (Str/AFP/Getty Images)

Residents bathe amongst tsunami devastation in Kesennuma city in Miyagi prefecture on April 14, 2011. (Yasuyoshi Chiba/AFP/Getty Images)

A protester holds a soldier's leg for safety as shots are fired in front of the headquarters of the Constitutional Democratic Rally party of ousted president Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali during a demonstration in downtown Tunis on January 20, 2011. (Zohra Bensemra /Reuters)

Family members grieve during the funeral procession of anti-government protester Abdul Ridha Mohammed on February 22, 2011 in Malkiya, Bahrain. He had been shot in the head when security forces attacked anti-government demonstrators. (John Moore/Getty Images)

Anti-government protesters celebrate inside Tahrir Square after the announcement that Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak had resigned on February 11, 2011. (Amr Abdallah Dalsh/Reuters)

An opposition supporter takes shelter while providing water during riots with pro-Mubarak demonstrators near Tahrir Square in Cairo on February 3, 2011. (Goran Tomasevic/Reuters)

Anti-government activists clash with riot police in Cairo on January 28, 2011. (Ben Curtis/AP)

A warplane of government forces crashes after being shot down over the outskirts of Benghazi in eastern Libya. (Anja Niedringhaus/AP)

A rebel fighter celebrates as his comrades fire a rocket barrage toward the positions of government troops on April 14, 2011 west of Ajdabiyah, Libya. (Chris Hondros/Getty Images)

Rebels hold a young man at gunpoint who they accuse of being a government loyalist, between the towns of Brega and Ras Lanuf in Libya on March 3, 2011. (Goran Tomasevic /Reuters)

A motorcycle policeman burns as his colleague tries to help him after protesters threw a petrol bomb in Athens on February 23, 2011. Scores of youths hurled rocks and petrol bombs at riot police after clashes broke out during a general strike. (Dimitri Messinis/AP)

Two men celebrate after being pulled out from a destroyed building in Christchurch, New Zealand on February 22, 2011, 24 hours after a massive earthquake struck. (John Kirk-Anderson/Christchurch Press/Reuters)

Tsiuri Kakabadze, 80, performs during the "Super Grandmother and Super Grandfather" contest in Tbilisi on January 5, 2011. Twenty-four participants aged over 70 from all over Georgia competed. (David Mdzinarishvili /Reuters)

Prince William, Duke of Cambridge and Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge, kiss as Bridesmaids Grace Van Cutsem and Margarita Armstrong-Jones look on from the balcony at Buckingham Palace in London after the Royal wedding April 29, 2011. (Peter Macdiarmid/Getty Images)

After a tornado struck, Faye Hyde sits on a mattress in what was her yard as she comforts her granddaughter Sierra Goldsmith, 2, in Conord Ala. (Jeff Roberts/The Birmingham News/AP)

A southern Sudanese woman shows her inked finger after voting at a polling center in Khartoum on January 10, 2011. The historic vote created the world's newest nation as South Sudan gained independence. (Khaled Desouki/AFP/Getty Images)

Supporters of incumbent President Laurent Gbagbo raise their hands in a show of support at a rally in the Yopougon district of Abidjan, Ivory Coast on January 9, 2011. Gbagbo refused to recognize the results of a long-delayed election that he lost, and a long period of conflict ensued before he was removed from office. (Rebecca Blackwell/AP)

Visitors wearing rabbit ear headbands watch a night parade held to celebrate Chinese New Year -- the year of the rabbit -- in Hong Kong on February 3, 2011. (Tyrone Siu/Reuters)

Cambodian displaced people receive government aid at their shelter in a Buddhist pagoda after fleeing their villages near the 11th-century Preah Vihear temple on the border between Thailand and Cambodia on February 9, 2011. Thailand and Cambodia waged an armed standoff surrounding the 900-year-old temple, causing villagers to flee. (Damir Sagolj/Reuters)

Hundreds of cars were abandoned on Lake Shore Drive in Chicago after a winter blizzard of historic proportions wobbled an otherwise snow-tough Chicago, stranding drivers for up to 12 hours overnight on February 2, 2011. (Kiichiro Sato/AP)

A skier jumps before the Sapporo skyline during an official training session of the World Cup ski jumping competition at Okurayama Hill on January 14, 2011. (Kazuhiro Nogi/AFP/Getty Images)

Associated Press photographer David Guttenfelder was given unprecedented access to North Korea, and gave many people their first look at the reclusive country, including a Pyongyang skyline view on April 12, 2011. (David Guttenfelder/AP)

A float from the Beija Flor samba school parades through the Sambadrome during carnival celebrations in Rio de Janeiro on March 8, 2011. (Felipe Dana/AP)

A vendor jumps from the top of one overcrowded train to another on January 23, 2011 as thousands of Muslims return home after attending the three-day Islamic Congregation on the banks of the River Turag in Tongi, Bangladesh. The congregation, held each year since 1966, is among the world's largest religious gatherings. (Pavel Rahman/AP)

As the Cricket World Cup played out in host countries India, Bangladesh, and Sri Lanka, children enjoy the game on railway tracks March 10, 2011 in Chittagong, Bangladesh. (Tom Shaw/Getty Images)

A man rides his horse through flames during the "Luminarias" religious celebration on the eve of Saint Anthony's Day in the village of San Bartolome de los Pinares, Spain on January 16, 2011. According to tradition people from the area ride their horses through the fire to purify the animals. (Andrea Comas /Reuters)

Homeless people warm themselves by a fire in the old quarters of Delhi on January 13, 2011. According to local media reports there are over 67,000 homeless in Delhi, of whom 15 percent are women and 10 percent children. (Adnan Abidi/Reuters)

The aurora borealis, or northern lights, fill the sky above the Takotna, Alaska checkpoint during the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race on March 9, 2011. (Bob Hallinen/The Anchorage Daily News/AP)

The Nyiragongo Crater in the Democratic Republic of Congo is the world's largest lava lake, one of the wonders of the African continent. The crater bubbles 1,300 feet deep. (Olivier Grunewald)

A fisherman arranges a net as his wife paddles their boat in the waters of the Periyar river on the outskirts of Kochi, India on January 5, 2011. (Sivaram V/Reuters)

Twenty five years ago on April 26 the number four reactor in the Chernobyl nuclear power facility exploded. The town of Pripyat, less than two miles from the plant, now sits abandoned, slowly consumed by returning forest. (Sergey Ponomarev/AP)

Men stand next to an auto rickshaw near farmers' fields on January 20, 2011 in Afghanistan. (Kevin Frayer/AP)

A woman uses a stick to rinse her laundry in an ice hole at Siverskoye Lake in the town of Kirillov, Russia on January 17, 2011. (Mikhail Voskresensky/Reuters)#

Nature at its full force with floods, drought, wild fires, tornadoes and spectacular images of volcanic eruptions. The death of Osama bin Laden, the attack on an island in Norway by a lone gunman, continued fighting in Libya, and protests around the globe were a few of the news events dominating the headlines.

A cloud of ash billowing from Puyehue volcano near Osorno in southern Chile, 870 km south of Santiago, on June 5. Puyehue volcano erupted for the first time in half a century on June 4, 2011, prompting evacuations for 3,500 people as it sent a cloud of ash that reached Argentina. The National Service of Geology and Mining said the explosion that sparked the eruption also produced a column of gas 10 kilometers (six miles) high, hours after warning of strong seismic activity in the area. (Claudio Santana/AFP/Getty Images) )

A plane dusted in volcanic ash June 7 sits grounded at the San Carlos de Bariloche airport, southern Argentina. The Puyehue volcano, dormant for decades, erupted in south-central Chile. (Alfredo Leiva/Associated Press)

People react to the death of Osama bin Laden in Times Square in New York early May 2. Al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden was killed in a firefight with U.S. forces in Pakistan on Sunday, President Barack Obama announced, ending a nearly 10-year worldwide hunt for the mastermind of the September 11 attacks. (Eric Thayer/Reuters)

This official White House photograph made available May 2, 2011 shows US President Barack Obama (2nd left) and Vice President Joe Biden (far left), US Secretary of Defense Robert Gates (right) and US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton (2nd right) along with members of the national security team, as they receive an update on the mission against Osama bin Laden in the Situation Room of the White House, in Washington, DC on May 1, 2011. (Pete Souza/official White House photographer)

Men injured by a suicide bomb attack in Charsadda are helped out from the back of a truck after arriving for treatment at the Lady Reading hospital in Peshawar May 13, 2011. A suicide bomber on a motorcycle killed at least 69 people at a paramilitary force academy in northwest Pakistan on Friday, in what Pakistani Taliban militants said was retaliation for the U.S. raid that killed Osama bin Laden in the country. (Reuters)

A wounded woman is brought ashore opposite Utaoya island (in the distance) after being rescued from a gunman who went on a killing rampage targeting participants in a Norwegian Labour Party youth organisation event on the island, some 40 km southwest of Oslo, on July 22. At total of 77 were killed in Friday's attacks in Norway, a bombing in central Oslo and a series of shootings on the island. Police had also found explosives on the island of Utoeya, where a gunman opened fire on young people at a summer camp organized by the ruling Labour Party, Sveinung Sponheim, acting commissioner for Oslo police, told reporters. (Svein Gustav Wilhelmsen/AFP/Getty Images)

People gather outside Oslo City Hall July 25 to participate in a "rose march" in memory of the victims of a bomb attack and shooting massacre in Norway. (Emilio Morenatti/Associated Press)

Halima Hassan holds her severely malnourished son Abdulrahman Abshir, 7 months, at the Banadir hospital on Aug. 14 in Mogadishu, Somalia. The US government estimates that some 30,000 children have died in southern Somalia in the last 90 days due to famine and drought. (John Moore/Getty Images

Protesters clash with riot police during a 48-hour general strike on June 28 in Athens. Greece is set to come to a halt on Tuesday as protesters launch a 48-hour general strike against the bankruptcy-threatened government which is desperately trying to push through sweeping austerity cuts. As parliament votes on the drastic belt-tightening measures to unlock 12 billion euros ($17 billion) of blocked funds from the EU and IMF, unions have called on Greeks facing hefty tax hikes to stage mass demonstrations. (Aris Messinis/AFP/Getty Images)

Police detain protesters during clashes in Tbilisi May 26. Georgian riot police used tear gas, rubber bullets and water cannon on Thursday to disperse several hundred opposition protesters demanding the resignation of President Mikheil Saakashvili, a Reuters reporter said. (Reuters)

Somali refugees who recently crossed the border from Somalia into southern Ethiopia cluster between two food tents as they wait to be called to collect food aid at the Kobe refugee camp on July 19. Ethiopian authorities and non-governmental organizations have accommodated almost 25,000 refugees at the camp since it was set up less then three weeks ago. Thousands of Somalis have fled in recent months to neighboring Ethiopia and Kenya in search of food and water, with many dying along the way, as the region suffers what the UN has described as the worst drought in decades. (Roberto Schmidt/AFP/Getty Images)

A painting of Amy Winehouse is left near the house in north London where the body of the English pop star was found earlier on July 23. Troubled British singer Amy Winehouse, whose struggle with drink and drugs overshadowed her sultry musical talents, has been found dead at her flat in north London, emergency services said. She was 27. (Carl Court/AFP/Getty Images)

Katlyn Wilkins works on securing an American flag in a tree as she deals with the destruction caused by a massive tornado that passed through the town killing at least 139 people on May 29 in Joplin, Mo. (Joe Raedle/Getty Images)

Cars stand submerged in overflow water from the Wolf River on McMiller Road in Memphis, Tenn. May 10, 2011. After weeks of rising to historic levels the Mississippi River reached a crest just shy of the forecast 48 feet at the Memphis gauge. "It's going to meander around that level for the next 24 to 36 hours," meteorologist Bill Borghoff said. "We're going to pretty much hold onto the crest for a while." (Mike Brown/Associated Press/The Commercial Appeal)

Space shuttle Atlantis blasts off from launch pad 39A at Kennedy Space Center July 8, 2011 in Cape Canaveral, FL. This lift off is the last in the 30-year-old shuttle program. (Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)

A butterfly hoaver over a flower as smoke rises around the Lee Valley Recreational area in the Apache National Forest during back burn operations as the Wallow Fire continues to burn June 12 in Big Lake, Az. The wild fire which is reported as 45 percent contained has spread over more than 600 square miles as it crossed the border into New Mexico, destroying over twenty structures, the majority in the resort town of Greer, and threatened thousands more. (Kevork Djansezian/Getty Images)

Billy Stinson (left) comforts his daughter Erin Stinson as they sit on the steps where their cottage once stood before it was destroyed by Hurricane Irene Aug. 28 in Nags Head, NC. The cottage, built in 1903, was one of the first vacation cottages built on Albemarle Sound in Nags Head. Stinson has owned the home, which is listed in the National Register of Historic Places, since 1963. "We were pretending, just for a moment, that the cottage was still behind us and we were just sitting there watching the sunset," said Erin afterward. (Scott Olson/Getty Images)

A weed grows out of the dry cracked bed of O.C. Fisher Lake on July 25 in San Angelo, TX. The 5,440 acre lake which was established to provide flood control and serve as a secondary drinking water source for San Angelo and the surrounding communities is now dry following an extended drought in the region. The lake which has a maximum depth of 58 feet is also used for boating, fishing and swimming. The San Angelo area has seen only 2.5 inches of rain this year. The past nine months have been the driest in Texas since record keeping began in 1895, with 75% of the state classified as exceptional drought, the worst level. (Scott Olson/Getty Images)

A leopard attacks a forest guard July 19 at Prakash Nagar village near Salugara, on the outskirts of Siliguri, India. The leopard strayed into the village area and mauled several villagers, including three guards, before being caught by forest officials. The leopard, which suffered injuries caused by knives and batons, died later in the evening at a veterinary center. The forest guard being attacked was injured. (Associated Press)

Japan's midfielder Homare Sawa celebrates scoring during the FIFA Women's Football World Cup final match Japan vs USA on July 17 in Frankfurt, Germany. Japan won the cup 3-1 in a penalty shoot-out after the final had finished 2-2 following extra-time. (Daniel Roland/AFP/Getty Images)

Riot police walk in the street as a couple kisses on June 15, 2011 in Vancouver, Canada. Vancouver broke out in riots after their hockey team the Vancouver Canucks lost in Game Seven of the Stanley Cup Finals. (Rich Lam/Getty Images)

The leading man, Spain's three-time Tour de France winner Alberto Contador (center) punches a fan dressed up as a doctor as he climbs Alpe d'Huez (1850 m) in the109,5 km and nineteenth stage of the 2011 Tour de France cycling race run between Modane Valfrejus and Alpe d'Huez ski resort, southeastern France, on July 22. (Lionel Bonaventure/AFP/Getty Images)

Dirk Nowitzki of the Dallas Mavericks celebrates a point against the Miami Heat in Game 6 of the NBA Finals on June 12 at the AmericanAirlines Arena in Miami, FL. Jason Terry scored 27 points and Nowitzki finished with 21 points and 11 rebounds as the Mavericks won 105-95 to take the best-of-seven championship series four-games-to-two to claim their first NBA championship in franchise history. (Don Emmert/AFP/Getty Images)

A calf jumps into the arena after the running of the bulls at the San Fermin fiestas in Pamplona, Spain. (Ivan Aguinaga/Associated Press

On July 5th a historic dust storm, or haboob, approaches downtown Phoenix, AZ. The wall of dust, which was estimated to be 70 miles long and over a mile high, moved at speeds of 35mph and had gusts up to 60mph. (Mike Olbinski Photography)

Lightning strikes the CN Tower during a thunderstorm in Toronto May 29, 2011. (Mark Blinch/Reuters)

Lightning strikes June 6th over the Puyehue volcano, over 500 miles south of Santiago, Chile. (Francisco Negroni/Associated Press/AgenciaUno)

Police spray Ugandan opposition party leaders with coloured water during demonstrations in Kampala May 10. President Yoweri Museveni has vowed to crush the protests and blamed rising food and fuel costs on drought and global increases in oil prices. (James Akena/Reuters)

An anti-British protestor confronts a cordon of riot police, during a demonstration against the first-ever visit to Ireland of Britain's Queen Elizabeth II, in Dublin, May 17, 2011. The Queen set foot on Irish soil at the start of a historic state visit which will herald a new era in relations between Britain and the Republic. Politicians on both side of the Irish Sea have described the four-day event as momentous. (Niall Carson/Associated Press)

Ratko Mladic makes his first appearance at the International Criminal Tribunal on June 3 in The Hague, Netherlands. Ex-Bosnian Serb army leader Ratko Mladic will make his first appearance at The Hague war crimes tribunal after being declared fit to stand trial. Mladic was arrested a week ago after going into hiding for the past 16 years and is charged with atrocities committed during the Bosnian war. (Serge Ligtenberg/Getty Images)

Riot police charge past burning buildings on a residential street in Croydon, south London Aug. 8. (Dylan Martinez/Reuters)

People try to kick in the window of a jewelery shop near the Bullring shopping centre in Birmingham, central England, as violence spread outside London Aug. 8. Violence and looting spread across some of London's most impoverished neighborhoods on Monday, with youths setting fire to shops and vehicles, during a third day of rioting in the city that will host next summer's Olympic Games. (David Jones/Associated Press)

A boy scout, wearing a traffic police uniform, poses as traffic goes by on a street in Benghazi June 2. Boy scouts are volunteering as there has been a lack of traffic police officers since the political conflict in the country began. (Mohammed Salem/Reuters)

A Sudan People's Liberation Army (SPLA) soldier stands at attention during an Independence Day rehearsal in Juba July 5. (Goran Tomasevic/Reuters)

Southern Sudanese celebrate independence from northern Sudan at midnight in Juba July 9. South Sudan became the world's newest nation, officially breaking away from Sudan after two civil wars over five decades that cost the lives of millions. (Pete Muller/Associated Press)

Emergency personnel carry out rescue operations after two carriages from a bullet train derailed and fell off a bridge in Wenzhou, Zhejiang province July 24. At least 32 people died when the high-speed train smashed into a stalled train in China's eastern Zhejiang province on Saturday, state media said, raising new questions about the safety of the fast-growing rail network. (Aly Song/Reuters)

A Muslim boy hangs on to the rope of a tent as he plays inside the compound of the Jama Masjid (Grand Mosque), on the first day of the holy month of Ramadan, in the old quarters of Delhi Aug. 2, 2011. (Adnan Abidi/Reuters)

Refugee children who fled unrest in Libya play on a tent at a refugee camp near the southern Libyan and Tunisian border crossing of Dehiba May 8. (Zohra Bensemra/Reuters)

Pro-Palestinians protesters run from tear gas June 5 shot by Israeli troops, not seen, next to the border between Israel and Syria near the village of Majdal Shams in the Golan Heights. Israeli troops battled hundreds of pro-Palestinian protesters who tried to burst across Syria's frontier with the Golan Heights, killing a reported 20 people and wounding scores more in the second outbreak of deadly violence in the border area in less than a month. (Oded Balilty/Associated Press)

Policemen and residents run as waves from a tidal bore surge past a barrier on the banks of the Qiantang River in Haining, Zhejiang province Aug. 31. (China Daily/Reuters)

Chinese students make their way across a flooded school compound June 18 walking along a row of chairs, in Wuhan, in central China's Hubei province. More than one million people in China have been evacuated following downpours that have raised water levels in rivers to critical highs, and triggered floods and landslides. Summer rains have left at least 168 people dead or missing so far, and weather authorities warned that flood-hit areas across the southern half of China would experience a fresh round of heavy rainfall. (AFP/Getty Images)

A Jewish boy runs next to bonfires May 21 during Lag Ba'Omer celebrations to commemorate the end of a plague said to have decimated Jews in Roman times in Bnei Brak, Israel. (Ariel Schalit/Associated Press)

Canadian Forces soldier, Cpl. Ben Vandandaigue, plays on a drum kit on Forward Operating Base Sperwan Ghar June 24 overlooking the Panjwaii district of Kandahar province, Afghanistan. (David Goldman/Associated Press)

A rebel fighter poses for a photo as he sits on a two seater couch framed by a golden mermaid with the face of Aisha Gadhafi, the daughter of Libyan dictator Moammar Gadhafi, in her house in Tripoli, Libya Aug. 24. (Sergey Ponomarev/Associated Press)

Rebel fighters fire a Grad rocket at the front line west of Misrata, Libya June 20. (Hassan Ammar/Associated Press)

Featuring images from the last quarter of 2011, we remember a tumultuous year of change across the globe, the capture of Khadafi, the 10th anniversary of the attacks on the World Trade Center, the passing of Apple icon Steve Jobs, fire, famine, flood and protests. A memorable year, indeed.

A defaced portrait of fugitive Libyan leader Moamer Kadhafi in Tripoli on Sept. 1, 2011 as the fallen strongman vowed again not to surrender in a message broadcast on the 42nd anniversary of the coup which brought him to power. (Patrick Baz/AFP/Getty Images)

An area destroyed by wildfire surrounds a water tower in Bastrop, Texas, Sept. 7, 2011 (Eric Gay/Associated Press)

The "Tribute in Light" shines above lower Manhattan, the Statue of Liberty, and One World Trade Center in New York. 2011 marks the 10th anniversary of the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks on the United States. (Mark Lennihan/Associated Press)

Nurunnaha Miah touches her son's name, engraved on the north pool at the National September 11 Memorial, during a ceremony marking the 10th anniversary of the attacks at the World Trade Center, Sept. 11, 2011. (Mary Altaffer/Associated Press)

Mahmoud Abbas, President of the Palestinian Authority, shows a copy of the letter requesting Palestine's full admission to the UN as a sovereign state during the United Nations General Assembly, September 23, 2011 at UN headquarters in New York. The Palestinian leader won huge applause and a standing ovation from some of the assembly as he entered the hall shortly after asking the UN to admit the state of Palestine. (Timothy A. Clary/AFP/Getty Images)

Divers search the wreckage at a crash site near Yaroslavl, on the Volga River about 150 miles (240 kilometers) northeast of Moscow. Investigators searched for flight recorders in the shattered remains of an airliner that crashed, killing 43 people including most of one of Russia's premier hockey teams. (Maxim Shipenkov/Associated Press)

Belarus hockey players place candles in front of the portraits of Lokomotiv Yaroslavl team members in Minsk, September 8, 2011, during a ceremony to commemorate the members of Russia's top ice hockey team, who were among the 43 people killed in a plane crash on September 7. (Maxim Guchek/AFP/Getty Images)

Ousted Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak lies on a stretcher as he is wheeled into a courtroom in Cairo, September 7, 2011. Mubarak's trial resumed off camera with witnesses giving testimony to try to determine who gave the orders for killing of hundreds of protesters in the revolt that ousted Egypt's veteran president. (AFP/Getty Images)

Thai motorists travel through a flooded street during a heavy monsoon downpour in Bangkok. Dozens of people have died in northern Thailand over the past few weeks in floods that have also affected over a million people, Sept. 3, 2011. (Christophe Archambault/AFP/Getty Images)

France's President Nicolas Sarkozy, National Transitional Council (NTC) head Mustafa Abdel Jalil and Britain's Prime Minister David Cameron join hands in Benghazi, Sept. 15, 2011. President Sarkozy and Prime Minister Cameron travel to Libya, making stops in Tripoli and Benghazi, the first visit by foreign leaders since the toppling of the former regime. (Philippe Wojazer/AFP/Getty Images)

A policeman rushes to extinguish Apostolos Polyzonis, who set himself alight outside a bank branch in Thessaloniki, northern Greece, Sept. 16, 2011 while protesting against government, banks and political parties. The 55-year old man has attempted self-immolation before, two-years ago, over financial problems. The man was hospitalized with non life-threatening burns. (Nontas Stylianidis/AFP/Getty Images)

Evansville, Indiana fire Capt., Don Spindler, carries a young girl out of a burning apartment. (Jason Clark/The Evansville Courier & Press, Jason Clark)

Joseph Mwangi, 34, sits in a state of shock after discovering the charred remains of two of his children, at the scene of a fuel explosion in Nairobi, Kenya. A leaking gasoline pipeline in Kenya's capital exploded, turning part of a slum into an inferno in which scores of people were killed and more than 100 hurt, Sept. 12, 2001. (Ben Curtis/Associated Press)

Alleged renegade UBS trader Kweku Adoboli is taken away in a security van flanked by police officers after appearing at the City of London Magistrates Court in London. The alleged renegade trader accused of losing Swiss bank UBS about $2 billion in unauthorized trading was ordered held in prison custody charged with fraud and false accounting. (Matt Dunham/Associated Press)

A severely wounded US Marine hit by an Improvised Explosive Device (IED) is carried by his comrades to a medevac helicopter of U.S. Army's Task Force Lift "Dust Off", Charlie Company 1-171 Aviation Regiment to be airlifted in Helmand province, Oct. 31, 2011. The Marine who was hit by an IED lost both his legs and fights for his life. All foreign combat troops will leave Afghanistan by the end of 2014 and will require the Afghan army and police to play an ever-greater role in fighting the Taliban insurgency. (Behrouz Mehri/AFP/Getty Images)

National Transitional Council fighters fire against Muammar Khadafi troops in the town of Sirte, Oct. 10, 2011, as they move in against the strongman's remaining diehards. (Aris Messinis/AFP/Getty Images)

A Libyan National Transitional Council (NTC) fighter looks through a large concrete pipe where ousted Libyan leader Moamer Kadhafi was allegedly captured. A dead loyalist gunman lies in the foreground, in the coastal Libyan city of Sirte, Oct. 20, 2011. Arabic graffiti in blue reads: "This is the place of Kadhafi, the rat.. God is the greatest." (Philippe Desmazes/AFP/Getty Images)

Libyans take pictures with their mobile phones of the body of Muammar Khadafi in Misrata, Oct. 20, 2011. The veteran strongman was killed as new regime forces crushed the last pocket of resistance in his hometown, Sirte. (Mahmud Turkia/AFP/Getty Images)

Some 14,345 Chinese participants attempt to set a new Guinness World Record as they gather for a bath at a hot spring in southwest China's Chongqing municipality. The former world record was 10,121 people having a hot spring bath at the same time in China's Hubei province. (AFP/Getty Images)

Rescuers carry a two-week-old baby girl, Azra Karaduman, from the rubble of a collapsed building in Ercis, Turkey's eastern province of Van, Oct. 25, 2011. Crowds cheered and applauded as 73-year-old Gulzade Karaduman was carried into an ambulance, hours after her tiny granddaughter Azra and then her daughter Seniha Karaduman were pulled free from the wreckage of the family home in the eastern town of Ercis. As the death toll reached 459 and the Red Crescent warned that hundreds or even thousands of people remained buried under the debris from Sunday's quake, the triple rescue provided vital relief amid the otherwise grim task. (Adem Altan/AFP/Getty Images)

Greek Prime Minister George Papandreou embraces Luxembourg Prime Minister Jean-Claude Juncker (Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi is at left) during a working session of the European Council at the Justus Lipsius building, EU headquarters in Brussels, Oct. 26, 2011. The European Commission called on eurozone leaders to deliver a "credible" response to the debt crisis at a crunch summit as they are scheduled to announce a plan to boost confidence in the eurozone after months of indecision and uncertainty. The EU is trying to prevent a full-blown Greek default and limit contagion within the eurozone. (Eric Feferberg/AFP/Getty Images)

US First Lady Michelle Obama delivers remarks to members of the US Secret Service after touring the headquarters in Washington, DC, Oct. 5, 2011. (Jim Watson/AFP/Getty Images)

Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit salutes Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu as he arrives by helicopter at the Tel Nof airbase near Tel Aviv, Oct. 18, 2011 following his release after 5 years of Hamas captivity under a landmark Egyptian-mediated deal that will see Israel release a total of 1,027 Palestinian prisoners. (AFP/Getty Images)

Partially-submerged vehicles sit stranded in floodwaters at a roundabout in the Thai ancient capital city of Ayutthaya, north of Bangkok, Oct. 16, 2011. Flood defenses protecting the Thai capital held up on Oct. 16, but the advancing waters that have swamped the inland still threaten to engulf Bangkok in a disaster that has claimed 300 lives. Thailand's worst floods in decades have inundated huge swathes of the kingdom, swallowing homes and businesses, shutting down industry, and forcing tens of thousands of people to seek refuge in shelters. (Christophe Archambault/AFP/Getty Images)

A Thai boy holds aloft banknotes while he swims in the floodwaters in Nonthaburi province, suburban Bangkok, Oct. 15, 2011. Thailand fought to hold back floodwaters flowing toward Bangkok as a spring tide hindered efforts to protect the city of 12 million people from the kingdom's worst inundation in decades. (Parnchai Kittiwongsakul/AFP/Getty Images)

A police officer tries to calm former Ukrainian Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko as she reacts as Judge Rodion Kireyev of the Kiev Pechersky court reads the verdict to her, Oct. 11, 2011. Tymoshenko was sentenced to seven years in jail for abusing her powers in a 2009 gas deal with Russia, a verdict that is set to harm ties with the European Union. Kireyev said the 10-year contract for gas imports from Russia had sustained heavy losses for Ukraine and ruled that her actions were criminal. (Sergei Supinsky/AFP/Getty Images)

Carnations are placed before a computer screen showing a portrait of Apple co-founder and former CEO Steve Jobs at an Apple store in St. Petersburg, Russia, Oct. 6, 2011. Jobs, counted among the greatest American CEOs of his generation, died at the age of 56, after a long and highly public battle with cancer and other health issues. (Alexander Demianchuk/Reuters)

North Korean farmers work in a field along a highway outside the eastern coastal city of Wonsan, North Korea. North Korea allowed foreign journalists into the country this year, giving the west a glimpse of what has been a very secret society. (David Guttenfelder/Associated Press)

Amanda Knox bursts into tears after hearing the verdict that overturned her conviction and acquitted her of murdering her British roommate Meredith Kercher, at the Perugia court, central Italy. The Italian appeals court threw out Amanda Knox's murder conviction and ordered the young American freed after nearly four years in prison. (Pier Paolo Cito/Associated Press)

People search for scrap metal in contaminated water at the bottom of one of the biggest trash dumps in the city, known as "The Mine," in Guatemala City. (Rodrigo Abd/Associated Press)

A man affiliated with the Occupy Wall Street protests tackles a police officer during a march towards Wall Street in New York, Oct. 14, 2011. (Andrew Burton/Associated Press)

Republican presidential candidate, Texas Gov. Rick Perry fills out papers to officially enter New Hampshire's First-in-the-Nation presidential primary ballot at the State House in Concord, N.H., Oct. 28, 2011. (Jim Cole/Associated Press)

A businessman sticks his tongue out in jest as he walks past tents erected by protesters from the Occupy London Stock Exchange group, as they continue their demonstration outside St Paul's Cathedral, near the London Stock Exchange, Oct. 17, 2011. (Matt Dunham/Associated Press)

Navy Capt. Mark Kelly hugs his wife Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, D-Ariz., after he received the Legion of Merit from Vice President Joe Biden during Kelly's retirement ceremony in the Secretary of War Suite in the Eisenhower Executive Office Building in the White House complex, Washington, D.C., Oct. 6, 2011. (David Lienemann/The White House/Associated Press)

An activist holds a cross in front of a burning barricade during evictions at the Dale Farm travellers site, near Basildon England, 30 miles (50 kilometers) east of London. Police in riot gear used sledgehammers to clear the way for the eviction of a community of Irish Travellers from a site where they have lived illegally for a decade. (Matt Dunham/Associated Press)

An LOT Polish airlines Boeing 767 flying from New York with 227 people on board makes an emergency landing at Warsaw's airport, Nov. 1, 2011 after having problems lowering its landing gear. The plane had dropped fuel and circled above Warsaw for some time and a landing strip was specially prepared at the airport for the crash landing. No one was injured during the emergency landing according to an LOT spokesman. (Wojtek Radwanski/AFP/Getty Images)

Supporters of Michael Jackson react outside the courthouse to the verdict in the trial of Doctor Conrad Murray in Los Angeles, Nov. 7, 2011 in southern California. He was found guilty of involuntary manslaughter in the King of Pop's 2009 death, the court clerk said. There was a brief cry in the courtroom, and cheers outside, but Murray himself gave no reaction when the long-awaited verdict was announced after a six-week trial in Los Angeles. (Frederic J. Brown/AFP/Getty Images)

Students greet Penn State coach Joe Paterno as he arrives at his home in State College, Pa., Nov. 8, 2011. Paterno, along with former president Grahm Spanier, lost their jobs five days after Jerry Sandusky was charged in the sexual abuse of eight young men. (Matt Rourke/Associated Press)

Former U.S. President Jimmy Carter pauses during an interview as he and his wife Rosalynn visit a Habitat for Humanity project in Leogane, Haiti. The Carters joined volunteers from around the world to build 100 homes in partnership with earthquake-affected families in Haiti during a week-long Habitat for Humanity housing project, Nov. 7, 2011. (Ramon Espinosa/Associated Press)

Election workers count ballots for the parliamentary elections in Luxor, Egypt, Nov. 29, 2011. (Associated Press)

North Carolina forward John Henson (31) tries to block a shot by Michigan State center Adreian Payne (5) during the first half of the Carrier Classic NCAA college basketball game aboard the USS Carl Vinson in Coronado, CA, Nov. 11, 2011. (Mark J. Terrill/Associated Press)

The shadow of US President Barack Obama is cast on a wall as he arrives to talk about the American Jobs Act in the Rose Garden of the White House in Washington, Nov. 7, 2011. (Carolyn Kaste/Associated Press)

An Egyptian riot police officer fires tear gas during clashes with protesters near Tahrir square in Cairo, Egypt, Nov. 20, 2011. (Khalil Hamra/Associated Press)

Italian premier Mario Monti receives a small bell from former premier Silvio Berlusconi at Chigi palace premier's office after the swearing in ceremony, in Rome. The bell is used by the Prime Minister to call attention during cabinet meetings, Nov. 16, 2011. Berlusconi resigned after numerous scandals were exposed, weaking his ruling power. (Pier Paolo Cito/Associated Press)

WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange leaves his hearing at the High Court in London. Assange lost his appeal against extradition to Sweden to answer sex crime allegations. (Matt Dunham/Associated Press)

A man lifts an elderly woman after she deboarded a passenger bus on a flooded street in Bangkok, Thailand. Thailand's worst floods in more than half a century continued to creep into Bangkok, Nov. 3, 2011. (Altaf Qadri/Associated Press)

Former Penn State football defensive coordinator Gerald "Jerry" Sandusky is placed in a police car in Bellefonte, Pa., to be taken to the office of Centre County Magisterial District Judge Leslie A. Dutchcot, Nov 5, 2011. Sandusky is charged with sexually abusing eight young men. (Pennsylvania Office of Attorney General via Commonwealth Media Services)

University of California, Davis Police Lt. John Pike uses pepper spray to move Occupy UC Davis protesters while blocking their exit from the school's quad in Davis, Calif. Pike, the riot-clad police officer who pepper sprayed a row of peaceful Occupy Wall Street protesters at a California university, is a retired U.S. Marine sergeant twice honored for his police work on campus, Nov. 18, 2011. (Wayne Tilcock/The Enterprise)

China's Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Development has told local governments not to relax its home purchase restrictions even though some of the controls are expiring at the end of the year, the China Business Journal reported on Saturday. (Carlos Barria/Reuters)

Myanmar's pro-democracy opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi and U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton react after speaking to the press at Suu Kyi's residence in Yangon, Myanmar. (Saul Loeb/Associated Press)

U.S. Army soldiers from 1st Cavalry Division, based at Fort Hood, Texas, begin their journey home after a deployment in Iraq, at Camp Virginia, Kuwait, Dec. 15, 2011. After nearly nine years, 4,500 American dead and 100,000 Iraqi dead, U.S. officials formally shut down the war in Iraq - a conflict that Defense Secretary Leon Panetta said was worth the American sacrifice because it set Ira

YOU MAKE ME FEEL

2011-12-29T15:28:00.000+02:00

The English Patient - SOUNDTRACK

2011-12-28T14:40:00.000+02:00

Megan Fox in "the Tip"

2011-12-27T14:11:00.000+02:00

Lunar eclipse of December 10, 2011

2011-12-26T08:36:00.000+02:00

The longest lunar eclipse in over ten years animated the night sky on December 10. The red hue resulted from the sun's light passing through the earth's atmosphere. Viewers in Asia had the best view of the total eclipse, while those watching in Europe saw part of it at moonrise, and North Americans caught part of it as the moon set. It was not visible in South America or Antarctica. The next total eclipse will occur in 2014.

01. The moon casts a reddish hue over Lake Pend Oreille during a lunar eclipse as it begins to set behind the Selkirk Mountain Range near Sandpoint, Idaho on December 10, 2011. (Matt Mills McKnight/Reuters)

02. A composite of 12 pictures shows a full lunar eclipse over the skies in Hefei, China on December 10, 2011. The moon turns red as the shadow falls on it during the eclipse. (Stringer/Reuters)

03. Astronomy enthusiasts gather to watch the lunar eclipse in Wuhan, China on December 10, 2011. (Str/AFP/Getty Images)

04. A man watches the lunar eclipse using his tablet computer during a total lunar eclipse in Kuala Lumpur on December 10, 2011. (Mohd Rasfan/AFP/Getty Images)

05. A lunar eclipse is seen in the sky beside a statue of Buddha in Kurunegala, Sri Lanka on December 10, 2011. (Eranga Jayawardena/AP)

06. A partial lunar eclipse is seen from the Roman pillars of the Temple of Hercules in Amman December 2011. (Ali Jarekji/Reuters)

07. The earth's shadow falls on the moon as it undergoes a total lunar eclipse viewed through the arch supports of the Sydney Harbor Bridge December 11, 2011. (Tim Wimborne/Reuters)

08. The earth's shadow falls on the moon as it emerges from a total lunar eclipse above the entrance to a theme park in Sydney on December 11, 2011. (Tim Wimborne/Reuters)

09. A partial lunar eclipse rises above the Tokyo Tower on December 10, 2011. (Yoshikazu Tsuno/AFP/Getty Images)

10. The Earth casts its shadow across the moon during the lunar eclipse in New Delhi on December 10, 2011. (Saurabh Das/AP)

11. A full moon lunar eclipse passes over Karachi on December 10, 2011. (Asif Hassan/AFP/Getty Images)

12. Photographers take pictures of the moon during a lunar eclipse over the north tower of the Golden Gate Bridge on December 10, 2011 in San Francisco. (Ben Margot/AP)

13. A woman uses a telescope at the Sydney Observatory to watch the moon over the Sydney Harbor Bridge during a total lunar eclipse in Sydney on December 11, 2011. (Rob Griffith/AP)

14. Israelis look at the full lunar eclipse appearing above the Judean desert from Mount Scopus in Jerusalem on December 10, 2011. (Menahem Kahana/AFP/Getty Images)

15. People view the lunar eclipse as it shines above the Hollywood sign at the Griffith Observatory in Los Angeles December 10, 2011. (Ringo H.W. Chiu/AP)

16. A shooting star darts across the sky during a lunar eclipse over the entrance to Hawkeye Ranch near Geyserville, Calif. on December 10, 2011. (Santa Rosa Press Democrat/AP)

17. The earth's shadow falls on the moon above the Bank of China tower in Hong Kong's business district on December 10, 2011. (Soo Hoo Zheyang/Reuters)

18. A boy looks through a telescope as he and others observe a lunar eclipse at the Planetarium in Beijing on December 10, 2011. (Andy Wong/AP)

19. Stargazers observe a lunar eclipse at the Griffith Observatory in in Los Angeles on December 10, 2011. (Ringo H.W. Chiu/AP)

20. The moon sets above the Golden Gate Bridge during an eclipse on December 10, 2011, in San Francisco. (Frederic Larson/San Francisco Chronicle/AP)

21. A total lunar eclipse on December 10, 2011 shines above a tree known as the miracle solitary pine tree in Japan, which survived the March 11 tsunami in Rikuzentakata. (Kyodo/Reuters)

22. The partially eclipsed moon rises above Cologne on December 10, 2011. Only the end of the eclipse could be seen in Germany due to the late rise of the moon. (Kaiser Henning/AFP/Getty Images)

23. A lunar eclipse shines in the sky over the Swayambhunath stupa, a world heritage site, in Katmandu, Nepal on December 10, 2011. (Binod Joshi/AP)

24. A total lunar eclipse shines above a Christmas tree in Seoul on December 10, 2011. (Jo Yong-Hak/Reuters)

25. As dawn breaks over the tall ships at the San Diego, Calif. Maritime Museum, the setting moon begins to emerge from Earth's shadow following a total eclipse on December 10, 2011. (Don Bartletti/Los Angeles Times/AP)

26. A lunar eclipse shines above Turret Arch at Arches National Park on December 10, 2011 near Moab, Utah. (Julie Jacobson/AP)

27. An astronomy enthusiast records the lunar eclipse on his computer as he sets his telescope in Wuhan, China on December 10, 2011. (Str/AFP/Getty Images)

Fuck Christmas - Eric Idle (+lyrics)

2011-12-25T14:01:00.000+02:00

fucking all the way...

the power of music

2011-12-24T15:20:00.001+02:00

The Flight Of Magorium

2011-12-20T14:10:00.001+02:00

Pet Shop Boys - It's A Sin

2011-12-19T17:56:00.000+02:00

2010 National Geographic Photography Contest

2011-12-18T08:30:00.000+02:00

16,000 photographs submitted from 130 countriesentered NationalGeographic Photographs Contest 2010

National Geographic is once again holding their annual Photo Contest, with the deadline for submissions coming up on November 30th. For the past eight weeks, they have been gathering and presenting galleries of submissions, encouraging readers to rate them as well. National Geographic was again kind enough to let me choose some of their entries from 2010 for display here on The Big Picture. Collected below are 47 images from the three categories of People, Places and Nature. Captions were written by the individual photographers. (47 photos total)

01. Kanana Camp, Botswana. Pulling over by the side of the road to watch a grazing giraffe, we spotted an amber head lurking behind a small mound. A hungry lioness. Watching, waiting, camera to my eye, she eventually chose her moment and pounced just as the giraffe sensed danger. The lioness gave chase, but failed. Hungry, she lay down, invisible, in the grass not ten feet from us and waited again. (Photo and caption by Alex Tan)

02. A supercell thunderstorm rolls across the Montana prairie at sunset. (Photo and caption by Sean Heavey)

03. Salvation. Appreciate life to save the world. (Photo and caption by Hongsik Kim)

04. The Great Pyramids. The people of Ancient Egypt believed that death on Earth was the start of a journey to the next world. The embalmed body of the King was entombed underneath or within the pyramid to protect it and allow his transformation and ascension to the afterlife. (Photo and caption by Jesus Oranday)

05. The Music Of Love. This picture was taken in Tenganan Village, Bali (2010). Tenganan is the most famous Bali Aga (original Balinese) village and is located close to Candi Dasa in East Bali. A man was playing bamboo music to entertain a disabled child which is not his son, but he loves this child likes he loves his own son. (Photo and caption by Ario Wibisono)

06. Liquid Planet. Another picture from the Liquid Vision Series, which shows a different point of view of waves. An angle that people are not used to seeing. (Photo and caption by Freddy Cerdeira)

07. Brown bear, Buskin River, Kodiak Alaska. This bear had been fishing in the river on this morning. It climbed onto the bank and laid down in the grass. This photo was taken about an hour after sunrise just as the sun was starting to clear the trees. The temperature was near the dew point and steam was rising off its body. It didn’t seem at all concerned by the fishermen in the river or the photographer on the bank. (Photo and caption by James Haskins)

08. Praying Mantis - Pseudocreobotra wahlbergii. This beautiful whalbergii evolved through two of its nymph-stages on the Barberton Daisy at left, surviving because of its bright color which blended so well with the flower. Towards the end of its growth into an adult, it became a little more adventurous (but not much more) as pictured here. Once it had shed the layer in this picture, it became a fully-fledged adult, and departed after about two weeks. Total stay in this tiny ecosystem was approximately six weeks. (Photo and caption by Fred Turck)

09. A Wrinkle in Time. Beauty is in the eye of the beholder. (Photo and caption by Nikki Krecicki)

10. Alone. I was up in the air in an helicopter, taking images for the community and suddenly I saw one tree surrounded by thousands of spruces and I got only one shot in this perfect light. (Photo and caption by Mats Almlo"f)

11. The archipelago of Fernando de Noronha, Brazil is considered a wildlife sanctuary, but today, even in this isolated archipelago dolphins are victims of the bad habits of consumption. (Photo and caption by Joa~o Vianna)

12. Cosmic. Mother nature doing what she does best. (Photo and caption by Patrick John O'Doherty)

13. The child in us. Traveling from Zhangmu (Nepal-Tibet border) to the Tibetan capital - Lhasa you can see road workers all along the Friendship Highway. The Chinese industrialization has affected Tibet a great deal. But despite the Chinese government's attempts to settle Chinese population across the Tibetan Plateau, the Roof of the World still remains a place where only the Tibetans can survive its harsh climate conditions. A Tibetan boy holding the hand of his father who works on the road construction, Tibet. (Photo and caption by Sergi Barisashvili)

14. The baboon in front was harassing one of the babies in the troop. This male facing the camera attacked him. The whole fight was over in a few seconds but it was loud and seemingly vicious. The rest of the troop was scrambling around trying to get out of their way. There is, needless to say, always a lot of drama going on in a baboon troop. (Photo and caption by Sharon Raoli)

15. Unsafe Journey. A woman is riding between the railway carriages of a local train heading north from Dhaka, the capital of Bangladesh. Her luggage is tucked under the carriage in front of her. It is the month of Ramadan, a fast which culminates in Eid-ul-Fitr, a three-day celebration. Tens of thousands of people leave the city to go to their home village and celebrate with their families. Trains are packed and many who fail to get tickets before they sell out or can't afford buying them at the black market ride on the roof of the train or, like this woman, finds a quiet spot between the carriages. (Photo and caption by Amy Helene Johansson)

16. Lightning Strike NY Harbor. This shot was captured during a major electrical storm. There was little wind and no rain which allowed me to stay safely inside and shoot from an open window. This was the 82nd exposure out of 150 made that night. The camera was mounted on a tripod, exposures made with a cable release for 5 seconds at f10. Except for a some minor level adjustments and a square crop this was what came out of the camera. (Photo and caption by Jay Fine)

17. Boise Sunrise. With the fog and morning light this looks like a place I'd love to be. If you look very closely, you can see a deer in a clearing in the center left area of the picture (small dot, head poking above bushes, see detail). (Photo and caption by Glen Hush)

18. Yes it's spring. Fishing on the end of the bridge. (Photo and caption by Stan Bouman)

19. The Look. There are only 400 of these birds in existence. (Photo and caption by Rolf Skrypzak)

20. Against the windstorm on Mont Blanc. My friend Laszlo Varkonyi is leading a group on Mont Blanc, he died on Everest this April in a fatal accident: a big serac fell down. (Photo and caption by Aniko Molnar)

21. Mystery Bug. This was on my clothesline. I have no idea what it is. I have used a macro lens as the insect was only an inch or so long. We live in the Northern Rivers district of New South Wales, Australia. The rainforest around our house sometimes brings forth intriguing creatures like this. I know it looks like a studio shot but it isn't. The photograph was was taken in natural light. The background is a sheet that was serendipitously drying on the clothesline at the time. I have rotated the image to make the insect easier to examine. If anyone can tell me what it is I would be grateful. (Photo and caption by Stephen Hocking)

22. Pure Elements. I drove my 4x4 over rivers to get a view of the Volcano eruption at "Fimmvorduhals" in Iceland. It was a full moon and strong winds gave me problems standing still outside the truck. I had my camera with me and zoom lens but no tripod, suddenly there was a magical moment, I was experiencing a display of nature rarely seen by man. I found my camera with the zoom lens, rushed out of the truck, trying to fight the strong wind. I pushed the camera on to the hood of the truck trying to stand still, holding my breath, I shot 30 frames, and only one shot was good. (Photo and caption by Olafur Ragnarsson)

23. Bicycle Crash. Zestful BMX (Bicycle Moto-Cross) rider crashes after a failed attempt to grind the handrail. When in pain, even the ambitious, strong, extreme sports loving man looks like a simple, tired, vulnerable person. (Photo and caption by Karolis Milasevicius)

24. The Serra da Leba Road near Lubango (Hui'la, Angola). This is Serra da Leba, a landmark in Angola. A road built in the 70's, it's been in the country's postcard images for decades, but all shots were taken by day. I wanted something different and tried a night shot. But it seemed impossible: pitch dark, foggy, altitude of 1,800m (5,000ft). I wanted no more than 60sec of exposure, max, to avoid digital noise. But a car takes a few minutes to climb or descend this section of the road. The fog was dense and blocking the view! Suddenly the fog cleared, a few cars went down, others went up, they met in the middle in under 60sec... Painting done! (Photo and caption by Kostadin Luchansky)

25. A Llama stands at the crest of a hill as the sun sets behind it at Chavi'n de Hua'ntar, Peru. (Photo and caption by John Palmer Gregg)

26. Fallen Angel. A legionnaire from the French Foreign Legion's 2REP (Foreign Parachute Regiment) sits in an armored personnel carrier en route to an operation near Badpash Kusa Kala, Afghanistan on June 16, 2010. (Photo and caption by Steven Greaves)

27. Foot and Thistle, Mountain Gorilla of Rwanda. I was fortunate to visit the rare and endangered Mountain Gorillas in Rwanda, February of 2010. This young gorilla had fallen asleep with a thistle grasped in his foot. The thistle is one of their food sources. They learn to extract the pith from the spine-defended inedible stem. This particular gorilla demonstrates syndactyly of the third and fourth toes, a common congenital malformation also found in humans. (Photo and caption by Jim Edwards)

28. Lightning Crashes. A lightning bolt strikes the antenna of The Center building in Central Hong Kong during a storm on September 13, 2009. (Photo and caption by Michael Siward)

29. Oasis. (Photo and caption by Nam In Geun)

30. Me'enit Boy, Southwestern Ethiopia. One of our neighborhood friends, Sintiyu, looking on. A rare opportunity to see him undistracted by the camera, and absorbed in his family. (Photo and caption by Stephen Murdoch)

31. Moths to Light. Moths attracted to a light in front of my home. (Photo and caption by Steve Irvine)

32. Surva, the International Festival of the Masquerade Games held in the town of Pernik, Bulgaria is the biggest event of this type not only in Bulgaria but on the Balkan Peninsula as well. It promotes variations of ancient Bulgarian customs that are still alive today. These are an important part of the Bulgarian folklore tradition and are meant to be performed by single men and women. With its competitive nature, the festival is not only a venue but also a contest for the living vessels of this tradition, namely the Kukeri and Survakari. (Photo and caption by Orlin Ognyanov)

33. Ki Gompa. This picture was taken when I visited the Buddhist Monastery of Ki. Ki is a tiny village in the middle of the Himalayas, and next to it is Ki Gompa (Ki Monastery). I lived with the monks for about a week, and this picture reflects the peaceful, almost heavenly atmosphere that characterizes this place. The Monastery is almost 4,000 meters high, and I had to climb almost 500 meters more to get this panorama. This place is a touch of heaven. (Photo and caption by Natalia Luzuriaga)

34. Haunting Glimpse. An encounter with an elusive Canada Lynx is said to be a rare privilege. I am honored to have had the opportunity to see a Lynx up close and personal. As I photographed this beautiful cat, I felt transfixed by its wild, untamed, haunting eyes. This is a once in a lifetime chance that I will cherish forever. (Photo and caption by Janet Chester)

35. Suradita Village, West Java, Indonesia. Children playing with their roosters. Actually it was not a real cockfight because the roosters didn't wear blades on their feet. Children like to play this game because they almost never have toys in their life. (Photo and caption by Ario Wibisono)

36. Silhouetted against the headlights of their engine, Firemen attempt to put out a blaze caused by a gigantic natural gas line explosion near San Francisco in September of 2010. The fire destroyed 37 homes, and resulted in seven fatalities. (Photo and caption by Josh Edelson)

37. Power of childhood. City: Lenc,ois; Estate: Bahia; Country: Brazil. (Photo and caption by Rodrigo West de Magalhaes)

38. North Atlantic seals enduring winter storm. It was already -1 and with a strong wind it was colder still, Had to position myself so as to shield the camera from the wind to keep the image sharp the snow was being blown horizontally away from me. (Photo and caption by Eric Garnett)

39. Great Blue Heron with fish. The largest and most widespread heron in North America. When foraging, they stand silently along riverbanks, lake shores, or in wet meadows, waiting for prey to come by, which they then strike with their bills. (Photo and caption by Linh Dinh)

40. A walk along the river bank. This photo was taken in Zhenyuan, Guizhou Province, China this summer. I was taking a walk along the river bank of Wuyang in the mist of a late afternoon shower. Refreshing smell after rain was mixed with the aroma from nearby food stands. In the distance, kids were playing and laughing. The tranquil and harmonious life of the local people reminds me of the joyful time I grew up in a similar small town in Southwest China. (Photo and caption by Fred Wang)

41. Heavy load. One morning in August, I was on my way to pick up the newspaper. Everything was moist and wet, and I spotted this little fly on a small white flower, just outside my bedroom window. Two hours after I shot this picture I went outside again, and the fly was still sitting on the same flower - still not able to fly. (Photo and caption by Audun Wigen)

42. Table Mountain. I took this picture in June 2009 while I was just outside of Cape Town, South Africa. I was working at a kids camp and took a quick shot of the sun setting over Table Mountain as we were headed in for dinner. I was in such a rush to capture the sunset while trying to keep an eye on a bunch of kids on the playground that I didn't even notice the boy in the right edge of my viewfinder. It wasn't until I was back home in Tennessee that I discovered the huge impact of this picture. The duality of the not-quite-teenage boy and the 260-million-year-old mountain in the same shot absolutely amazed me. (Photo and caption by Quinn Ballard)

43. Herring Gull with Guillemot Chick. Taken on the Farne Islands, Northumberland, UK, the herring gull circled around the guillemot colony three or four times before dropping in and picking up this chick with the guillemot colony watching. (Photo and caption by Ron McCombe)

44. Pyramid mountain. Maelifellssandur volcanic dust desert in Iceland. (Photo and caption by Sukru Mehmet Omur)

45. Giraffes at Savannah. Unusual perspective shot depicting two giraffes and a tree in Masai Mara, Kenya. (Photo and caption by Niko Saunio)

46. After the Crash. My dear friend, Laura, fell from the sky. The helicopter she was traveling in crashed into an open, dry field and burst info flames, killing three of the six passengers on board, including the pilot. Laura survived, but barely. She was burned, crushed, and near death. She broke 45 bones. She was pulled from the burning wreckage by her hair. To this day, she still cannot walk. While there wasn't a part of her body that was unharmed, her spirit and determination to live a full, happy life remains stronger than ever. This image taken in a lush, green field is meant to signify her rebirth. (Photo and caption by Judy Starkman)

47. Cloud and ship. Ukraine, Crimea, Black sea, view from Ai-Petri mountain. (Photo and caption by Yevgen Timashov)

Toca's Miracle

2011-12-17T15:52:00.000+02:00

Du Riechst So Gut

2011-12-16T10:37:00.000+02:00

our world in 3 minutes

2011-12-15T08:02:00.001+02:00

"Can We Get Our Drone Back?"

2011-12-15T07:57:00.001+02:00

A military official gives a tour of an intact RQ-170 drone in a hangar to another Iranian military official.

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President Barack Obama said today the U.S. has requested that Iran return the highly sensitive stealth drone that crash landed there two weeks ago, but an Iranian general already said that's not going to happen.
"We've asked for it back. We'll see how the Iranians respond," Obama said at a news conference. Obama said he wouldn't comment further "on intelligence matters that are classified."
A senior Iranian military commander, however, said on Iranian television Sunday that not only would Iran not turn over the drone, but warned of a "bigger response" to the "hostile act" of crossing into Iranian airspace.
"No one returns the symbol of aggression to the party that sought secret and vital intelligence related to the national security of a country," Iranian Islamic Revolution Guards Corps [IRGC] Lt. Commander Gen. Hossein Salami said, according to Iran's Fars News Agency.
U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said told reporters today that "given Iran's behavior to date, we do not expect them to comply" with Obama's request. Defense Secretary Leon Panetta also said he didn't expect Iran to hand over the drone, but told reporters, "I think it's important to make that request."
Several Iranian state-run media reports claim the country plans to "reverse engineer" the RQ-170 Sentinel and "will replicate the captured U.S.-built stealth aircraft in the future." In another report featured on Iranian television, an Iranian lawmaker claimed the country's experts were almost finished extracting data from the drone and would be using some of it to file a lawsuit against the U.S. for its "invasion," according to a report by The Associated Press.

"Military experts are well aware how precious the technological information of this drone is," IRGC Aerospace Forces Brig. Gen. Amir Ali Hajizadeh said last week according to local reports. "It can play a key role in Iran's intelligence interactions with the U.S. rivals."

The Sentinel, an unarmed long-range surveillance drone known as The Beast of Kandahar, was such a closely held secret that the U.S. Air Force did not even acknowledge its existence until late 2009.
Panetta said it was unclear what technological value the drone could still have, depending on its condition.
"It's a little difficult to know just frankly how much they are going to be able to get from having obtained those parts," Panetta said. "I don't know the condition of those parts -- I don't know exactly what state they're in -- so it's a little difficult to tell what they are going to be able to derive from what they have been able to get."
According to U.S. officials, the drone was on a classified surveillance mission for the CIA in western Afghanistan when operators lost control due to a malfunction. From there, the drone glided into Iranian airspace before crashing.
The Iranian military initially claimed it had "shot down" the drone, but later said it was able to bring it down with relatively little damage through an electronic attack. Pentagon spokesperson Capt. John Kirby told reporters last week there was no indication the drone was brought down by "hostile activity of any kind."

Late last week Iran presented a nearly pristine-looking aircraft that closely resembled the RQ-170 on national television, which the Iranian military claimed to be the captured drone.

Russia election 2011

2011-12-13T01:19:00.000+02:00

Vladimir Putin was not running for office, but parliamentary elections held yesterday in Russia were widely seen as a test of his popularity amid his likely return to the presidency. Election observers and opposition parties pointed to rampant irregularities in the vote, which saw support for his United Russia party plummet. Results in the heavily disputed poll show United Russia still in control, albeit with a much slimmer mandate. Gathered here are images of protests, rallies, and the vote as Russians took to the ballot all over the country with charges of fraud and malfeasance clouding the vote.

01. Elizaveta Semenova is helped by her daughter to fill in a ballot at her home in the village of Oster, Russia on December 4, 2011. Russians cast their ballots with muted enthusiasm in national parliamentary elections, a vote that polls indicate could water down the strength of the party led by Prime Minister Vladimir Putin, despite the government's relentless marginalization of opposition groups. (Sergei Grits/AP)

02. A police officer and electoral commission staff empty a ballot box after voting closed at a polling station in the village of Ust-Mana, Russia on December 4, 2011. (Ilya Naymushin/Reuters)

03. A woman reads a ballot during the parliamentary election in the western Russian village of Klukino on December 4, 2011. (Vasily Fedosenko/Reuters)

04. A Russian police officer detains an opposition activist during a protest against vote rigging in St. Petersburg on December 4, 2011. (Dmitry Lovetsky/AP)

05. Protesters demonstrate after voting closed in Russia's parliamentary election in central Moscow on December 4, 2011. The banner reads "We were cheated". (Sergei Karpukhin/Reuters)

06. People who were unable to reach the nearest polling station cast their ballots in a box brought by an election official in the village of Arzinka, Russia on December 4, 2011. (Pavel Golovkin/AP)

07. Activists of the Nashi movement, a Kremlin-backed youth organization, wave their banners and applaud during a concert in Moscow on December 4, 2011. (Sergey Ponomarev/AP)

08. Journalists and observers work beneath a screen showing the first results from voting in Russia's parliamentary election at the Central Electoral Commission in Moscow on December 4, 2011. (Sergei Karpukhin/Reuters)

09. Activists of the pro-Kremlin youth group "Nashi" gather to celebrate the victory of the United Russia political party in the parliamentary elections in central Moscow on December 5, 2011. (Anton Golubev/Reuters)

10. Activists of the pro-Kremlin youth groups "Moldaya Gvardiya" and "Nashi" attend a rally as they celebrate the victory of United Russia party in the parliamentary elections in central Moscow on December 5, 2011. (Natalia Kolesnikova/AFP/Getty Images)

11. Russia's Prime Minister Vladimir Putin prepares his ballot to vote for parliamentary elections at a polling station in Moscow on December 4, 2011. (Alexei Nikolsky/AFP/Getty Images)

12. An elderly Russian couple fill in a ballot in Moscow on December 4, 2011. (Sergey Ponomarev/AP)

13. Russian police officers block Red Square, with St. Basil's Cathedral in the background, to prevent pro-democracy protesters from entering in Moscow on December 4, 2011. (Ivan Sekretarev/AP)

14. People queue to vote in parliamentary elections at the Russian consulate in Tskhinvali, South Ossetia on December 4, 2011. (Eduard Korniyenko/Reuters)

15. A member of the "Polar Bear" sports club casts her ballot at a polling station during the parliamentary election in Barnaul, the capital of Altai region on December 4, 2011. (Andrei Kasprishin/Reuters)

16. Russian navy sailors queue to cast their ballots at a polling station at the Russian Fleet base in Sevastopol, Ukraine on December 4, 2011. (Andrew Lubimov/AP)

17. An election commission official uses a pocket light to help a voter to fill out their ballot at his home in the village of Oster, Russia on December 4, 2011. (Sergei Grits/AP)

18. Russian soldiers have a rest after casting ballots at a polling station in the town of Torzhok, Russia on December 4, 2011. (Andrei Gordeyev/AP)

19. Police detain an activist during a protest rally by opposition group "Another Russia" in central Moscow on December 4, 2011. (Mikhail Voskresensky/Reuters)

20. Electoral officials prepare ballots at a polling station in the western Russian city of Pochinok on December 2, 2011. (Vasily Fedosenko/Reuters)

21. A transport police officer checks a polling station put up to enable passengers using trains to vote at the central railway station in Russia's Siberian city of Krasnoyarsk on December 3, 2011. (Ilya Naymushin/Reuters)

22. People vote at a polling station in Moscow on December 4, 2011. (Anton Golubev/Reuters)

23. A man leaves a voting booth in the settlement of Voronovo, Russia on December 4, 2011. (Denis Sinyakov/Reuters)

24. A serviceman holds his child casting a ballot at a polling station in Russia's military base number 201 in Dushanbe on December 4, 2011. (Nozim Kalandarov/Reuters)

25. A Russian citizen holds his child as he votes inside a local drama theater in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan on December 4, 2011. (Vyacheslav OseledkoAFP/Getty Images)

26. Russian soldiers stand in line at a polling station in Moscow on December 4, 2011. (Alexander Zemlianichenko Jr./AP)

27. The head of Russia's leading independent election watchdog Golos (The Vote), Liliya Shibanova, speaks to journalists in Moscow on December 4, 2011. Golos, which claimed rampant violations in the campaign, said its "Map of Violations" website documenting reports of campaign fraud was the target of a distributed denial of service attack. (Alexey Sazonov/AFP/Getty Images)

28. The "Russian Soul" amateur folk ensemble performs at a polling station during the parliamentary election in the village of Verkhniaya Biryusa in the Taiga area, south of the Siberian city of Krasnoyarsk on December 4, 2011. (Ilya Naymushin/Reuters)

29. Electoral officials visit villagers in the western Russian village of Gryaz on December 4, 2011. (Vasily Fedosenko/Reuters)

30. People vote in their home in the village of Oster, 237 miles west of Moscow on December 4, 2011. (Sergei Grits/AP)

31. A Moscow shop assistant works on December 2, 2011 amidst TV screens during the broadcast of Russian President Dmitry Medvedev's address to nation on the upcoming Parliamentary election. (Natalia Kolesnikova/AFP/Getty Images)

32. Russian Communist Party and Liberal Democratic Party of Russia supporters hold a joint rally to appeal to people to vote for their political parties in the southern Russian city of Rostov-on-Don on December 2, 2011. (Vladimir Konstantinov/Reuters)

Afghanistan November 2011

2011-12-12T01:08:00.001+02:00

As the War in Afghanistan passes the 10-year mark, the effect of the American withdrawal is already being felt among civilian aid workers, raising anxieties that Afghanistan will be abandoned and that gains will be quickly reversed. Even President Hamid Karzai asked nations at a conference in Germany recently to continue aid to his country for another decade. The United States, which provides two-thirds of all development assistance in Afghanistan, slashed its $4 billion aid budget to $2 billion in the 2011 fiscal year. The budget for 2012 may be cut further. In this post we continue our monthly visit to the country of Afghanistan, its residents and our troops.

01. An Afghan woman, holding her baby, walks through a busy street in Kabul, Dec. 5, 2011. A major international conference on December 5 sought ways forward for Afghanistan after the withdrawal of NATO combat troops in 2014. The boycott of two crucial players,Pakistan and the Taliban, dampened hopes of success. The one-day gathering brought around 100 national delegations and aid organizations to the former German capital Bonn. (Shah Marai/AFP/Getty Images)

02. Afghan pedestrians walk through a busy street in Kabul, Dec. 5, 2011. Afghanis' future post withdrawal of NATO combat troops in 2014 is at issue. (Shah Marai/AFP/Getty Images)

03. Bibi Sahiba prepares fire wood for her stove in Kabul, Dec. 2, 2011. Kabul's residents had called on delegates to the International talks on Afghanistan in Bonn to put their needs on the agenda, saying the government is not doing enough to alleviate poverty and hunger in the Afghan capital. (Omar Sobhani/Reuters)

04. Afghan children run holding jerrycans to collect water or fuel, in Kabul, Nov. 30, 2011. Despite massive injections of foreign aid since the fall of the Taliban in 2001, Afghanistan remains desperately poor. (Shah Marai/AFP/Getty Images)

05. An Afghan Koochi (nomad) boy at a mud hut in the outskirts of Mazar-i Sharif, capital of Balkh province, Dec. 4, 2011. (Qais Usyan/AFP/Getty Images)

06. An Afghan street barber shaves the head of a customer in the city of Mazar-i-Sharif, Dec. 1, 2011. (Qais Usyan/AFP/Getty Images)

07. Afghan doctor Nafisa, examines a newborn in an incubator at the Malalai Maternity Hospital in Kabul. Afghans are living longer, fewer infants are dying and more women are surviving childbirth because health care has dramatically improved around the country in the past decade, according to a national survey. (Musadeq Sadeq/Associated Press)

08. Afghan doctors register newborns babies at the Malalai Maternity Hospital in Kabul, Afghanistan, Nov. 29, 2011. (Musadeq Sadeq/Associated Press)

09. Afghan newborns at the Malalai Maternity Hospital in Kabul, Afghanistan, Nov. 29, 2011. (Musadeq Sadeq/Associated Press)

10. Newborn twins rest in an incubator at the Malalai Maternity Hospital in Kabul, Nov. 29, 2011. (Musadeq Sadeq/Associated Press)

11. Afghan National Army soldiers chat as they take a break during a patrol in Pul-e Alam, a town in Logar province, eastern Afghanistan Nov. 28, 2011. (Umit Bektas/Reuters)

12. People watch a quail fighting competition in Kabul, Nov. 24, 2011. Quail fighting is a popular hobby and a gambling game in Afghanistan. (Ahmad Masood/Reuters)

13. Men check each other's quails before a quail fighting competition in Kabul, Nov. 24, 2011. (Ahmad Masood/Reuters)

14. A man holds his quails after a quail fighting competition. (Ahmad Masood/Reuters)

15. Drivers, some who carried fuel for NATO forces in Afghanistan, sleep on top of their trucks at a fuel terminal in Karachi Nov. 26, 2011. (Athar Hussain/Reuters)

16. An Afghan laborer works in a firewood yard at a market in Mazar-i Sharif, north of Afghanistan Nov. 28, 2011. Trying to recover from 30 years of conflict that destroyed institutions and infrastructure, Afghanistan remains one of the poorest countries in the world. Polls show that at a local level, Afghans are less concerned about poor security than they are about jobs, electricity and roads. (Qais Usyan/AFP/Getty Images)

17. An Afghan Koochi (or nomad) checks meat hung to dry in the outskirts of Mazar-i Sharif, capital of Balkh province, Dec. 4, 2011. (Qais Usyan/AFP/Getty Images)

18. An Afghan woman begs next to Hazrat-e Ali shrine in Mazar-i Sharif on Nov. 26, 2011. Despite massive injections of foreign aid since the fall of the Taliban in 2001, Afghanistan remains desperately poor with one of the lowest standards of living in the world. (Qais Usyan/AFP/Getty Images)

19. Men use a trolley to push their family members towards the Pakistan-Afghanistan border crossing in Torkham, Nov. 28, 2011. (Khuram Parvez/Reuters)

20. Internally displaced Afghan refugee girls and boys look out from a window of a home in Kabul, Afghanistan, Nov, 28, 2011. (Ahmad Jamshid/Associated Press)

21. A German soldier with the NATO- led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) stands guard at the scene where a German military armored vehicle was hit by road side bomb in Baghlan north of Kabul, Nov. 29, 2011. Two German soldiers were wounded after their vehicle was hit. (Javid Basharat/Associated Press)

22. Soldiers of the German ISAF force guard the entrance of the combat outpost, Unicorn, near the city of Baglan, Dec. 4, 2011. (Thomas Peter/Reuters)

23. A Dingo armoured vehicle of the German ISAF force approaches a signpost at the entrance of combat outpost Unicorn near the city of Baglan, Dec. 4, 2011. (Thomas Peter/Reuters)

24. A U.S. Army soldier exchanges a high five with an Afghan boy during a patrol in Pul-e Alam, a town in Logar province, eastern Afghanistan, Nov. 28, 2011. (Umit Bektas/Reuters)

25. A man walks past an armed paramilitary soldier guarding the Pakistan-Afghanistan border crossing in Chaman, Nov. 28, 2011. (Naseer Ahmed/Reuters)

26. U.S. Army soldiers sit behind a wall, as others search for explosives, after an IED blast damaged one of their armored vehicles during road clearance patrol in Logar province, Nov. 23, 2011. (Umit Bektas/Reuters)

27. U.S. Sergeant Taylor Hollingsworth rests during a patrol as part of their overall security and disruption insurgency mission in Wardak province, eastern Afghanistan, Nov. 17, 2011. (Umit Bektas/Reuters)

28. An Afghan policeman keeps watch at a vehicle checkpoint on the first day of the Loya Jirga, or the traditional assembly, in Kabul, November 16, 2011. About 2,000 Afghan community and political leaders gathered in Kabul under tight security for four days of deliberations on the country's most pressing issues, including ties with main ally, the United States. (Omar Sobhani/Reuters)

29. An Afghan National Army (ANA) soldier stands guard in front of street beggars near Pol-e-Khumri, Baghlan province, northern Afghanistan, Nov. 15, 2011. The province's only ANA battalion operates with the assistance of the Ohio National Guard and the Hungarian Army. (Bela Szandelszky/Associated Press)

30. An Afghan boy works at a small confectionery factory in Kabul, Nov. 20, 2011. (Omar Sobhani/Reuters)

31. An Afghan boy carries a pan of sweets at a small confectionery factory in Kabul, Nov. 20, 2011. (Omar Sobhani/Reuters)

32. An Afghan women and a young girl beg on a street in Mazar-i Sharif, Nov. 13, 2011. Despite massive injections of foreign aid since the fall of the Taliban in 2001, Afghanistan remains desperately poor. (Qais Usyan/AFP/Getty Images)

33. An Afghan musician plays a traditional stringed instrument southwest of Kabul, Nov. 12, 2011. (Massoud Hossaini/AFP/Getty Images)

34. Afghan laborers work at a brick factory southwest of Kabul, Nov. 12, 2011. (Massoud Hossaini/AFP/Getty Images)

35. A boy waits for cotton candy on the second day of Eid al-Adha festival in Kabul, Nov. 7, 2011. (Umit Bektas/Reuters)

36. Afghan children enjoy a swing ride set up in a cemetery on the second day of the Eid al-Adha in Kabul, Nov. 7, 2011. The Eid al-Adha is an important religious holiday celebrated by Muslims worldwide to commemorate the willingness of the Prophet Ibrahim to sacrifice his son as an act of obedience to God. (Muhammed Muheisen/Associated Press)

37. An Afghan man feeds pigeons outside Shah-e-Dushamshera mosque on the first day of Eid-al-Adha prayers, in Kabul, Nov. 6, 2011. (Muhammed Muheisen/Associated Press)

Baby It's Over

2011-12-10T09:22:00.000+02:00

Taking the vote: elections in Egypt and the Democratic Republic of Congo

2011-12-09T13:23:00.000+02:00

Hours after violent clashes between masses of protesters and police, Egyptians swarmed the polls early this week for the beginning rounds of parliamentary elections. They are the first elections since a prodemocracy uprising ousted longtime president Hosni Mubarak from office earlier this year. The poll stations have been remarkably peaceful, despite the simmering anger over the military’s extended role in running the government. In contrast, the Democratic Republic of Congo's presidential and legislative elections this week were beset by fraud, some observers say. In one town, rebel fighters attacked a polling place, killing at least five people and burning ballots. The voting was Congo's second since the end of the country's last war and the first organized by the government rather than the international community.

01. A man waits outside a polling station to cast his vote during parliamentary elections in Cairo Nov. 28. (Amr Abdallah Dalsh/Reuters)

02. An old man casts his vote at a polling station during parliamentary elections in Cairo Nov. 28. Egyptians lined up to vote in the first big test of a transition born in popular revolutionary euphoria that soured into distrust of the generals who replaced their leader, Hosni Mubarak. (Ahmed Jadallah/Reuters)

03. An Egyptian voter passes between the hands of soldiers guarding at a polling center Nov. 28 in Cairo, Egypt. Voting began on Monday in Egypt's first parliamentary elections since longtime authoritarian leader Hosni Mubarak was ousted in a popular uprising nine months ago. The vote is a milestone many Egyptians hope will usher in a democratic age after decades of dictatorship. (Amr Nabil/Associated Press)

04. In a combination image made from six photos, Egyptian women pose with their inked fingers after voting at a polling station in Cairo Nov. 29. Long lines formed at polling stations for a second day of voting and the head of the election commission, Abdel-Mooaez Ibrahim, proclaimed turnout so far had been "massive and unexpected." But he did not give figures. (Bela Szandelszky/Associated Press)

05. An old man is carried by a volunteer after casting his vote at a polling station during parliamentary elections in Cairo Nov. 28. (Amr Abdallah/Reuters)

06. A woman reads a ballot paper before casting her vote at a polling station during the parliamentary election in Alexandria Nov. 29. (Mohamed Abd El-Ghany/Reuters)

07. An Egyptian woman looks at voters as they line up outside a polling station in the Shubra district of Cairo on Nov. 28. Post-revolution Egypt headed to the polls for a chaotic election clouded by violence and a political crisis, the start of a long process to bring democracy to the Arab world's most populous nation. (Mohammed Hossam/AFP/Getty Images)

08. Egyptian soldiers stand guard at the entrance of a school turned polling station as voters gather in the Ain Shams district of Cairo on Nov. 28. (Amro Maraghi/AFP/Getty Images)

09. Egyptian voters waited at a school turned polling station in old Cairo on Nov. 28. (Odd Andersen/AFP/Getty Images)

10. A woman carrying her child reads a ballot paper before casting her vote at a polling station during parliamentary elections in Cairo Nov. 29. (Amr Abdallah Dalsh/Reuters)

11. A man stood in front of banners supporting candidates for the parliamentary elections in Cairo Nov. 28. (Goran Tomasevic /Reuters)

12. Egyptian women vote at a polling station in the town of Ibshawai, near Fayoum, 100 km (62 miles) southwest of Cairo Nov. 29. Polls opened Tuesday for a second day of voting in Egypt's landmark parliamentary elections, the first since Hosni Mubarak's ouster in a popular uprising earlier this year. (Tara Todras-Whitehill/Associated Press)

13. A Egyptian woman casts her ballot in Maadi, a suburb of Cairo Nov. 28. Voting began on Monday in Egypt's first parliamentary elections since longtime authoritarian leader Hosni Mubarak was ousted in a popular uprising nine months ago. The vote is a milestone many Egyptians hope will usher in a democratic age after decades of dictatorship. (Tara Todras-Whitehill/Associated Press)

14. People line up at a polling station as they wait to cast their votes during parliamentary elections in Cairo Nov. 28. (Amr Abdallah Dalsh/Reuters)

15. People gathered outside a polling station to vote in the parliamentary election in Shubra neighborhood of Cairo Nov. 2. (Goran Tomasevic/Reuters)

16. Egyptian soldiers stand guard as voters leave a polling station in Cairo Nov. 29. Polls opened Tuesday for a second day of voting in Egypt's landmark parliamentary elections. (Bela Szandelszky/Associated Press)

17. Egyptian women look at a ballot paper at a polling station in the Sahel district of Cairo Nov. 28. Post-revolution Egypt headed to the polls for a chaotic election clouded by violence and a political crisis, the start of a long process to bring democracy to the Arab world's most populous nation. (Mohammed Hossam/AFP/Getty Images)

18. Egyptian elections officials burn wax to stamp a ballot box before sending it to a counting center in Cairo Nov. 29. Polls opened Tuesday for a second day of voting in Egypt's landmark parliamentary elections, the first since Hosni Mubarak's ouster in a popular uprising earlier this year. The Arabic on the box reads, "parliamentary elections." (Amr Nabil/Asociated Press)

19. A Congolese man walks through ballots Nov. 29 claimed to be fake by opposition supporters and then shredded and burned in a school used as a polling station in the Bandal commune in Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of Congo, one day after the country went to the polls for presidential and parliamentary elections. The vote is only the second since the end of Congo's last war, and the first to be organized by the government instead of the international community. The election was supposed to mark another step toward peace, but if the results are not accepted by the population, especially the country's fractured opposition, analysts fear it could drag Congo back into conflict. (Jerome Delay/Associated Press)

20. An election witness is refused access to a voting center at the Twalemishe school in Kamalondo district of Lubumbashi on Nov. 29. Monitors reported widespread fraud in Democratic Republic of Congo elections and presidential rivals demanded an annulment as votes were counted Tuesday in polling marred by deadly violence. (Phil Moore/AFP/Getty Images)

21. Congolese women, one using a light, go through the ballot for parliamentary elections at a polling station in the Masina district of Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of Congo Nov. 28. (Jerome Delay/Associated Press)

22. Ballot papers burned in an attack on two pick-up trucks lie on the roadside in Lubumbashi on Nov. 28. A convoy of 8 vehicles were carrying papers at 3am this morning when they were attacked by a group of armed men in the capital of the mineral rich province of Katanga. (Phil Moore /AFP/Getty Images)

23. Members of Congo's presidential guard walk through heavy rain ahead of incumbent Joseph Kabila (not seen) as he leaves a polling station after voting in Democratic Republic of Congo's capital Kinshasa, Nov. 28. Voting began slowly on Monday in Congo's second-post war election, held despite fears logistical problems and irregularities would undermine the result. (Finbarr O'Reilly/Reuters)

24. Supporters of opposition candidate Etienne Tshisekedi parade what they claim are badly printed fraudulent photocopies of election ballots they say they found in the Bandal commune in Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of Congo Nov. 28. Polls opened in Congo's capital as the government of this nation pummeled by war vowed to go ahead with its much-anticipated presidential and parliamentary election despite massive logistical challenges. As day broke on Monday, a trickle gathered outside polling stations as residents waited to take part in a presidential and legislative election that could further consolidate the country's peace, or else drag it back into conflict. (Jerome Delay/Associated Press)

25. Young Congolese men check their names against the list of registered voters at the Jean Calvin College voting centre in Lubumbashi Nov. 27, the eve of DR Congo's elections. The National Electoral Commission has registered over 32 million people to vote, choosing between over 18,000 parliamentary candidates nation-wide. (Phil Moore/AFP/Getty Images)

26. A voting official sits in the Njanja polling station in Lubumbashi Nov. 29. Monitors reported widespread fraud in Democratic Republic of Congo elections and presidential rivals demanded an annulment as votes were counted in polling marred by deadly violence. (Phil Moore/AFP/Getty Images)

27. Piles of ballot papers sit during vote counting at the Twalemishe school polling station in Kamalondo district of Lubumbashi on Nov. 29. (Phil Moore/AFP/Getty Images)

28. A man navigates a maze of tape as he checks his name against voter registration lists at the EP 1 Imara Voting Station in Lubumbashi Nov. 27. This is one of the largest voting centers in the Democratic Republic of Congo's second largest city, and officials here expect large queues tomorrow morning as voting opens on what will be the country's second democratic elections in four decades. (Phil Moore/AFP/Getty Images)

29. A voter shouts at an election official at the Njanja polling station in Lubumbashi Nov. 29. The polling station was attacked by seven armed gunmen yesterday, who burned all of the ballot papers, including those already cast. Monitors reported widespread fraud in Democratic Republic of Congo elections and presidential rivals demanded an annulment as votes were counted in polling marred by deadly violence. (Phil Moore/AFP/Getty Images)

30. A pile of presidential and legislative ballot papers sit unattended on the ground of a compound outside a polling station in Democratic Republic of Congo's capital Kinshasa Nov. 29. First results emerged from the Democratic Republic of Congo's chaotic elections on Tuesday but some voters were still casting their ballots in a vote tainted by confusion, violence and allegations of fraud. (Finbarr O'Reilly/Reuters)

Christmas approaches

2011-12-08T12:54:00.000+02:00

The Christian religious holiday may not arrive until December 25, but secular and commercial festivities have been in full swing for almost a month already. Increasingly the non-religious aspects of the holiday are celebrated even in countries without a strong Christian tradition. Gathered here are images of preparations from around the world as it begins to look a lot like Christmas.

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02. Jason and Emily Gray hold their two-year-old twins Lacey and Ashley under the the holiday lights at the annual Capitol Christmas Tree Lighting ceremony in Boise, Idaho. (Darin OswaldIdaho Statesman/AP)

03. A trumpeter plays during the traditional Christmas tree illuminating and opening of the traditional Christmas market in front of the Tyn Church at the Old Town Square on November 26, 2011 in Prague. (Michal Cizek/AFP/Getty Images)

04. Shoppers enter a department store at midnight in Covington, La. Early signs point to bigger crowds at the nation's malls and stores as retailers like Macy's and Target opened their doors at midnight. (David Grunfeld/The Times-Picayune/AP)

05. Balloons at an Oakland, Calif. retailer advertise sale prices to shoppers on November 24, 2011. The store opened before midnight to encourage early shopping. (Noah Berger/AP)

06. Windy LaFerney (right) checks her e-mail while her son Caisen LaFerney, 4, plays an electronic game and Windy's mother Nicki Lawrence hangs out in their tent in front of a department store in Mesquite, Texas on November 21, 2011. They set up their tent late Sunday night so they could be the first people in the store early Friday morning for Black Friday shopping. (David Woo/The Dallas Morning News/AP)

07. Father Christmas waves to the crowds during Harrods 26th Annual Christmas Parade on November 5 in London. (Steve Finn/Harrods via Getty Images)

08. A 65-foot white fir tree is loaded onto a truck for its 20-day journey to Washington on November 5, 2011 after the U.S. Capitol Christmas tree was cut from the Stanislaus National Forest near Sonora, Calif. The tradition of "The People's Tree" began in 1964, and the job of providing it rotates among national forests. Come January, when the tree has served its purpose, it will be ground into mulch and spread across the Capitol gardens. (Jerry Snyder/Stanislaus National Forest/AP)

09. German bicycle designer Didi Senft, also known as 'El Diablo', poses in front of a giant Christmas candle arch in the town of Storkow, Germany on November 24, 2011. (Thomas Peter/Reuters)

10. In this image taken with a fish-eye lens, the traditional Regent Street Christmas Lights 2011 in central London's main shopping area are switched on as fireworks explode overhead on November 8, 2011. (David Parry/PA/AP)

11. Forest worker Peter Otto carries two fir trees during the official opening of Christmas tree season in Stolpe, Germany on November 9, 2011. (Carsten Rehder/AFP/Getty Images)

12. Workers paint Christmas trees made of twigs along a street in Manila November 10, 2011. (Romeo Ranoco/Reuters)

13. A man dressed as Santa Claus is surrounded by local children giving him their Christmas wish lists as he arrives at the Santa Claus post office in Himmelpfort, Germany on November 10, 2011. Children can send their Christmas wish lists to Himmelpfort from around the world and receive a reply from Santa. (John Macdougall/AFP/Getty Images)

14. Women reply to letters addressed to Father Christmas at a special Christmas post office in Himmelpfort, Germany on November 10, 2011. The post office has a special Christmas service, replying to mail addressed to Santa Claus that were sent by children from all over the world. Organizers expect to receive some 280,000 letters and wish lists from children writing in 17 languages. (Thomas Peter/Reuters)

15. People use their mobile phones to take pictures of a Christmas tree during the annual Festival Arbol Gallo in Guatemala City November 12, 2011. During the festival Christmas trees are lit in Guatemala City and 32 other locations around the country. (Jorge Dan Lopez/Reuters)

16. A Santa diver feeds whale shark "Hachibei" at the Hakkeijima Sea Paradise aquarium in Yokohama, on November 13, 2011. (Yoshikazu Tsuno/AFP/Getty Images)

17. Parents take pictures of children posing at a shopping mall in Hong Kong on November 19, 2011. (Laurent Fievet/AFP/Getty Images)

18. Lebanese workers are hoisted by a crane as they decorate a Christmas tree with the slogan of "Merry Christmas and Happy New Year" in English, French and Arabic in Beirut on November 21, 2011. (Hussein Malla/AP)

19. Radio City Rockettes present s'mores frozen hot chocolate, their annual holiday season dessert in New York on November 21, 2011. The dessert is served in a goblet dripping in marshmallow fluff and filled with a blend of 14 cocoas, topped with honey graham cracker crumbs, mini marshmallows, swirls of chocolate sauce, whipped cream and garnished with a graham cracker cookie topped with a toasted marshmallow, chocolate shavings, a drizzle of chocolate sauce and a Radio City light-up stirrer. (Emmanuel Dunand/AFP/Getty Images)

20. People queue up to buy "El Gordo" Christmas lottery tickets in downtown Madrid November 22, 2011. (Andrea Comas/Reuters)

21. Christmas shop windows are on display during the launch of the Christmas Illuminations at Le Printemps on November 9, 2011 in Paris. (Pascal Le Segretain/Getty Images)

22. A shop window attracts customers in New York on November 21, 2011. Midtown retailers are known for splashy displays that have become as much a holiday tradition as the Rockefeller Center Christmas tree or sidewalk Santas. (Bebeto Matthews/AP)

23. People pass by the display of Gaga's Workshop at luxury department store Barneys in New York November 22, 2011. Barneys is teaming up with pop singer Lady Gaga for a Christmas holiday campaign. (Kena Betancur/Reuters)

24. People take part in a ceremony to send a Christmas tree to the Vatican near Rakhiv, Ukrain on November 23, 2011. Each year a country from different parts of Europe donates a tree to be erected in St. Peter's Square. (Lozhef Kish/Reuters)

25. A sheep wears a Christmas costume during a promotional event at the Everland amusement park in Yongin, South Korea on November 24, 2011. (Jo Yong-Hak/Reuters)

26. Stands are illuminated at the Christmas Market in Frankfurt, Germany on November 23, 2011. Organisers expect around three million visitors. (Frank Rumpenhorst/AFP/Getty Images)

27. Christmas lights illuminate Vienna's city center Am Graben on November 24, 2011. (Lisi Niesner/Reuters)

28. A worker installs a steel Christmas tree outside a shopping mall in Beijing on November 25, 2011. (Andy Wong/AP)

29. Michelle Obama walks with daughters Sasha and Malia (right) to receive the 2011 White House Christmas Tree at the White House in Washington, D.C. on November 25, 2011. (Yuri Gripas/Reuters)

30. Fishermen pull a net early in the morning on November 7, 2011, during the annual fishing season at the Bosilecky pond near Trebon, Czech Republic in preparation for the domestic and European Christmas season sales. (Michal Cizek/AFP/Getty Images)

31. Workers load Christmas trees into a lorry on the Duncombe Park Estate in Helmsley, England on November 25, 2011. (Nigel Roddis/Reuters)

32. Christmas snow domes on display at the traditional Christmas market at the Old Town in Nuremberg, Germany on November 25, 2011. (Matthias Schrader/AP)

33. A tourist looks at a reindeer display for Christmas celebrations in front of the skyline of the financial district in Singapore on November 26, 2011. (Joel Boh/Reuters)

34. Franciscan monks take part in a ritual mass ceremony of the Franciscan Fathers at Santa Cathrina Church at the compound of the Church of the Nativity in the West Bank City of Bethlehem on November 26, 2011. (Musa Al-Shaer/AFP/Getty Images)

35. Visitors look at an unusual Christmas crib in a mall by architect Fernando Martinez on November 26, 2011 in Tegucigalpa. The crib depicts the violence wave in the country - Honduras suffers the highest murder rate in the world - as well as the deaths of Osama Bin Laden and Muamar Gaddafi. (Orlando Sierra/AFP/Getty Images)

36. Fireworks explode around a Christmas tree during the lighting ceremony at Rodrigo de Freitas Lake in Rio de Janeiro on November 26, 2011. (Andre Durao/Reuters)#

37. Santa Claus trainees learn how to speak and walk in preparation for Christmas Day at the "Santa Claus Academy" in Tokyo on November 27, 2011. (Yoshikazu Tsuno/AFP/Getty Images)#

38. A vendor serves hot wine at the traditional Christ Child market near Strasbourg Cathedral in Strasbourg, France on November 27, 2011. The oldest French Christmas market has been held annually since 1570. (Vincent Kessler/Reuters)

39. Cameron Ganno gets a greeting from Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer while being held by Kim Werth during the 59th Annual Quincy Christmas Parade in Quincy, Mass. on November 27, 2011. (Yoon S. Byun/Globe Staff)#

40. Santa Claus waves from the roof of Sydney's Queen Victoria Building on November 28, 2011. (Greg Wood/AFP/Getty Images)#

41. Brothers Beckman, Preston, and Westley Giang are transfixed by holiday lights on November 27, 2011 at their house in Brea, Calif. (Mindy Schauer/Orange County Register/AP)#

42. Penguins take a walk at the Hakkeijima Sea Paradise aquarium-amusement park complex in Yokohama, Japan on November 13, 2011. (Itsuo Inouye/AP)#