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Voice of America
Febbraio 2013
(254 foto)


                     
2013 Gen Feb                    
 
2012 Gen Feb Mar Apr Mag Giu Lug Ago Set Ott Nov Dic
           
2011           Giu Lug Ago Set Ott Nov Dic


01 A man in traditional costume takes part in a funeral procession for Cambodia's late former King Norodom Sihanouk at the Royal Palace in Phnom Penh.

02 An anti-Morsi demonstrator (C) gestures to a crowd of demonstrators waving a huge Egyptian flag, after Friday prayers at Tahrir Square in Cairo, February 1, 2013.

03 Rescue workers leave the site of a explosion at the headquarters of state-owned oil giant Pemex in Mexico City. A powerful explosion rocked the Mexico City headquarters of Pemex on Thursday, killing at least 25 people, injuring more than 100 and trapping others inside.

04 Supporters of Jamiat-Ulema-e-Islam (JUI), one of the largest Sunni political parties, chant slogans during a demonstration against the killing of Sunni Muslim leaders in Karachi. A gunman on a motorcycle shot and killed three leaders on Thursday. Police described the attacks as target killings.

05 Somali government soldiers, trained by the European Union Training Mission (EUTM) team, march during their graduation ceremony at Bihanga army training camp, 368 km (230 miles) west of Uganda's capital, Kampala. Over 500 soldiers trained for seven months in urban combat skills and are now ready for deployment back in their home country.

06 Brazilian graffiti artist Tomaz "Toz" Viana puts the final touches to an art piece on a building's wall in Rio de Janeiro. The graffiti piece covering 2,100 square meters was created on a wall of a building belonging to global retail company B2W in Rio's harbor area.

07 A boy walks to the entrance of the closed Bosnian National Museum to lay one of 125 roses placed there to celebrate its 125th anniversary, in Sarajevo. The museum, seen as a cultural symbol, sealed its doors because the divided country's authorities could not agree on how to fund it.

08 Elderly residents from the nearby Kreta Ayer district toss "Yu Sheng" (raw fish salad) ahead of the Lunar New Year at a restaurant in Chinatown, Singapore.

09 A man runs through snow after a snowstorm in the desert, near Tabuk, 1,500 km (932 miles) from Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.

10 Visitors look out from windows in The View gallery at the Shard, western Europe's tallest building, in London. The public viewing deck, accessible by high speed elevators on the 309-meter (1,013 feet) building, opened to the public Friday.

11 People photograph Roman numerals set up for NFL Super Bowl XLVII as they are silhouetted against the morning sky in New Orleans. The city will host the football game between the San Francisco 49ers and Baltimore Ravens Sunday.

12 A large statue of the Virgin Mary, unveiled Friday, stands on Santa Barbara hill overlooking the mining city of Oruro, Bolivia. "Virgen del Socavón" is Oruro's patron and venerated in particular by miners. The statue stands at 45 meters (147 feet).

01 Groundhog Club Co-handler Ron Ploucha holds the weather predicting groundhog, Punxsutawney Phil, after the club said Phil did not see his shadow and there will be an early spring during the Groundhog Day ceremony in Punxsutawney, Pa.

02 Volcanic ash is seen rising from Mount Lokon in Tomohon, Indonesia's North Sulawesi province.

03 Opponents to gay marriage, adoption and procreation assistance wave flags and shout slogans during a demonstration in Marseille, France.

04 A Palestinian holds a flag on the top of a hill as demontrators set up a new camp to protest against Jewish settlements near the West Bank village of Burin.

05 A mourner buys a badge with pictures of Cambodia's late King Norodom Sihanouk at a crematorium where a coffin with his remains has been placed near the Royal Palace in Phnom Penh.

06 Russia's President Vladimir Putin (2nd R) takes part in a wreath laying ceremony as he visits the Mamayev Kurgan (Mamayev Hill) World War Two memorial complex in the city of Volgograd.

07 Cape Verde's Julio Tavares (11) vies for a high ball against Ghana's Isaac Vorsah during their African Cup of Nations (AFCON 2013) quarter-final soccer match at the Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium in Port Elizabeth, South Africa.

08 The mascot (L) of the Regimental Band and Corps Drums of the Royal Welsh regiment is seen before the start of the RBS Six Nations rugby match at the Millennium Stadium in Cardif, Britain.

09 Debutants dance at the 8th Semper Opera Ball 2013 in Dredsen, eastern Germany.

10 An air force officer holds Sri Lanka's national flag as the sun sets at Galle Face Green in Colombo.

11 Followers of the Afro-Brazilian religion Umbanda offer flowers to pay tribute to Yemanja, goddess of the sea, in Rio Vermelho Beach in Salvador da Bahia, Brazil.

01 Baltimore Ravens inside linebacker Ray Lewis hoists the Vince Lombardi Trophy as he celebrates victory over the San Francisco 49ers in their NFL Super Bowl XLVII.

02 Baltimore Ravens safety Ed Reed (20) celebrates his team's 34-31 win against the San Francisco 49ers.

03 Baltimore Ravens head coach John Harbaugh hugs his wife Ingrid, left, and daughter Alison after defeating the San Francisco 49ers in the Super Bowl in New Orleans.

04 Recording artist Beyonce performs in the Super Bowl XLVII Half Time show in New Orleans.

05 Baltimore Ravens inside linebacker Ray Lewis (L) kisses the forehead of team owner Steve Bisciotti after defeating the San Francisco 49ers.

06 Baltimore Ravens tight end Billy Bajema (86) lies in the confetti on the field with his children as he celebrates his team defeating the San Francisco 49ers in the NFL Super Bowl XLVII.

01 Indian activists from the women's wing of the Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) form a human "chain" during a protest rally in Siliguri. Over 4,000 women took part in a general protest demanding the safety of women and also against price hikes of essential commodities.

02 A protester opposing Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi throws a stone at riot policemen during the funeral of activists Mohamed al-Gendy and Amr Saad in Cairo.

03 The crematorium site for Cambodia's former King Norodom Sihanouk is seen at dusk in Phnom Penh. Hundreds of thousands of mourners gathered in the capital city for the cremation of Sihanouk, the revered "King-Father."

04 Venezuelan students carry a picture of President Hugo Chavez during a gathering in show of support in Havana, Cuba. The Venezuelan government is upbeat about the president's recovery from cancer surgery in Cuba, but the socialist maverick has not been seen in public or heard from in eight weeks.

05 A farmer sorts rice seedlings in Gowa district, in Indonesia's South Sulawesi province. A new food law will require traders of food staples such as soybeans, sugar and rice to regularly report stock levels to the government or face sanctions for hoarding.

06 Visitors look at giant screens featuring images of the work of Dutch painter Vincent van Gogh during a traveling multimedia art exhibition entitled "Van Gogh Alive" at the Israel Trade Fairs and Convention Center in Tel Aviv.

07 A volunteer prepares to pose for photos after the completion of a 100m (328 feet) long sand snake sculpture, entitled "Glittering Snake Trail" by Singaporean sand sculptor JOOheng Tan, during a media preview on Singapore's Sentosa Island.

08 Alexander Ivanov, head of a traveling circus troupe based in Moscow, walks with three-year-old bear Dasha near an advertisement for their upcoming performance in St. Petersburg. The troupe will soon perform for the first time in 20 years in Russia's second city.

09 A diver uses a plastic card to scrape the inside of the glass aquarium at the islands exhibition at the "Nausicaa" marine attraction in Boulogne-sur-Mer, northern France. Twice a week divers clean the glass at the National Sea Experience Centre's aquarium.

10 Spectators are illuminated with the colors of the flags of participating countries during the opening ceremony of the World Alpine Skiing Championships in Schladming, Austria.

11 A child looks across the frozen Yenisei River in the taiga area some 52 km (32 miles) south of Russia's Siberian city of Krasnoyarsk.

12 A man rides his bicycle as the sun sets in a suburb of Rangoon, Burma.

1 Supporters of the political and religious party Jamaat-e-Islami hold party flags as they march during a rally to mark Kashmir Solidarity Day in Lahore, Pakistan.

2 A Palestinian child cries after his family house was demolished by the municipality in the east Jerusalem neighborhood of Beit Hanina. The municipality said the building was constructed without proper permits and that its structure was not sound. The family says it was waiting to receive permits.

3 Clergymen pray during an early morning mass at the historic al-Muharraq Monastery, a centuries-old site some 180 miles (300 kilometers) south of Cairo in the province of Assiut, Egypt. Egypt's Coptic Christian pope sharply criticized the country's Islamist leadership Tuesday, saying the new constitution is discriminatory and Christians should not be treated as a minority.

4 Indian Hindu devotees walk through a dust storm at the Sangam after taking a holy dip at the confluence of the rivers Ganges, Yamuna and mythical Saraswati during the Maha Kumbh festival in Allahabad.

5 Workers look at 'Rex', a two-meter-tall artificial human, at the Science Museum in central London. British roboticist designers claim Rex is the world's first complete bionic man, featuring artificial organs as well as fully functioning limbs.

6 A papier mache figure depicting Peer Steinbrueck, the German Social Democratic Party's (SPD) top candidate for the upcoming general elections, is seen on a carnival parade float in Mainz.

7 An ethnic Chinese Malaysian arrives at Thean Hock Keong temple, popularly known as Snake Temple, ahead of the Chinese New Year celebrations in Klang outside Kuala Lumpur.

8 Fans of the Super Bowl XLVII champion Baltimore Ravens celebrate their victory before a stadium rally in Baltimore, Maryland.

9 A Nepalese spice vendor waits for customers at Ason market in Katmandu, Nepal. Ason is one of the busiest and oldest markets in Katmandu.

10 Taiwanese dancers perform in front of a large snow sculpture of Taipei's Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall at the opening of the annual snow festival in Sapporo, on Japan's northern island of Hokkaido.

1 People reach out to take fruits and vegetables freely distributed by farmers during a protest against high production costs, outside the Agriculture Ministry in Athens, Greece.

2 Seating plan is seen at the Royal Opera House, in Covent Garden, London, ahead of the British Academy Film and Television Arts Awards (BAFTA) in London.

3 The body of Shokri Belaid, a prominent Tunisian opposition politician, is carried into an ambulance after he was shot, in Tunis.

4 Heavy traffic is pictured on a snow covered motorway in Bochum, Germany. Significant snowfalls over the past hours caused over 600-kilometer traffic jams in North-Rhine Westphalia.

5 Indian Air Force helicopters cross paths while performing an aerobatic flight on the opening of the Aero India 2013 at Yelahanka air base in Bangalore.

6 A bolt thrown by an Arcelor Mittal employee breaks the glass at a bus stop during a protest in Strasbourg, France. Arcelor Mittal, the world's largest steel producer, plans to shut a coke plant and six finishing lines at its site in Liege, Belgium, affecting 1,300 employees.

7 Storks are seen on an old sugar factory near Jerez de la Frontera, southern Spain.

8 Newly recruited female marines take their lunch with fellow soldiers inside the marine headquarters in the town of Ternate, Cavite city, south of Manila, Philippines, February 5, 2013.

9 A student activist puts black scarves on the eyes of Shoparjito Shadhinota, a sculpture that represented all sections of people in Bangladesh's liberation War in 1971,  on the campus of University of Dhaka, to demand capital punishment for Jamaat-e-Islami senior leader Abdul Quade after a war crimes tribunal sentenced him to life imprisonment.

10 Members of Honorable Artillery Company and the City of London’s Territorial Army Regiment fire a 62-gun salute in honor of the 61st anniversary of Britain's Queen Elizabeth II's accession to the throne, at the Tower of London.

11 Protesters hold Bahraini flags and banners with signs reading  'No U Turn' - meaning 'No Returning Back' - in a rally organized by the main opposition society Al Wefaq, in Budaiya, west of Manama, Bahrain.

12 Herring worth billions of dollars in exports are seen floating dead for the second time in two months, in Kolgrafafjordur, a small fjord on the northern part of Snaefellsnes peninsula, west Iceland, February 5, 2013.

1 A Free Syrian Army fighter carries ammunition for a B-10 recoilless gun in the Haresta neighborhood of Damascus, Syria.

2 A worker spreads out corn to dry after harvesting them from the cobs, before selling them at a market in Lahore, Pakistan.

3 A U.S. Marine attends a winter military drill in Pyeongchang, about 180 km (112 miles) east of Seoul, South Korea.

4 Workers and cranes are seen on the building site of the future Allianz Riviera stadium in Nice, France.

5 A young girl is pictured with her dog and a pony as it snows near Warsaw, Poland, February 7, 2013.

6 A boy practicing karate on the beach is silhouetted against the setting sun in Colombo, Sri Lanka.

7 A dog looks out of a window at the Alfama neighborhood in Lisbon, Portugal.

8 A lone skier glides down a slope in Gulmarg, 55 km (34 miles) west of Srinagar, India.

9 Workers hang up a large red lantern for decoration outside the gate of an apartment building to prepare for Chinese Lunar New Year celebrations in Beijing, China.

10 A vegetable vendor waits for customers early morning in Can Tho, Vietnam. (Photo by Dungvo/Vietnam/VOA reader)

1 Hindu devotees arrive for a holy dip at Sangam, the confluence of the Rivers Ganges, Yamuna and mythical Saraswati in Allahabad, India.

2 Jack Percoco reaches into depleted shelves for milk at a supermarket in Somerville, Massachusetts. A major winter storm is heading toward the U.S. Northeast, with up to two feet of snow expected for a Boston-area region that has seen mostly bare ground this winter.

3 Firefighters attempt to extinguish a fire at a factory that activists say was shelled by forces loyal to Syria's President Bashar al-Assad at al-Haidariah area in Aleppo.

4 A worker puts the final touches on a float with a giant figure of Russian President Vladimir Putin (L) during preparations for the carnival parade in Nice, France. The 129th Carnival of Nice will run from February 15 to March 6, and will celebrate the 'King of the five continents'.

5 A young girl runs down a set of stairs designed to accommodate wheelchairs in downtown Vancouver, British Columbia, February 7, 2013.

6 Cars burn next to el Jallez cemetery where thousands of Tunisians are gathered to attend the funerals of slain opposition leader Chokri Belaid, near Tunis.

7 Pakistani commuters are stuck in a traffic jam on a bridge as they enter Lahore.

8 Demonstrators run as tear gas canisters are fired by Israeli security forces during clashes at a weekly protest against a nearby Jewish settlement, in the West Bank village of Nabi Saleh, near Ramallah.

9 Protesters scuffle outside the National Library in the Georgia capital Tbilisi. Hundreds gathered there in an attempt to block President Mikheil Saakashvili from entering the building to deliver his last annual address to the nation.

10 Two hundred and eighty-eight dancers perform during the opening ceremony of the traditional Opera Ball in Vienna, Austria, February 7, 2013.

1 Residents start to dig out of the snow along a street in Providence, Rhode Island, USA. A behemoth storm packing hurricane-force wind gusts and blizzard conditions swept through the Northeast overnight.

2 A man rides down a hill on a toboggan, chased by his dog in Central Park in New York. A blizzard pummeled the Northeastern United States, killing at least one person, leaving hundreds of thousands without power and disrupting thousands of flights, media and officials said.

3 Protesters march during an anti-racism rally against the new headquarters of the extreme-right Golden Dawn party in Athens, Greece.

4 People decorate a temple with Thai banknotes ahead of the Chinese Lunar New Year celebrations in Bangkok's Chinatown, Thailand.

5 Spain's Rafael Nadal prepares to serve to compatriot Daniel Gimeno-Traver during the men's singles match at the Chilean Open tennis tournament in Vina del Mar city, Chile, February 8, 2013.

6 The Russian Knights aerobatic demonstration team flies in their Sukhoi SU-27s on the fourth day of Aero India 2013 at Yelahanka Air Force station in Bangalore, India.

7 People cross a river in a wooden boat in Ninh Kieu district of Can Tho in the Mekong Delta region of Vietnam, February 8, 2013. (Photo by Dungvo/Vietnam/VOA reader)

8 Revelers of X-9 Paulistana samba school perform during the first night of Carnival parades at Sao Paulo, Brazil, February 9, 2013.

9 A girl performs an acrobatic show during the temple fair in Ditan Park, also known as the Temple of Earth, in Beijing, China. The Lunar New Year, or Spring Festival, begins on February 10 and marks the start of the Year of the Snake, according to the Chinese zodiac.

10 China's Yu Jiyang, front, leads during a men's 1,000-meter quarter final race at the World Cup short track speed skating championship in Dresden, Germany.

1 Adelina Hidalgo holds a photograph of Pope Benedict as she kneels inside the Metropolitan Cathedral in San Salvador. Pope Benedict said on Monday he will resign February 28 because he no longer has the strength to fulfil the duties of his office.

2 A family whose relative died in a stampede cry and comfort each other as they arrive to take the bodies from the morgue in Allahabad, India. The death toll from the stampede rose on Monday in the city where millions of devotees had gathered for a Hindu festival that is one of the world's largest religious gatherings.

3 Girls appear through holes in a big national flag as they prepare to take part in a parade commemorating the second anniversary of the uprising against Yemen's former president Ali Abdullah Saleh in Sanaa.

4 A protester walks past graffiti during a march at Tahrir Square in Cairo. The march, was organized by Egyptians who oppose President Morsi and members of the ruling Muslim Brotherhood on the second anniversary of President Mubarak's resignation. The Arabic words read, "After the revolution - let them speak" (L), "Before the revolution - let them play" (R).

5 A woman stands behind a metal screen at the Western Wall in Jerusalem's Old City. Israeli police detained 10 women at one of Judaism's most sacred sites on Monday for wearing prayer shawls, which Orthodox tradition sees as solely for men.

6 Young demonstrators carrying posters of assassinated leftist politician Chokri Belaid shout during a demonstration calling for Prime Minister Hamadi Jebali and his cabinet to step down at the National Constituent Assembly in Tunis, Tunisia.

7 A woman walks her dog by a windmill after a snowfall at Stelling Minnis, southeast England.

8 Carnival Prince Jens II symbolically throws the contents of the city coffer out of the window after storming the city hall in Marne, northern Germany. Street spectacles were watched by hundreds of thousands of people as a highlight of Germany's carnival season on Rose Monday.

9 Fireworks explode over Victoria Harbour to celebrate the Chinese Lunar New Year in Hong Kong.

10 Crates of roses are prepared at a FloraHolland warehouse in Aalsmeer, The Netherlands. FloraHolland, the world's biggest flower auction, expects sales to jump leading up to Valentine's Day.

11 A Buddhist splashes colored water on Boudhanath Stupa during the first day of the three-day-long Losar, or New Year celebration of the Tibetan, Tamang and Sherpa communities, in Kathmandu, Nepal.

12 A handler celebrates after winning Best of Breed with a Saluki named Sandstorm Blue Nile Bubbles Of Jatara during the 137th Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show in New York. More than 2,700 prized dogs will be on display at the annual canine competition.

13 Revelers of the Portela samba school participate in the annual Carnival parade early Monday morning in Rio de Janeiro's Sambadrome, Brazil.

14 Miami Marlins pitcher Dan Jennings throws a ball before the official start of spring training baseball in Jupiter, Florida.

1 French CRS riot police are covered with paint during clashes with demonstrators in front of tire-maker Goodyear Dunlop's France headquarters in Rueil Malmaison, near Paris.

2 South Korean soldiers march during military drills near the demilitarized zone separating North Korea from South Korea, in Paju, north of Seoul.

3 People take part in an attempt to break the Guinness world record for most number of people simultaneously hula-hooping at Thammasat University stadium in Pathum Thani province, on the outskirts of Bangkok, Thailand.

4 Boys ride tall bicycles in Tahrir square in central Cairo, Egypt.

5 Marcel Hirscher of Austria (L) and Mattias Hargin of Sweden compete during the national team event at the World Alpine Skiing Championships in Schladming, Austria.

6 A 'Gilles of Binche' throws an orange during the Binche carnival, in Binche, Belgium. The Carnival of Binche is recognized by Unesco as a masterpiece of the Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity.

7 Local school boys run at the start of their age group's race before annual Shrove women's Trans-Atlantic Pancake Race, in the town of Olney, in Buckinghamshire, England.

8 Lightning strikes the dome of St Peter's Basilica at the Vatican, February 11, 2013.

1 Members of the Honor guard line up during a meeting of Turkmenistan's President Gurbanguly Berdymukhammedov with his Ukrainian counterpart Viktor Yanukovich in Ashgabat, Turkmenistan.

2 A Syrian woman waits for the opening of Cilvegozu border gate near the town of Reyhanli in Hatay province at the Turkish-Syrian border.

3 German chancellor Angela Merkel drinks beer during a political Ash Wednesday meeting of her Christian Democratic Party, CDU, in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania , in Demmin, eastern Germany.

4 Ethnic Kachin children eat a meal at a camp for internally displaced people in Myitkyina, northern Kachin state, Burma.

5 Banana Joe, an Affenpinscher, won Best of Show during the Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show at Madison Square Garden in New York, February 12, 2013.

6 Small-scale tobacco farmers arrange bales at the start of Zimbabwe's selling season at Boka Auction Floors in Harare.

7 Nuns wave to Pope Benedict XVI as he leads the Wednesday general audience in Paul VI hall at the Vatican.

8 A street vendor selling bread walks in front of graffiti denouncing Egypt's President Mohamed Morsi near Tahrir Square in Cairo.

9 Chinese residents cook Cantonese fried rice during Chinese Lunar New Year celebrations in Chinatown in San Jose, Costa Rica, February 12, 2013.

10 Prasit Rangsitwong, left, and Varutton Rangsitwong run away from a giant flower ball as a part of an adventure-themed wedding ceremony in Prachinburi province, Thailand, on the eve of Valentine's Day.

1 U.S. President Barack Obama reacts as he reads a card during a game with children in a per-kindergarten classroom at College Heights Early Childhood Learning Center in Decatur, Georgia.

2 Syrian rebels fire a mortar toward regime forces stationed at Kwiriss airport in Al-Bab, 30 kilometers from the northeastern Syrian city of Aleppo.

3 People attend a mass candlelight vigil around a portrait of Jahanara Imam, the late political activist pioneer widely known for bringing the accused of committing war crimes in the Bangladesh Liberation War to trial, at Shahbagh intersection in Dhaka, Bangladesh.

4 A folk artist stretches as he waits for a performance at a Spring Festival Temple Fair on the fifth day of the Chinese Lunar New Year at Longtan Park in Beijing, China.

5 A couple walks along a path on Valentine's day in Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina.

6 A boy looks on while standing with his father, who a rose placed on his belt, they shop for gifts on Valentine's Day in Sana'a, Yemen.

7 A couple stands in front the 'I love You : The Wall' art work by Frederic Baron and Claire Kito on Saint Valentine's Day in Paris, France.

8 Generations of stars can be seen in this infrared portrait from NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope. In this wispy star-forming region, called W5, the oldest stars can be seen as blue dots in the centers of the two hollow cavities. (NASA/JPL-Caltech/Harvard-Smithsonian)

9 Israeli soldiers clean the barrel of a mobile artillery unit after an exercise in the Golan Heights, near Israel's border with Syria.

10 Men jump to catch a leather ball at the start of the annual 'Fastern Eve Handba' event in Jedburgh, Scotland. Known locally as Jethart Ba’, the handball games are played on the Thursday after Shrove Tuesday, and involves two teams getting the ribboned leather ball to either the top or bottom of the town, with no rules.

11 Smoke rises from the stacks of a thermal power station in Sofia, Bulgaria.

1 An owner holds her Oriental Shorthair cat during a cat exhibition in the Kyrgyzstan's capital Bishkek. Cats owners from Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan gathered in Bishkek to show off their pets.

2 Millwall's James Henry celebrates after scoring against Luton Town during their FA Cup fifth round soccer match at Kenilworth Road in Luton, central England.

3 A monorail travels on its trial run in Mumbai, India. The Chembur-Wadala corridor will be the country’s first monorail route and is expected to be operational later this year.

4 Rows of North Korean children stand and salute at a sports arena in Pyongyang for a national meeting of the Children's Union.

5 A military official hands over a Pakistan military cap, stick and national flag to the father of Pakistani soldier Muhammad Akhlaq, after his burial at his village Pind Bainso, Tehsil Kallar Saydan, Rawalpindi. The military said he was killed by Indian soldiers while crossing into the Indian side of Kashmir at a post in Khoi Ratta sector on the Line of Control in the disputed region of Kashmir.

6 Ole Einar Bjoerndalen, Tarjei Boe, Emil Hegle Svendsen and Henrik L'Abee-Lund of Norway (L to R) celebrate their victory in the men's 4x7.5 km relay during the International Biathlon Union World Championships in Nove Mesto, Czech Republic.

7 Members of the Astronomical Association of Sabadell prepare to watch asteroid 2012 DA14 pass near Earth, in Sabadell near Barcelona, Spain, February 15, 2013.

8 Artists perform during the Carnival parade in Nice, France. The 129th Carnival of Nice runs from February 15 to March 6 and celebrates the "King of the Five Continents".

9 Germany Bob team Manuel Machata, front, and Christian Poser starts during the men's Bob event at the FIBT Bob & Skeleton World Cup 2013, in Krasnaya Polyana resort, some 60 km east of Sochi, Russia.

1 An Afghan child plays on the barrel of a Soviet tank in the Behsood district of Jalalabad, Afghanistan.

2 Turkish gendarmerie fire water cannon and tear gas as they clash with hundreds of protesters trying to enter a courthouse in Silivri near Istanbul, Turkey.

3 Fireworks illuminate the sky over the capital of Kosovo, Pristina, celebrating the 5th anniversary since Kosovo seceded from Serbia.

4 A Pakistani Shiite girl takes part in a sit-in protest with others to condemn recent bombing which killed scores of people, in Quetta, Pakistan.

5 An Iberia worker is arrested by Spanish riot police officer during clashes at Madrid's Barajas airport, Spain.

6 A French Mirage 2000 fighter jet of the Nancy-based 3/3 Fighter Squadron Ardennes takes off early for a Close Air Support (CAS) mission from Bamako's airport, Mali.

7 An Indian boy dressed as Lord Shiva watches during the Kumbh Mela festival in Allahabad, India.

8 A man relaxes on a branch of a tree in Hanover, northern Germany.

9 Frenchman Serge Charnay waves from a crane in Nantes, western France, refusing to come down until authorities re-examine his child's visitation rights.

1 Masked Palestinians use a back car seat as a shield during a protest to support Palestinian prisoners, outside Ofer, an Israeli military prison near the West Bank city of Ramallah.

2 Snow and mountains make conditions tough for people in Saint Chathrine in the Sinai Peninsula, Egypt. (Photo by Ibrahim Mamdouh/Egypt/VOA reader)

3 A Pakistani woman is comforted by other relatives while grieving over the body of her brother Mohammed Ali, who was killed in Saturday's bombing, in Quetta, Pakistan.

4 An Indian laborer sun dries red chilies at Shertha village, outskirts of Ahmadabad.

5 Yemeni soldiers and firefighters work to extinguish a fire at the site of a plane crash in Sana'a, Yemen. An official says a military plane on a training exercise crashed into a neighborhood in the country's capital, killing and injuring scores of people.

6 A young Vietnamese man walks in the countryside, carrying gardening tools on his shoulder while talking on his cellphone in Dalat province, South Vietnam. (Photo by Hang Dinh Thi Thanh/Vietnam/VOA reader)

7 A camel braves the heavy snowfall at the zoo in Frankfurt, central Germany.

8 Spacesuits are left on chairs before cosmonauts' training session at the Russian cosmonaut training facility in Star City outside Moscow, Russia.

9 A resident stands amid the debris of his burnt house as he attempts to salvage useful materials after a fire in Valenzuela City, Metro Manila, Philippines. Some 500 houses were razed by fire, leaving 2,000 residents homeless, local media reported.

10 A worker walks past piles of wood at a wood-processing factory in Huaibei, Anhui province, China.

11 A lonely scene on the Huong River in Hue, Vietnam (Photo by Bùi Th?y Ðào Nguyên/Vietnam/VOA reader)

1 A girl, who returned from school, cries upon seeing her house destroyed after a jet missile hit the al-Myassar neighborhood of Aleppo, Syria.

2 Britain's Prime Minister David Cameron (C) prepares bread at a community kitchen during his visit to the holy Sikh shrine of Golden temple in the northern Indian city of Amritsar.

3 Large lantern decorations are seen at a shopping mall in Beijing, China.

4 Statues are seen on top of a police station designed by the Spanish architect Manuel Nunez Yanowsky, in the 12th district of Paris, France, February 19, 2013. The statues are reproductions of the Dying Slave sculpture by the Italian Renaissance artist Michelangelo.

5 A fruit vendor waits for customers in Kabul, Afghanistan. (Photo by Aman Aman/Afahnistan/VOA reader)

6 A Vietnamese man from the Pa Then minority group jumps into a fire during a ritual ceremony at the Vietnam Ethnic Minority Cultural Village, outside Hanoi.

7 A worker stands next to the Oscar statues during a preparation work for the upcoming OSCARS, the 85th Academy Awards, at Hollywood Boulevard in Hollywood, California, on February 19, 2013. The ceremony is scheduled for February 24, 2013.

8 A model displays an Autumn/Winter design by David Delfin during Madrid's Fashion Week, in Madrid, Spain.

9 A truck carrying oil palm fruits passes through Felda Sahabat plantation in Lahad Datu in Malaysia's state of Sabah on Borneo island.

10 A homeless man sleeps at the entrance of the Sao Paulo Cathedral in Sao Paulo, Brazil, February 19, 2013.

1 A handout picture released by the official Syrian Arab News Agency (SANA) shows wounded Syrians after a powerful car bomb exploded near the headquarters of the ruling Baath party in the center of Damascus.

2 A worker shouts and shows her wallet as she demonstrates together with tens of thousands of workers to protest against austerity measures that have affected their income during the financial crisis and to demand labor-boosting initiatives, in Brussels, Belgium.

3 Malian soldiers fire a machine gun in Gao.

4 The buckling of U.S. 89 is seen about 25 miles south of Page, Arizona, Feb. 20, 2013. Arizona Department of Transportation (ADOT) says what caused a 150-foot section of pavement to buckle might be what ADOT called a "geologic event." (Photo provided by ADOT)

5 Rare snow falling throughout Tucson, Arizona, USA, Feb. 20, 2013 (Photo by Hossein Mir/USA/VOA reader)

6 Saskatchewan skip Jill Shumay watches her final shot to defeat Team Canada during the twelfth draw at Scotties Tournament of Hearts curling championship in Kingston, Canada.

7 People clash with riot police during a demonstration to demand jobs for the unemployed, against government austerity measures and alleged corruption of Spanish politicians, in front the regional Parliament, in Pamplona, northern Spain.

8 A devotee of Lord Krishna is seen on the street of Kolkata, India, on the first day of a two-day nationwide industrial strike called by several trade unions, Feb. 20, 2013. (Photo by Chandan Ghosh/India/VOA reader)

9 An ethnic Hmong girl tries to keep his hair from getting messed up after a strong wind on a rocky mountain district of Sa Pa, Lao Cai province in northwest Vietnam. (Photo by Ðình Hà /Vietnam/VOA reader)

10 Students supporting the Labor Party taunt Nationalist Party opponents before a debate of political leaders at the Malta College of Arts, Science and Technology in Paola, outside Valletta, Malta, Feb. 20, 2013.

11 Australia's Annette Edmondson, Ashlee Ankudinoff and Melissa Hoskins compete in the women's 3km Team Pursuit Qualifying race during the Track Cycling World Championships in Minsk, Belarus.

12 Passers-by are reflected on a decoration at the entrance of a train station in Tokyo, Japan, Feb. 20, 2013.

1 A woman is rescued from flood waters by a resident standing on top of her car during heavy rain in Chalandri suburb north of Athens, Greece.

2 A relative uses a stone to break a pot of water carried by Sudhakar Reddy during his sister Swapna Reddy's funeral rites at a crematorium in Hyderabad, India. At least 14 people were killed, including Reddy, by twin bombings at a bustling shopping area of Hyderabad on Feb. 21, 2013.

3 A protester jumps on a police vehicle as it passes by an anti-government protest in Cairo, Egypt.

4 A surfer swims at Barra da Tijuca beach in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

5 A model displays a creation of Etro Autumn/Winter 2013 collection at Milan Fashion Week in Milan, Italy.

6 A girl in a metal basin in Great Lake in Cambodia (Photo by Ngo Thiet Hung/Cambodia/VOA reader)

7 A Nepalese Hindu devotee balances lit lamps along his arms during the Madhav Narayan Festival in Lalitpur, on the outskirts of Katmandu, Nepal.

8 Stalled vehicles are seen during a blizzard as traffic backs up on a major thoroughfare in Overland Park, Kansas, Feb. 21, 2013. A major winter storm pounded the U.S. Great Plains creating hazardous travel that resulted in at least one death, closing schools, scuttling air travel, and cutting off power to some communities.

9 An amphibious bus 'Sky Duck' goes into the water during its trial run in Tokyo, Japan.

10 Roberta Vinci of Italy hits a return to compatriot Sara Errani during their women's singles semi-final match at the WTA Dubai Tennis Championships, United Arab Emitrates.

1 Competitors ski in the men's skiathlon competition at the Nordic World Ski Championships in the northern mountain resort of Tesero in Val di Fiemme, Italy.

2 A farmer loads bananas atop a cargo vehicle to be transported to vendors in Manila, in Magsaysay, Occidental Mindoro in central Philippines.

3 A man cries at a site hit by what activists said was a Scud missile in Aleppo's Ard al-Hamra neighborhood, Syria.

4 Children of ethnic Hmong peddling souvenirs and drinks in Sapa, Lao Cai province in northwest Vietnam (Photo by Bùi Th?y Ðào Nguyên/Vietnam/VOA reader)

5 Servicemen of the Belarussian Interior Ministry take part in a competition at their base near the village of Okolitsa, some 30 km (19 miles) east of Minsk, to mark the Defender of the Fatherland Day.

6 A picnic place in Parwan province, Afghanistan (Photo by Aman Aman/Afghanistan/VOA reader)

7 With the Chicago skyline as a backdrop, the swirling waves of Lake Michigan are frozen near the Adler Planetarium after a winter storm in the greater Chicago area, USA, Feb. 22, 2013.

8 Residents examine the wreckage of a container truck that hit several houses in Cianjur, West Java, Indonesia. Police said the truck driver appeared to have lost control when his brakes failed, and hit a minivan and dozens of motorcycles and a factory before crossing the road, hitting a number of cars and slamming into several houses.

9 A woman feeds birds on the banks of the Limmat river in Zurich, Switzerland.

10 A Kazakh hunter walks with his tamed golden eagle during an annual hunting competition in Chengelsy Gorge, some 150 km (93 miles) east of Almaty, Kazakhstan, Feb. 22, 2013.

11 Timothy Peters (17) collides Ryan Truex (30) as Jeff Agnew (27) gets by during the NASCAR Truck Series auto race at Daytona International Speedway in Daytona Beach, Florida, USA, Feb. 22, 2013.

1 The dome of Saint Peter's Basilica is reflected in a water puddle while workers prepare the weekly audience of Pope Benedict XVI in Saint Peter's Square at the Vatican.

2 A member of the media walks into Vibration Lumineuse, Luminous Vibration, a creation by Argentinean artist Julio Le Parc, before the opening of the exhibition: Soleil Froid, Cold Sun, by the 85-year-old artist in Paris.

3 A long-exposure photo shows light streaking from the candles of Buddhist monks as they walk around a Pagoda on Makha Bhucha Day at the Dhammakaya Temple in Thailand. Makha Bhucha day is observed on the full moon of the third lunar month and commemorates the day when 1,250 monks gathered to be ordained by the Buddha.

4 Three-year-old Riaz sits in an open suitcase filled with clothes as his mother wheels it along the side of a highway in Mumbai, India.

5 Relatives of Javed Ahmed Wani, a village council chief, mourn during his funeral in Kalantra village, north of Srinagar, India. Wani was shot dead by suspected militants Sunday outside his home, police said.

6 South Korean President Park Geun-hye holds a puppy presented by her neighbor as she leaves her home for the presidential inauguration ceremony in Seoul.

7 An attendee watches demonstrators from the Telefonica phone company protesting against what they claim are unjustified dismissals from the company, outside the Mobile World Congress, the world's largest mobile phone trade show, Barcelona, Spain.

8 A Soviet-made T34 tank is seen in front of pictures of the victims of communist dictatorship during the memorial day of the communist victims at the House of Terror Museum in Budapest, Hungary.

9 A giant drilling machine completes the four-kilometer-long Saverne tunnel beneath the Vosges mountains in Eckartswiller, eastern France during a ceremony marking the second phase of construction for the east European high-speed train line between Paris and Strasbourg.

10 Syrian refugee children play soccer at a youth empowerment center at al Zaatri refugee camp in the Jordanian city of Mafraq, near the border with Syria.

11 A newborn elephant is pictured in the zoo of Copenhagen, Denmark. The unnamed elephant was born early this morning.

1 A sculpture showing a pistol, inspired by Swedish artist Carl Frederik Reutersvaerd sculpture's "Non-Violence", is pictured in front of the Reichstag building in Berlin, Germany.

2 South African Archbishop Desmond Tutu, and Burma's opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi smile during a press briefing at her residence in Rangoon, Burma.

3 The full moon is seen above the St. Peter's Basilica at the Vatican.

4 A Unite the Union worker puts the final cans of soup to complete a pyramid of 468 outside the Palace of Westminster to highlight the next round of government cuts and the affect it will have on the poorest sections of society, in London, Britain.

5 Carcasses of beached whales are pictured at Caleta Susana beach, near Punta Arenas, about 3,415 km south of Santiago, Chile, Feb. 25, 2013. Around 46 whales were found beached at the area of which 20 were returned to the ocean with the help of local fisherman, local media said.

6 Ultra-Orthodox Jewish men gather at a yeshiva, a rabbinical seminary, during Purim celebrations in Jerusalem, Feb. 25, 2013.

7 Abayed, a six-year-old herding dog, walks with a specially-made wheeled walking aid outside the Humane Center for Animal Welfare near Amman, Jordan. The dog, whose name means "white", was hospitalized and treated after a bullet pierced his spine and paralysed him some two years ago.

8 A Pakistani Kushti wrestler prepares the soil in the ring at a wrestling club in Lahore, Pakistan.

9 Supporters gather in the street as former Argentine soccer star Diego Maradona leads a news conference in Naples, Italy.

10 General view of the 22nd session of the Human Rights Council at the United Nations in Geneva, Switzerland, Feb. 25, 2013.

11 Participants take part in the 29th Annual Festival of Japan, which was held on February 23-24 at Arizona State University in Tempe, Arizona, USA. (Photo by Hossein Mir/USA/VOA reader)

12 Electoral posters are seen in Rome, Italy.

1 Palestinian fishermen collect several Manta Ray fish that were washed up on the beach in Gaza City.

2 U.S. President Barack Obama (L) sits alongside House Speaker John Boehner during the unveiling of a statue in honor of civil rights activist Rosa Parks, in Statuary Hall in the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C.

3 Pope Benedict XVI waves from his popemobile as he rides through a packed Saint Peter's Square at the Vatican during his last general audience.

4 Photographers take pictures of the humanoid robot ROBOY during a media presentation at the Artificial Lab of the University of Zurich in Zurich, Switzerland.

5 A Bangladeshi woman cries at the scene of a fire at a slum in Dhaka, Bangladesh.

6 Supporters of Yemen's former President Ali Abdullah Saleh climb on flag poles during a rally marking the anniversary of his power handover in Sana'a, Yemen.

7 Neil Heslin, the father of a six-year-old boy, who was slain in the Sandy Hook massacre in Newtown, Connecticut, on Dec. 14, 2012, holds a picture of himself with his son Jesse and wipes his eye while testifying on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C., before the Senate Judiciary Committee on the Assault Weapons Ban of 2013.

8 A boy collects plastic goods from a pile of garbage in the main sewerage area in Lahore, Pakistan.

9 A man drains water out of his flooded house in Murtino, 180 km east of capital Skopje, Macedonia.

10 A firefighter rescues a car stuck in the frozen Schluchsee lake in the Black Forest region, southern Germany. According to the police, the car was empty.

11 Japan's 114-year-old Misao Okawa receives a certificate of the world's oldest woman, which was presented to her by Guinness World Records Japan Country Manager Erika Ogawa, at a nursing home in Osaka, western Japan.

12 'Ray Brown', the resident cat, watches passers-by from a pub window in central London, Britain.

1 A woman wearing a mask rides her bicycle along a street on a hazy morning in Beijing, China.

2 U.S. House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) points out a poster replicating a notice of job termination for 750,000 Americans due to the impending sequestration, on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C.

3 Postal workers wear masks during a protest in front of the state-owned postal service Posta Romana headquarters in Bucharest, Romania, against the treatment by the management.

4 A helicopter carrying Pope Benedict XVI takes off from inside the Vatican on its way to the papal summer residence at Castel Gandolfo. Pope Benedict slips quietly from the world stage after a private last goodbye to his cardinals and a short flight to a country palace to enter the final phase of his life "hidden from the world".

5 A woman reacts near a giant screen showing the departure of Pope Benedict XVI from the Vatican City.

6 Photographers and cameramen work during French designer Barbara Bui's Fall-Winter 2013-2014 women's ready-to-wear fashion show in Paris.

7 A 12-meter rice paper boat art installation by Chinese artist Zhu Jinshi at the Art13 London art fair in central London, Britain. The boat is made from 10,000 sheets of rice paper which took 14 skilled workers around 50 days to make.

8 A man walks past the destroyed former customs building, which was used as a base by radical Islamists, in Gao, Mali.

9 A woman walks past the National War Memorial during heavy snowfall in Ottawa, Canada, February 27, 2013.

10 A policeman uses a baton on an activist of Jamaat-e-Islami, Bangladesh's biggest Islamist party, during a clash at Jatrabari in Dhaka.

11 South Koreans wearing traditional costumes carry torches and national flags as they march on the street during a ceremony to celebrate the March First Independence Movement Day, the anniversary of the 1919 uprising against Japanese colonial rule, in Cheonan, south of Seoul.