It's been one year since the earth shook so violently below Port-au-Prince, Haiti, destroying and damaging hundreds of thousands of buildings and lives in mere moments. Twelve months of struggle and heartache have followed, with very little progress to show so far. Only five percent of the rubble has been cleared as crippling "indecision" has stalled reconstruction efforts, a recent report by humanitarian group Oxfam said. It's not clear when Haiti will be fully rebuilt, with five years needed just to rehouse the government, a top minister recently told an AFP reporter. On this somber anniversary, here are some photos of (and by) Haitians as they continue to cope with the aftermath of such a massive disaster. (45 photos total)
Saturday, January 29, 2011
A historic vote in Sudan
South Sudan, currently part of Sudan - the largest country in Africa, is holding a historic referendum this week following a 2005 peace treaty, where its citizens will decide whether to remain unified, or for South Sudan to secede and become a new nation. The 2005 treaty brought to an end decades of civil war between the Islamic north and predominantly Christian and animist south. The south is expected to vote by around 99 percent to secede from the north - which will also give it a majority of Sudan's oil. Sudan's President Omar al-Beshir has stated he would honor the vote, whatever the outcome. Should the vote to secede pass, the hard work of defining borders, working out how to share oil revenue and more will have just begun. Collected here are images of Sudanese people participating in this week's vote. (35 photos total)
An uprising in Tunisia
Beginning in December of last year, a series of ongoing protests in the streets of Tunisia escalated to the point where President Zine el-Abidine Ben Ali - who had ruled the country for 23 years - at first declared he would not seek re-election, then fled the country on January 14th. An interim government was assembled, but protesters remain in the streets, demanding removal of all traces of Ben Ali's old RCD party. Protesters' frustrations with high unemployment, inflation and corruption drove them to the streets after a pivotal event, when a young Tunisian vendor named Mohamed Bouazizi set himself on fire after police confiscated his produce cart. Bouazizi died of his injuries days later. Collected here are images of the turmoil in Tunisia over the past couple of weeks. (40 photos total)
Thursday, January 27, 2011
Ivory Coast's election stalemate
Ivory Coast has two governments, one clinging to power while the international community insists that it must go, the other barricaded inside a hotel protected by barbed wire and the blue helmets of a UN peacekeeping force. Laurent Gbagbo's term in office expired five years ago, and the long-delayed election appeared to have ousted him from power. He has refused to leave. His opponent, Alassane Ouattara, has the support of world leaders, but not of Ivory Coast's military. And so the election stalemate continues, international sanctions slow the economy, and post-election violence has claimed the lives of over 200 people. Collected here are photographs of the campaign, the vote, post-election violence, and daily life in Ivory Coast, a West African nation of 21 million. -- Lane Turner (39 photos total)
Christmas 2010 - your photos
A few weeks ago, I invited you, the readers of The Big Picture, to submit your own images of Christmas 2010. It was another experiment, I was hoping for high quality, personal images and was not disappointed once again. Several hundred submissions came in from around the world, and I thank every one of you for participating. Looking back on the Christmas season one last time, I present the following collection of reader-submitted photographs - and invite you to see Christmas through their eyes. Captions written by the photographers. (42 photos total)
The first solar eclipse of 2011
Yesterday a partial solar eclipse took place, observable through most of Europe and northwestern Asia. Over parts of Europe, as much as two-thirds of the sun slipped from view behind the moon. The region that saw the greatest eclipse was in northern Sweden. This was the first of four partial solar eclipses which will occur in 2011, the others taking place on June 1st, July 1st and November 25th. Collected here are photographs of yesterday's celestial event and observers here on Earth as they tried to catch a glimpse. (25 photos total)
Protest spreads in the Middle East
The issues in Tunisia, Lebanon, and Egypt differ, but yesterday anger boiled over in all three countries as grievances were brought to the streets. In Tunisia, where protests have already overthrown President Zine el-Abidine Ben Ali, continued demonstrations sought to depose his allies still in their positions. Meanwhile Tunisia's interim government has issued an international arrest warrant for the former president and members of his family. In Lebanon, Sunni supporters of ousted Prime Minister Saad Hariri took to the streets in a "day of rage", burning tires and blockading roads in Tripoli and Sidon. It was in Egypt where the most dramatic events unfolded as the largest protests in a generation rocked Cairo. Demonstrators, many inspired by events in Tunisia, called for an end to nearly 30 years of rule by President Hosni Mubarak. Collected here are photographs from all three countries. -- Lane Turner (34 photos total)
A protester carrying an Egyptian flag runs through clouds of tear gas at a demonstration in Cairo January 25, 2011. Thousands of anti-government protesters, some hurling rocks and climbing atop an armored police truck, clashed with riot police in the center of Cairo in a Tunisia-inspired demonstration to demand the end of Hosni Mubarak's nearly 30 years in power. (AP Photo/Nasser Nasser)
Dakar 2011
The 2011 edition of the Dakar Rally, being held in South America for the third year, is nearly complete, with competitors heading toward the finish line in Buenos Aires, Argentina on Sunday, January 16th. This is the 32nd running of the rally, and over 400 Teams are competing in the race with 200 motorcycles and all-terrain vehicles, 140 cars, and 67 trucks. In the end, racers will have traveled 9,500 km (5,900 mi) in 13 stages across spectacular and varied terrain in both Argentina and Chile. Collected here are a handful of images from this year's race as it nears its end this weekend. [Editor's note: Next entry on 1/19] (42 photos total)
Australian flooding
Seasonal flooding across eastern Australia has been widespread and devastating this spring - their wettest on record. Cyclone Tasha came along two weeks ago, and dumped even more water on Queensland. Hundreds of thousands of people in an area the size of France and Germany combined are now affected, and at least nine people have been killed so far. Authorities are working to evacuate some communities and airlift supplies to others as the water level is expected to continue rising over the next two days and 38 regions were declared natural disaster areas. Collected here are photos from the recent flooding around Australia and its effect on residents and animals. (33 photos total)
Monday, January 24, 2011
Sunday, January 23, 2011
Tuesday, January 18, 2011
Afghanistan, December, 2010
2010 has been the deadliest year yet for coalition troops in Afghanistan, with 709 troops killed, 497 of those from the U.S. American officials have spoken of a fragile progress, with a possible small drawdown of troops starting next summer, keeping 2014 as the goal date for Afghans to take control. The United Nations released a report saying that more than 2,400 Afghan civilians were killed and more than 3,800 injured in the first 10 months of 2010, with 76% of these casualties being caused by "anti-government elements". The report also shows deaths and injuries caused by "pro-government forces" (U.S. and NATO troops, Afghan army and police) accounted for 12% of civilian casualties, an 18% drop from the same time period last year. Collected here are images of the country and conflict over the past month, part of an ongoing monthly series on Afghanistan. (43 photos total)
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Four Hills Ski Jumping Tournament
01. Finland's Janne Ahonen spars over the the Zugspitze and Waxenstein mountains during practice for the second event of the four-hills ski jumping tournament in Garmisch-Partenkirchen December 31, 2010. REUTERS/Kai Pfaffenbach
Friday, January 14, 2011
Droste Effect Pictures
Josh Sommers from Petaluma, California, USA, has mastered the art of creating Escheresque photographs and has decided to reveal the secret mathematical
City of Lights - Medellin, Colombia
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FaiRy TaleS:Modern Edition [PG]
Brazilian artist Cris de Lara engaged in graphic and web design. As an illustrator and digital artist, Lara, along with her husband, so far has done a lot of advertisements, comics, books… Lara’s girls at these images, in addition to that they are fun and interesting, have a real artistic value in the digital arts. Some of them are characters from us well-known fairy tales, some are the characters from mythology and folklore, and some are cute pin up girls. What they have in common are impressive drawings, great consistent color and overall design, and mostly good general idea of the characters and their personage. |
Friday, January 7, 2011
Sunday, January 2, 2011
Funny And Odd Animals
A baby long-eared bat is hand-reared at Secret Animal Rescue in Somerset. Its ears -
Saturday, January 1, 2011
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