Pictures of the Day - Memories of 2008 in photos

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  A crane lowered a star atop a giant Christmas tree near the Muhammad al-Amin Mosque in Beirut, Lebanon, Thursday.(Ahmad Omar/Associated Press)
  
  Israeli police officers and soldiers removed Jewish settlers during the evacuation of a disputed house in the West Bank city of Hebron, Thursday. Israeli security forces stormed a disputed house in the biblical city of Hebron on Thursday, dragging out some 250 settlers who barricaded themselves inside and hurled rocks, eggs and chemicals at their evictors. It was the first major West Bank evacuation since a violent 2006 confrontation that injured hundreds.(Nasser Shiyoukhi/Associated Press)
  
  Friedrich zu Solms-Baruth held documentation regarding his grandfather’s land prior to the beginning of a court case in Potsdam, Germany, Thursday, to argue he should be compensated for thousands of acres of family land lost under the Nazis, following his father’s participation in the failed plot to assassinate Nazi leader Adolf Hitler.(Sven Kaestner/Associated Press)
  
  A woman attended to a child as Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin took questions during a nationally televised town-hall style session in Moscow on Thursday. Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin implied that he had privately voiced a desire to hang Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili “by the balls” during the war in Georgia last August. Asked during a live televised appearance whether he had threatened to hang Saakashvili “by one special place” Putin paused, looked directly into the camera and coyly replied: “Why just one?”(Alexander Nemenov/Agence-France Presse/Getty Images)
  
  Women participated in yoga exercises Thursday to relieve trauma near Nariman House, a Jewish center and one of the sites besieged by heavily armed gunmen in Mumbai, India. A three-day trauma-relief camp has been organized by the Art of Living Foundation, for those who live in the vicinity of Nariman House and were exposed to the sound and sights of shooting during the siege.(Gautam Singh/Associated Press)
  
  A Palestinian boy wrote in Arabic “Gaza be saved” in candle wax on his palm, during a sit-in in the Yarmouk refugee camp in southern Damascus, Syria Thursday. More than a hundred Palestinian children staged a sit-in protesting the Israeli siege on Gaza. The children called for the lifting of the siege, to let Gaza children live in peace.(Bassem Tellawi/Associated Press)
  
  Richard Wagoner Jr., Chairman and CEO of General Motors, left, arrived in a prototype electric vehicle for a Senate hearing with Rep. Sander Levin on Thursday in Washington, D.C. Top executives from the three major U.S. automakers are scheduled to appear before members of the Senate Thursday to discuss proposed bailout legislation for their industry.(Win McNamee/Getty Images)
  
  Deer meat hangs in the front entryway of the Delta Theta Sigma fraternity in State College, Pa., Wednesday. The fraternity is geared toward students interested in agriculture careers, many of them avid hunters who grew up in small towns and rural areas. Rifle deer season is opens the Monday after Thanksgiving and runs through Dec. 13 in most areas of the state.(Carolyn Kaster/Associated Press)
  
  A Muslim pilgrim prayed at the top of Mount Noor in Mecca, Saudi Arabia, during the annual pilgrimage, or hajj, Thursday.
  The pilgrims will visit the Hera cave in Mount Noor, where Muslims believe Prophet Muhammad received the first words of the Koran through Gabriel.(Ahmed Jadallah/Reuters)
  
  A child held a candle during a vigil in Kampala, Uganda, Wednesday. Some 200 children were petitioning for the Ugandan government to refrain from resuming the fight against Lord’s Resistance Army rebels, following the failure by rebel leader Joseph Kony to sign a final peace agreement with the government.(James Akena/Reuters)
  
  Pakistani demonstrators burned Indian and U.S. flags during a demonstration in Multan, Pakistan, Thursday. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said Thursday she is satisfied with Pakistan’s commitment to pursue any lead in the attacks in India that have sharply raised tensions between the two nuclear powers.(Khalid Tanveer/Associated Press)
  
  Mexican Army soldiers held two suspects, arrested during an operation against drug smuggling and kidnapping gangs, after they were presented to the press in Tijuana, Mexico, Wednesday.After an anonymous call, the Mexican Army ran an operation on a safe house on Tuesday where they arrested four suspects and rescued two men.(Guillermo Arias/Associated Press)
  
  Young Jewish settlers sat near a disputed building, occupied by settlers since March 2007, in the West Bank city of Hebron Thursday. Israeli forces began removing hardline Jewish settlers from a disputed building in Hebron Thursday after days of stone-throwing clashes with Palestinians, witnesses said.(Eliana Aponte/Reuters)
  
  Kashmiri Muslim men watched a sheep being weighed at a market ahead of the Eid al-Adha festival in Srinagar, India, Thursday. Muslims around the world celebrated Eid al-Adha by slaughtering sheep, goats and cows to commemorate Prophet Abraham’s willingness to sacrifice his son, Ismail, on God’s command.(Fayaz Kabli/Reuters)
  
  Some Chinese job seekers broke past the security line to beat the queue to enter an overcrowded employment fair in Zhengzhou, central China’s Henan Province on Thursday. China’s economy slowed further in November, as the government warned it was being forced to act to avoid massive unemployment and social unrest. In Chinese cities, there is a need for 24 million new jobs every year, but currently there is only capacity to create half that number.(STR/AFP/Getty Images)
  
  A worker broke a window of a taxi Wednesday before towing it away from a highway where two dozen taxis blocked traffic for hours in Hong Kong late Wednesday. About 1,000 Hong Kong taxi drivers went on an impromptu strike over a new fare policy, blocking roads around the airport and causing traffic chaos, the latest in a series of cabbie complaints across China.(REUTERS/Apple Daily)
  
  Parliament Chairman Jose Bono, center, marked a silent tribute with heads of the main political parties, representatives of the Spanish business confederation and trade union members outside the Spanish parliament in Madrid, Thursday. Two gunmen believed to be ETA Basque separatists shot dead a 71-year-old businessman in a parking lot in the Basque town of Azpeitia on Wednesday, Spanish police and local authorities said.(Sergio Perez/Reuters)
  
  A woman took pictures of autumn leaves at Hogonin Temple in Kyoto, Japan on Thursday.(Junko Kimura/Getty Images)
  
  The Rockettes performed during the 76th annual Rockefeller Center Christmas Tree lighting ceremony in New York Wednesday.(Brendan McDermid/Reuters)
  

  
  
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  A child played in a dirt puddle at a refugee camp near Mugunga, Congo, Wednesday. Rwandan Hutu militia retook key eastern territories abandoned by Tutsi-led rebel forces as fighting resumed, United Nations sources said Wednesday. (Peter Andrews/Reuters)
  
  A Jeep worker waited for the start of a meeting about the U.S. auto industry Wednesday at a Toledo, Ohio, factory. (J.D. Pooley/Getty Images)
  
  Brazilian Indians from the Nhambiquara tribe took pictures with their cellphones during a National Indian Foundation meeting Wednesday about their future. (Jamil Bittar/Reuters)
  
  Agence France-Presse Athens bureau chief Philippe Perdriau, center, stood at the entrance of the new agency’s office. Four canisters were placed at the door, causing an explosion Wednesday. (Louisa Gouliamaki/Agence France-Presse/Getty Images)
  
  U.S. Army Staff Sgt. Dustin Gillette, 25, of Sioux Falls, S.D., greeted Iraqi children Wednesday while on patrol. (Maya Alleruzzo/Associated Press)
  
  A worker took a break among stacks of food aid at the United Nations World Food Program warehouse in Mombasa, Kenya, Wednesday. The warehouse is used to store food to be distributed in Burundi, Sudan, Somalia, Uganda and Kenya. (Tom Maliti/Associated Press)
  
  Two swordsmen fought it out during Wednesday’s exhibition game at the National Museum of Ireland. (Julien Behal/Associated Press)
  
  Donnie Keele asked his girlfriend, Rachel Hopkins, to marry him by having his friends drop a proposal sign over Interstate 75 Tuesday in Chattanooga, Tenn. Ms. Hopkins accepted his proposal. (Allison Kwesell/Chattanooga Times Free Press via Associated Press)
  
  A dog stood on the frozen bank of the Yenisei River near Krasnoyarsk, Serbia, Wednesday. (Ilya Naymushin/Reuters)
  
  Passengers exited a Thai Airways flight from Phuket Wednesday — the first to arrive in Bangkok after the end of the country’s airport siege. A court dissolved Thailand’s three ruling parties Tuesday for electoral fraud and deposed the prime minister, who was the source of protests that stranded more than 300,000 tourists. (Chumsak Kanoknan/Getty Images)
  
  Hundreds of people chanted pro-India slogans Wednesday at a vigil in Mumbai for victims of last week’s terrorist attacks. U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said Pakistan has a “special responsibility” to cooperate with the investigation. Police discovered explosives hidden in a bag Wednesday in Mumbai’s main train station. (Saurabh Das/Associated Press)
  
  All Parties Democratic Movement supporters chanted slogans at a Karachi, Pakistan, peace rally Wednesday. The opposition group demonstrated after several people were killed Tuesday in clashes between rival factions. (Athar Hussain/Reuters)
  
  Palestinian schoolgirls comforted each other Wednesday as fighting raged nearby in Hebron, West Bank. Israeli security officials said extremist Jewish settlers, who are refusing to obey an Israeli judge’s order to vacate a home there, have been attacking Palestinians and troops in the area. (Nayef Hashlamoun/Reuters)
  
  Queen Elizabeth II opened Britain’s Parliament Wednesday. The queen arrived in a horse-drawn carriage and wore a crown adorned with nearly 3,000 diamonds. Lawmakers are expected to address the economic meltdown. (Alastair Grant/Reuters)
  
  Norwegian Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg left a podium after delivering his speech Wednesday at Oslo City Hall during a signing conference on a measure that outlaws cluster bombs. (Lise Aserud/Associated Press)
  
  Pirates motored near the 600-foot-long luxury American cruise ship M/S Nautica in the Gulf of Aden Sunday. The M/S Nautica picked up speed, outrunning the Somali pirates as they fired shots at the vessel. (Associated Press)
  
  Workers participated in a connection ceremony Wednesday for a new gas pipeline that runs between Ukhta, Russia, and the Bovanenkovo gas field in West Siberia. Natural-gas giant Gazprom said it may ask the government to co-finance its investment next year. (Misha Japaridze/Associated Press)
  
  Duncan Zuur, of the Netherlands, took full advantage of a flooded Venice canal Tuesday. Venice routinely floods and experts believe global warming is to blame. The Moses project, a $5.5 billion offshore dam system, is expected to be finished by 2011. (Joerg Mitter/Euro-Newsroom.com via Reuters)
  

  
  
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  Protesters said Tuesday they will end their occupation of Bangkok, Thailand, airports. The news came after a court unseated Prime Minister Somchai Wongsawat and banned him from politics for five years. About 10 people were killed and more than 500 injured in close to 200 days of demonstrations. (Luis Ascui/Getty Images)
  
  Buddhists participated in a vigil Tuesday in Dharmsala, India, for the victims of the Mumbai, India, terrorist attacks. (Ashwini Bhatia/Associated Press)
  
  Thousands of Orthodox Jewish people attended the Jerusalem funeral Tuesday of Leibish Teitelbaum. The American who lived in Israel was one of the victims of the Mumbai, India, attacks. (Jonathan Nackstrand/Agence France-Presse/Getty Images )
  
  About 900 former members of the militant Sahwa group celebrated their graduation Tuesday at a Baghdad, Iraq, police training center. Elsewhere in Baghdad, a special court sentenced Saddam Hussein’s cousin, “Chemical Ali” Hassan al-Majid, to death Tuesday. (Ahmad al-Rubaye/Agence France-Presse/Getty Images)
  
  A North Korean border guard rode his motorcycle Tuesday on the banks of the Yalu River at the border with China. (Reinhard Krause/Reuters)
  
  Pedestrians walked past a stock-price indicator board in downtown Tokyo Tuesday. The Nikkei Stock Average of 225 companies posted a sharp decline. (Dai Kurokawa/European Pressphoto)
  
  Chancellor Angela Merkel looked at Mercedes Benz’s zero-emission car Tuesday at a Christian Democratic Union Party convention in Stuttgart, Germany. She dismissed growing calls for the country to slash taxes to spur the economy in the wake of a recession. (Sascha Schuermann/Agence France-Presse/Getty Images)
  
  A man, seen through broken glass, waited for a bus Tuesday in Patnow, Poland. Earlier, Greenpeace activists scaled a power plant smokestack, pictured in the background, to urge the government to agree to environmental reforms. Poland hosts the United Nations Climate Change Conference through Dec. 12. (Joe Klamar/Agence France-Presse/Getty Images)
  
  Former U.S. President Bill Clinton attended a Clinton Global Initiative meeting Tuesday in Hong Kong. Mr. Clinton kicked off his first charitable conference abroad after he agreed to greater oversight of his foundation to pave the way for his wife, Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, to become President-elect Barack Obama’s secretary of state. (Kin Cheung/Associated Press)
  
  Children looked at Christmas lights displayed on a Melksham, England, house Monday. Visitors’ donations will be given to a charity in the name of homeowner Alex Goodwind’s deceased mother. (Matt Cardy/Getty Images)
  

  
  
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  Residents held candles and a sign reading “We will not forget” during a vigil Sunday near Mumbai, India’s, Oberoi Hotel. Nearly 200 people were killed in coordinated terrorist attacks last week. Home Minister Shivraj Patil Sunday submitted his resignation claiming “moral responsibility” following the Mumbai terror attacks. (Uriel Sinai/Getty Images)
  
  Moshe Holtzberg, 2, cried for his mother during a memorial service for his parents Monday in Mumbai, India. Rabbi Gavriel Holtzberg and his wife, Rivka, were killed by terrorists. Chabad leaders prepared to receive Moshe and the bodies of the six Jewish victims. (Uriel Sinai/Getty Images)
  
  Hundreds of demonstrators stormed Iceland’s central bank Monday, demanding former Prime Minister and current central bank chief David Oddsson be fired. The global credit crunch has brought down Iceland’s three main banks and has forced the country to seek $10 billion in aid. (Brynjar Gunnarsson/Associated Press)
  
  An Iraqi girl looked on Monday at a ceremony marking the anniversary of Sahwa members’ deaths. About 28 Sahwa militiamen died fighting in Baghdad’s al-Fadel neighborhood. Officials claim the men eventually turned, and started helping U.S. forces. Also Monday, Iraq was hit by another wave of deadly violence. (Ali Yussef/Agence France-Presse/Getty Images)
  
  Honor guard soldiers were seen on a bus before the National Day military parade in Bucharest Monday. Romanians celebrated 90 years since the unification of the country in 1918. (Vadim Ghirda/Associated Press)
  
  Soldiers remove tires Monday near Thailand’s Government House. Protesters who halted air travel allowed some stranded passengers to fly out of Suvarnabhumi Airport Monday, where they had been grounded since last Tuesday. The People’s Alliance for Democracy is calling for Prime Minister Somchai Wongsawat’s resignation. (Chumsak Kanoknan/Getty Images)
  
  South Korean Prime Minister Han Seung-soo, front left, attended a wreath-laying ceremony Monday at the mausoleum of Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, founder of modern-day Turkey. Mr. Han is visiting Turkey and Kuwait to discuss cooperation in the energy and construction sectors. (Umit Bektas/Reuters)
  
  North Koreans washed laundry Monday in the icy water of the Yalu River near China. Also Monday, North Korea slashed the number of South Korean workers at a joint industrial enclave. (Reinhard Krause/Reuters)
  
  People skated at a massive public ice rink at Mexico City’s main square of Zocalo Sunday. (Marco Ugarte/Associated Press)
  
  A woman walked through water at Saint Mark’s Square Monday in Venice. Authorities warned earlier in the day the sea was due to rise more than 5 feet above its normal level. The flooding is the worst to hit Venice in more than 20 years. (Andrea Pattaro/Agence France-Presse/Getty Images)
  
  Women walked past a destroyed house Monday after deadly rioting in Jos, Nigeria. Also Monday, 2,000 youths stormed a mosque as a lawmaker called for an end to the Christian-Muslim clashes. The fighting was triggered by a rumor that the majority-Muslim All Nigerian Peoples Party lost an election to the Christian Peoples Democratic Party. (Sunday Alamba/Associated Press)
  
  A woman passed a baby to another woman as a bus left for the Ishasha refugee camp on the Congo-Uganda border Sunday. On Monday, the United Nations Human Rights Council condemned human rights abuses, sexual violence and the recruitment of child soldiers in the conflict. (Peter Andrews/Reuters)
  
  First Lady Laura Bush walked beside a 20-foot-tall tree from North Carolina outside the White House Sunday. The tree will be displayed in the Blue Room. (Brendan Smialowski/Getty Images)
  
  A couple walked past a 50-foot-long AIDS ribbon sand sculpture Monday in Puri, India. The sculpture, created by Sudarshan Patnaik, marks World AIDS Day. In Washington, President George W. Bush said his presidential initiative on the deadly disease has already met its goal of treating 2 million people in sub-Saharan Africa. (Biswaranjan Rout/Associated Press)
  

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• November 28, 2008   Published ~ 4 years ago.

  Pictures of the Day

  
  A woman held signs protesting against FARC during a march against kidnapping in Medellin, Colombia, Friday. Colombians marched to demand the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia free hostages they have held for a decade or more. (Luis Benavides/Associated Press)
  
  A man distributed rice to Congolese refugees at a holding center set up by the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees on the Uganda side of the border town of Ishasha Friday. (T.J. Kirkpatrick/Reuters)
  
  An Indian commando shielded himself with a stone slab during a gun battle at the Taj Hotel in Mumbai Friday. (Desmond Boylan/Reuters )
  
  Flood victims lined up for food provided by the government and donations in Itajai, Brazil, Friday. Flooding and mudslides have killed nearly 100 people in southern Brazil. (Ricardo Moraes/Associated Press)
  
  Mimes and actors dressed as condoms participated in an AIDS-awareness campaign in Lima, Peru, ahead of International AIDS Day on Dec. 1. (Ernesto Benavides/Agence France-Presse/Getty Images)
  
  In New Delhi, India, members of a civil society held a candlelight march to remember the victims of the Mumbai terrorist strikes. (Mustafa Quraishi/Associated Press)
  
  People dressed as Santa Claus lined up at the start of the annual Sidewalk Santa parade in New York City Friday. (Brendan McDermid/Reuters)
  
  A U.S. Army soldier from 333 Military Police Company hit a golf ball on his base in Paktika province, situated along the Afghan-Pakistan border Friday. (David Furst/Agence France-Presse/Getty Images)
  
  People shopped at Toys ‘R’ Us in Times Square shortly after the store opened at 5 a.m. Friday in New York City. Shoppers flocked to stores and malls before dawn Friday to grab deals on everything from TVs to toys for the official start of the holiday shopping season. (Frank Franklin II/Associated Press)
  
  Bryan Stone bought four televisions during the early holiday shopping rush in at a store in Dallas Friday. (LM Otero/Associated Press)
  
  Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, left, and Russian President Dmitry Medvedev, right, inspected the Russian frigate Admiral Chabanenko in Caracas, Venezuela, Thursday. Mr. Medvedev visited Russian warships with Mr. Chavez, giving a symbolic kickstart to joint maneuvers. (Dmitry Astakhov/Agence France-Presse/Getty Images)
  
  Indian security personnel ran to their positions around the Taj Hotel in Mumbai Friday. After hours of intermittent gunfire and explosions, the fight heated up at dusk when Indian forces began launching grenades at the hotel. At least one militant was believed to be holed up inside a ballroom, officials said. (Lefteris Pitarakis/Associated Press)
  
  Indian National Security Guard commandos rappeled down from a helicopter onto the roof of Chabad House, a Jewish center, in Mumbai Friday. Commandos were trying to free Israelis held by suspected Islamist gunmen. Five hostages were found dead inside. (Reuters)
  
  A Pakistani soldier fired a rocket-propelled grenade toward militant positions on top of a house at the Sabagai village in Pakistan Friday. Pakistan is battling surging attacks by al Qaeda and Taliban militants, most of whom are based in the rugged region across from Afghanistan. Al Qaeda leaders Osama bin Laden and Ayman al-Zawahri are believed to be hiding somewhere along the border. (Emilio Morenatti/Associated Press)
  
  Anti-government demonstrators rallied outside the departure hall of Bangkok’s Suvarnabhumi airport early Friday morning. Protesters laying siege to Bangkok’s two airports braced for a battle with security forces Friday after Thailand’s prime minister declared a state of emergency. (Adrees Latif/Reuters)
  
  The tail section of an Airbus A320 floated in the Mediterranean sea off the coast of Le Caneten-Roussillon, France, Thursday. A minesweeper is searching choppy seas for the black box flight recorders of the passenger plane that crashed off France’s southern coast. The airplane went down during a maintenance flight Thursday, with seven people aboard. Two bodies have been recovered. (French Navy/Handout/Associated Press)
  
  Afghan policemen chased angry protesters after a convoy of foreign troops shot at a vehicle in Kabul, Afghanistan, Friday. The foreign troops killed a civilian and wounded three others, officials said. (Rafiq Maqbool/Associated Press)
  
  Tourists walked among rock formations in Yehliu, Taiwan, Friday. Yehliu is a cape on the north coast of Taiwan, between Taipei and Keelung. The cape, formed by the Datun Mountain stretching into the sea, is famous for its geological shapes carved by sea erosion. (Nicky Loh/Reuters)
  
  A masked Palestinian demonstrator used a slingshot to hurl stones at Israeli border police during a protest against Israel’s separation barrier in the West Bank village of Nilin, Friday. (Maya Hitij/Associated Press)
  
  Satu Palosaari fed one of her reindeer in their Lapland farm in Kuusamo Friday. There are an estimated 200,000 reindeer in Finland. Breeding is a traditional activity in Norway, Sweden, Finland and Russia. (Olivier Morin/Agence France-Presse/Getty Images)
  

  
  
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  A boy drove a donkey cart at a Najaf, Iraq, dumpsite Wednesday. About 150 people displaced by war and conflict live there. On Wednesday, the Iraq Parliament delayed a vote on a security deal that could have U.S. troops in the country through 2011. (Alaa al-Marjani/Associated Press)
  
  New York Police Department officers kept watch at the Times Square subway station Wednesday. Federal officials alerted local law enforcement about a possible terror plot against the subway system during the holiday season. (Chris Hondros/Getty Images)
  
  Video footage obtained Wednesday shows kidnapped French aid worker Dany Egreteau with rifles pointed at him at an unknown location. Mr. Egreteau, who was kidnapped in Kabul, Afghanistan, on Nov. 3 pleaded for his life as gunmen held assault rifles to his head. (Reuters TV)
  
  Brazil’s President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva observed the flooded area of Navegantes, Brazil, Wednesday. Flooding and landslides triggered by heavy rain pounded southern Brazil for nearly two months, killing at least 97 people. The government plans to provide $785 million in flood relief. (Ricardo Stuckert/Agence France-Presse/Getty Images)
  
  Stephen Davis, a driver for Douglass Distributing, monitored the flow of gasoline to underground tanks at a Valero gas station in Irving, Texas, Wednesday. As many Americans hit the road for Thanksgiving, pump prices fell again to a national average of $1.87 for regular unleaded, according to the American Automobile Association. (Tony Gutierrez/Associated Press)
  
  Abby Harris, 4, checked the wattle on a turkey greeting passengers at Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport Wednesday. (Donna McWilliam/Associated Press)
  
  An International Security Assistance Force soldier poured fuel on a pile of drugs Tuesday in Ghazni, Afghanistan. In addition to a war on drugs, the country is also battling militants. (Rahmatullah Naikzad/Associated Press)
  
  A customs officer observed the destruction of counterfeit merchandise Wednesday at the Port of Hamburg, Germany. About 23 containers of pirated sneakers and other products were destroyed. (Roland Magunia/Agence France-Presse/Getty Images)
  
  Palestinians used a ladder to scale an Israeli barrier during clashes between Israeli soldiers and Palestinian stone-throwers at the Qalandiya checkpoint near Ramallah, West Bank, Wednesday. (Fadi Arouri/Reuters)
  
  A technician spoke to University of Tehran students Wednesday during an exhibition of Iranian nuclear achievements. Iran’s nuclear chief said Wednesday his country has 5,000-plus centrifuges operating and enriching uranium in spite of United Nations’ demands to halt the program. (Vahid Salemi/Associated Press)
  
  Some 500 laid-off Kaida Toys workers fought with 1,000 police officers Tuesday in Dongguan, China, overturning a patrol car. Just this week, there have been four taxi strikes in provinces across China and 36 laid-off liquor factory workers protested in the Beijing office of a large conglomerate. (Reuters)
  
  Union taxi drivers used hammers to smash a cab Wednesday at a rally near parliament in Seoul. About 1,500 drivers demanded a reduction in gas prices and better working conditions. (Lee Jung-hoon/Yonhap/Reuters)
  
  A construction worker walked along scaffolding at a Berlin building site Wednesday. The European Central Bank cemented on Wednesday expectations of another interest-rate cut next week as inflation in Germany tumbled this month. German inflation fell a full percentage point. (Johannes Eisele/Reuters)
  
  Two mountain gorillas were pictured Tuesday in the Virunga National Park near Congo’s border with Uganda. According to the park director, rangers who fled fighting between rebels and soldiers are returning to protect the 200 endangered gorillas. (Jerome Delay/Associated Press)
  
  Solar panels covering the roof of the Paul VI Audience Hall, with Saint Peter’s Basilica in the background, were photographed Wednesday at the Vatican. Some 1,000 panels were installed on the football field-sized roof, and should generate energy for all of the hall’s heating, cooling and lighting needs. (Andreas Solaro/Agence France-Presse/Getty Images)
  
  A man took a ski lift Wednesday at an unofficial training session for the Ruka Nordic Opening, which starts Thursday, in Kuusamo-Ruka, Finland. (Olivier Morin/Agence France-Presse/Getty Images)
  

  
  
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  About 11,000 South Korean farmers rallied Tuesday near the National Assembly against their country’s pending free-trade agreement with the United States. Officials from both countries agreed last year to slash tariffs and other barriers to trade. President-elect Barack Obama has said the pact fails to adequately address an imbalance in the auto trade. (Chung Sung-Jun/Getty Images)
  
  U.S. Army Staff Sgt. Andrew Drennan sat his daughter, Alison, on his shoulders at a homecoming ceremony in Wiesbaden, Germany, Tuesday. The 1st Armored Division soldiers returned from a 15-month Iraq deployment. (Kai Pfaffenbach/Reuters)
  
  Travelers waited in line to check in for their flights at San Francisco International Airport Tuesday. The Automobile Association of America is forecasting a decline in holiday travel with an estimated 41 million people traveling more than 50 miles from their home, down from 41.6 million a year ago. (Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)
  
  Auction organizer Giselle Oberti smelled a white truffle from Marche, Italy, Tuesday. The prized cooking ingredient will be sold for charity. (Tony Gentile/Reuters)
  
  German authorities quarantined the British ship the “Lady Anne” Tuesday after an outbreak of the highly contagious norovirus as the vessel traveled the Rhine River. (Henning Kaiser/Agence France-Presse/Getty Images)
  
  Hundreds of residents from the Washington metropolitan area stood in line Tuesday for free Thanksgiving meals distributed by the Washington Redskins and FedEx at FedEx Field in Landover, Md. The organizations distributed more than 100,000 pounds of food. (Tim Sloan/Agence France-Presse/Getty Images)
  
  The Thanksgiving feast shuttle astronauts will eat in space was displayed Nov. 20 at Houston’s Johnson Space Center. The astronauts may wash it down with an unlikely accompaniment. After several days without luck, astronauts ran a successful test on equipment that turns urine into drinking water Tuesday. (Pat Sullivan/Associated Press)
  
  Antigovernment demonstrators swarmed Bangkok, Thailand’s, Suvarnabhumi International Airport Tuesday, halting departing flights. Protesters, who are also occupying the Government House grounds, accuse Prime Minister Somchai Wongsawat of being a puppet and are demanding his resignation. (Chumsak Kanoknan/Getty Images)
  
  Members of Iran’s voluntary Basij militia stood next to AK-47s after a military parade Tuesday to mark Basij Week in Tehran. (Morteza Nikoubazl/Reuters)
  
  Police officers arrested protesters outside Congress in Valparaiso, Chile, Monday. Hundreds of families demanded the government write off their debts from Chile’s housing system. The unrest came after hundreds of thousands of public-sector workers went on strike last week, slowing agriculture exports. The government subsequently agreed to a 10% pay hike. (Eliseo Fernandez/Reuters)
  
  Russian naval personnel stood at attention on a submarine deck upon their arrival at Venezuela’s Port of La Guaira Tuesday. The countries will conduct a joint exercise, which was agreed upon after Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez visited Moscow in July. (Juan Barreto/Agence France-Presse/Getty Images)
  
  A staff member of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Erfurt, Germany, talked to journalists in the Cathedral of Saint Mary in Erfurt Tuesday. Specialists will painstakingly restore the church’s medieval-era painted glass during the next 19 years. (Jens Meyer/Associated Press)
  
  President George W. Bush waved as he boarded Air Force One at Andrews Air Force Base in Maryland Tuesday. President Bush visited soldiers in Fort Campbell, Ky., thanked them for their service and had lunch with about 150 troops. (Gerald Herbert/Associated Press)
  
  Johannesburg, South Africa’s, Soccer City Stadium — built to resemble a woven basket — underwent more renovation work Tuesday in preparation for the opening match of the Federation Internationale de Football Association 2010 World Cup. FIFA insisted Tuesday that all 10 stadiums will be ready for World Cup events, despite an admission that four of them are likely to miss their first deadlines. (Kim Ludbrook/European Pressphoto)
  
  The new Ars Electronica Centre in Linz, Austria, was illuminated by some 40,000 LEDs Tuesday for a light test. The lights were seen reflected in the Danube River. The new center opens Jan. 2. (Rubra/Reuters)
  

  
  
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  The Indian navy released a pictured Monday showing a pirate vessel being blown up by one of its military warships in the Gulf of Aden Nov. 18. There have been 95 pirate attacks so far this year in Somali waters, with 39 ships hijacked. About 15 ships with nearly 300 crew members remain in the hands of Somali pirates. (India’s Ministry of Defence via Reuters)
  
  Outgoing U.S. President George W. Bush was joined by Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson while making a statement to the media after a meeting Monday in Washington over the government’s Citigroup bailout. President-elect Barack Obama announced his economic team on the same day. (Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)
  
  Rebiya Kadeer, an ethnic Chinese Uighur leader from Zenjiang province, China, spoke Monday outside a federal court in Washington about Uighurs detained in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. Earlier, the court expressed skepticism about a judge’s order to release the 17 detainees onto U.S. soil. (Manuel Balce Ceneta/Associated Press)
  
  Supporters waited in Berlin Monday for the arrival of Maryam Rajavi, leader of the National Council of Resistance, the political wing of People’s Mujahedeen Organization of Iran. Mrs. Rajavi visited Germany to urge lawmakers to help remove the PMOI from the European Union’s list of terrorist organizations. (Herbert Knosowski/Associated Press)
  
  Palestinian Muslim pilgrims and Hamas supporters demonstrated Monday in the southern Gaza Strip near the Egypt border. They demanded Egyptian authorities allow them to attend pilgrimage events in Mecca, Saudi Arabia. Egypt has kept the border mostly closed since Hamas took control of the neighboring area. (Khalil Hamra/Associated Press)
  
  Surfers caught some waves Monday as a Brazilian navy ship patrolled the waters off a Rio de Janeiro beach. Security is tight throughout the area ahead of Russian President Dmitry Medvedev’s visit. Mr. Medvedev hopes to make inroads into Brazil’s emerging oil and defense industries as Brazil embarks on a major overhaul of its military equipment. (Ricardo Moraes/Associated Press)
  
  Workers unloaded the National Christmas Tree before moving it into place on the west-facing front of the Capitol building Monday. The 70-foot-tall tree is from Montana’s Bitterroot National Forest. (Karen Bleier/Agence France-Presse/Getty Images)
  
  Bodyguards covered Georgia’s President Mikhail Saakashvili, in the red tie, and his Polish counterpart, Lech Kaczynski, after shots were fired at their motorcade near South Ossetia Sunday. Mr. Saakashvili and Mr. Kaczynski blamed Russian troops. Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov denied the incident, saying Georgia “engineered” the shooting. (Irakly Gedenidze/Presidential Press Service via Associated Press)
  
  An Iraqi civilian inspected the wreckage of a bus bombing in Baghdad, Iraq, Monday. A female suicide bomber blew herself up near an entrance to the U.S.-protected Green Zone, and a bomb tore through a bus carrying Iraqi government employees in separate attacks Monday. At least 20 people were killed, officials said. (Hadi Mizban/Associated Press)
  
  A prisoner, center, screamed while being beaten by government troops outside Goma, Congo, Sunday. Government troops took men off a United Nations transport convoy, accusing them of being rebels. The army produced weapons it said the captives had in their possession and also accused the U.N. of collaborating with rebels. (Finbarr O’Reilly/Reuters)
  
  Supporters of the main opposition party celebrated in Caracas, Venezuela, late Sunday after their party won control of two of the most populous states and the mayor’s post in Caracas. While President Hugo Chavez’s socialist allies still won the majority of the local and regional races up for election, the losses are seen as evidence of waning support for Mr. Chavez. (Carlos Hernandez/Associated Press)
  
  Activists from the Socialist Unity Centre of India scuffled with police Monday during a protest against the price hike of essential commodities in Kolkata, India. Also Monday, India’s financial minister said the worst is over for global crude oil and commodity prices. He added that the country is “nowhere near recession.” (Jayanta Shaw/Reuters)
  
  A Tibetan monk played cricket outside a Buddhist monastery in Shimla, India, Sunday. The Dalai Lama warned Sunday of an uncertain future for Tibet under Chinese rule, a day after a meeting of Tibetan leaders decided to uphold the spiritual leader’s goal of autonomy through peaceful dialogue with Beijing. (Anil Dayal/Reuters)
  
  Men dressed in the traditional costume of Zapotec women participated in a parade in Juchitan, Mexico, Saturday. Anthropologists say the tradition of blurring gender lines among the indigenous population is centuries old, but has been revived in recent decades by the gay pride movement. (Reuters)
  
  Rabbis posed for a group picture Sunday at the International Conference of Chabad-Lubavitch Emissaries in New York. More than 3,000 rabbis from 72 countries attended the event. (Chip East/Reuters)
  
  A woman on a bike braved traffic in a Stockholm blizzard Monday. The first major winter storm of the season blew in from the Baltic Sea, boasting hurricane-force winds, which caused traffic tie-ups, flight delays and power outages. (Janerik Henriksson/Associated Press)
  

  
  
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  “Year 12″ students, as high-school seniors are called in Australia, showed off their acrobatic skills on a Gold Coast beach Friday. The students are winding down during Schoolies Week celebrations after completing their Higher School Certificate exams. (Sergio Dionisio/Getty Images)
  
  A student walked to school Nov. 17 along the only path available near the village of Gulucan, Sichuan province, China. More than 60 farming families live in six isolated locations perched high above the spectacular canyon area. Some children must walk three hours to school along the mountain path, which has a 5,000-foot drop off one side. (Guang Niu/Getty Images)
  
  A “closed” sign was posted at a San Francisco Jeep dealership Friday. Many dealerships across the nation have shut their doors amid weak sales. (Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)
  
  An elections agent took a picture of a sex worker for her voter identification card Friday in the large red-light district of Kolkata, India. Officials specifically targeted this area leading up to next year’s elections. (Parth Sanyal/Reuters)
  
  An Armenian worker pushed a cart on the roof of a residential building in Stavropol, Russia, Friday. Russia’s unemployment count rose to a seven-month high and retail sales grew at their weakest annual pace in over two years in October. (Eduard Korniyenko/Reuters)
  
  U.S. President-elect Barack Obama ordered a slice of cherry pie with his lunch Friday at Manny’s Coffee Shop and Deli in Chicago. Meanwhile, Mr. Obama is using this time to pick people to serve in his administration. (Frank Polich/Reuters)
  
  Rabbis prayed at the gravesite of Rabbi Menachem Schneerson in Queens, New York, Friday. Mr. Schneerson was one of the best-known leaders in the Jewish world. He was the seventh spiritual leader of the Chabad-Lubavitch movement. (Shannon Stapleton/Reuters)
  
  The photo, released Friday, shows Endeavour mission specialist Shane Kimbrough as he paused and waved while working outside the International Space Station. (NASA via Agence France-Presse/Getty Images)
  
  Marine One, with President George W. Bush on board, took off from the White House South Lawn Friday en route to the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum in Lima, Peru. The trip is President Bush’s last scheduled trip as president of the United States. (Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)
  
  Soldiers and civilians removed burned tires and garbage to open a closed street in the Bab el-Tabaneh neighborhood of Tripoli, Lebanon, Friday. One person was killed and nine injured when three men in a car failed to stop at a military checkpoint. Two bus bombings recently killed 25 people in Tripoli. (Adel Karroum/European Pressphoto)
  
  Residents looked at the body of an alleged insurgent fighter in the Madina neighborhood of Mogadishu, Somalia, Friday. At least 11 insurgents and nine civilians were killed in clashes with government forces when the insurgents attacked an official’s house, witnesses said. (Agence France-Presse/Getty Images)
  
  Thousands of Shiite Muslims protested Friday and burned an effigy of U.S. President George W. Bush in the same square where Iraqis beat a toppled Saddam Hussein statue five years ago. Muqtada al-Sadr’s followers filled Baghdad’s Firdous Square to protest a security deal that will allow U.S. troops to remain there through 2011. The pact is expected to pass in the Shiite-led parliament next week. (Ali al-Saadi/Agence France-Presse/Getty Images)
  
  Algerian pilgrims took a bus to catch a flight at Houari Boumediene International Airport Friday for an annual pilgrimage to the holy city of Mecca, Saudi Arabia. (Fayez Nureldine/Agence France-Presse/Getty Images)
  
  Residents inspected a blast site in Dera Ismail Khan, Pakistan, Friday. The bomb blast killed at least eight people and wounded 28 at a Shiite Muslim cleric’s funeral. (Mustansar Baloch/Reuters)
  
  Tow-truck operators waded into floodwaters to get a submerged vehicle near Brisbane, Australia, Friday after flash floods killed at least one woman. The state of Queensland faced its third day of storms with more expected over the next few days. (William West/Agence France-Presse/Getty Images)
  
  Wrecked cars sat outside a damaged building in Longnan City, Gansu province, China, in this image released Friday. The governor of the province traveled to the area to sit down with protesters after their battles with police officers. Riots exploded Monday in the poverty-stricken region, where 1.8 million people were made homeless by a deadly May 12 earthquake. (Reuters)
  
  A woman held a sign that read “United Russia will not allow constitutional changes” outside Russia’s lower house of parliament. The lower house gave final approval to a bill that would lengthen the presidential term from four to six years. The bill, proposed by President Dmitry Medvedev, now goes to the upper house where swift approval is expected. (Natalia Kolesnikova/Agence France-Presse/Getty Images)
  
  A diver in a Santa costume fed moray eels and spotted-eagle stingrays Friday as part of a Christmas event at Tokyo’s Sunshine International Aquarium. (Junji Kurokawa/Associated Press)
  

  
  
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  About 2,200 housewives made 130 tons of kimchi, a traditional Korean dish made of cabbage and chili,  to donate to the needy Thursday in Seoul. (Ahn Young-joon/Associated Press)
  
  People waved Chinese flags while watching a dragon dance performed outside the government palace in Lima, Peru, Wednesday. Chinese President Hu Jintao is in Peru to attend the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit. Peru and China reached a trade deal that could help Chinese exporters by removing tariffs on more than 90% of their goods. (Enrique Castro Mendivil/Reuters)
  
  Brazil’s Foreign Minister Celso Amorim, center, opened a session at the International Conference on Biofuels, in Sao Paulo, Brazil, Thursday. Officials from 40 countries are discussing climate change, food security and other issues at the conference. (Mauricio Lima/Agence France-Presse/Getty Images)
  
  College students crowded into a Nanjing, China, job fair Thursday as Chinese officials said the country faces a “grim” employment outlook due to the global financial crisis. (Associated Press)
  
  An injured anti-government protester was treated after a blast at Bangkok, Thailand’s, Government House Thursday. The grenade attack killed at least one person and wounded 29 others, officials said. The protest group, which calls itself the People’s Alliance for Democracy, blamed the government. Alliance members have vowed not to leave the grounds until allies of former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, whom they accuse of corruption, are removed from power. (Associated Press)
  
  A group of women wearing wedding dresses splattered with red dye posed in Rome Thursday to draw attention to the issue of domestic violence. (Remo Casilli/Reuters)
  
  Red Square, Lenin’s Mausoleum, Kremlin and Saint Basil Cathedral took on their customary winter appearance as the first snow hit the Russian capital Thursday. (Maxim Shipenkov/European Pressphoto)
  
  A security guard admired art while at work Thursday at Sotheby’s in central London. The paintings will be auctioned off Nov. 24. (Lefteris Pitarakis/Associated Press)