Friday 27 December 2013

Best news photos of the week

Eve Grayson, a reindeer herder for the Cairgorm Reindeer Herd, feeds the deer Dec. 23 in Aviemore, Scotland. Reindeer were introduced to Scotland in 1952 by Swedish Sami reindeer herder Mikel Utsi. Starting with just a few reindeer, the herd has grown over the years and is currently at about 130; breeding is controlled. (Jeff J. Mitchell / Getty Images)
An American robin searches for food on a frozen tree in Augusta, Maine, on Dec. 22. More than a quarter-inch of ice coated branches and wires in Maine’s Augusta and Gardiner areas after a storm blasted through the upper Midwest and Northeast, cutting power to hundreds of thousands as families gathered to celebrate Christmas. Read: Slow recovery from weekend ice storm stretches on (Andy Molloy / Kennebec Journal via AP)
A competitor in costume jumps into the sea during the Copa Nadal (Christmas Cup) at the Old Harbor in Barcelona. The Barcelona Swimming Club organizes the Dec. 25 event, which involves competitors swimming about 218 yards. Launched in 1908, the event has only been suspended three times, during the Spanish Civil War. Photos: Christmas near and far (David Ramos / Getty Images)
Greenpeace International activist Mannes Ubels of the Netherlands jumps while holding his passport as he celebrates getting permission to leave Russia, near the Federal Migration Service in St. Petersburg on Dec. 26. Russian investigators have dropped charges against 29 of the 30 crew members of a Greenpeace ship who were accused of hooliganism following a protest outside a Russian oil rig in the Arctic. Read: Russia drops charges against 29 members of Greenpeace crew (Dmitry Lovetsky / AP)
A giant balloon in the shape of Superman is part of the Dec. 25 Christmas parade in Acapulco, Mexico. (Pedro Pardo / AFP/Getty Images)
An image from video shows astronaut Mike Hopkins standing on the robotic arm of the international space station during a Dec. 24 spacewalk. Two NASA astronauts stepped out on the rare Christmas Eve spacewalk to complete repairs at the station, a job that took more than seven hours. Read: To go boldly (and on budget) (NASA TV via AFP/Getty Images)
Levi Marez runs alongside his son Kaden Fletcher, 6, left, on Dec. 25 as Kaden rides the bike he got for Christmas in Henderson, Ky. (Darrin Phegley / Gleaner via AP)
Jax and Heather Collins hug after getting married at the Salt Lake County Clerk's Office on Dec 23. A federal judge said he will allow gay marriage in Utah to continue, denying a request from the state to halt such weddings until the appeals process plays out. A federal judge ruled Utah’s same-sex marriage ban unconstitutional on Dec. 20; the last of the state’s counties holding out on issuing marriage licenses to same-sex couples reversed course Dec. 26. Read: Utah’s same-sex marriage ban is unconstitutional, judge rules (Ravell Call / Deseret News via AP)
Children queue to give gifts and flowers to Britain’s Queen Elizabeth II following a Christmas church service at the Sandringham estate in Norfolk, England, on Dec. 25. (Adrian Dennis / AFP/Getty Images)
Paul Fagiolo of Takoma Park, Md., sings “Silent Night” with his son, Anthony Fagiolo, 9, during “Carols by Candlelight” at Washington National Cathedral on Dec. 23. About 2,500 people attended the sold-out caroling event in Washington. (Bonnie Jo Mount / The Washington Post)
Larry Dunham leads a procession to bless candles at the Franciscan Monastery in Washington on Dec. 24. (James Lawler Duggan / Reuters)
A girl receives a present Dec. 25 during a distribution of gifts for the children organized by the Droit Au Logement (Right of Housing) in Paris. The organization provides gifts annually for the children of homeless and struggling families. (Etienne Laurent / European Pressphoto Agency)
Country singer Kellie Pickler signs autographs after performing for U.S. service members as part of the USO holiday tour in Kandahar, Afghanistan, on Dec. 25. It was the 13th Christmas that U.S. troops have spent in Afghanistan, and for those in Kandahar this year, probably their last. The U.S. troop withdrawal concludes late next year. Read: Kellie Pickler serenades the troops in Afghanistan (Kevin Sieff / The Washington Post)
An Israeli army paramedic‘s hand is bloodied after he treated a civilian who had been shot Dec. 24 near the Gaza border. The man, an Israeli civilian, was hit by a Palestinian sniper as he performed maintenance work on the border fence; he pronounced dead on arrival to a hospital. Israeli air and ground forces then launched a series of attacks on targets across the Gaza Strip, killing a young girl and wounding 10 in response to the deadly shooting. It was the heaviest burst of violence in the volatile area since November 2012, when Israeli and Hamas rulers engaged in eight days of heavy fighting. Read: Israeli military strikes Gaza after civilian is shot by Palestinian sniper (Tsafrir Abayov / AP)
A man holds the body of a child Dec. 23 after what activists said was an air raid by forces loyal to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad in Aleppo's al-Marja district. More than 300 people have been killed in a week of air raids on the northern Syrian city and nearby towns, a monitoring group said Monday. Many of the casualties, which included scores of women and children, were killed by so-called barrel bombs dropped from helicopters, the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said. Read: Syria’s civil war tests whether borders drawn less than a century ago will last (Saad Abobrahim / Reuters)
Civilians and French troops try to comfort a boy crying after a demonstrator was shot dead Dec. 23 near the international airport in Bangui, Central African Republic. African Union troops fired on people protesting against the president of the strife-torn country, killing at least one. Photos: Conflict continues in the Central African Republic (Miguel Medina / AFP/Getty Images)
Egyptians carry the body of a police officer Dec. 24 during his funeral in the Egyptian city of Mansoura; he was killed, along with 14 other people, in a car-bomb attack earlier in the day. The bomb tore through a police building in an attack the authorities said was aimed at derailing the country's transition to democracy. More than 130 were wounded. Read: Car bomb kills 15 at Egyptian security headquarters north of Cairo (Mahmoud Khaled / AFP/Getty Images)
Iranians pray during a Dec. 23 ceremony commemorating Arbaeen, the holiday that marks the end of the 40-day mourning period after the anniversary of the 7th-century martyrdom of the prophet Muhammad's grandson, at the shrine of the Shiite St. Imam Abdulazim in Shahr-e-Ray, south of Tehran. (Vahid Salemi / AP)
The Avon Vale hunt makes its way to the village of Laycock for the traditional Boxing Day meet in Wiltshire, England. The meet took place Dec. 26. A recent survey by Ipsos Mori on behalf of the League Against Cruel Sports and the RSPCA found that eight out of 10 people think fox hunting should remain illegal. (Ben Birchall / AP)
An Israeli air force pilot salutes as four Israeli air force aerobatic team T-6 Texan II planes put on a display Dec. 26 at a graduation ceremony for new pilots at the Hatzerim air force base, near the city of Beersheba in southern Israel. (Ariel Schalit / AP)
Maria Alekhina of the Russian punk band Pussy Riot arrives at Moscow's Kursky railway station Dec. 23. She and a fellow band member were freed from prison Monday; they called President Vladimir Putin’s request for amnesty, which led to their early release, a propaganda stunt. Members of the three-woman band had been found guilty of hooliganism motivated by religious hatred and sentenced to two years in prison for the performance at Moscow’s main cathedral in March 2012. Alekhina, 25, was freed from a jail in the Volga River city of Nizhny Novgorod. Photos: Pussy Riot (Sergei Karpukhin / Reuters)
Samson Boldizar, 8, goes airborne as he toboggans Dec. 25 near the Arboretum in Ottawa, Ontario. (Justin Tang / Canadian Press via AP)

No comments:

Post a Comment