Libya: The End of Qaddafi and the Fall of Sirte

Muammar Qaddafi has been killed in fighting in Sirte, according Libya's National Transitional Council. Anti-government fighters had been closing in on Qaddafi's final stronghold in Sirte, and reportedly attacked a convoy carrying the former leader today, capturing him. Qaddafi was apparently alive at the time, but died soon afterward. The uprising that began in February and built to an armed revolution has now claimed control of the country, the death of Qaddafi, and the capture of one of his sons today. Collected here are images from Sirte over the past ten days, and of the events surrounding the death of Qaddafi. See also How Qaddafi Fooled Libya and the World by Max Fisher. [39 photos]

 

 

A tattered banner depicting Muammar Qaddafi hangs from a building during a street battle in the center of the city on October 12, 2011 in Sirte, Libya, eight days before the reports of the death of the former leader. National Transitional Council (NTC) fighters say this is the final assault on Muammar Qaddafi's home town as they captured the main hospital, university and the Ouagadougou Conference Center. (Majid Saeedi/Getty Images) 

Vladimir Putin, Action Man

Vladimir Putin, the 58-year-old former president and current prime minister of Russia, has cultivated a distinct public image over the past several years. The politician has piloted firefighting planes, darted whales, driven race cars, and even taken a submersible 1,400 meters (4,600 ft) below the surface of Lake Baikal. Putin was forced to step down from the presidency in 2008 due to a constitutional limit on more than two consecutive terms. However, he remained the most influential figure in Russian politics, and has had a strong hand in the "tandem rule" between himself and current president Dmitri Medvedev. The next presidential election takes place in March of 2012, and indications are that both Medvedev and Putin are planning to run, though neither has officially announced his candidacy yet. Gathered here are some of the more interesting photos taken of Vladimir Putin during his tenure as Russia's prime minister over the past few years. [34 photos]

A picture released on March 6, 2010 shows Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin taking a horseback ride in the Karatash area, near the town of Abakan, during his working trip to the Republic of Khakassia, on February 25, 2010. (Alexei Druzhinin/AFP/Getty Images)  

After the Taking of Tripoli

Tripoli is a quieter city today than it was earlier this week, as rebel forces assumed control, announcing they would be transferring their leadership there from Benghazi. The U.N. has freed up millions of dollars in aid money and dozens of countries have now recognized Libya's National Transitional Council as the new legitimate governing body in Libya. However, International agencies are urging both sides to make efforts to halt widespread abuses and avoid revenge attacks. Parts of Tripoli were littered with bodies yesterday as rebel forces fought the last pockets of resistance by Muammar Qaddafi's loyalists. Fighting continues in other parts of Libya, in Qaddafi's hometown of Sirte and near the border of Tunisia, and Qaddafi once again urged his followers to fight the rebels, saying "The enemy is delusional, NATO is retreating". Collected below are scenes of a battered Tripoli from the past several days - a warning, some are rather brutal. [36 photos]

A rebel fighter walks inside the Abu Salim prison in Tripoli, Libya, on August 26, 2011, after rebel forces took control and many prisoners were apparently freed. Abu Salim is one Libya's most notorious prisons and the scene of a 1996 massacre of prisoners. (AP Photo/Sergey Ponomarev)  

The Modern Ghost City of Ordos

The city of Ordos, in Inner Mongolia, China, was founded on February 26, 2001. It was designed to be home for one million people, yet, the Kangbashi district remains nearly empty five years after construction began.

Ordos means "palaces" in Mongolian, and it's richer than Beijing. In fact, with a $14,500 GDP per capita, it's one of the richest in the whole country. With 1,548,000 inhabitants, Ordos is not exactly empty. But much of its modern architecture, sometimes awesomely futuristic, sometimes nafftastically overdeveloped and underdesigned, remains completely empty. The density of this city is only 17.8 people per square kilometer. By comparison, New York City has 157.91 habitants per square kilometer, San Francisco has 6,688.4, and Madrid 5,293.69.

The Kangbashi district began as a public-works project in Ordos, a wealthy coal-mining town in Inner Mongolia. The area is filled with office towers, administrative centers, government buildings, museums, theaters and sports fields—not to mention acre on acre of subdivisions overflowing with middle-class duplexes and bungalows. The only problem: the district was originally designed to house, support and entertain 1 million people, yet hardly anyone lives there.

Inside North Korea

Earlier this year, David Guttenfelder, chief Asia photographer for the Associated Press, along with Jean H. Lee, AP bureau chief in Seoul, were granted unprecedented access to parts of North Korea as part of the AP's efforts to expand coverage of the isolated communist nation. The pair made visits to familiar sites accompanied by government minders, and were also allowed to travel into the countryside accompanied by North Korean journalists instead of government officials. Though much of what the AP journalists saw was certainly orchestrated, their access was still remarkable. Collected here are some of Guttenfelder's images from the trip that provide a glimpse of North Korea. [37 photos]

A view of central Pyongyang, North Korea, at dusk on April 12, 2011. (AP Photo/David Guttenfelder) 

A visualization of United States debt

One Hundred Dollars $100

Most counterfeited money denomination in the world.
Keeps the world moving.

Immigration

Their homelands are torn by war, economic distress, political strife, or environmental collapse. They choose to leave, or have no choice. They're called migrants, refugees, or internally displaced people. The labels are inadequate as often circumstances could allow all three descriptions, or some combination of them. Once in their new countries, they face difficult transitions, discrimination, or outright hostility. Host countries are burdened with the economic and political repercussions of the arrivals, while home nations are sometimes saddled with a "brain drain" of their most important human resources. Immigration is a hot-button issue in the American presidential race, and a wave of new arrivals from Libya to Italy has left the European Union struggling with decisions over the Schengen policy of borderless travel between member nations. Gathered here are images of some of the estimated 214 million people worldwide in the process of redefining what "home" means to them. -- Lane Turner (47 photos total)

Rescuers help people in the sea after a boat carrying some 250 migrants crashed into rocks as they tried to enter the port of Pantelleria, an island off the southern coast of Italy, on April 13. Italy is struggling to cope with a mass influx of immigrants from north Africa, many of whom risk their lives by sailing across the often stormy Meditteranean in makeshift vessels. (Francesco Malavolta/AFP/Getty Images) 

Obama: Six days, four nations

US President Barack Obama began a six-day, four-nation tour (Ireland, England, France, and Poland) May 22, 2011. His 24-hour visit to Ireland included dropping by rural Moneygall, where his great-great-great-grandfather Fulmouth Kearney lived before immigrating to the United States in 1850. The second stop on Mr. Obama’s itinerary? London, for a visit with the Queen, where he was honored with a State Dinner at Buckingham Palace and gave an address to both houses of Parliament. Mr. Obama’s next stop: a meeting of the Group of 8 world powers in Deauville, France. The leaders discussed how the West could help Egypt, Tunisia and other Arab states in political transition. On the last stop: Mr. Obama visited Poland. Last year he was forced to cancel (to attend the funeral of Poland's president) when the ash cloud from an Icelandic volcano restricted air space and travel. Ironically, a new volcanic eruption forced alterations of his itinerary again this year. -- Paula Nelson (Editor's note: We will not post on May 30, 2011, Memorial Day. See you again on June 1.) (55 photos total)

US President Barack Obama is greeted by a well wisher in College Green, May 23, 2011 in Dublin, Ireland. Obama visited Ireland for one day. Earlier he met with Irish President Mary McAleese, Taoiseach (Prime Minister) of Ireland, Enda Kenny, and visited his ancestral home in Moneygall, County Offaly. (Peter Macdiarmid/Getty Images) 

Funny Political Moments

When ordinary people make some of these gags, no one notices. But when some famous politician does the same… Well, as you see the paparazzi can not pass these moments by.