Photos of the Day

[NEP]

Photos of the Day | Thursday, Nov. 18, 2010


Two polar bears swim in their enclosure at the Moscow Zoo, on November 18, 2010.


Justin Lynn helps demonstrate the PowerFoot BiOM at Brooke Army Medical Center, Thursday, Nov. 18, 2010 in San Antonio. The PowerFoot BiOM is a bionic lower leg system to restore lost function of the lower limb for service members. The bionic technology system replaces the action of the foot, ankle and calf muscles that work together to propel people forward while walking.


Residents use bricks and stones to cross a street in a flooded neighborhood in southern Bogota, Colombia, Thursday, Nov. 18, 2010. Meteorologists attribute the rise in precipitation over Colombia to the "La Nina" climatic phenomenon, which is caused by a cooling of waters in the Pacific Ocean and is expected to persist into early 2011.


A woman walks in her flooded house, on November 17, 2010, in Jamundi, department of Valle del Cauca, Colombia. The Jamundi river overflowed its banks due to heavy rains. According to authorities, 136 people have died, 205 have been injured, 20 are missing and 1,203,000 have been affected by the rains in Colombia.


Myanmar's democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi shakes hands with supporters as she arrives at a shelter for HIV/AIDS patients, on the outskirts of Yangon, Myanmar, Wednesday, Nov. 17, 2010.


Tibetan Spiritual leader the Dalai Lama gestures upon receiving the Mother Teresa Memorial International Award for Social Justice in New Delhi on November 18, 2010. The Tibetan spiritual leader received the award in honor of his commitments to human values, fostering inter-religious dialogue, and the welfare of the Tibetan people.

[NEP]

Photos of the Day | Monday, Nov. 22, 2010


People are pushed onto a bridge on the last day of celebrations of a water festival in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, Monday. Many people were killed.


A street magician swallows a snake in Antananarivo, Madagascar Monday.


Villagers walk past destroyed houses after the eruption of Mount Merapi in Indonesia, Sunday. Thousands of villagers have returned to their homes on the slopes of the volcano.


A baby olive ridley turtle (Lepidochelys olivacae) makes its way to the water at San Diego Beach, 40km south of San Salvador, on November 20,2010. More than 1,000 baby turtles were freed into the sea by villagers who work for the conservation of the sea turtle on the Salvadorean coast.

[NEP]

Photos of the Day | Tuesday, Nov., 23, 2010


Car owners were returning to their abandoned cars, Tuesday, November 23, digging and pushing them out. 30-40 cars were left overnight on the Issaquah's Highlands Blvd. just past the I-90 flyover. Greater Puget Sound is starting to dig out of a freezing snow storm.


Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip, center left in orange, arrive to attend the ninth Inauguration of the General Synod at Westminster Abbey, London Nov. 23, 2010. Prince William and Kate Middleton will marry April 29 in Westminster Abbey, the historic London church where Princess Diana's funeral was held. Royal officials said Tuesday that the couple chose the venue for its beauty, intimacy and historic royal connections.


University journalism students gather in Manila on November 23, 2010 to remember the 57 people killed in the November 23, 2009 massacre in Maguindanao province in the southern Philippines, more than 30 of them journalists. Relatives of 57 people killed in the Philippines' worst political massacre made emotional appeals for justice on November 23 as the nation marked the slaughter's first anniversary.

[NEP]

Photos of the Day | Wednesday, Nov. 24, 2010


Heritage turkeys roam Pitman Family Farms on November 19 2010. The farm has seen an increase in the demand for fresh turkeys.


[IMG]A bridge to nowhere but the middle of the the Yalu River which separates the North Korean border town of Siniuju (opposite) from Dandong in northeast China's Liaoning province is lit up on November 24, 2010 in Dandong. Lit up every night is the Yalu River bridge, also known as the no-name bridge, which remains standing only halfway across the river after it was bombed by the US in 1950 during the Korean War and eventually dismantled from its own half by North Korea shortly after the Korean War armistice. Chinese state media coverage of the Korean peninsula shelling incident has avoided criticizing Beijing's close ally Pyongyang and even said the episode showed North Korea's "toughness" after the reclusive communist state fired a deadly barrage of artillery shells onto a South Korean island on November 23 in one of the most serious border incidents since the 1950-1953 war, sparking global condemnation of Pyongyang.[/IMG]


Early morning light from Wednesday's sunrise streaks across the horizon over the Cascade Mountains in this view from Lake Forest Park on Wednesday.


A man walks with his camels on a road near Suigam, about 200 (125 miles) kilometers Northwest of Ahmadabad, India, Tuesday, Nov. 23, 2010.

[NEP]

Photos of the Day | Friday, Nov. 26, 2010


In this photo taken Tuesday, Nov. 23, 2010, a herd of bison along the Bitterroot Valley's Eastside Highway north of Stevensville, Mont., are covered in snow following a blizzard, Nov. 23, 2010, that swept through the valley earlier this week.


Russian cosmonaut Fyodor Yurchikhin smiles, center, as US astronauts Doug Wheelock, left, and Shannon Walker, right, sit alongside him inside the landing capsule of the Soyuz TMA-19 spacecraft after landing near the town of Arkalyk in northern Kazakhstan, Friday, Nov. 26, 2010. The Soyuz spacecraft carrying two Americans and a Russian from the International Space Station touched down Friday in a landing that the Russian space program's chief described as ideal.


A keeper walks past crocodiles at an enclosure in Mangho Pir, Karachi, on November 26, 2010. The crocodiles are owned by a local Sufi shrine and are used in ceremonies by the Sufi community.


An Amish buggy turns onto U.S. Highway 2 in Fosston, Minn. as a winter storm begins on Wednesday, Nov. 24. The National Weather Service on Wednesday issued a batch of winter weather advisories, watches and warnings for North Dakota and South Dakota through Thursday morning and a storm is expected to drop 6 to 8 inches of snow in northern Minnesota by Wednesday night.

[NEP]

Photos of the Day | Monday, Nov. 29, 2010


A gaucho struggles to stay on his horse as he competes in a rodeo in Escobar, Argentina, Sunday.


A fire damages Istanbul's historic Haydarpasa train station on Sunday, Nov. 28, 2010.


A man makes his way home from shopping Monday in Auchterarder, Scotland.


A steel worker handles molten steel in Islamabad, Pakistan on Nov. 29.


Mount Bromo, as seen from an aircraft, spews ashes during an eruption on November 29, 2010. Indonesia closed Malang city's domestic airport as the volcano shot ash into the sky over eastern Java, posing a risk to planes, officials said.


American flamingos stand in their snow-covered enclosure at the zoo in Magdeburg, eastern Germany, on November 29, 2010. In the wild, American flamingos live in Central and South America. Meteorologists forecast bitter cold with temperatures sinking down to minus ten degrees Celsius in the region.

[NEP]

Photos of the Day | Tuesday, Nov. 30, 2010


An Arizona Cardinals fan shows his opinion of the team during the third quarter of the Cardinals' NFL football game against the San Francisco 49ers on Monday, Nov. 29, 2010, in Glendale, Ariz.


This picture taken on November 29, 2010 in East Java shows a man looking on as Mount Bromo spews ash during an eruption. Bromo, a popular tourist attraction, began rumbling earlier this month and the government has raised the eruption threat warning to the maximum red alert.


A one-horned rhinoceros at Pabitora wildlife sanctuary, some 60 kms south of Guwahati, on November 29, 2010. The sanctuary, which covers an area of 38.8 square kilometres, is home for the one horned rhinoceros (Rhinoceros unicornis) and thousands of migratory birds.


US Army Spc. Nick Pollock of New Hampshire from First Battalion, 502nd Infantry Regiment, 101st Airborne Division, prepares a SUAV to gain an information by flying over an area in Panjwai district in Afghanistan's Kandahar province Monday, Nov. 29, 2010.


The sun illuminates the clouds with the Washington Monument below as seen from Capitol Hill in Washington, Monday, Nov. 29, 2010. Flash flood watches have been posted for the Washington metro area for the Tuesday and Wednesday as heavy rain is expected.


Sam, 10, sleds down a snow covered hill in Linlithgow, in Scotland, on November 30, 2010. The earliest widespread snowfall of a British winter since 1993 blanketed Scotland and northeast England at the weekend and the freezing weather has started moving down England's east coast.


Walking with the fishes--feels like we are underwater today....This mural at the corner of 2nd Ave. and Yesler Way in downtown Seattle was spray painted by Seattle artist Jeff Jacobson on a building that had been covered with plywood for 2 years because of a fire. It's 100-feet long by 17-feet high photo-realistic painting celebrating emerging artists in Seattle. When the building is renovated he hopes to relocate the painting to another location.

[NEP]

Photos of the Day | Wednesday, Dec. 1, 2010


A Sumatran Tiger is seen in Dublin Zoo as heavy snowfalls and freezing conditions continue in the Republic of Ireland, Wednesday, Dec. 1, 2010.


Cars are partially covered by water at the flooded parking lot of a car importer in Palmira, southern Colombia, Tuesday, Nov. 30, 2010. According to meteorologists the "La Nina" climatic phenomenon is causing an exceptionally wet rainy season that has caused floods and landslides, killing over 130 people throughout Colombia.


People play dominos in a flooded street in Higuerote, Venezuela, Tuesday Nov. 30, 2010. Flooding and landslides unleashed by torrential rains have killed at least 30 people in Venezuela and forced thousands from their homes.


Women participate in the "A prayer for the Earth" event, held on November 30, 2010 during the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP-16), in the Mexican seaside resort of Cancun. Negotiators got down to the nitty-gritty on the second day of the world climate talks on Tuesday, grappling for a breakthrough on half a dozen issues that will revive the battered UN process.


Children play with snowballs in front of a ferrywheel place Bellecour, on December 1, 2010 in Lyon, central eastern France. Snow and freezing temperatures forced French aviation authorities to cancel 116 flights from Lyon airport today and brought 10,000 trucks to a halt, officials said.

[NEP]

Photos of the Day | Thursday, Dec. 2, 2010


Ultra orthodox Jewish men watch as smoke from a wildfire rises into the sky on December 2, 2010 in Haifa, Israel. A large forest fire in northern Israel has reportedly killed at least 40 people, many of whom were prisoners who died when an evacuation bus went up in flames.


Trucks are partially submerged in flood water in a parking lot in Palmira in southern Colombia, Wednesday Dec. 1, 2010. An exceptionally wet rainy season has caused floods and landslides that have killed more than 130 people throughout Colombia. Meteorologists attribute the rise in precipitation over the country to the "La Nina" climatic phenomenon, which is caused by a cooling of adjacent waters in the Pacific Ocean.


Traffic sign is seen on a road flooded with water from the river Drina, in Gorazde, Bosnia, Thursday, Dec. 2, 2010. Authorities have declared a state of emergency and are evacuating people after heavy rainfall caused floods in several areas of Bosnia.

[NEP]

Photos of the Day | Friday, Dec. 3, 2010


Jana Laufer shovels out her car during a winter snow storm in South Buffalo, N.Y., Thursday, Dec. 2, 2010. The storm buried the southern neighborhoods of Buffalo and the city's southern and eastern suburbs under two feet of snow, but largely spared downtown.


NO teasr, just curiosity as 8-month-old Mona Marrs of Bellevue make sher first visit to Santa at Bellevue Square. Arthur & Associates have been taking Santa photos for 50 years and Santa will be available at the mall for a photo -- or just a visit -- most days from 9 a.m. til 10 or 11 p.m. Wait times to see Santa were very short and many parents attributed it to the fact that it is still early in the season.


A teenager jumps into an overflowing river in Barlovento, Miranda state, 150 Km northeast of Caracas, on December 2, 2010. Torrential rains have killed at least 31 people in recent days as Venezuela grapples with its worst flooding in 40 years, officials said Thursday. Authorities have set up 319 shelters across the country for those left homeless by rains that have impacted nearly 72,000 people.


Tourists make their way in a flooded St. Mark square as high tides reached 1.36 meters above sea level, flooding more than half of Venice, Friday, Dec. 3, 2010. Heavy rains have caused damage in the last days and are blamed for the recent collapses in ancient Pompeii, as many rivers swell, snow fell copiously on the Alps and high water is a constant presence in Venice.

[NEP]

Photos of the Day | Monday, Dec. 6, 2010


Residents of La Gabriela neighborhood who lost their homes when a landslide buried about 30 houses wait as rescue workers search for survivors in Bello, Colombia, Monday. At least 12 bodies were recovered. The Red Cross attributes more than 180 deaths to floods and landslides caused heavy rains in Colombia this year.


The Tungurahua volcano erupts in Pelileo, Ecuador, Saturday, causing authorities to evacuate nearby villages.


Jacksonville Jaguars offensive tackle Eugene Monroe cools off during the fourth quarter of an NFL football game against the Tennessee Titans Sunday. The Jaguars won 17-6.


A woman, holding a child, stands at the entrance of a house at the slum Cite Gabriel in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, Saturday, Dec. 4, 2010.


A sports fisherman tries his luck despite freezing temperatures of minus 10 degrees Celsius at Slovakia's dam Liptovska Mara on December 5, 2010. An ongoing cold wave with heavy snow and record low temperatures has delayed air flights and snarled road travel across much of Europe.


One year-old Maury Lane, gets a kick out of her sister Maya Boone, 12, as Boone models the latest in Christmas fashion, created by artist Margaret Hatcher Saturday Dec. 4, 2010, at the Sonoma Community Center in Sonoma, Calif.

[NEP]

Photos of the Day | Tuesday, Dec. 7, 2010


Palestinian youths carry their surfboards as they prepare to surf during sunset in Gaza City on December 6, 2010.


A Bosnian man Boro Lazic is carried to dry land after he was rescued from his house flooded by the river Drina, in the village of Dvorovi near northern Bosnian town of Bijeljina, 170 kms north of Sarajevo, Bosnia, on Saturday, Dec. 04, 2010. Heavy rain and melted snow caused flooding in central and eastern part of Bosnia.


Caroline West of Syracuse, NY feeds corn to the ducks and geese at Webster Pond in Syracuse Monday, Dec. 6, 2010. The Syracuse area has been under a lake effect snow warning for much of the day with several of inches of snow falling on the area.


Sunrise looms as fishermen ready their fishing poles on Flagler Beach Pier, Monday, Aug. 18, 2003, in Flager Beach, Fla.

[NEP]

Photos of the Day | Wednesday, Dec. 8, 2010


The Antarctic tourist ship the "Clelia II" struggles in high seas with 165 people aboard in the southern Drake Passage, just north of the South Shetland Islands on Tuesday. The ship declared an emergency on Tuesday, reporting it had suffered engine damage and is only able to make 4 knots speed amid heavy seas and 55 mph winds when it was about 500 miles from Ushuaia, the Argentine Navy said in a statement.


A Greenpeace activist holds a figure of the US Statue of Liberty, during their symbolic "Sinking Icons" activity, by submerging icons of world famous structures, in Cancun, Mexico, on December 8, 2010 during the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change.


A Buddhist monk waits for a procession during a ceremony commemorating Dusum Khyenpa, the first Karmapa, in Bodhgaya on December 8, 2010. Some 5,000 Buddhist monks from across the world assembled to take part in celebrations commemorating the 900th anniversary of the First Karmapa's birth.


A view of the flooded village of Kujava, 40 km north west of Montenegro's capital Podgorica, Wednesday, Dec. 8, 2010. People across Albania, Bosnia, Serbia and Montenegro have struggled with a torrent of floods experts have called the worst in a century. Authorities in Serbia and Montenegro had to evacuate thousands of people from flooded villages.


A child stares at Christmas lights in the Transylvanian city of Cluj, central Romania, Wednesday, Dec. 8, 2010, backdropped by the Orthodox Metropolitan cathedral and the statue of the 1848 revolution hero Avram Iancu, seen at right.

[NEP]

Photos of the Day | Friday, Dec. 10, 2010


The chairman of the Norwegian Nobel Committee, Thorbjoern Jagland, sits next to an empty chair during the ceremony in Oslo City Hall to honour this years Nobel Peace Prize winner, jailed Chinese dissident Liu Xiaobo whose picture hangs at left and is represented by the empty chair.


A Subaru cruises down Highway 906 near Snoqualmie Pass with a load of white on it's roof Friday morning. Over 18 inches of new wet snow fell overnight at Snoqualmie Pass but is expected to quickly melt as warm wet weather is expected for the weekend.


Kashmiri women and children watch activists of the Jammu Kashmir Liberation Front march with torches during a protest to mark International Human Rights Day in Srinagar, India, Friday, Dec. 10, 2010.


A streaker wears a scarf as a concession to the winter weather, as he runs across the pitch past Oxford and Cambridge players, at Twickenham, England, Thursday Dec. 9, 2010, during the 129th annual Varsity rugby union match. The streaker was protesting against an increase in university tuition fees, as lawmakers in parliament debated a controversial plan to triple the fees.


A two-week old male baby elephant is dwarfed next to his 25-year old mother, Nandong, at the Singapore Zoo's Night Safari on Friday, Dec. 10, 2010 in Singapore. This baby is the first baby to be born in the enclosure after 9 years and had a birth weight of 151-kilograms. The Singapore Zoo and Night Safari ensures that its animals in captivity have habitats as close to that of the wild as part of its wildlife conservation efforts. Elephants are listed as endangered on International Union for Conservation of Nature.


A man walks up a snow-covered hill in the Olympic park in Munich, southern Germany, as the sun shines with temperatures of minus two degrees on December 10, 2010.

[NEP]

Photos of the Day | Monday, Dec. 13, 2010


A flooded Stillaguamish River has closed Miller Road in Stanwood, Washington. "This is worse than the 2006 floods," Mike Lewis, from Stanwood, said.


The Burke-Gilman Trail, looking northbound, at NE 127th and Riviera PL NE is completely blocked by debris Monday morning.


This Nov. 22, 2008 file photo show a lone hunter surrounded by frost-caked brush and wilderness waits for prey in a tree stand on opening day of gun-deer season near Dale, Wis. The popularity of hunting has steadily declined in Wisconsin and across the rest of the country as society shifts to a more urban existence.


In this picture provided by Wally Pacholka of AstroPics.com, a Geminid fireball explodes over the Mojave Desert in the Jojave Desert, Calif. on Dec. 13, 2009. In mid-December 2010, the Geminid meteor shower will make its annual appearance, just in time for Christmas. Astronomers consider it the best meteor shower of 2010, with more than 100 meteors streaking through the night sky every hour.


A snowman reaching the height of 9.5 metres (31 feet) in Trzebnica, Poland, on Saturday, Dec. 11, 2010. Several people worked for six days to build the giant snowman and gave their creation the name Milocinek, according to the website gazeta.pl.


In this photo taken on Dec. 10, 2010, worker Jose Juarez tears off the leaves of a Vidalia onion plant before planting its roots into the soil in Lyons, Ga. Farmers across the South are contending with abnormally dry weather and drought that began this spring. The U.S. Department of Agriculture has declared disasters in portions of 16 states, with some of the driest spots in Texas, Louisiana, Arkansas, Alabama, Georgia and Florida.

[NEP]

Photos of the Day | Tuesday, Dec. 14, 2010


Stunning sunsets and steaming outdoor pools await travelers visiting Reykjavik on a European stopover. Visitors to Iceland's Blue Lagoon, above, swim in pools of milky-blue, 99-degree geothermal waters.


Steve Glass, father of one of the residents of this brick home in North Seattle in the 800 block of N.E. 120th Street checks storm damage Tuesday morning. The residents escaped unharmed but it appeared that two cars were totaled and the house will have to be rebuilt.


A visitor holds a camera high as he photographs roiling waters of the south fork of the Stillaguamish River Monday, Dec. 13, 2010, in Granite Falls, Wash. Record rains that hit Western Washington over the weekend have eased, and rivers that flooded roads and houses are on their way down or cresting, the National Weather Service said.


A flock of Black Skimmers face into a cold blustery wind as they huddle together on Ben T. Davis Beach in Tampa, Fla., Monday, Dec. 13, 2010. Temperatures overnight in Florida are predicted to drop into the upper 20's, as a cold front pushes through the state.


A statue of Venezuelan independence hero Francisco de Miranda stands as waves splash over the sea wall onto Malecon Avenue during heavy winds in Havana, Cuba, Monday Dec. 13, 2010.


The large waves pounds the shore as the ice covers the pier Monday, Dec. 13, 2010 in Chicago. High wind and frigid temperatures continue after a winter storm pummeled Illinois with snow and wind over the weekend.

[NEP]

Photos of the Day | Wednesday, Dec. 15, 2010


Zimbabweans queue in the rain outside immigration offices in downtown Johannesburg, Wednesday, Dec. 15, 2010, as they attempt to become legal before what they fear will be a wave of deportations. Up to 3 million Zimbabweans are believed to be living and working in South Africa, fleeing economic collapse and political crisis in their homeland. South African authorities, who had allowed many to stay without even passports, announced in September that a crackdown was coming, saying that those who did not obtain legal status before Dec. 31 would have to go home.


Juraj Markovic, 61, takes a bath in the natural thermal spring near the village of Kalameny as the outdoor temperature dropped to -6 degrees Celsius on December 14, 2010. Kalameny's thermal spring is one of many non commercial naturals spas that can be found in Slovakia's Liptov region.

[NEP]

Photos of the Day | Thursday, Dec. 16, 2010


A set of footprints in the snow and ice during a freezing rain event on Desha Rd. in Lexington, Ky., Thursday, Dec. 16, 2010. Snow changed over to freezing rain during the early morning hours.


Farmland sits under flood water in La Victoria in southern Colombia, Wednesday Dec. 15, 2010. An exceptionally wet rainy season has caused floods and landslides and killed dozens throughout Colombia.


Sleet falls over the snow covered pier at Diascund Creek Reservoir Boat Landing in James City County, Thursday, Dec. 16, 2010.


This image provided by the U.S. Coast Guard shows waves from Lake Erie crash onto Cleveland Harbor West Pierhead Lighthouse Tuesday Dec. 14, 2010 as the subzero air temperature causes the water to freeze in multiple layers, coating the entire structure in ice and making it virtually impossible for mariners to see the light.


Elephants walk in the early morning hours on December 10, 2010 in the Lewa Wildlife Conservancy. There has been a sharp increase in elephant poaching in the communities adjacent to the conservancy. Jonathan Moss, director of the Lewa Conservancy stated that the only real way to stem the poaching of elephant ivory and rhinoceros horns in the country is to target the demand. Wildlife officials said elephant poaching has risen sevenfold in Kenya since a one-time ivory sale was approved in 2007 by CITES, the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species, for four African countries. Last year 271 Kenyan elephants were killed by poachers, compared with 37 in 2007 according to the Kenya Wildlife Service.


Wild turkeys cross in front of a stopped pickup truck in the fog, Wednesday, Dec.15, 2010 in Lamoille, Nev.


In this photo released by the Association of Surfing Professionals, Jeremy Flores, of Capbreton, France, rides a wave during the Billabong Pipeline Masters surfing competition, Wednesday, Dec. 15, 2010, in Oahu, Hawaii.

[NEP]

Photos of the Day | Friday, Dec. 17, 2010


A great blue heron finds a platform for fishing in the Nisqually National Wildlife Refuge.


A Chinese worker piles up the plastic bottles collected at a recycling center in Hefei, east China's Anhui province, on December 16, 2010. China is the world's biggest greenhouse gas emitter and has some of the world's worst water and air pollution after rapid growth over the past 30 years triggered widespread environmental damage.


Indian Shiite Muslims flagellate themselves during a Muharram procession in New Delhi, India, Friday, Dec. 17, 2010. Muharram is a month of mourning in remembrance of the martyrdom of Imam Hussein, the grandson of Prophet Mohammed.


A Bangladeshi Shiite Muslim performs a fire-breathing act as he takes part in a religious procession during the Ashura mourning period in Dhaka on December 17, 2010. The religious festival of Ashura, which includes a ten-day mourning period starting on the first day of Muharram on the Islamic calendar, commemorates the seventh-century slaying of Prophet Mohammed's grandson Imam Hussein in Karbala.

[NEP]

Photos of the Day | Monday, Dec. 20, 2010


Vietnam veteran Paul Stancliff helps decorate a Christmas tree placed at the apex of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial December 20, 2010 in Washington, DC. The Christmas tree was decorated with hand made cards and ornaments made by schoolchildren from around the United States.


Lindsey Vonn, of the United States, races on her way to win an alpine ski, women's World Cup super-combined race, in Val D'Isere, France, Sunday, Dec. 19, 2010. American skier Lindsey Vonn won a World Cup super-combined race Sunday after following up her dominant performance in the super-G with an assured slalom run.


A Porsche navigates a flooded drive in Oakland, Calif., on Sunday, Dec. 19, 2010. Storms are dropping inches of rain throughout California and blanketing the Sierra mountains with several feet of snow.


A photo taken on December 19, 2010 and obtained on December 20 shows snow and ice covering building at Mount Hotham as snow fell in Australia. The usual hot and summery December weather was replaced in parts by icy gusts sweeping up from the Southern Ocean, giving the country a taste of a white Christmas. Snow has fallen in parts of east coast states New South Wales and Victoria, leaving ski resorts -- some of which are usually snow-free at this time of year -- with dumps of up to 10 centimetres (four inches).


Three Black Palm Cockatoos siblings, a 3-months old (L), 2-months old (R) and 23-days old are displayed to the media at the Jurong Bird park in Singapore on December 20, 2010. Black Palm Cockatoos are being bred as part of the Bird Park's on-going birdlife conservation program and it is the first time the park has hatched 3 birds in consecutive months.