2009 in photos (part 2 of 3)
Theyear 2009 is now coming to a close, and it's time to take a look backover the past 12 months through photographs. Historic elections wereheld in Iran, India and the United States, some wars wound down whileothers escalated, China turned 60, and the Berlin Wall was remembered20 years after it came down. Each photo tells its own tale, weavingtogether into the larger story of 2009. This is a multi-entry story,120 photographs over three days. Please watch for part 3 tomorrow and have a look back at part 1 from yesterday. (40 photos total)
Beforethe Iranian election, a supporter of main challenger and reformistcandidate Mir Hossein Mousavi forms a heart shape with her hands toindicate her support, while wearing green ribbons - the color of theparty, amidst a festive atmosphere at an election rally rally inTehran, Iran, Tuesday, June 9, 2009. (AP Photo/Ben Curtis)
AnIranian supporter of defeated Iranian presidential candidate MirHossein Mousavi is beaten by Basiji (volunteer paramilitary militia)and government security members as supporters come to his aid duringriots in Tehran, Iran, Sunday, June 14, 2009. Iranian youth opposed toPresident Mahmoud Ahmadinejad take to the streets Sunday, settingdumpsters and tires on fire, in a second day of clashes triggered byvoter fraud claims. (AP Photo) #
Asupporter of defeated Iranian presidential candidate Mir HosseinMousavi helps evacuate an injured Iranian riot-police officer duringriots in Tehran on June 13, 2009. Hardline incumbent MahmoudAhmadinejad won a crushing victory in Iran's hotly-disputedpresidential vote, according to official results that triggered massopposition protests. (OLIVIER LABAN-MATTEI/AFP/Getty Images) #
Smokefrom the Station Fire rises over downtown Los Angeles Monday, Aug. 31,2009. The Station Fire (caused by arson) lasted over a month, burningover 250 square miles, destroying 200 structures, and cost over $100million (USD) and the lives of two Los Angeles County Firefighters. (APPhoto/Jon Vidar) #
War-orphanFaustin Mugisa, 8, who has machete scars on his head and body, standsat the Kizito orphanage in Bunia in northeastern Congo February 24,2009. Mugisa was left for dead in a pile of corpses when ethnic Lendumilitiamen hacked to death his mother and seven siblings in 2003.Mugisa's father discovered him alive and took him to the bush torecover, but his father was later hacked to death by the same militiagroup. Ethnic violence has simmered for years in northeastern Congo,part of broader civil and regional conflict currently uprootinghundreds of thousands of Congolese fleeing massacres and reprisalkillings by various armed groups roaming the country's vast and lawlesswilds. (REUTERS/Finbarr O'Reilly) #
Aburning Su-27 jet from the Russian air force elite aerobatic teamRusskiye Vityazi (Russian Knights), dives just seconds after theaircraft collided with a two-seat Su-27, not seen, not far from theZhukovsky airfield, east of Moscow, Sunday, Aug. 16, 2009. Two Russianair force jets rehearsing aerobatic maneuvers collided Sunday nearMoscow, killing one stunt pilot and sending one fighter crashing intonearby vacation homes, a military official said. The Su-27 fighterswere part of the elite Russian Knights flying group preparing toperform at the MAKS-2009 air show, the largest and most importantshowcase for Russia's aerospace industry. (AP Photo/Dmitry Karpov) #
Abushman from the Khomani San community stands on a dry pan, in theSouthern Kalahari desert on October 15, 2009 in the Kalahari, SouthAfrica. One of the largest studies of African genetics by aninternational team from the University of Pennsylvania, published inApril 2009, revealed that the San, the last indigenous people of SouthAfrica, are the most genetically diverse on earth, and that the Sanhomeland could be the spot where modern humanity began. (DanKitwood/Getty Images) #
Starsin the night sky rotate above the distinctive chimney stack on the topof Cape Cornwall near St Just on April 12, 2009 in Cornwall, England.The landmark, originally built for the Cape Cornwall Mine in 1850 andwas recently damaged when it was struck by lightning, was bought, alongwith the rest of Cape Cornwall, for the nation by Heinz in 1987 andgiven to the National Trust to mark Heinz's centenary. (MattCardy/Getty Images) #
Aboy suffering from malnutrition is cradled in the arms of his mother ata camp for Internally Displaced People (IDP) on the outskirts ofMogadishu, Somalia on July 11, 2009. More than 200,000 people had beendisplaced in the previous two months, while hundreds of civilians werebelieved to have been killed and wounded, according to the UN Office ofthe High Commissioner for Human Rights. In an effort to escape thefighting, thousands of families relocated to refugee camps outside thecity where they faced extremely harsh living conditions. (MOHAMEDDAHIR/AFP/Getty Images) #
Anold car dropped in an industrial trash bin advertising the Cash forClunkers program at Battlefield Ford in Culpepper, Virginia, August 1,2009. "Cash for Clunkers", or the Car Allowance Rebate System was a $3billion U.S. federal scrappage program to allow U.S. residents to tradein older cars for newer, more fuel-efficient models. Nearly 700,000cars were traded under the program. (REUTERS/Jonathan Ernst) #
Pro-democracyprotesters carrying a mock coffin try to cross a police line during ademonstration demanding China improve its human rights record, outsidethe Chinese liaison office in Hong Kong October 1, 2009 as Chinacelebrates the 60th anniversary of the founding of the People'sRepublic of China. (REUTERS/Tyrone Siu) #
From20 degrees above the ring plane, Cassini's wide angle camera shot 75exposures in succession for this mosaic showing Saturn, its rings, anda few of its moons a day and a half after exact Saturn equinox, whenthe sun's disk was exactly overhead at the planet's equator. The imageswere taken on Aug. 12, 2009, at a distance of approximately 847,000 km(526,000 mi) from Saturn. (NASA/JPL/Space Science Institute) #
Aleopard walks with a tranquilizer dart hanging from its neck, in theresidential area of Jyotikuchi in Guwahati, the capital city of thenortheastern state of Assam, India on March 15, 2009. Three people weremauled by the leopard after the cat strayed into the city before it wastranquilized by forestry department officials. The full grown maleleopard was wandering through a part of the densely populated city whencurious crowds startled the animal, a wildlife official said. (BIJUBORO/AFP/Getty Images) #
Palestiniancivilians and medics run to safety during an Israeli strike over a UNschool in Beit Lahia, northern Gaza Strip early on January 17, 2009. Awoman and a child were killed early today in the Israeli strike on theUN-run school in northern Gaza where civilians were sheltering from thefighting, medics and witnesses said. (MOHAMMED ABED/AFP/Getty Images) #
Thousandsof scrapped taxis are abandoned at a yard in the center of Chongqingcity on March 4, 2009. Traffic congestion and pollution have worseneddramatically in Chinese cities as the country's long-running economicexpansion has allowed increasing numbers of consumers to makebig-ticket purchases such as cars. (STR/AFP/Getty Images) #
Supportersof former South Korean President Roh Moo-Hyun gather during a funeralceremony in downtown Seoul on May 29, 2009. Thousands of weepingmourners packed the streets to pay their last respects to formerPresident Roh Moo-Hyun amid a massive outpouring of grief and tightsecurity. (KOREA POOL/AFP/Getty Images) #
Belgianmilk producers pour about 3 million liters (793,000 gallons) of milkonto a field near the Belgian city of Ciney September 16, 2009 inprotest over a growing industrial dispute over low prices. Support isgrowing among European Union member states for a new regulatory set-upfor milk farmers struggling with depressed prices, France's agricultureminister, Michel Barnier, said on Tuesday. (REUTERS/Yves Herman) #
Russia'sPrime Minister Vladimir Putin rides a horse in southern Siberia's Tuvaregion August 3, 2009. Putin, a judo black belt who has flown in afighter aircraft and shot a Siberian tiger in the wild, plunged intothe depths of Lake Baikal aboard a mini-submersible on Saturday in amission that added a new dimension to his macho image. (REUTERS/RIANovosti/Pool/Alexei Druzhinin) #
Debrishangs on a destroyed building next to a giant statue and restaurantboat swept away along the Marikina river on September 29, 2009, outsideManila. Hundreds of thousands of exhausted Philippine flood survivorsendured squalor in schools, gymnasiums and other makeshift shelters onSeptember 29 as the death toll from Typhoon Ketsana (known in thePhillippines as "Ondoy") eventually climbed to over 650. (TEDALJIBE/AFP/Getty Images) #
Astrange light phenomenon is sighted in the night sky above parts ofnorthern Norway early December 9, 2009. Russia's new submarine-basedintercontinental missile suffered the latest in a series of testfailures, newspapers reported on Thursday, as unusual lights werespotted in Norway across the border from the launch site.(REUTERS/Anita Olsen/Scanpix Norway) #
Alocal performer dressed in traditional costume sings during thecelebrations for the lantern festival in the city of Tianjin, located100 km (62 miles) east of Beijing February 9, 2009. The lanternfestival marks the last day of the two-week Chinese lunar new yearcelebrations. (REUTERS/David Gray) #
More links and information
2009 in photos (part 1 of 3) - Part one of The Big Picture Yearender (2009)
2009 in photos (part 3 of 3) - Part three of The Big Picture Yearender (2009)
