Frederic Nebinger / Getty Images
Model Cindy Crawford and Rande Gerber arrive at the Hotel Excelsior during the 68th Venice Film Festival on August 31, 2011 in Venice, Italy.
As the Italian film festival opens, look back at some of the biggest names in Hollywood, including Paul Newman, Elizabeth Taylor and more from here.
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Lm Otero / AP
A helicopter drops water on a wildfire at Possum Kingdom Lake, Texas, Wednesday, Aug. 31, 2011.
Lm Otero / AP
Mike Hester holds a cat he rescued from an area destroyed by a wildfire at Possum Kingdom Lake, Texas, Wednesday, Aug. 31, 2011, the day the fire swept through the neighborhood and destroyed 25 homes.
Lm Otero / AP
A home destroyed by a wildfire is shown at Possum Kingdom Lake, Texas, Wednesday, Aug. 31, 2011. Some streets were virtually untouched by the fire that swept through the area on Tuesday, with homes fronted by lawns that could double as putting greens, but others were reduced to rows of scorched stone fireplaces and twisted metal frames.
Lm Otero / AP
A wildfire roars through dry trees near Possum Kingdom Lake, Texas, Wednesday, Aug. 31, 2011. Texas and Oklahoma are in the grips of a record-setting drought, and a summer of soaring temperatures and little rain has meant the wildfire season, which usually ends in spring, didn't end this year.
From msnbc.com & news services reports:
POSSUM KINGDOM LAKE, Texas — A wildfire in rural North Texas and grassfires across Oklahoma City forced more evacuations on Wednesday, a day after destroying dozens of homes. Evacuations at Possum Kingdom Lake, about 75 miles west of Fort Worth, resumed Wednesday afternoon when the wind picked up and fanned the flames from a wildfire that firefighters had some earlier success in containing. Full story.
While so much of the Northeast is still mopping up water, Texas is experiencing an historic drought and battling wildfires. NBC's Brian Williams reports.
I really love it when a photographer gives his editor the choice between a literal and a non-literal image. Photographer Cary Cosby covered the emotional reopening of a fast food restaurant after a double murder. He shot all the straight pictures, but also captured this complex image of sad faces reflected in the window of the restaurant. Which of these two pictures do you think works best? See all of Cosby's images here.
Related: PhotoBlog post of Cosby's images of a family that survived tornadoes in 1974 and 2011.
Gary Cosby Jr. /Decatur Daily via AP
Krystal Restaurant reopened Tuesday, Aug. 29 in Decatur, Ala., with a somber ceremony involving civic leaders and restaurant officials with family members present. Killed in the robbery August 24 were night shift manager Jeff Graff, 49, and employee Jessie Aguilar, 23. Three people have been charged in the murders, two of whom worked for Krystal. The shooter, Jordaan Creque, worked on the shift wtih Graff and Aguilar. Many faces of people attending the reopening are reflected in the plate glass windows of the restaurant.
Gary Cosby Jr. /Decatur Daily via AP
Krystal Restaurant reopened Tuesday, Aug. 29 in Decatur, Ala., with a somber ceremony involving civic leaders and restaurant officials with family members present. Decatur Mayor Don Stanford speaks during the reopening with a wreath of flowers honoring the slain workers in front.
Jacquelyn Martin / AP
Two cheetah cubs peek through wild flowers at the Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute in Front Royal, Va., Wednesday, Aug. 31. The five cubs in the litter are 13-weeks-old. When they mature the cubs will become part of a national breeding program for the endangered species.
Has it really been seven weeks since we last saw these cubs in Animal Tracks? Should they be in the running for cutest thing ever?
As a parent, I know that young children will cry about anything. But you have to wonder, isn't the natural fear of snakes a good thing?
Menahem Kahana / AFP - Getty Images
Arab Israeli children pose with a pet snake at an amusement park in the northern Israeli city of Acre on August 31 as Muslims celebrated the Eid al-Fitr holiday which marks the end of the holy fasting month of Ramadan.
Menahem Kahana / AFP - Getty Images
An Arab Israeli boy cries as his family makes him pose with a pet snake at an amusement park in the northern Israeli city of Acre on August 31.
Saif Dahlah / AFP - Getty Images
Palestinian children enjoy a ride at an amusement park on the second day of the Eid al-Fitr holiday, which marks the end of the holy fasting month of Ramadan in the West Bank city of Jenin, on Wednesday, Aug. 31.
It's giant pumpkin time. The Guinness record for the heaviest pumpkin is 1810.5 lbs. If this Alaska grower's estimate of 1,780 lbs. for this baby is correct, he may have a chance at the record.
Related:
A new world record has been set almost every year in the last decade, according to pumpkinnook.com. Click here to learn how to grow your own giant.
Guinness record for farthest distance to fire a pumpkin.
Bill Roth /Anchorage Daily News via AP
Dale Marshall is dwarfed by an Atlantic Giant Pumpkin that he estimates to be around 1,780-pounds inside a greenhouse in Anchorage on Aug. 29. The giant pumpkin was started by seed on April 1 and has a 202-inch circumference. He plans to enter the pumpkin in the Alaska State Fair during the weigh-off on Wednesday in Palmer. Marshall holds the state record with a 1,101 pound pumpkin that he entered in the state fair last year.
Bill Roth /Anchorage Daily News via AP
Dale Marshall of Anchorage closes the door to the 500-square-foot greenhouse where he's growing an Atlantic Giant Pumpkin that he estimates to be around 1,780-pounds on Aug. 29.
Giant Pumpkin from anchoragedailynews on Vimeo.
Zohra Bensemra / Reuters
Libyans attend an Eid al-Fitr prayer in Tripoli on Wednesday, Aug. 31.
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Heino Kalis / Reuters
Revellers throw tomatoes during the annual "Tomatina" (tomato fight) in the Mediterranean village of Bunol, near Valencia, August 31. The origin of the tomato fight is disputed - everyone in Bunol seems to have a favorite story - but most agree it started around 1940, in the early years of General Francisco Franco's dictatorship.
Heino Kalis / Reuters
A reveller is covered with tomato pulp after the annual "Tomatina" (tomato fight) in the Mediterranean village of Bunol, near Valencia August 31.
Heino Kalis / Reuters
A reveller on a truck throws tomatoes into the crowd during the annual Tomatino festival.
Alberto Saiz / AP
A reveler is pelted with tomatos during the tomato fight fiesta in the village of Bunol, near Valencia, Spain, Wednesday, Aug. 31.
Alberto Saiz / AP
A reveler throws tomato pulp during the annual "Tomatina" tomato fight fiesta in the village of Bunol, near Valencia, Spain, Wednesday, Aug. 311. Bunol's town hall estimated more than 40,000 people, some from as far away as Japan and Australia, took up arms Wednesday and pelted each other with 120 tons of ripe tomatoes in the yearly food fight known as the 'Tomatina' now in its 66th year.
Manuel Bruque / EPA
A young man rests over a tomato covered ground during the Tomatina feast or 'tomato fight' in Bunol, Valencia, Spain, 31 August. 120 tons of tomatoes were thrown in the event.
This looks like a lot of fun. Is it lunch-time yet?
China Daily via Reuters
Residents run away as waves from a tidal bore surge past a barrier and a vehicle on the banks of the Qiantang river in Hangzhou, Zhejiang province, China, on August 31.
China Daily / Reuters
Policemen and residents run as waves from a tidal bore surge past a barrier on the banks of Qiantang River in Haining, Zhejiang province on Aug. 31.
Shen Zc / EPA
People watch a tide hitting the banks of the Qiantang River in Haining city in east China's Zhejiang province on Aug. 31.
As Typhoon Nanmadol approaches eastern China, tides and waves in the Qiantang river have recorded their highest levels in 10 years, according to local media reports monitored by Reuters.
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Jeremy Laurence of Reuters reports from aboard the Mangyongbyong, North Korea:
When you think of taking a cruise, usually it's the Bahamas, Fiji or the Maldives that generally come to mind. How about North Korea?
On Tuesday, the mysterious state launched itself into the glitzy world of cruise tourism when about 130 passengers set sail from the rundown port of Rajin, near the China-Russia border, for the scenic Mount Kumgang resort near the South Korean border.
Carlos Barria / Reuters
A visitor posses with a cruise ship at the port of Rason, in the North Korean special economic zone northeast of Pyongyang on August 30.
Carlos Barria / Reuters
Local residents wave as a cruise ship with visitors leaves the port of Rason on August 30.
Isolated North Korea's "state tourism bureau" has teamed up with a Chinese travel company to run the country's first ever cruise aboard an ageing 9,700 tonne vessel which once plied the waters off the east coast of the divided peninsula shuttling passengers between North Korea and Japan.
Some 500 North Koreans, about half dressed in dark workers clothes and the others in office and traditional attire, waved off the ship in a strictly choreographed performance on the potholed dock. The spectators waved North Korean flags and fake flowers, and let off a blast of paper fireworks to mark the occasion. Carnival music blared from two minivans with speakers on their roofs.
Ng Han Guan / AP
North Koreans and Chinese travel agents eat at a buffet during the trial cruise of the North Korean leisure boat the "Mangyongbyong" on its way to Mount Kumgang in North Korea on Aug. 30. Since South Korean tourists have been barred from the luxury resort, known abroad as Diamond Mountain, North Korea has begun courting Chinese and other international tourists.
Ng Han Guan / AP
Visitors enjoy the view along the coastline in Mount Kumgang in North Korea on Aug. 31.
Before the setting off, the vice mayor Hwang Chol-nam of Rason City, of which Rajin port is a part, gave a speech lauding the venture as part of the region's push to attract tourism.
Hwang hailed a local rule that allows people of any nationality to visit the area visa-free. They must, however, arrange the trip through a designated tour company.
"Any country, people from America, Japanese, Singaporean can come to Rason, that's the reality today, and that's the same for the Kumgang special economic zone," he told reporters aboard the vessel.
See more pictures of North Korea on PhotoBlog.
Sergei Grits / AP
Belarussians wait in line to buy meat at considerably cheaper prices than at the market, in front of the closed door of a shop before it opens in Minsk on Aug. 31. Belarus is mired in its worst financial crisis since the fall of the Soviet Union. The government devalued the ruble by some 50 percent this year, causing panic buying of staples and huge lines at foreign exchange offices. Belarussian President Alexander Lukashenko says the ex-Soviet nation will allow a free float of its currency in mid-September.
In the surreal world of Belarus, standing in line outside a shop could be considered subversive.
When I saw this picture, I remembered reading about a new law drafted by the government of Alexander Lukashenko, who is frequently described as "Europe's last dictator."
The New York Times reported the proposed law thus: In Belarus, Just Being Can Prompt an Arrest. The paper explained:
[The draft law] prohibits the "joint mass presence of citizens in a public place that has been chosen beforehand, including an outdoor space, and at a scheduled time for the purpose of a form of action or inaction that has been planned beforehand and is a form of public expression of the public or political sentiments or protest."
Anyone proven to be taking part in such a gathering would be subject to up to 15 days of administrative arrest, the draft says.
Rolex Dela Pena / EPA
Informal settlers try to block advancing police as authorities attempt to implement a court order to demolish shanties in Quezon City, east of Manila, Philippines, on August 31.
Informal settlers in the Filipino city of Quezon tried to stop police and a demolition team tasked with knocking down shanty houses in an area reportedly occupied by some 1,000 families, the EPA reported. According to AFP, the clearances were to pave the way for a property developer to take over the area.
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The AP reports from QUETTA, Pakistan:
A suicide car bomber attacked Shiite Muslims in southwestern Pakistan on Wednesday as they were heading home after morning prayers at the start of an Islamic holiday. The blast killed 10 people, officials said.
The attack occurred in Quetta, the capital of Baluchistan
province . No group immediately claimed responsibility for the bombing, but Baluchistan is believed to be home to many Taliban militants who have targeted Shiites in the past. Extremist Sunni Muslim groups like the Taliban view Shiites as heretics. Continue reading.
Banaras Khan / AFP - Getty Images
Local residents gather at the site of a car bomb blast in Quetta, Pakistan, on August 31.
Banaras Khan / AFP - Getty Images
Flames rise from a car at the site of a bomb blast in Quetta on August 31. A car bomb exploded in a parking lot after Eid prayers, police said.
Banaras Khan / AFP - Getty Images
Local residents attempt to extinguish burning vecicles after a car bomb blast in Quetta on August 31.
Naseer Ahmed / Reuters
A man sits grieving next to the body of his eleven-year-old brother after his body was recovered from the site of a car bomb blast in Quetta on August 31.
A car bomb explodes after Shiite Muslims were finishing morning prayers in Quetta, Pakistan, killing at least 10 people. TODAY.com's Dara Brown reports.
Park Ji-Hwan / AFP - Getty Images
A South Korean woman looking at the virtual retail shop at Seolleung subway station in Seoul. A major South Korean retailer has opened what it claims is the world's first virtual store geared to smartphone users, with shoppers scanning barcodes of products displayed in a Seoul subway station.
From Korea Joongang Daily:
Homeplus, the nation’s second largest discount chain, announced yesterday that it will open what it calls a “fourth generation retail store,” Homeplus Smart Virtual Store, at Seolleung subway station in southern Seoul today.
It says it’s the first of its kind in the world.
At a press conference yesterday before the official launch, Homeplus CEO Lee Seung-han said discount store chains must respond to rapidly changing consumer habits and behavior, and a new kind of virtual store will cater to skyrocketing smartphone users in Korea. (Read the full story)
Michael Loccisano / Getty Images
DC comic writer Scott Snyder speaks to excited Fans at DC Comics Midnight Madness Event Celebrating the release of New No. 1 issue of "Justice League" at Mid Town Comics on August 30, 2011 in New York City.
Michael Loccisano / Getty Images
Excited Fans at DC Comics Midnight Madness Event Celebrating the release of New No. 1 issue of "Justice League" at Mid Town Comics on August 30, 2011 in New York City.
Michael Loccisano / Getty Images
Jim Lee, artist and co-publisher of DC Comics with fans at Midnight Madness event celebrating the release of New No. 1 issue of "Justice League" at Mid Town Comics on August 30, 2011 in New York City.
Michael Loccisano / Getty Images
Fans at DC Comics Midnight Madness Event Celebrating the release of New No. 1 issue of "Justice League" at Mid Town Comics on August 30, 2011 in New York City.
From TODAY.com
Superman won’t be married to Lois Lane anymore. Batgirl will get out of the wheelchair the Joker put her in and bop bad guys again. And the faces behind the masks of DC Comics’ superheroes will be more reflective of an America that isn’t as white as it used to be.
Changes like that were enough to have fans camped out in folding chairs in front of Midtown Comics’ Times Square store Tuesday afternoon, waiting to snap up copies of Justice League No. 1 — the first of 52 DC comic books about to start over from Issue No. 1 — when it comes out on Wednesday. Full story.
Shawn Rocco / AP
Standing on a neighbors porch in Stumpy Point, N.C., Darnel and Debbie Talbert lean on each other as Nationwide insurance agent Paul Tine checks on information concerning their policy on Tuesday, Aug. 30. The Talbert's house was heavily damaged by Hurricane Irene.
Anyone who has ever had flooding in their house can relate to this moment.
Related: Irene sends floundering flood insurance program further under water
Donna McWilliam / AP file
Blues singer David "Honeyboy" Edwards performs at North Dallas High School in 2007 in Dallas, Texas. Edwards died of congestive heart failure Monday, Aug. 29, 2011, in his Chicago apartment at age 96.
A chapter of American music history is closing with the death of blues guitarist and singer David “Honeyboy” Edwards. He never achieved the fame of many of his colleagues, but Edwards was an influential voice among members of the music form that came out of the Mississippi Delta and traveled up to Chicago along with thousands of migrant workers.
His style was minimal and raw. Like many of the great Delta bluesmen, his music provided the source material that much of today’s music grew out of. Rest well and play on David “Honeyboy” Edwards.
Watch the video below to hear Honeyboy’s minimal guitar style and unique vocals from a 1988 recording session. Later in life Edwards said that some modern guitarists play too many notes when they play the blues. I agree with him. I’ve always thought that when it comes to the blues -- what isn’t there is as important as what is.
David "Honeyboy" Edwards performs "Goin' Down Slow" and "Highway 61".
Paul Hellstern / AP
Cattle move to avoid the flames of a large grass fire in a farm off of Air Depot between 63rd and Wilshire in Oklahoma City, Tuesday, Aug. 30. Authorities have evacuated a larger area in Oklahoma City where a stiff winds and dry conditions fueled a wildfire that destroyed several homes.
From msnbc.com
POSSUM KINGDOM LAKE, Texas — A Texas Forest Service spokesman says that at least 25 homes have been destroyed in a fast-moving wildfire sweeping through a lakeside community outside of Fort Worth, Texas.
Meanwhile, a fire in a wooded area of Oklahoma City forced the evacuation of hundreds of homes and destroyed two. Full story.
Lauren A. Little / AP
Lee Walter hands out colored pencils during his first day as a full-time teacher at Brandywine Heights Middle School on Monday, Aug. 29, in Topton, Pa. Walter graduated from Albright College four years ago and went to work at a financial planning firm. But spending all day in a cubicle staring at spreadsheets wasn't for him, he said. So, he headed to Kutztown University for graduate work and to get certified to teach.
It's heartening to see an idealistic young person follow his dream to become a teacher. Given the political pressure on teachers' unions and public schools, this is a pretty gutsy thing to do. The Reading Eagle reports the story of his first day.
Jim R. Bounds / AP
Keith Beavers examines his tobacco crop in aftermath of Hurricane Irene in Mount Olive, N.C., Tuesday, Aug. 30. Far from the beach towns that took Hurricane Irene's first hit, the storm inflicted some of its worst damage on inland farms from North Carolina to New York as crops were pummeled by wind, scalded by salt spray and submerged by floodwaters. Some farmers, like Beavers, are reporting total losses.
AP reports:
STONEWALL, N.C. — Far from the beach towns that took Hurricane Irene's first hit, the storm inflicted some of its worst damage on inland farms as crops were pummeled by wind, scalded by salt spray and submerged by floodwaters. Some farmers are reporting total losses.
"My tobacco crop is completely wiped out. I can't harvest any of it," said Keith Beavers, whose Mount Olive farm lies about 70 miles from the ocean. "It's either blown off the stalk or off the limb, and what's left is raggedy."
We have PhotoBlogged recently about the Texas drought. Scientists at the National Fish Hatchery & Technology Center, in San Marcos, Texas, have a plan to do something about it.
As AP reports:
LUBBOCK, Texas - Federal officials are readying plans to evacuate a small number of endangered species in Texas as a severe drought lowers water levels and threatens the survival of rare wildlife in the state's huge ecosystem.
Months with almost no rain have caused water levels to drop by half or more in many rivers, lakes and other bodies of water, including springs in the central Texas Hill Country that are the only remaining habitat for populations of small fish, amphibians and other creatures. If the water continues to drop sharply, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service officials are preparing to net up large samples from the springs to take to a hatchery for preservation.
Eric Gay / AP
Texas Blind Salamanders, an endangered species, are seen at the National Fish Hatchery & Technology Center, in San Marcos, Texas. As rivers and lakes are being sucked dry across drought-stricken Texas, wildlife experts are considering a move to new waters to save some of the state's endangered fish.
Eric Gay / AP
A tour boat is seen at San Marcos Springs, in San Marcos, Texas.
Eric Gay / AP
A San Marcos salamander, an endangered species, is measured for research at the National Fish Hatchery & Technology Center, in San Marcos, Texas.
Francois Mori / AP
Libyan people rush to talk to a bank employee as banks reopen in Tripoli, Libya, on Tuesday Aug. 30, 2011. Libyan banks reopened Tuesday, and the public rushed to get cash from their accounts.
I always thought "run on the banks" was just an expression; not so much in Libya today.
Jason Lee / Reuters
Local farmer Shu Mansheng sets up a propeller on the motorcycle engine of his self-designed and made flying device before the first test flight in front of his house in Dashu village, on the outskirts of Wuhan, capital of central China's Hubei province August 30.
According to aviation news site AVweb, a former Chinese farmer with little formal schooling who later worked as an automobile mechanic has designed and built at least one ultralight that briefly flew (before crashing) -- he has now moved on to a flying saucer. Shu Mansheng's project is a structure powered by eight motorcycle engines mounted vertically. They drive individual fixed-pitch wooden propellers.
Jason Lee / Reuters
Mansheng (in red) tests the engines of his flying device ahead of his first test flight. The round steel flying device, which cost more than 20,000 yuan, was the fifth model made by Shu, a junior middle school graduate. It measures up to 5.5 meters in diameter, and is powered by eight motorcycle engines.
The engines are arranged in an inner and outer group of four engines each. An open cockpit located in the center is mounted above spokes that both support the engines and extend to an outer circular ring. Supporters will be hoping for a more positive outcome than the innovator's last attempt.
Jason Lee / Reuters
Mansheng sucks fuel out from a tank with his mouth as he tries to refuel his flying device, which uses Coke bottles as fuel tanks. in the cabin before his first test flight in front of his house in Dashu village, on the outskirts of Wuhan, capital of central China's Hubei province August 30, 2011.
Shu Mansheng built his first aircraft in October 2010. It was saved by an inadequate powerplant that failed to lift it off the ground. A second effort was aborted when the innovator determined it would be too heavy to fly. This April Shu built another aircraft in a span of about 15 days. He managed to fly that one over approximately 30 meters at an altitude less than seven meters above the ground before he crashed.
Jason Lee / Reuters
The device failed a recent test flight.
Shu Mansheng has been able to focus on his aviation exploits after some advances in his career led him to a financial windfall. He retired from his day job and now works full-time on his aviation adventures. His latest scheme has consumed the equivalent of nearly $10,000. His dream is to create a school "where kids can learn things not taught in regular school," he told WorldTourist.com.
Filippo Monteforte / AFP - Getty Images
Camels stand on the motorway between Misrata and Sirte, on August 30. Libyan rebles were advancing towards Syrte, fallen leader Moamar Gadhafi's hometown and the last bastion of loyalists.
For more of the latest images of the conflict in Libya click here to see the slideshow.
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