Andrey Smirnov / AFP - Getty Images
Russian police officers detain an opposition activist during an unauthorized rally in Moscow on Tuesday, Oct. 4. About 20 supporters of The Other Russia party protested.
A small group protested today in Moscow over what demonstrators are calling unfair upcoming parliament and presidential elections, and against the pending candidacy of Vladimir Putin.
Adek Berry / AFP - Getty Images
Afghan teacher Meher Afroza, right, teaches the Koran at an Islamic school in Kabul on Sept. 4. Women's rights in Afghanistan risk being forgotten as international troops withdraw and the government struggles for a peace deal 10 years after the Taliban were ousted.Separate reports by Oxfam and ActionAid say women's rights have improved since the October 2001 US-led invasion, particularly access to education, with 2.7 million girls now in school, according to Oxfam.
Jalil Rezayee / EPA
Afghan school girls play basketball at their school in Herat, Afghanistan on October 4. Oxfam, an international aid agency report said, gains made on women's issues in the last 10 years in Afghanistan are under serious threat, asking international allies in the war-torn country not to abandon Afghan women in a quick fix deal for peace. Some 2.7 million girls are in school, compared to only a few thousand during Taliban rule, while other areas have shown patchy progress, Oxfam said.
Jalil Rezayee / EPA
An Afghan school girl writes on the black board during her class at a school in Herat, Afghanistan on October 4. Oxfam, an international aid agency report said, gains made on women's issues in the last 10 years in Afghanistan are under serious threat, asking international allies in the war-torn country not to abandon Afghan women in a quick fix deal for peace. Some 2.7 million girls are in school, compared to only a few thousand during Taliban rule, while other areas have shown patchy progress, Oxfam said.
Adek Berry / AFP - Getty Images
An Afghan child learns Koran at an Islamic school in Kabul on September 4.
For more images of the conflict in Afghanistan click here to see the slideshow.
Schalk Van Zuydam / AP
A tribal member, center, reacts to the arrival of skulls from Germany at the airport in Windhoek, Namibia, on Oct 4.
Namibians turned out at Windhoek airport Tuesday to welcome the return of the skulls of twenty ancestors who were taken by German forces for racist experiments more than a century ago.
Prime Minister Nahas Angula said that he "accepts these mortal remains as a symbolic closure of a tragic chapter," the AP reported.
See Friday's PhotoBlog post about the handover of the skulls to Namibian tribal leaders in Berlin.
Mohamed Sheikh Nor / AP
People carry a wounded man at the scene of an explosion in Mogadishu, Somalia, on Oct. 4. Dozens of people were reported killed after a car laden with explosives blew up in front of the Ministry of Education in the Somali capital.
Mohamed Sheikh Nor / AP
A soldier keeps guard near a burning vehicle at the scene of an explosion in Mogadishu on Oct. 4.
msnbc.com news services report from MOGADISHU:
A truck bomb killed at least 65 people at government buildings in the heart of Somalia's capital on Tuesday, an ambulance worker said, and al-Shabab insurgents claimed responsibility for the attack.
Witnesses said there was a loud blast at a compound housing four government ministries in the K4 (Kilometer 4) area of the capital Mogadishu, where students had gathered on Tuesday to take exams.
"We have carried 65 dead bodies and 50 injured people," ambulance coordinator Ali Muse told Reuters. "Some are still lying there. Most of the people have burns." Continue reading.
Francis R. Malasig / EPA
Typhoon victims rest inside a gymnasium turned into a temporary evacuation center in Navotas city, north of Manila, Philippines, on October 4. President Benigno Aquino III and his cabinet have created rehabilitation plans for the areas affected by the recent typhoons Nesat and Nalgae. According to the Office of Civil Defense, typhoon Nalgae has so far left one person dead, while 57 people died and 30 were missing in typhoon Nesat's onslaught, which also flooded central Manila.
Cheryl Ravelo / Reuters
Evacuees take temporary shelter inside the Mother of Perpetual Help Church in Hagonoy, Bulacan province, the Philippines, on October 4. Rescue helicopters and boats distributed food, water and medicine to thousands of Filipinos marooned in flooded towns north of the capital on Monday and authorities said water levels were starting to recede. Wide areas of rice-producing Bulacan and Pampanga provinces have been submerged since late last week after the Philippines was hit by two typhoons. A third storm may develop this week.
See more images of the recent typhoons on PhotoBlog.
Banaras Khan / AFP - Getty Images
Pakistani media film a bullet-riddled burning bus in Quetta on October 4. Gunmen attacked a bus carrying Shiite Muslims in Pakistan's insurgency-torn southwestern province of Baluchistan.
The AP reports from QUETTA, Pakistan:
Suspected Sunni extremists executed 12 Shiite Muslims after ordering them off a bus and lining them up in southwestern Pakistan on Tuesday, ramping up a campaign of sectarian violence gripping the region, police said. Continue reading.
Kim Kyung-Hoon / Reuters
A promotional staff of NTT DoCoMo demonstrates a prototype of smart phone case which measures bad breath at CEATEC JAPAN 2011 electronics show in Chiba, east of Tokyo, Tuesday, Oct. 4, 2011.
Agence France-Presse reports:
TOKYO -- Japan's top mobile phone operator NTT DoCoMo is to unveil a smartphone with changeable "jackets" that measure bad breath, body fat and even radiation levels.
DoCoMo says it has developed technology that allows users to measure their own bodies or surroundings by slipping their smartphones inside sensor-embedded shells.
The company will showcase the technology at the Combined Exhibition of Advanced Technologies, a fair featuring the latest in high-end gadgetry, starting in early October near Tokyo.
"Many customers have been nervous about radiation since the Great East Japan Earthquake," DoCoMo spokesman Daisuke Sakuma told AFP, referring to the 9.0-magnitude quake and tsunami of March 11 that sparked a nuclear crisis at the Fukushima atomic plant.
"We had been thinking what services we can provide to address these customer needs as a telecom carrier."
The tsunami knocked out cooling systems at Fukushima Daiichi, sparking meltdowns that sent radioactive materials into the air, soil and sea.
Worries over the health implications of the leak, which is still not plugged, have sent demand for radiation-measuring devices soaring in Japan.
DoCoMo will show off three kinds of "jacket" for use with a model of smartphone loaded with the appropriate software.
As well as radiation, the company said it would also demonstrate a case that determines if the holder has bad breath or smells of alcohol as well as checking levels of skin-damaging ultraviolet light.
A third case, dubbed the "health management" jacket, will measure body fat and muscle bulk.
Joshua Sudock / AP
Metrolink passengers ride the new "quiet car" from Anaheim to Los Angeles on its first day of implementation Monday, Oct. 3. The quiet car is exactly what it sounds like: a no cell phone, no music, no talking zone on Metrolink trains.
Man, I can't tell you what I would give for a "quiet car" on my commuter bus. This is long overdue.
AP reports:
There were plenty of playful shushes and whispers between commuters riding Metrolink's noiseless car to downtown Los Angeles Monday morning.
The five-county commuter rail line launched the "Quiet Car" Monday in which phone calls, loud conversations and other noise or disturbances are prohibited. A passenger car on every weekday Metrolink train will be designated as a silent car.
AP reports:
DALLAS — Former President George W. Bush said Monday that his presidential center will be a venue for learning and action, and that it already exceeds his expectations.
The George W. Bush Presidential Center will feature a presidential library and policy institute when it opens in spring 2013. Bush said the institute, which will focus on education reform, global health, human freedom and economic growth, will help him to stay involved in the areas that interest him.
Tom Pennington / Getty Images
Former President George W. Bush hugs his wife, Laura Bush, during the George W. Bush Presidential Center Topping Out Ceremony on October 3 in Dallas, Texas. The Center is a future complex that will include former President George W. Bush's presidential library and museum, the George W. Bush Policy Institute, and the offices of the George W. Bush Foundation.
Tom Pennington / Getty Images
Members of the media take a tour of the future George W. Bush Presidential Center on October 3 in Dallas, Texas. The George W. Bush Presidential Center is a future complex that will include former President George W. Bush's presidential library and museum, the George W. Bush Policy Institute, and the offices of the George W. Bush Foundation.
Charles Dharapak / AP
The White House in Washington is bathed in pink light Monday, Oct. 3, in recognition of October as Breast Cancer Awareness month.
This photo reminds me of the philosophical question: "If a tree falls in a forest and no one is around to hear it, does it make a sound?" Full story.
Sequoia National Forest via AP
One of two downed trees lies across the popular Trail of 100 Giants at Sequoia National Forest, Calif., temporarily closing the trail. The Forest Service said the downed trees were reported Friday and no one was injured. Officials are still working to determine the ages of the trees and why they fell. Some of the giant trees in that area are 245 feet tall and have diameters of 18 feet.
Sequoia National Forest via AP
A firefighter stands next to the root wads of one of two downed trees that temporarily closed the popular Trail of 100 Giants in Sequoia National Forest, Calif.
Sequoia National Forest via AP
A firefighter stands by the debris of of one of two downed trees that temporarily closed the popular Trail of 100 Giants in Sequoia National Forest, Calif.
Elaine Thompson / AP
Supporters of Amanda Knox watch a television news broadcast about her appeal as they sit in a hotel suite in downtown Seattle Monday, Oct. 3, 2011. With Italy nine hours ahead of Seattle, about a dozen friends and supporters of Knox began gathering Sunday night at a downtown hotel to watch a live feed of the courtroom and await the verdict.
Tiziana Fabi / Pool via EPA
Amanda Knox (C) breaks down in tears as she is taken away after hearing the verdict that overturns her conviction and acquits her of murdering her British roommate Meredith Kercher, at the Perugia court, Italy, Oct. 3. A court overturned the 2009 murder conviction of US student Amanda Knox on Monday in Perugia, Italy, for the slaying of Briton Meredith Kercher. The court also overturned the conviction of her former boyfriend, Raffaele Sollecito. The duo were expected to be freed immediately.
Elaine Thompson / AP
Supporters of Amanda Knox react as they watch a television news broadcast about her appeal verdict from a hotel suite in downtown Seattle Monday, Oct. 3, 2011. An Italian appeals court has thrown out Knox's murder conviction and ordered the young American free after nearly four years in prison for the death of her British roommate.
Tom Pennington / Getty Images
Waxahachie firefighters battle a massive fire at the Magnablend chemical processing plant on October 3, 2011 in Waxahachie, Texas. The burning chemical plant is not far from several residential areas and Wedgeworth Elementary School.
Larry W. Smith / EPA
A fire truck sprays water on the fire as smoke comes up from a large chemical fire at the Magnablend Chemical Plant facility in Waxahachie, Texas, USA, 03 October 2011. The large chemical fire caused evacuations at local schools.
Larry W. Smith / EPA
Smoke comes up from a large chemical fire at the Magnablend Chemical Plant facility in Waxahachie, Texas, USA, 03 October 2011. The large chemical fire caused evacuations at local schools.
John Minchillo / AP
Protesters from Occupy Wall Street march through New York's financial district dressed as corporate zombies Monday, Oct. 3. The protests have gathered momentum and gained participants in recent days as news of mass arrests and a coordinated media campaign by the protestors have given rise to similar demonstrations around the country.
Josh Reynolds / AP
Commuters walk past demonstrators with Occupy Boston outside their tent village in Boston's Financial district on Monday, Oct. 3. The group is part of a nationwide movement in support of the Wall Street protests in New York.
Frederic J. Brown / AFP - Getty Images
Protesters shout slogans while holding banners after marching to the courthouse where the trial for Michael Jackson's doctor continues on October 3, 2011 in Los Angeles. They say they are inspired by revolutions in the Middle East, but protests over economic grievances in Spain and elsewhere in Europe are a closer comparison as anti-corporate demonstrations spread across the United States.
The Occupy Wall Street protests are entering their third week and show no signs of relenting. Protesters in Boston, Los Angeles and Chicago have joined in demonstrating against economic inequality. There are also now several unions backing the protesters, which could lead to even larger protests this week.
Demonstrators angry at economic inequality and the role of big corporations are starting their third week of protests, saying they will camp out at a park near Wall Street indefinitely. The group now has the backing of several major unions, and the biggest rally yet could come this week. NBC's Michelle Franzen reports.
Felipe Dana / AP
Fans protect themselves from heavy rain as they wait for Guns N' Roses during the Rock in Rio music festival in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, early Monday Oct. 3.
Bernandino Hernandez / AP
Relatives weep after gunmen opened fire on a taxi killing the driver and the passenger in Acapulco, Mexico on Sunday Oct. 2. Violence in Acapulco has escalated as rival drug gangs battle for control of the region, claiming at least 20 people this weekend along a stretch of coastal tourist destinations.
It is so sad to see a city that should be known for its beautiful beaches and resorts, get taken over by blood and gang violence. This past weekend at least 20 people were killed, as the drug cartels boldly continue their battle for dominance.
For more information: Mexico cops find 7 bodies in resort town of Zihuatanejo
Soe Zeya Tun / Reuters
People row a long-boat with their legs at a traditional rowing competition during the annual Phaung Daw Oo Pagoda festival at Inle Lake October 3, 2011. Inle Lake, Myanmar's second largest lake, is located 2,980 feet (908 metres) above sea level at Shan Hills, and is one of the country's most popular tourist sites.
Bullit Marquez / AP
Residents wade through floodwaters while boats queue up to ferry others at Calumpit township, Bulacan province, Oct. 3, 2011.
Jay Directo / AFP - Getty Images
A child carries a wet puppy on a flooded road in the farming town of Calumpit on October 3, 2011, north of Manila in Bulacan province, a flat farming region hit particularly hard by the heavy rains of Typhoons Nesat and Nalgae.
Bullit Marquez / AP
Residents use an improvised raft for transport as floodwaters continue to inundate their homes at Calumpit township, Bulacan province, north of Manila, Philippines, Monday, Oct. 3, 2011.
Dondi Tawatao / Getty Images Contributor
Army rescue teams and volunteers carry a dead body on a stretcher through floodwaters in Calumpit town on October 3, 2011 in Bulacan, Philippines. Destruction and flooding in the wake of the powerful typhoons Nalgae and Nesat have left nearly 60 dead and millions affected as disaster management teams and aid agencies scramble to provide much needed food and assistance.
Floodwater are now starting to recede following two typhoons that killed nearly 60 people, but more boats are needed to bring food and water to residents who refuse to abandon their inundated homes. Full story. And our video report below:
Relief workers are struggling to help residents in the Philippines who are trapped by rising flood waters. TODAY.com's Dara Brown reports.
Hani Mohammed / AP
Protestors with Yemeni and Syrian flags painted on their faces chant slogans during a demonstration to demand the resignation of Yemen's President Ali Abdullah Saleh in Sanaa, Yemen, Monday, Oct. 3, 2011. The Arabic writing on the man's face at right reads "get out."
More on the continuing confict in this analysis from Reuters.
Peter Macdiarmid / Getty Images
A judge holds on to her wig in a sudden gust of wind as she processes to Parliament from Westminster Abbey on October 3, 2011 in London, England. The start of the legal year is marked with a traditional religious service and procession from Westminster Abbey. The judges arrive from the Royal Courts of Justice for the service followed by a procession to The Houses of Parliament where the Lord Chancellor hosts a reception.
Peter Macdiarmid / Getty Images
Judges process to Parliament from Westminster Abbey on October 3, 2011 in London, England.
More information about the history and tradition of the Lord Chancellor's breakfast.
Apparently there have been some who favor jettisoning the wigs which went out of style long ago, but for now, they remain.
According to the Guardian (2007 article):
In the late 17th century, during the reign of Charles II, wigs became essential wear in society. The fashion came from the court of Louis XIV. Wig is short for periwig, which derives from the French perruque.
When wigs went out of fashion during the reign of George III, judges and barristers continued to wear them in court.
Matthew VanDyke, an American writer and filmmaker who was imprisoned in Libya's most notorious jail for over five months earlier this year, has taken up arms and joined the uprising against Moammar Gadhafi.
Ahmad al-Rubaye / AFP - Getty Images
U.S. national Matthew VanDyke (right) is seen at the eastern front to the city of Sirte, Libya, on October 2. VanDyke, from Baltimore, Maryland, was held in Tripoli's dreaded Abu Salim prison for nearly six months before he escaped in August to join the rebellion against Moammar Gadhafi.
Ahmad al-Rubaye / AFP - Getty Images
U.S. national Matthew VanDyke holds a weapon at the eastern front of Sirte on October 2.
Agence France-Presse (AFP) interviewed VanDyke on the eastern front outside the city of Sirte, one of the last holdouts of Gadhafi forces, where he was manning a heavy machine gun mounted on an open-top vehicle. He said that, though he had no formal military training, he had gained combat experience battling the fierce resistance put up by Gadhafi's forces in Sirte.
VanDyke said Libya had always been very "special" to him and it was the "suffering of Libyans" which brought him to the country. He was jailed in March after being captured by Gadhafi's soldiers, and freed from the Abu Salim prison when rebel forces took Tripoli in late August.
"Sirte will take a couple of weeks. Snipers are too much of a problem," he told AFP.
"I too have had some close calls and returned fire. Those guys are diehard fanatics."
VanDyke vowed to see the campaign through to the end, AFP reported. "My family has raised me to keep my commitments. They know I will return after the war is over," he said.
NBC News Chief Foreign Correspondent Richard Engel met VanDyke shortly after his release:
NBC's Richard Engel tours Tripoli's Abu Selim prison with American Matthew Van Dyke, a freelance filmmaker who was held in solitary confinement by Gadhafi loyalists for nearly six months.
The AP reports from JERUSALEM:
For ultra-Orthodox Jews who shun secular newspapers, radio and the Internet, the best way to hear the news has long been by literally reading the writing on the wall.
The insular, strictly religious community still relies on black and white posters pasted up on walls in their neighborhoods to hear the latest rulings from important rabbis on modest dress, upcoming protests and the correct way to vote in
elections .Now one avid collector has teamed up with Israel's National Library to bring this old-fashioned form of communication into the 21st century by scanning more than 20,000 of the posters — known locally as "pashkevilim" — into a digital online archive. Continue reading.
Bernat Armangue / AP
An ultra-Orthodox Jewish man pastes ads and pashkevilim, posters used to publicize news and important messages in the ultra-Orthodox community, in Jerusalem's religious Mea Shearim neighborhood on Sept. 27.
Bernat Armangue / AP
Letters of the Hebrew alphabet, used in the printing process of the pashkevilim, are seen inside the library of ultra-Orthodox collector Yoelish Kraus, in Jerusalem on Sept. 27. The posters are typically written in Hebrew or Yiddish and use incendiary language. "Jerusalem is in danger!" one bellows - the danger being a mixed-gender swimming pool.
Bernat Armangue / AP
Yoelish Kraus is seen inside his library in Jerusalem on Sept. 27. Two years ago, the National Library offered to help Kraus catalog and scan his collection of pashkevilim. It was an unlikely partnership: Kraus will not enter the library because it carries secular literature and a boycott of it was announced - by pashkevil, of course - decades ago.
Bernat Armangue / AP
Torn and old pashkevilim cover a wall in Jerusalem's religious Mea Shearim neighborhood.
The AP reports from SAN FRANCISCO:
There are more dogs than kids in the City by the Bay. So it stands to reason dog owners carry a lot of clout — so much so they believe their endorsement can sway the upcoming mayoral race.
Dog lovers have formed a political action committee to promote the interests of their four-footed friends, namely space to run free in one of the world's largest urban national parks. And they are calling on mayoral candidates to defend their stands on canine affairs.
"We expect the dog vote to be a game-changer," said Bruce Wolfe, president of DogPAC, which held a forum attended by several mayoral hopefuls Saturday.
Ben Margot / AP
Antonia Tamer, left, and a woman who identified herself as "Cheyenne" walk their dogs in San Francisco. There are more dogs in the city than there are children.
Marcio Jose Sanchez / AP
Bruce Wolf, President of DogPAC of San Francisco, pets a dog at Fort Funston in San Francisco on Sept. 29.
There are an estimated 150,000 dogs in the city, compared with some 108,000 children, according to the San Francisco Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals and the 2010 U.S. Census. More than 800,000 people are sandwiched into 7-by-7 square miles in the city named for St. Francis, patron saint of animals.
Seven of the 16 candidates vying for City Hall's top job in the Nov. 8 election attended Saturday's DogPAC forum, where candidates were asked about the cost of dog licenses, trash cans in parks where owners can dispose of dog waste and pet-friendly rental housing for people who want to adopt foster animals. Read the full story.
Marcio Jose Sanchez / AP
Dogs walk off-leash with their human companions at Fort Funston in San Francisco on Sept. 29.
Matt Slocum / AP
Philadelphia Phillies center fielder Shane Victorino runs into the wall as he can't make the catch on a ball hit by St. Louis Cardinals' Allen Craig for a triple during the seventh inning of baseball's Game 2 of the National League division series Oct. 2, in Philadelphia, Pa.
AP reports:
Cardinals players jumped up and cheered wildly in the dugout, while Phillies fans sat silently in disbelief. The red-clad faithful had their hearts broken already once Sunday.
Just a few hours earlier, the Eagles blew a 20-point lead and lost 24-23 to the San Francisco 49ers in an NFL game across the street.
Many fans walked over to watch the two-sport doubleheader, and the crowd of 46,575 was the largest in the eight-year history of Citizens Bank Park.
Read the full story here.
Jae C. Hong / AP
Joe Schofield stands in front of a 340-ton rock as he and other workers prepare to transport the rock from Riverside County to the Los Angeles County Museum of Art at Stone Valley Materials in Riverside, Calif. Image made on Sept. 22.
Jae C. Hong / AP
Joe Schofield welds a giant steel beam built to support a 340-ton rock as he and other workers prepare to transport the rock from Riverside County to the Los Angeles County Museum of Art at Stone Valley Materials in Riverside, Calif. Image made Sept. 22.
AP reports:
In Greek mythology, Sisyphus was condemned by the gods to push a giant rock up a hill for eternity. In modern-day LA, the city's largest museum has spent months — and $5 million to $10 million — trying to get a 340-ton boulder from a dusty quarry in Riverside onto its campus west of downtown.
When the teardrop-shaped chunk of granite finally arrives it will become the focal point of acclaimed earth artist Michael Heizer's latest creation, "Levitated Mass." Museum visitors by the thousands are expected to walk under what will be one of the largest environmental art creations ever placed in an urban setting.
Read more here.
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