Jump to February 2011 archive page: 1 ... 18 19 20 21
  • 62nd International Toy Fair in Nuremberg

    Here're a few images from today's press preview of the 62nd International Toy Fair in in Nuremberg, where about a million toys are on display. From Reuters, more than 2,640 exhibitors from over 60 countries worldwide will present their new toy products from Feb. 3 to Feb. 8.

    Michaela Rehle / Reuters

    A boy is playing with a new fantasy toy figure by Schleich during the press preview of the 62nd International Toy Fair in Nuremberg, Feb. 2, 2011.

    Daniel Karmann / EPA

    Golden Retriever Sandy sniffs at 'Cookie' of the toy company FurReal Friends during the 62nd Toy Fair in Nuremberg, Germany, Feb. 2. The interactive electronic cuddle toy reacts to noises and movements of it's surrounding.

    Miguel Villagran / Getty Images

    Models dressed the same way as different Ken dolls pose during the press preview day of the International Toy Fair Nuernberg, Feb. 2, in Nuremberg, Germany. Mattel celebrates the 50th anniversary of the Ken doll. 2,683 exhibitors will present their new toy products until February 8, 2011.

    Miguel Villagran / Getty Images

    A woman poses next to the Space Phoenix flying device by Silverlit during the press preview day of the International Toy Fair Nuernberg, Feb. 2.

     

     

     

    Show more
  • Buddhist pilgrimage in Kathmandu, Nepal

    Gemunu Amarasinghe / AP

    A Tibetan Buddhist nun prostrates herself on the road circumnavigating around Swayambhunath Buddhist stupa in Kathmandu, Nepal on Feb. 2. Swayambhunath is a world heritage site and an important pilgrimage site for Buddhists.

    Gemunu Amarasinghe / AP

    A Tibetan Buddhist nun prostrates herself on the road circumnavigating around Swayambhunath Buddhist stupa in Kathmandu, Nepal on Feb. 2.

    .

  • China celebrates the Year of the Rabbit

    Chinese people celebrate the Lunar New Year of Rabbit, which falls on February 3, 2011. The Chinese Lunar New Year also known as the Spring Festival, which is based on the Lunisolar Chinese calendar, is celebrated from the first day of the first month of the lunar year and ends with Lantern Festival on the Fifteenth day. See more on the celebrations here.

    Feng Li / Getty Images

    Rabbits in little cages wait to be given away as prizes at a temple fair to celebrate the Year of the Rabbit on February 2, 2011.

    Feng Li / Getty Images

    A Chinese artist dressed in rabbit costume poses at a temple fair to celebrate the Lunar New Year of Rabbit on February 2, 2011 in Beijing, China.

    Ng Han Guan / AP

    Residents watch fireworks outside a restaurant on the eve of Chinese new year in Beijing Wednesday, on Feb. 2, 2011.

    Feng Li / Getty Images

    Chinese folk artists perform at a temple fair to celebrate the Lunar New Year of Rabbit on February 2, 2011 in Beijing, China.

     

  • Groundhog Day: Punxsutawney Phil predicts an early spring

    Jeff Swensen / Getty Images

    Groundhog handler Ben Hughes watches Punxsutawney Phil after he did not see his shadow predicting an early spring during the 125th annual Groundhog Day festivities on Feb. 2 in Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania.

    Jeff Swensen / Getty Images

    A smaller than usual crowd this year of less than 15,000 people spent a night of revelry awaiting the sunrise and the groundhog's exit from his winter den.

    Jason Cohn / Reuters

    Official Groundhog Handler John Griffith, left, holds famed weather prognosticating groundhog Punxsutawney Phil as he makes his annual prediction to Groundhog Club President Bill Deeley, right, on Gobbler's Knob in Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania.

    Jeff Swensen / Getty Images

    Fireworks light up the sky above the crowd.

    Including today's forecast, Phil has seen his shadow 98 times and hasn't seen it just 16 times since 1887.

    TODAYshow.com has the full story.

  • AFP - Getty Images

    South African tycoon Kenny Kunene, left, eats sushi from the body of a scantily-clad woman on Jan. 30 at the pre-opening of his new club, the Zar, in Cape Town.

    South African tycoon eats sushi from the body of a scantily-clad woman

    According to AFP, Kenny Kunene's wild parties with near-naked women serving as sushi trays have opened a debate in South Africa between supporters of a complex-free, black middle class and those who take it as a insult to the majority of poor South Africans. On January 31, ruling African National Congress Secretary-General Gwede Mantashe condemned Kunene's sushi parties, adding that the ANC was not in the business of nightclubs but was a revolutionary movement.

    This morning, South Africa's Independent Online reported that Kunene has cancelled any plans to repeat the stunt. "I will not be throwing or attending any further such sushi parties as I have nothing but respect for the leadership of the ANC and the guiding principles of the movement," Kunene is reported to have said.

  • Car bomb in Peshawar kills 9 and leaves 20 injured

    Hasham Ahmed / AFP - Getty Images

    Paramedics treat an injured girl, victim of a car bomb blast, at a hospital in Peshawar on Feb. 2. A car bomb tore through a packed market, killing nine people in the sixth attack in the northwestern city of Peshawar in less than a week, officials said.

    K. Parvez / Reuters

    A girl is treated by medics at the Lady Reading hospital after suffering injuries from a bomb attack in Peshawar on Feb. 2.

    Arshad Arbab / EPA

    Locals topple over a burnt out car after a car bomb blast near a market in Peshawar, Pakistan, on Feb. 2. A bomb planted in a car exploded, ripping through a residential area killing 9 people and injuring over 20.

    Fayaz Aziz / Reuters

    Residents move a damaged vehicle from the site of a bomb attack in Peshawar on Feb. 2.

    A car bomb killed nine people in the Pakistani city of Peshawar on Wednesday, the latest in a rash of attacks that are challenging recent police claims of progress against Islamist militants in the region. Full story.

  • Australians scramble for shelter as Cyclone Yasi approaches

    Dave Hunt / EPA

    Pool chairs are sunk for safety at a hotel in Cairns, north Queensland, Australia on Feb. 2. Severe Tropical Cyclone Yasi, now a maximum-force Category Five storm, has increased speed and is due to make landfall on the night of Feb. 2 between Cairns and Innisfail.

    Tim Wimborne / Reuters

    A hand painted board protects the front window of a cafe in the northern Australian city of Cairns on Feb 2.

    Tim Wimborne / Reuters

    Local resident Selwyn Hughes sits with his children outside an emergency cyclone shelter after it was declared full and the gate locked in the northern Australian city of Cairns on Feb. 2. Catagory five Cyclone Yasi, expected to be the most powerful storm to cross Australia's heavily populated east coast in generations, is expected to make landfall late on Wednesday night.

    Torsten Blackwood / AFP - Getty Images

    Christie Nugent brings her beloved 14-year-old dog 'Scruffy' to an emergency evacuation centre as potentially catastrophic cyclone approaches Innisfail on Feb. 2.

    One of the most powerful cyclones in Australia's history is bearing down on a string of popular tourist cities lining the Queensland coast.

    The first major gusts hit the coast as frightened residents and backpackers scrambled to find safe havens with just hours before Cyclone Yasi delivers its full wrath.

    "This is a cyclone of savagery and intensity," Prime Minister Julia Gillard said in a news conference. "People are facing some really dreadful hours in front of them."

    Full story here.

  • Snow blankets Midwest and starts to head east

    Chip Somodevilla / Getty Images

    University of Iowa student Zach Smothers' glasses fog up while he walks thorugh the snow and bone-chilling wind Feb. 1, in Iowa City, United States. The National Weather Service has warned that the coming winter storm will produce blizzard-like conditions, including the possibility of 12-inches of snow in southeast Iowa and more throughout the Plains and Midwest states.

    Scott Olson / Getty Images

    Snow falls on the Cloud Gate sculpture in Millennium Park on Feb. 1, in Chicago, Illinois. Chicago is under a blizzard warning for today and Wednesday as forecasters predict up to 20 inches of snow will fall on the city coupled with wind gusts of up to 60 mph.

     

    The snow is coming fast and furious in the Midwest. We've started gathering the best images of the storm moving across a huge chunk of the country in a slideshow. The storm obviously means different things for these pedestrians. For the student in Iowa, a bit of cold misery. For the duo at Chicago's Millenium park, a moment of serene beauty.


  • After long hours of protesting, Egyptians camp out in public squares

    PATRICK BAZ / AFP - Getty Images

    An Egyptian demonstrator sleeps with his two children among other protesters demanding the ouster of Egyptian President Hosmi Mubarak in Cairo's Tahrir square on Feb. 1.

    PATRICK BAZ / AFP - Getty Images

    Egyptian demonstrators demanding the ouster of Egyptian President Hosmi Mubarak play chess as they camp in Cairo's Tahrir square on Feb. 1.

    PATRICK BAZ / AFP - Getty Images

    Egyptian demonstrators demanding the ouster of President Hosmi Mubarak camp on Cairo's Tahrir square on Feb. 1.

     

    A tent citiy is springing up in Tahrir Square in Cairo. After long hours of protesting and with limited transportation options, some Egyptians are choosing to stay at the site where they've been protesting against President Hosni Mubarak and demanding he step down. See the slideshow from this week's protests.

  • Spaniards don scary costumes and make loud noises in festival to wake up spring

    VINCENT WEST / Reuters

    People dressed in costumes walk along a street during carnival celebrations in Zubieta, Feb. 1.

    VINCENT WEST / Reuters

    A man wearing a demonic mask stokes a bonfire during carnival celebrations in Zubieta Feb. 1.

    Susana Vera / Reuters

    "Joaldunak" (Carriers of bells) parade to the tune of the heavy bells they carry on their backs in Ituren, in the northern Spanish region of Navarra Feb. 1.

     

    These surreal images caught my eye as I monitored our picture database this afternoon. From Reuters: Every year, villagers from Ituren parade to the neighbouring town of Zubieta, both in Spain, during a festival to welcome the spring after a tough winter in the deep valleys of the northern Navarra region. According to mythical Basque stories, the noise made by the big bells carried by the "Joaldunak," and scary costumes, ward off evil spirits and give prosperity for a year to the people living in nearby towns.

  • Protesting Egyptians hold shoes aloft, an insult in Arab culture

    It was big news in 2008 when then President George W. Bush had a shoe thrown at him by an Iraqi journalist during a visit to Baghdad. In the streets of Cairo, Egyptians who are protesting Hosni Mubarak are brandishing their footwear, an insult in Arab cultures.

    Dylan Martinez / Reuters

    Protestors demonstrate in Tahrir Square in Cairo Feb. 1.

    Chris Hondros / Getty Images

    A protester shows the sole of their shoe, a grave insult in Arab Muslim countries, as a reaction after Egyptian president Hosni Mubarek gave a speech to the nations on a projected television screen in Tahrir Square February 1, 2011 in Cairo, Egypt.

    Dec. 15: Neither of the shoes thrown at President Bush during a press conference Sunday hit their mark, but the act itself continued to hit a nerve Monday, both in Iraq and in Washington. NBC's Richard Engel reports.

     

    See more images from the protests in Egypt.

  • Old ocean liner, SS United States, purchased by non-profit for refurbishing

    Here's the organization that took over the ship, and here's the story.

    Matt Rourke / AP

    The cruise ship SS United States, which once crossed the Atlantic at record speeds with celebrities and heads of state, is tied to a pier in Philadelphia, Tuesday, Feb. 1, 2011. The nonprofit SS United States Conservancy said Tuesday it has taken ownership of the famous cruise ship, decommissioned in 1969, from Norwegian Cruise Lines and its parent. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke)

    Matt Rourke / AP

    Shown is an enclosed walkway on the once-glamorous cruise ship SS United States in Philadelphia, Tuesday, Feb. 1, 2011. The nonprofit SS United States Conservancy said Tuesday it has taken ownership of the famous cruise ship from Norwegian Cruise Lines and its parent. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke)

    Matt Rourke / AP

    Shown is an interior view of the SS United States in Philadelphia, Tuesday, Feb. 1, 2011. The nonprofit SS United States Conservancy said Tuesday it has taken ownership of the famous cruise ship from Norwegian Cruise Lines and its parent. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke)

    Matt Rourke / AP

    Spider webs surround a porthole inside the once-glamorous SS United States in Philadelphia, Tuesday, Feb. 1, 2011. The nonprofit SS United States Conservancy said Tuesday it has taken ownership of the famous cruise ship from Norwegian Cruise Lines and its parent. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke)

     

  • Satellite imagery shows whopper of a storm bearing down on U.S.

    NASA Goddard Space Flight Center

    This visible image was captured by the GOES-13 satellite and shows the low pressure area stretching from the Colorado Rockies and Texas east to New England on Tuesday, Feb. 1.

    NASA Goddard Space Flight Center

    Three images from the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) aboard NASA's Terra satellite were combined to create this image of the storm system over the United States on Monday, Jan. 31. White gaps are areas where the sensor did not collect data. The image has a resolution of one kilometer per pixel.

    The National Weather Service is warning of a serious winter storm. It's huge - 2000 miles wide - and satellite images from NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center pretty much sum it up. From the looks of things, Florida is the place to be.

    See more images in the full slideshow.

    The storm was bearing down on the middle of the United States on Tuesday, with freezing rain and sleet pelting several states from Texas through Ohio ahead of blizzard conditions expected overnight.

    Parts of nine states — Oklahoma, Kansas, Missouri, Iowa, Illinois, Indiana, Wisconsin, Michigan and Ohio — were covered by blizzard warnings, TODAY's Al Roker reported.

    White-outs paralyzed Oklahoma City and the Tulsa area, where snowpack caused the partial collapse of a roof at the Hard Rock Casino. Blowing snow created drifts up to 4 feet high.

    Read more.

  • Dutch Slager / NASA via AP

    This undated image provided by NASA shows technicians working on the new Mars rover, Curiosity. Nine months before Curiosity's scheduled launch, the space agency says the mission has burned through its reserves and needs an extra $82 million to complete testing before liftoff. It's the latest cost overrun to plague the Mars Science Laboratory, a nuclear-powered rover the size of a small SUV that will study whether the planet was or is still habitable. (AP Photo/NASA, Dutch Slager)

    Technicians work on NASA's next Mars rover

    Here's a wikipedia article about the mission, and a news story about the cost overruns.

  • Football players take turns wearing a Troy Polamalu wig at Super Bowl press conference

    .

    Michael Heiman / Getty Images

    Diyral Briggs #53 of the Green Bay Packers puts on a Troy Polamalu wig during Super Bowl XLV Media Day ahead of Super Bowl XLV at Cowboys Stadium on February 1, 2011 in Arlington, Texas. The Pittsburgh Steelers will play the Green Bay Packers in Super Bowl XLV on February 6, 2011 at Cowboys Stadium. (Photo by Michael Heiman/Getty Images)

    JEFF HAYNES / Reuters

    Pittsburgh Steelers defensive end Brett Keisel wears a Troy Polamalu wig during media day for Super Bowl XLV at Cowboys Stadium in Arlington, Texas, February 1, 2011.

    TANNEN MAURY / EPA

    Green Bay Packers Clay Matthews dons a Troy Polamalu wig as he speaks to the media inside Cowboys Stadium for the Green Bay Packers session of Media Day ahead of Super Bowl XLV between the Pittsburgh Steelers and the Green Bay Packers in Arlington, Texas, USA, 01 February, 2011. Super Bowl XLV will be played 06 February 2011.

    BRIAN SNYDER / Reuters

    Pittsburgh Steelers wide receiver Hines Ward wears a Troy Polamalu wig during media day for Super Bowl XLV at Cowboys Stadium in Arlington, Texas, February 1, 2011. REUTERS/Brian Snyder (UNITED STATES - Tags: SPORT FOOTBALL)

    JOHN G. MABANGLO / EPA

    Pittsburgh Steelers player Troy Polamalu wears a wig imitating his own hair as he speaks to the media in Cowboys Stadium during the Pittsburgh Steelers session of Media Day ahead of Super Bowl XLV between the Pittsburgh Steelers and the Green Bay Packers in Arlington, Texas, USA, 01 February, 2011. Super Bowl XLV will be played 06 February 2011. EPA/JOHN G. MABANGLO

     

  • The oldest person in the world

    David Goldman / AP

    Besse Cooper, 114 years and five months old, sits in her room at a nursing home in Monroe, Ga. on Tuesday, Feb. 1. Cooper is now the world's oldest person, according to the Los Angeles-based Gerontology Research Group.

    What a beautiful face. It's remarkable that some people can age so gracefully.

    Cooper claimed the title after Eunice G. Sanborn, of Jaacksonville, Texas, died Monday at the age of 114. Sandborn acquired the distinction Nov. 4, 2010, upon the death of a French nun, Eugenie Blanchard, on the French Caribbean island of St. Barts. She was also 114.

    Watch a video about Sanborn:

    Related slideshows:
    How celebs will age: Youth may be on the side of today’s stars but will time be cruel or kind as they age?
    Ageless athletes: Take a look at athletes who have continued to excel past the age of 40.

  • Richard Hertzler / Lancaster Newspapers via AP

    Pedestrians hold onto buildings or each other as they try to navigate an icy sidewalk on the first block of East Orange St. in Lancaster, Pa. on Tuesday, Feb. 1.

    Baby steps: cautious pedestrians navigate an icy sidewalk

    From Oklahoma to New York, mother nature is unleashing a wicked winter storm on the United States that could dump up to two feet of snow on the Midwest. Thousands of flights have been cancelled and schools are closing due to the blizzard.

    See a roundup of the best images from the storm here.

  • As many U.S. citizens try to leave Egypt, one woman joins the street protesters

    Chris Hondros / Getty Images

    Liam Johnson, 6, is held by his father Peter Johnson as they wait to be evacuated by American authorities at Cairo International Airport on Feb. 1. The Johnsons live in Cairo and are originally from Minnesota. Foreigners and Egyptians alike have swamped the airport looking to escape the country as street protests continue.

    Peter Macdiarmid / Getty Images

    A U.S. citizen holds a placard and an Egyptian flag in Tahrir Square, Cairo on Feb. 1. The Egyptian army has said it will not fire on protestors as they gather in large numbers in central Cairo demanding the resignation of Egyptian President Hosni Mubarek.

    The U.S. State Department has evacuated more than 1,200 Americans from Egypt aboard Government-chartered planes, and expects to fly out about 1,400 more in the coming days, we report today.

    But at least one U.S. citizen decided to join the protesters in Tahrir Square today, where al-Jazeera correspondent Dan Nolan described the scene as 'kinda like an Egyptian version of Woodstock'.

    UPDATE: Thanks to the readers of PhotoBlog, we now know that the woman in the second photo is Lisa Roscoe, who was raised in San Francisco and now lives in Cairo with her Egyptian husband. She heard that we had posted her picture and got in touch with us via the comments section below.

    In an exclusive interview with msnbc.com's Ian Johnston, Roscoe explains why she joined the protests.

  • Atta Kenare / AFP - Getty Images

    A woman attends a ceremony marking the 32nd anniversary of Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini's return from exile at Khomeini's mausoleum in Tehran on Feb. 1. Bells chimed across Iran to mark the anniversary.

    Iranians mark the 32nd anniversary of Ayatollah Khomeini's return from exile

    Writing on BLTWY, historian Geoffrey Wawro has some advice for U.S. policymakers as they respond to current events in Egypt:

    The Obama team should be looking closely at Washington's awful mismanagement of the Iranian revolution of 1978-79 to make sure they do not repeat the errors of the Carter administration.

  • Janek Skarzynski / AFP - Getty Images

    Bosnian Grand Mufti Mustafa Ceric prays in the former German Nazi death camp of Auschwitz-Birkenau on February 1, 2011. A large number of Muslim dignitaries are visiting Auschwitz to pay tribute to the millions of Jews and others who were systematically killed during the Holocaust -- a visit made to fight anti-Semitism and bridge cultural rifts.

    Muslim dignitaries at Auschwitz to honor Jews killed during the Holocaust.

  • Matt Cardy/Getty Images

    A one-month-old baby Siamang Gibbon.

    Matt Cardy / Getty Images

    A one-month-old baby Siamang Gibbon sits with its mother Salome as they shelter from the wind and the rain in their enclosure at Noahs Ark Zoo Farm on February 1, 2011 in Bristol, England. The little ape, yet to be named, is a Siamang Gibbon, which are facing worrying population declines, with zoos playing an important role in maintaining healthy populations in captive environments. His parents, Samson and Salome are part of a European Endangered Species Programme (EEP) for managed breeding and have a 1-year-old sibling called Sultana who was also born in captivity.

    Baby Gibbon and mom in Bristol, England.

  • Rice on the road, rice in the air

    Beawiharta / Reuters

    A worker spreads rice on a road in order for the rice to dry faster near Indramayu town in Indonesia's West Java province on Feb. 1.

    Beawiharta / Reuters

    A farmer throws rice paddy seedlings near Indramayu town in Indonesia's West Java province on Feb. 1.

    Reuters photographer Beawiharta took these images for a story on rising food prices in Indonesia, and I think he did pretty well with an unpromising subject.

  • AFP - Getty Images

    A villager walks towards the gate of a "Great Wall" in Taizhou in eastern China's Zhejiang province on Feb. 1. Residents of Yuhuan village have followed the ancient emperors and built a "Great Wall" around their increasingly well-off community to keep out thieves, state media said.

    Security concerns lead wealthy residents of one Chinese village to build their own 'Great Wall'

    The crime rate in China has been rising steadily over the past two decades, we reported last year.

Jump to February 2011 archive page: 1 ... 18 19 20 21