Jump to March 2011 archive page: 1 ... 5 6 7 8 9 ... 17

  • Ronen Zvulun / Reuters

    Hassidic Jews celebrate the Jewish holiday of Purim in Jerusalem's Mea Shearim neighborhood on Monday, March 21. Purim is a celebration of the Jews' salvation from genocide in ancient Persia, as recounted in the Book of Esther.

    Hassidic Jews celebrate Purim

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  • Outside the frame: Recovering loved ones

    David Guttenfelder / AP

    Tayo Kitamura, 40, kneels in the street to caress and talk to the wrapped body of her mother Kuniko Kitamura, 69, after Japanese firemen discovered the dead woman inside the ruins of her home in Onagawa, northeastern Japan Saturday, March 19.

    AP photojournalist David Guttenfelder shares his experience covering the aftermath of the earthquake and tsunami in Japan.

    I saw Tayo Kitamura picking through rubble in the leveled town of Onagawa. She was looking for her mother who'd been missing since the earthquake and tsunami struck. She told some Japanese firemen searching the area that she had a gut feeling her mother was buried in a house nearby. Her mother's house had mostly vanished, but she recognized part of the outer wall and some of her family belongings lying in a neighbor's yard. The firemen started digging, removing piles of wood and sea fish. They finally found a body of a woman. Everyone went silent.

    Two firemen whispered to one another. They seemed to be talking about how to break the news. They carried the body to the road and held up a sheet while Kitamura checked. When she stepped away she turned to me and said, very stoically, "Yes, that's her." The firemen left Kitamura to be alone. She kneeled and began to caress her dead mother through the blue plastic, speaking to her in a whisper as she wept.

    Related content:
    Latest photos
    Full coverage from the Disaster in Japan

  • Conservative Islam spreads in Chechnya

    Mikhail Mordasov / AFP - Getty Images

    Headscarf-wearing female students attend classes at the Grozny State Oil Institute in the capital of the Russian Caucasus region of Chechnya on March 21. Chechnya's Kremlin-appointed leader Ramzan Kadyrov, 34, has been quietly allowed to de-secularise his Muslim majority homeland. His hugely controversial decree tells female public servants how to dress in an Islamically-acceptable way at work, stating that women's heads should be covered with a headscarf.

    Vladimir Isachenkov of AP reports from Grozny: The cars pull up in broad daylight. Security forces point guns at terrified women and shoot. It turns out they're paintball pellets, but still harsh punishment in Chechnya for leaving home without a headscarf.

    Chechnya's strongman Ramzan Kadyrov has imposed an Islamic dress code on women, and his feared security forces have used paintball guns, threats and insults against those refusing to obey. In a 40-page report released earlier this month, Human Rights Watch condemned the campaign as a flagrant violation of women's rights and urged other nations to raise the issue with Moscow.

    "The enforcement of a compulsory Islamic dress code on women in Chechnya violates their rights to private life, personal autonomy, freedom of expression, and freedom of religion, thought, and conscience," the report said. Continue reading.

  • Rajesh Kumar Singh / AP

    Hindu devotees throw colored paper and dance as they celebrate Holi, the festival of colors, in Allahabad, India, on Monday, March 21. Clothes torn and thrown during celebrations are seen hanging from overhead cables.

    Rajesh Kumar Singh / AP

    Hindu devotees celebrate Holi in Allahabad on Monday.

    Holi celebrated in Allahabad

    By Elena Grothe

    See more images of the vivid Holi festivities here.

  • Clive Rose / Getty Images

    Jermold Compton of Trinidad and Tobago in action during a practice session in the 'Red Bull Art of Motion' a one off free running competition outside the National Theatre on March 20 in London, England. Red Bull Art of Motion is the first free running competition of it's kind in the UK. Competitors will use various disciplines of free running, parkour, martial arts and gymnastics.

    Free running by the River Thames in London

  • First family visit Christ the Redeemer statue in Rio

    Jason Reed / Reuters

    U.S. President Barack Obama, First Lady Michelle Obama and their daughters Malia and Sasha tour the Christ the Redeemer Statue on Corcovado in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil late on March 20.

    Jason Reed / Reuters

    U.S. President Barack Obama, First Lady Michelle Obama and their daughters Malia and Sasha tour the Christ the Redeemer Statue on Corcovado in Rio de Janeiro late on March 20.

    By David R Arnott, NBC News

     Read more about President Obama's trip to Brazil.

  • Kurds celebrate ancient Persian festival in Turkey

    Reuters

    Demonstrators gather around a bonfire to celebrate Newroz in Ankara, March 21. The Newroz has traditionally been used as an opportunity to highlight separatist demands by Kurdish rebels and police had to intensify security against possible violence as tensions run high ahead of nationwide general elections. Newroz, the Farsi-language word for "new year", is an ancient Persian festival, celebrated on the first day of spring in Central Asian republics, Iraq, Turkey, Afghanistan and Iran.

    AP

    A Turkish Kurd jumps over a bonfire as people gather to celebrate the Newroz in Ankara, Turkey, Sunday, March 20.

     

  • Panoramic image from inside the passenger terminal of the airport in Sendai, Japan

    About 1,200 people were trapped inside the Sendai Airport passenger terminal when the earthquake and resulting tsunami struck on March 11. They remained cut off from all outside contact and had to survive on their own for more than two days until help arrived. This panoramic image, made on March 17, shows the damage to the interior of the airport. (Masaki Furumaya / Sankei Shimbun / MSN Japan)

    Mark Baker / AP

    Computer laptops lie damaged on the floor of an airport building at Sendai Airport, March 19. The U.S. military have been asked to help clear the debris and get the airport fully operational as soon as possible.

    Jiji Press / AFP - Getty Images

    The damaged radar room in the control tower at the Sendai airport.

    See more panoramic images from the disaster in Japan.

  • Struggle between man and elephant intensifies in Asia

    By Katie Cannon, Senior Multimedia Editor

    Judging from the second picture, I don't think I'd dash through the grass quite so quickly. Both images were received on March 20.

    Altaf Qadri / AP

    In this photo taken, Feb. 19, Umar Ali and other villagers make their way through through thick undergrowth as they follow fresh footprints and dung of a killer rogue elephant, who crushed a woman to death a day earlier, in Galighat village, India. Here, in India's northeast state of Assam, is one of the hottest frontlines of a heart-rending, escalating conflict. It is waged daily in villages, fields and plantations of 13 countries across Asia where forests and grasslands continue to shrivel, igniting a turf war between one-time friends: land-hungry man and a simply hungry Elephas maximus, the Asian elephant.

    Altaf Qadri / AP

    In this photo taken, Feb. 22, a wild elephant is seen hiding in tall grass, in Kaziranga, India.

     

  • "Supermoon" rises Saturday night

    By Katie Cannon, Senior Multimedia Editor

    Don't forget to check out the "Super Moon" tonight in your area if you have clear skies! Read more about it here. 

    Bill Ingalls / NASA via AP

    In this photo provided by NASA, the full moon is seen as it rises near the Lincoln Memorial, Saturday, March 19, in Washington. The full moon tonight is called a "Super Perigee Moon" since it is at its closest to Earth in 2011. The last full moon so big and close to Earth occurred in March of 1993.

    Denis Balibouse / Reuters

    The moon is seen behind street lamps in Lausanne, March 19. Saturday will see the rise of a full moon called a "Super Moon" when it arrives at its closest point to the Earth in 2011, at a distance of 221,565 miles away.

    Matt Stamey / The Gainesville Sun via AP

    The moon rises behind Century Tower at the University of Florida as seen from Ben Hill Griffin Stadium, Saturday, March 19, in Gainesville, Fla. The full moon is at its closest point to the Earth since March 1993.

    Fred Thornhill / Reuters

    Greg Kerr and Allie Mahoney skate under a full moon on Pigeon Lake near Bobcayeon, Ontario, March 19. Saturday saw the rise of a full moon called a "Super Moon" where it arrives at its closest point to the Earth in 2011, at a distance of 221,565 miles away.

     

  • US Navy / Reuters

    Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer USS Barry (DDG 52) launches a Tomahawk missile in support of Operation Odyssey Dawn in the Mediterranean Sea in this handout photo taken March 19. This was one of approximately 110 cruise missiles fired from US and British ships and submarines that targeted about 20 radar and anti-aircraft sites along Libya's Mediterranean coast. Joint Task Force Odyssey Dawn is the US Africa Command task force established to provide operational and tactical command and control of US military forces supporting the international response to the unrest in Libya and enforcement of United Nations Security Council Resolution (UNSCR) 1973.

    US, British warships launch more than 110 Tomahawk missiles against Gadhafi's air defenses

    Read more about the events in Libya here.

  • Libyan jet crashes after being shot down in Benghazi

    By Katie Cannon, Senior Multimedia Editor

    What looks to be a pilot ejecting from the aircraft can be seen just above the jet. See more images from the unrest in Libya here.

    Patrick Baz / AFP - Getty Images

    A Libyan jet crashes after being shot down in Benghazi on March 19, as Libya's rebel stronghold comes under attack, with at least two air strikes and sustained shelling of the city's south sending thick smoke into the sky.

    Patrick Baz / AFP - Getty Images

    A Libyan jet crashes after being shot down in Benghazi on March 19, as Libya's rebel stronghold comes under attack, with at least two air strikes and sustained shelling of the city's south sending thick smoke into the sky.

    Patrick Baz / AFP - Getty Images

    A Libyan jet crashes after being shot down in Benghazi on March 19, as Libya's rebel stronghold comes under attack, with at least two air strikes and sustained shelling of the city's south sending thick smoke into the sky.

     

  • Herbert Knosowski / AP file

    Knut, the polar bear cub, has its first public appearance with his keeper Thomas Doerflein in the Berlin zoo on March 23, 2007. A Berlin zoo official says world-famous polar bear Knut has died. Bear keeper Heiner Kloes said that four-year-old Knut died Saturday, March 19, 2011 while alone in his compound. He says the cause is not yet clear.

    Knut the polar bear dies at Berlin zoo

    By Katie Cannon, Senior Multimedia Editor

    According to Spiegel Online, Knut suddenly collapsed and died in the water area of the polar bear enclosure as 600-700 visitors to the zoo watched. Knut was hand-raised by zookeepers after his mother rejected him at birth, and the keeper pictured with him, Thomas Doerflein, passed away of a heart attack in 2008 at the age of 44. Read the full Spiegel story here, and read more about Doerflein here. See more images from Knut's life here.

  • Kevin Frayer / AP

    Hindu devotees celebrate "Holi," the festival of color, March 18, 2011, at the Banke Bihari temple in Vrindavan, about 90 miles from New Delhi. Vrindavan is a famous place for Holi celebrations, where according to legend, the Hindu god Krishna played Holi with his consort Radha.

    Hindus celebrate Holi in Vrindavan, India

    By Robert Hood

    Here's a little Friday eye candy.

  • Outside the frame: 'What do these people need?'

    David Guttenfelder / AP

    Japanese military unload food aid from a U.S. helicopter, that was dispatched from the the USS George Washington, as it lands near a shelter in the earthquake and tsunami-hit town of Minamisanriku, Friday, March 18.

    AP photojournalist David Guttenfelder shares his experience covering the aftermath of the earthquake and tsunami in Japan.

    I was inside a shelter on a hill above the leveled city of Minamisanriku. I heard a helicopter from the USS Ronald Reagan approaching outside. Several Japanese troops and I ran out into a muddy field where it landed. One of the U.S. crew members pantomimed to the Japanese that there were boxes of food on board and they began lifting cans of beans, dried foods, and powdered milk and stacking them outside. An American crew member approached me and, shouting over the thump of the chopper blades, he asked "Do you speak English? What do these people need? Medicine? Food?' I'd just arrived and didn't know. I glanced inside the makeshift hospital and saw they had medicine, so I shouted back that I guessed they needed food. After that, I found a Japanese soldier and a medic and told them to make a list of what they needed and give it to the chopper when they came back. They wrote on a Post-it note that they needed more food and especially cooking and heating gas. An hour later, the scene replayed. We heard another chopper coming in, this time from the USS George Washington. After food was unloaded, a crew member came up to me and shouted "Do you speak English? What do these people need?"

  • Wrestler born without a right leg advances in NCAA championships

    By Carissa Ray

    An Arizona State wrestler born without a right leg is the No. 1 seed in the 125-pound class at the NCAA Wrestling Championships in Philadelphia and two wins away from taking the championship.

    "I really don't see missing my leg as a handicap,” Robles told Philadelphia television station WPVI (click here to read their story and watch video of Robles) before the tournament. “You know, my parents raised me strong and they didn't give me any special treatment. So, I believe I can do anything I set my mind to and wrestling is something I enjoy, I love it and I'm just trying to be best at it."

    Hunter Martin / Getty Images Contributor

    Anthony Robles (L) of Arizona State University wrestles Jarrod Patterson of the University of Oklahoma in the 125 pound weight class during the NCAA Wrestling Championships on March 18, 2011 at the Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

    Hunter Martin / Getty Images Contributor

    Anthony Robles (R) of Arizona State University wrestles Jarrod Patterson of the University of Oklahoma in the 125 pound weight class during the NCAA Wrestling Championships on March 18, at the Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

    Hunter Martin / Getty Images Contributor

    Anthony Robles (L) of Arizona State University gets his hand raised after beating Jarrod Patterson of the University of Oklahoma in their 125 pound quarterfinal match during the NCAA Wrestling Championships on March 18, 2011 at the Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

  • Libyans celebrate UN no-fly zone and government cease-fire

    By Carissa Ray

    While celebrations are going on around Libya, there are still many reports that not all of Gadhafi's forces are observing the cease-fire as shelling was said to be continuing. Read the latest here, and see our slideshow from Libya here.

    Anja Niedringhaus / AP

    A Libyan rebel gestures as he arrives with heavy weapon on top of his truck to the frontline near Sultan, south of Benghazi, Libya, on March 18. The U.N. Security Council voted Thursday to impose a no-fly zone over Libya and authorize "all necessary measures" to protect civilians from attacks by Moammar Gadhafi's forces.

    Joe Raedle / Getty Images

    People cheer during a celebratory rally after the United Nations approved a no fly zone over the country on March 18, 2011 in Tobruk, Libya. Libya declared an immediate cease-fire after the UN vote but reports indicate that Muammar Gadhafi's forces were still shelling two cities.

    Joe Raedle / Getty Images

    People hold flags during celebratory rally after the United Nations approved a no fly zone over the country on March 18, 2011 in Tobruk, Libya. Libya declared an immediate cease-fire after the UN vote but reports indicate that Muammar Gadhafi's forces were still shelling two cities.

     

  • Outside the Frame: Sweeping the road

    David Guttenfelder / AP

    A Japanese soldier sweeps a street in the earthquake and tsunami-hit town of Minamisanriku, Friday, March 18, where his unit planned to begin placing people's personal items to sort.

     AP photojournalist David Guttenfelder shares his experience covering the aftermath of the earthquake and tsunami in Japan.

    Some Japanese soldiers were waiting for equipment to finish clearing a field for use as a staging ground, when one of them began to busy himself by sweeping the road with a tiny broom. He worked on this for at least an hour and cleared only a tiny patch of the road, which is blocked, in the background, by a train engine. The destruction of Minamisanriku is so total, I wondered why this soldier would do something that seemed beyond futile. I think when people feel helpless they will sometimes try anything, no matter how pointless, just to feel they are doing something.

  • U.S. Coast Guard tall ship Barque Eagle begins 75th-anniversary tour across the Atlantic

    By Carissa Ray

    Here's some info from the U.S. Coast Guard about the ship: "It was one of three sail-training ships operated by the pre-World War II German Navy.  At the close of the war, the ship was taken as a war reparation by the U.S., re-commissioned as the U.S. Coast Guard Cutter Eagle."

    And I can't wait to see photos from this reunion: "This promises to be an exciting year for Eagle and its crew with opportunities for past shipmates to visit the ship, such as Mr. Eddie Didion, who as a child was “adopted” for a time by the crew in war-torn France."

    AP

    The U.S. Coast Guard Barque Eagle is seen at Penn's Landing on March 18 in Philadelphia on her first stop of a world tour to celebrate its 75th anniversary. Scheduled tour stops will include London; Reykjavik, Iceland; and Hamburg, Germany, where the ship was built in 1936. It was later acquired by the U.S. through war reparations.

    AP

    Crew members of the U.S. Coast Guard Barque Eagle gather up the U.S. Flag on March 18 as she arrives in Philadelphia on her first stop of a world tour to celebrate her 75th anniversary.

    AP

    A passing tugboat crew member views the figurehead of the U.S. Coast Guard Barque Eagle as it arrives on March 18 in Philadelphia on the first stop of a world tour to celebrate its 75th anniversary.

    AP

    The U.S. Coast Guard Barque Eagle makes its way up Delaware River, in view of the Walt Whitman Bridge on March 18 in Philadelphia on the first stop of a world tour to celebrate its 75th anniversary.

  • Aristide returns to Haiti, ends seven years of exile

    Alexandre Meneghini / AP

    Haiti's ousted President Jean-Bertrand Aristide waves from the plane as his wife Mildred stands behind him as he arrives to the airport in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, on Friday, March 18.

    By Jonathan Woods, msnbc.com

    Former President Jean-Bertrand Aristide returned to Haiti on Friday, ending seven years of exile in South Africa despite U.S. objections and just two days before a crucial presidential election.

    Supporters whooped and cheered at Port-au-Prince airport as a smiling, clearly delighted Aristide, accompanied by his family and U.S. actor and black rights activist Danny Glover, emerged from the charter plane that brought him home.

    "If you could lean against my heart you could hear how fast it is beating, how it is singing a melody to Haiti," Aristide, wearing a blue suit, white shirt and striped tie said in his emotional first comments to reporters at the airport.

    He said he had come back to make "a small contribution" to his country, which is struggling to recover from a devastating 2010 earthquake that killed more than 300,000 people and set back development in one of the world's poorest states.

    Aristide, 57, who was ousted from power in 2004 through an armed rebellion, is a divisive figure in Haiti -- very popular among the poor but reviled by business leaders. Continue reading...

  • Yemeni forces open fire on protesters

    By Mish Whalen

    According to the local media sources, more than 30 Yemeni anti-government protesters were killed and scores wounded when police opened fire at thousands of protesters gathered in the Yemeni capital Sana'a.  See more on this story here.

    Muhammed Muheisen / AP

    Anti-government protestors carry wounded protestors from the site of clashes in Sanaa, Yemen, on March 18, 2011.

    Yahya Arhab/EPA

    Injured Yemeni anti-government protesters are seen at a makeshift clinic in a mosque following clashes with security forces in Sanaa, Yemen, on March 18, 2011.

    Muhammed Muheisen / AP

    An anti-government protestor shouts with blood on his hands during clashes in Sanaa, Yemen, on March 18, 2011.

  • Tutors give homeless kids a helping hand

    By David R Arnott, NBC News

    One in every 50 American children goes to sleep without a home of their own each year, according to figures cited by Homeless Children America.

    Lucy Nicholson / Reuters

    Jayla waits for her School on Wheels tutor to arrive at the shelter where she lives in Los Angeles, Calif. on March 16. School on Wheels uses volunteers to tutor homeless children in shelters, parks, motels, and two centers. There has been a surge in the number of homeless children in Los Angeles in the last five years, due to persistent unemployment and mounting foreclosures.

    Lucy Nicholson / Reuters

    Sisters Jamie, 9, left, and Jamella, 8, do their homework at South Los Angeles Learning Center in Los Angeles on March 16. The center is run by School on Wheels, which uses volunteers to tutor homeless children in shelters, parks, motels, and two centers.

    The situation is particularly acute in Los Angeles, where nearly 13,500 students were identified as homeless in the 2009-10 school year, the LA Times reported.

    Lucy Nicholson / Reuters

    Regional coordinator Charles Evans, 4th left, picks up children from school to take them to an after-school program at South Los Angeles Learning Center on March 16.

    Lucy Nicholson / Reuters

    Nicole, 9, left, studies with regional coordinator Charles Evans at South Los Angeles Learning Center on March 16.

    Reuters photographer Lucy Nicholson visited the South Los Angeles Learning Center, which provides homeless students with a place to go after school until their shelter opens for the night. The afterschool program is run by School on Wheels, a non-profit organization which also has volunteer tutors operating in shelters, parks, libraries and motels.

    Lucy Nicholson / Reuters

    James, 10, calls for a tutor at South Los Angeles Learning Center on March 16.

    Lucy Nicholson / Reuters

    Regional coordinator Charles Evans, center, picks up children from school to take them to an after-school program at South Los Angeles Learning Center on March 16.

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