Reuters

Xoloitzcuintli, the national dog of Mexico, is one of six new breeds being introduced at WDS.

Reuters

Finnish Lapphund is one of six new breeds being introduced at WDS.

Reuters

Norwegian Lundehund is one of six new breeds being introduced at WDS.

Reuters

A Cesky Terrier is one of six new breeds being introduced at WDS.

Reuters - NEW YORK CITY: "New breed is a little bit of a misnomer because a lot of these breeds have been around for hundreds, or even thousands of years in some of the cases," said David Frei, the Westminster Kennel Club's director of communications told Reuters.

Before being included in the show, the breed must meet American Kennel Club (AKC) rules including having sufficient numbers in the United States, a certain geographical distribution and a parent club that makes sure they are following responsible breeding practices and meet certain characteristics.

"It is really an AKC decision, not ours," Frei said, adding that in the past 23 years, more than 40 breeds have been added to the show.

Among the more striking newcomers is the Xololitzcuintli, the national dog of Mexico, which was previously known as the Mexican Hairless and comes in three sizes.

Reuters

Entlebucher Mountain Dog is one of six new breeds being introduced at WDS.

Reuters

American English Coonhound is one of six new breeds being introduced at WDS.

Tens of thousands are streaming to the town of Netivot to participate in ceremonies marking 28 years since the death of the Baba Sali, Rabbi Yisrael Abuhatzeira. The annual memorial ceremony, called the "hilula," is held the fourth day of the Hebrew month of Shevat, at his tomb.  His burial place has become a shrine for many.

Menahem Kahana / AFP - Getty Images

Jewish women pray behind the curtain separating men and women at the tomb of rabbi Baba Sali during the annual pilgrimage to his grave in the southern Israeli town of Netivot on Thursday, Jan. 26.

Oded Balilty / AP

Jewish men pray near the tomb of the Baba Sali, Rabbi Yisrael Abuhatzeira, during the annual pilgrimage to his gravesite on the 28th anniversary of his death, in the southern Israeli town of Netivot, on Thursday, Jan. 26.

Amir Cohen / Reuters

Jewish worshippers are reflected in a puddle as they pray near the gravesite of Rabbi Yisrael Abuhatzeira, a Moroccan-born sage and kabbalist also known as the Baba Sali, during an annual pilgrimage.

Menahem Kahana / AFP - Getty Images

A man carries a portrait of Rabbi Baba Sali at his tomb compound during the annual pilgrimage to his grave in the southern Israeli town of Netivot on Jan. 26.

Caren Firouz / Reuters

Anti-government protesters throw back canisters of tear gas shot by the police in Sitra, southeast of Manama, on Thursday, Jan. 26.

Reuters reports —  Bahrain's Interior Ministry said on Thursday that a man detained by police over "acts of sabotage" died in hospital while in custody, without elaborating on the cause of death.

Bahrain last year crushed protests led by its Shi'ite Muslim majority demanding an end to sectarian discrimination and limits to the authority of the Sunni ruling family, relying in part on backing from troops from fellow Sunni-led Gulf monarchies.

More than a thousand people were detained in the crackdown, at least four of whom died in official custody. An inquiry Bahrain commissioned into the protests and government crackdown found systematic abuse of detainees, including torture. Full story.

Caren Firouz / Reuters

Anti-government protesters gesture to the police in Sitra, southeast of Manama, Jan. 26.

"He entered this facility with overt symptoms of mental depression," said civil rights attorney Matt Coyte, "But that's not the issue. ... He was stuck in a 6-foot-by-11-foot cell with a concrete bench for a bed. And he sat in that cell. We had documentary evidence that he didn't get out for anything — for recreation, a shower — for months at a time."

Dona Ana County Sheriff's Dept. via AP

These photos show Stephen Slevin, on the left, in Aug. 2005, at the time of his arrest for drunken driving, and on the right in May 2007, shortly before being released from solitary confinement. A federal jury has awarded $22 million to Slevin, a New Mexico man who was kept in solitary confinement for two years and forced to pull his own tooth after his arrest for drunken driving in Dona Ana County. Civil rights attorney Matt Coyte said the jury awarded Slevin, 58, the damages Tuesday, Jan. 24, 2012 after a six-day trial in Santa Fe.

Slevin was finally released in June 2007, Coyte said. He was never convicted. Read the full story.

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More than 1,300 Kyrgyz prisoners have sewn their lips together as part of an ongoing protest at poor living conditions, say officials. "They are demanding that state prison authorities and guards stop beatings," a human rights official said.

Igor Kovalenko / EPA

A prison inmate has stiched his lips to protest against present living conditions at a prison in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan, Jan. 26, 2012. Prisoners took part in a prison revolt stitching up their mouths, demanding better living conditions.

One of the prisoners' demands is said to be the lifting of restrictions on their movement, but this demand was dismissed by the head of the penitentiary services, Sheishenbek Baizakov. Prisoners would no longer "be able to make fools of the guards", he said at a news conference in the capital Bishkek, according to AFP news agency. "Let them all sew shut their mouths."

Igor Kovalenko / EPA

Prison inmates, some of them showing stitched lips or cuts, talk to journalists to protest against present living conditions.

Vyacheslav Oseledko / AFP - Getty Images

Guards (L and R) and prisoners stand in a cell in a prison in the Kyrgyzstan's capital in Bishkek on Jan. 26, 2012.

Read the full story on BBC.com

More PhotoBlog posts on Kyrgyzstan

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Submitted by Sher Williamson / UGC

Chameleon, Hawaii

Our readers have submitted some inspiring photos from around the world. This week's gallery features images from Hawaii, Scotland, Botswana and other stunning settings.

Scroll through this gorgeous set of images and vote for your favorite at the bottom.

Submitted by Harvey Barrison / UGC

Eilean Donan Island, Western Highlands of Scotland

Submitted by Anne Sanders / UGC

Davy Mountain, Warne, N.C.

Submitted by Michelle Yingling / UGC

Custer State Park, S.D.

Submitted by Siva Ramanathan / UGC

San Fransisco, Calif.

Submitted by Cherrie Warzocha / UGC

Kona, Hawaii

Submitted by Melissa Warde / UGC

Dunnottar Castle, Stonehaven, Scotland

Submitted by Kelly Wallace / UGC

Baby sea lion, Galapagos Islands

Submitted by Lynn Perry / UGC

Bison, Yellowstone National Park

Submitted by Jerry Pearson / UGC

Maroon Bells, near Aspen, Colo.

Submitted by Kaushal Modi / UGC

Mount Christoffel, Curacao

Submitted by Beth Weinstein / UGC

Elephant, Botswana

Submitted by Nicki McManus / UGC

Delaware River near Milford, Pa.

Submitted by David Jordan / UGC

Harbor Seals in Casco Bay, Portland, Maine

Submitted by Terry Guthrie / UGC

Autumn on the Tallulah River, Ga.

Submitted by Tom Gubala / UGC

Lilac-breasted Roller, Tanzania

Submitted by Ashley Davis / UGC

La Jolla Cove, Calif.

Submitted by Randy Clegg / UGC

The Old Mill at Berry College, Rome, Ga.

Submitted by Cagil Baykara / UGC

Brussels, Belgium

Submitted by Jessica Baskett / UGC

Imperial Beach, Calif.

If you have photos you'd like to share, submit them for a chance to be featured in the weekly gallery by clicking here.

You can also join our It's a Snap Facebook community and share your photos with others by clicking here.

Lefteris Pitarakis / AP

Workers wait to enter the Shard, an under-construction high-rise building, in front of a picture, background, showing the Shard over the London skyline, on Jan. 17, 2012.

LONDON – Wherever you go in this city these days, it's hard to avoid the Shard. In a city with a mostly low-rise skyline, the 72-floor, 1,016 foot-tall building stands in stark relief, offering a handy navigational aide if you should stray from familiar paths. 

The Associated Press reports today on the mixed prospects for architect Renzo Piano's ambitious project. Though it is not expected to open until 2013, the Shard is already the tallest building in the European Union (In the continent as a whole, it is eclipsed by Moscow's Mercury City Tower).

Lefteris Pitarakis / AP

The Shard, seen under construction on Jan. 17, 2012, is the tallest building in the European Union and looks like a slice of glass balanced on the edge of the financial district.

The $2.34 billion Shard has been bankrolled by Qatari investors in what one expert in Middle Eastern politics described as a form of "soft diplomacy" on the part of the Gulf state. 

In addition to offices, restaurants and a posh hotel, the building will house some of London's fanciest apartments, two of which are said to have been reserved for members of Qatar's royal family. 

A report by Barclays Capital published this month found an unhealthy correlation between the construction of skyscrapers and an impending financial crisis, concluding that ambitious building projects often open just as the economy declines.

Will London 2013 find itself added to a list that includes New York 1930, Chicago 1974, Kuala Lumpur 1997 and Dubai 2010? With figures out this week showing the British economy moving back into negative territory, that seems a decent wager.

Dan Kitwood / Getty Images

A view of the Shard on Dec. 5, 2011, towering over other high-rise buildings including Norman Foster's Gherkin, right.

If you think Chicago had it bad last winter, check out the blizzard that dumped three feet of snow in under a day over swaths of Southern Romania.

Areas near Bucharest were so paralyzed by the storm that in one instance, the army was called in to help rescue hundreds of travelers stranded on major interstates. The winter blast also caused widespread power outages, a train derailment, flight cancellations and the closure of four ports.

Bogdan Cristel / Reuters

Romanian gendarmes walk between amid snowed-in cars in Afumati, near Bucharest, on Jan. 26.

Vadim Ghirda / AP

A man speaks on the phone from a snow stranded vehicle on the outskirts of Bucharest, on Jan. 26. The man, who declined to be identified, spent the night in the car fearing it would be damaged by road clearing vehicles if he abandoned it.

Daniel Mihailescu / AFP - Getty Images

People walk in a blizzard in the village of Catelu, southeast of Bucharest, on Thursday, Jan. 26.

Bogdan Cristel / Reuters

People walk past tractor trailers snowed-in in Afumati, near Bucharest on Jan. 26. Authorities banned traffic on Romania's only two motorways until weather improves.

Daniel Mihailescu / AFP - Getty Images

A dog shelters itself from a blizzard in Catelu, on the outskirts of Bucharest, on Jan. 26.

Vadim Ghirda / AP

People trudge along a snowy road out of the shrouding mist on the outskirts of Bucharest on Jan. 26.

Slideshow: Winter wonderland

Patrick Semansky / AP

Winter has arrived in the Northern hemisphere. Take in the sights from North America, Europe and Asia.

Launch slideshow

Narinder Nanu / AFP - Getty Images

Riding his bike from place to place, Sham Lal Gandhi speaks through a television during his campaign for Member of Legislative Assembly in Amritsar, Punjab Province, India, on Thursday, Jan. 26. State assembly elections take place on January 30.

Slideshow: The Week in Pictures

Robin Loznak / Zuma Press

Fowl play in Oregon, a marathon sled dog race in France, a street tailor in India, a wrecked cruise liner in Italy and more.

Launch slideshow

Call it schadenfreude, but it's comforting that the spectacle that exists within politics isn't just confined to the U.S.

Kevin Frayer / AP

Girls wear traditional clothing as they dance for dignitaries during the main Republic Day parade in New Delhi, India, on Jan. 26, 2012. India is marking it's 63rd Republic Day with parades across the country.

Pradip Dasgupta / Defense Public Relations office via AP

Soldiers march in formation on Rajpath during the main Republic Day parade in New Delhi.

Jaipal Singh / EPA

Members of Jammu and Kashmir police's 'Daredevil' motorcycle stunt team show their skills during Republic Day celebrations in Jammu.

India showcased its military might and cultural heritage on Thursday as the country celebrated its 63rd Republic Day, marking the adoption of the constitution of India and the transition from British colonial rule. 

More than 25,000 policemen and paramilitary forces guarded the streets of Delhi, where the main parade took place, the BBC reported. The nuclear capable Agni-IV missile was unveiled during the parade, according to The Times of India.

Separatist groups in Kashmir, which has seen a long insurgency against Indian rule, called for the day to be observed as "Black Day". 

Farooq Khan / EPA

Female members of the National Cadet Corps salute while marching in Srinagar, the summer capital of Indian Kashmir.

Dar Yasin / AP

An Indian paramilitary soldier stands guard outside a closed shop during a general strike in Srinagar, Kashmir. Shops and businessest remained closed as separatists called for a general strike to observe the day as "Black Day".

See more images of the preparations for India's Republic Day on PhotoBlog.

Abdul Malik / Reuters

Smoke rises in the sky from a suicide car bomb explosion in Lashkar Gah, Helmand province, Afghanistan, on Jan. 26, 2012. Four Afghan civilians were killed and 31 people wounded, said Dawood Ahmadi, a spokesman for the provincial governor.

Abdul Khaleq / AP

A damaged car is seen at the scene of a suicide attack in Lashkar Gah on Jan. 26, 2012.

The Associated Press reports from KABUL, Afghanistan:

A suicide car bomber targeting a NATO-sponsored reconstruction team killed four Afghan civilians, including a child, and wounded 31 on Thursday in southern Afghanistan, officials said.

The bomber detonated his explosives-laden vehicle as a convoy of the NATO team passed by in Lashkar Gah, capital of Helmand province, Daud Ahmadi, a spokesman for the provincial governor, said. Three civilian international members of the aid team — two men and one woman — were among the wounded. Read the full story.

Slideshow: Afghanistan: Nation at a crossroads

Qais Usyan / AFP - Getty Images

More than ten years after the beginning of the war, Afghanistan faces external pressure to reform as well as ongoing internal conflicts.

Launch slideshow

Lukas Coch / EPA

Australian prime minister Julia Gillard is escorted by police and bodyguards out of a award ceremony after aboriginal tent embassy protesters tried to get into the building in Canberra, Australia, Thursday, Jan. 26.

The Herald Sun reports:

Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard and opposition leader Tony Abbott were attending an Australia Day presentation of the inaugural National Emergency Medals at the Lobby Restaurant when protesters who had just marched to commemorate the Aboriginal Tent Embassy's 40th anniversary surrounded the building. Both politicians were trapped inside for around 20 minutes before police made a way for their exit and they left in the same car. 

Read more: Austalia's Gillard dragged away from Aboriginal protest.

Lukas Coch / EPA

Australian prime minister Julia Gillard is escorted by police and bodyguards out of a award ceremony on Thursday, Jan. 26, 2012.

Ari Versiani / AFP - Getty Images

Firefighters look for victims amid the rubble of a building that collapsed in downtown Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, on Wednesday, Jan. 25, 2012.

Felipe Dana / AP

Rescue workers carry an injured victim on Wednesday night.

RIO DE JANEIRO -- Two downtown buildings collapsed Wednesday, leaving at least two dead inside the wreckage. Rescue crews pulled four people alive from the debris, officials said. One building was 20 stories tall; the other, 10, Reuters reported. A loud explosion preceded the collapse, witnesses said.

There was a strong smell of gas in the area, officials said. However, a gas leak likely didn't cause the blast, Rio's mayor said.

Vanderlei Almeida / AFP - Getty Images

Firefighters with searchlights look for victims amid the rubble of a building on Wednesday night.

Vanderlei Almeida / AFP - Getty Images

Top view of firefighters looking for victims amid the rubble of a building that collapsed in downtown Rio de Janeiro on Wednesday night.

Rick Bowmer / AP

Nicholas Henry, 12, receives the presentation of the flag by a Navy representative during the burial for Naval Petty Officer 2nd Class Stevenson L. Roy, a recently deceased homeless Vietnam veteran, Jan. 25, at Willamette National Cemetery, in Portland,

Rick Bowmer / AP

A member of the Honor Guard salutes during the burial for Naval Petty Officer 2nd Class Stevenson L. Roy, a recently deceased homeless Vietnam veteran, Jan. 25.

The burial of a homeless Navy veteran at Willamette National Cemetery in Portland was the 1,000th in a national program that provides military honors to homeless and indigent vets.

Petty Naval Officer 2nd Class Stevenson L. Roy died of natural causes on Dec. 16, when it was discovered that he had served during the Vietnam War.

The Oregonian reported no family members could be found, so the funeral was handled by the Lincoln Memorial Funeral Home through the Dignity Memorial Homeless Veterans Burial Program.

The program provided Roy with a full military burial, complete with a 21-gun salute, missing-man procession by the Patriot Guard motorcycle riders, and presentation of the flag by the Oregon Honor Guard.

Since Roy had no widow, children, siblings, or other relatives, the honor guard presented the folded flag to 12-year-old Nick Henry because he is a member of the Civil Air Patrol and his mother is an executive at Lincoln Memorial Funeral Home, which conducted the service, reported OregonLive.com.

The Dignity Memorial Homeless Veterans Burial Program began in 2000 and is one of several efforts by the Dignity Memorial network to honor and support our nation's veterans and active military.

According to the Departments of Housing and Urban Development and Veterans Affairs, approximately 130,000 veterans in the United States experience homelessness in a given year.

-- The Associated Press contributed to the blog post

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Rick Bowmer / AP

The Honor Guard holds the flag during the burial for Naval Petty Officer 2nd Class Stevenson L. Roy, a recently deceased homeless Vietnam veteran Jan. 25.

Rick Bowmer / AP

Members of the Patriot Guard motorcycle riders carry the casket of Naval Petty Officer 2nd Class Stevenson L. Roy.

Haraz N. Ghanbari / AP

Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer points at President Barack Obama after he arrived at the Phoenix-Mesa Gateway Airport, Wednesday. Brewer greeted Obama and what she got was a book critique.

 Updated at 10:35a.m. ET: 

Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer and President Barack Obama engaged in an apparently tense exchange on an airport tarmac shortly after Air Force One touched down outside Phoenix on Wednesday.

The two leaders could be seen talking intently at the base of Air Force One's steps. Both could be seen smiling, but speaking at the same time.

Obama appeared to walk away from the Republican governor while they were still talking, according to a White House pool reporter. Brewer confirmed that by saying she didn't finish her sentence.

Asked moments later what the conversation was about, Brewer said: "He was a little disturbed about my book."

On a Phoenix radio talk show after their meeting, Brewer said Obama was "tense."

Brewer recently published a book, "Scorpions for Breakfast," something of a memoir of her years growing up. The book also defends her signing of Arizona's controversial law cracking down on illegal immigrants, which Obama opposes.

Obama was objecting to Brewer's description of a meeting he and Brewer had at the White House, where she described Obama as lecturing her. In an interview in November Brewer described two tense meetings. The first took place before his commencement address at Arizona State University. "He did blow me off at ASU," she said in the television interview in November.

She also described meeting the president at the White House in 2010 to talk about immigration. "I felt a little bit like I was being lectured to, and I was a little kid in a classroom, if you will, and he was this wise professor and I was this little kid, and this little kid knows what the problem is and I felt minimized to say the least."

In a statement after the meeting, Brewer didn't mention the airport conversation, and would only say that she discussed economic issues with Obama in a brief meeting.

"Don't be mistaken, I'm bullish on our nation's future," Brewer said in a statement issued later. "But I'm convinced the path the president has pursued is the wrong one. I hope he takes some of the lessons of Arizona back with him to Washington."

On the tarmac Wednesday, Brewer handed Obama an envelope with a handwritten invitation to return to Arizona to meet her for lunch and to join her for a visit to the border.

"I said to him, you know, I have always respected the office of the president and that the book is what the book is," she told reporters Wednesday. She said Obama complained that she described him as not treating her cordially.

"I felt a little bit threatened, if you will, and the attitutude that he had because I was there to welcome him," Brewer told reporters following the exchange.

A White House official said Brewer handed Obama a letter and said she was inviting him to meet with her. The official said Obama told her he would be glad to meet with her again. The official said Obama told her that in her book, she inaccurately described their last meeting, which the official described as a cordial discussion in the Oval Office. The official spoke on condition of anonymity to describe a private conversation between the president and the governor.

NBC News, The Associated Press and msnbc.com staff contributed to this report.

Mark Wilson / Getty Images

Former U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords gets a hug from House Cloak Room attendant Ella Terry after she resigned from the House of Representatives on Jan. 25. Giffords resigned from Congress to focus on her recovery from a gunshot wound to the head she received last year from a lone gunman in Arizona.

Slideshow: Ariz. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords

Saul Loeb / EPA

A look at the Arizona lawmaker's rise to prominence — from high school to Capitol Hill.

Launch slideshow

Amid tears, salutes and standing ovations, Representative Gabrielle Giffords submitted her resignation from Congress on Wednesday to focus on her recovery from an assassination attempt in Tucson, Arizona, last year.

In farewell remarks that hinted at a second political career in the future, the Democratic lawmaker said: "I will recover and will return. And we will work together again, for Arizona, and all Americans." Her remarks were read to the House by one of her friends, Democratic Representative Deborah Wasserman-Schultz.

-- Reuters contributed to this blog post

Related links:

• NBC Politics: Giffords officially resigns from Congress
• More Images of Gabrielle Giffords

Patrick Smith / Getty Images

Mourners line the sidewalks of Penn State along College Ave., as a procession carries former Penn State Football coach Joe Paterno from the Pasquerilla Spiritual Center to his burial site on Jan. 25. Paterno, who was 85, died on Jan. 22, due to complications from lung cance

Gene J. Puskar / AP

A man kneels in prayer near a statue of legendary Penn State football coach Joe Paterno, Jan. 25.

Former Penn State football coach Joe Paterno's funeral procession drove slowly past Beaver Stadium and through the town where he lived and worked for more than 60 years.

Thousands of mourners waited on the sidewalks, four deep and more in some places, for a glimpse of the electric-blue hearse carrying Paterno's casket. The convoy also included buses filled with Paterno's family, former players and other guests.

Paterno died of lung cancer Sunday at 85. He served as the school's head football coach for 46 years and won two national titles before being fired in November in the wake of a child sex-abuse scandal involving a former assistant.

--The Associated Press contributed to this blog post

Related links:

• 'We laid to rest a great man' 
• Joe Paterno: 1926 - 2012

Mauricio Duenas / EPA

Members of counternarcotics police destroy a cocaine production laboratory in Puerto Concordia, Meta, Colombia, 25 January 2012, during an operation against FARC drug trafficking infrastructures, in which 17 laboratories were destroyed in southeastern jungles. Two planes, 22 boats, 692 kilograms of coca paste and 13 tons of substances used to produce the drug were seized and 10 people were arrested during the operation.

Fernando Vergara / AP

Police fly in helicopters over the area of Puerto Concordia during a raid to destroy a cocaine lab in Colombia's southern Meta state on Wednesday.

Mauricio Duenas / EPA

Members of counter-narcotics police secure a cocaine production laboratory in Puerto Concordia, Meta, Colombia.

Related content:

• FARC attack on Colombia radar delays flights, drug fight
• Colombian rebels to free 6 hostages, urging swaps
• Colombia president: Rebel leader rich in land
  

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