Jordan Rally via AFP - Getty Images

Abu Dhabi Racing's Emirati driver Mohammed al-Sahlawi veers off a cliff during the first stage of the Jordan Rally, round three of the FIA Middle East Rally Championship, in Sweimeh near the Dead Sea on May 10, 2013. The drivers escaped unhurt.

By The National
Two of Abu Dhabi Racing's drivers fell foul of the tough terrain on the opening day of Rally Jordan, with one falling 20 feet off a cliff while another was left dangling over the edge.

While Mohammed Al Sahlawi and his co-driver Allan Harryman got away with their close encounter as their Citroen DS3 R3 2WD car was pulled away from the edge by spectators and marshals, Majed Al Shamsi and his co-driver John Higgins were not as fortunate.

They slid off at the same point as Al Sahlawi, falling 20 feet and landing on its roof. Al Shamsi was taken to a clinic with his shoulder in a sling for a precautionary check-up, but his Irish co-driver John Higgins said: "We're both fine." 

Higgins added: "We came to a loose sharp left with a big drop, and the back wheels went over the edge. The car just fell back over the edge and landed upside down." Continue reading

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Jon Chol Jin / AP

University students punch the air as they march through Kim Il Sung Square in downtown Pyongyang, North Korea, on March 29, 2013.

Jon Chol Jin / AP

Tens of thousands of North Koreans turned out for a mass rally at the main square in Pyongyang on Friday in support of their leader Kim Jong Un's call to arms.

Placards read "Let's crush the puppet traitor group" and "Let's rip the puppet traitors to death!", The Associated Press reported.

Earlier on Friday, the isolated communist state put its rocket units on standby to attack U.S. military bases in South Korea and the Pacific, Reuters reported, after two nuclear-capable stealth bombers flew from Missouri to drop inert munitions on a range in South Korea as part of a major military exercise.

KCNA via EPA

A picture released by the North Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) shows Kim Jong Un convening an urgent operation meeting at 0:30 am on March 29, 2013 at an undisclosed location, in which he ordered strategic rocket forces to be on standby to strike US and South Korean targets at any time.

Related:

Combat ready? Kim Jong Un inspects troops as North Korea issues new threats

Kim Jong Un gets to grips with North Korean army's latest technology

Slideshow: Glimpses into the hermit kingdom of North Korea

David Guttenfelder / AP

As chief Asia photographer for the Associated Press, David Guttenfelder has had unprecedented access to communist North Korea. Here's a rare look at daily life in the secretive country.

Launch slideshow

B.K. Bangash / AP

Pakistani Sunni cleric Tahirul Qadri addresses a rally from a bullet-proof container, in Islamabad, Pakistan, on Jan. 17.

Asif Hassan / AFP - Getty Images

Supporters of Pakistani cleric Tahirul Qadri chant slogans at a protest rally in Islamabad on Jan. 17.

B.K. Bangash / AP

Supporters of Pakistani Sunni cleric Tahirul Qadri, celebrate the deadline that Qadri gave to the government for negotiation during a rally in Islamabad.

Zohra Bensemra / Reuters

A supporter of Sufi cleric and leader of Tahirul Qadri leans against a container blocking a road to prevent them from reaching the parliament building during the fourth day of protests in Islamabad on Jan. 17.

Muhammad Tahirul Qadri is calling for the immediate resignation of Pakistan's president and cabinet and the installation of a caretaker administration in the run-up to elections due in the next few months.

Qadri issued what he called a final warning to the government as supporters listened to his latest speech during heavy rain in the heart of the capital.

"Now I give an ultimatum that the president and his team must come for dialogue in one and a half hours and it's the last peaceful offer to them," said Qadri, who returned home from Canada a few weeks ago and became a media sensation with calls for a new political landscape. Continue reading complete article.

-- Reuters

Update from Pakistan on PhotoBlog at 6 pm ET:

• Declaring victory from behind bullet-proof glass, Pakistani cleric ends protests

Slideshow: Pakistan: A nation in turmoil

Muhammed Muheisen / AP

Images of daily life, political pursuits, religious rites and deadly violence.

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Mohammed Salem / Reuters

Palestinians take part in a rally marking the 48th anniversary of the founding of the Fatah movement in Gaza City on Jan. 4, 2013.

Reuters reports — Hundreds of thousands of Palestinians joined a rare rally staged by President Mahmoud Abbas's Fatah group in Gaza on Friday, as tensions ease with rival Hamas Islamists ruling the enclave since 2007.

A long hiatus in peace talks between Abbas's administration and Israel has narrowed ideological differences between the two main Palestinian factions. Solidarity has deepened since Israel's Gaza assault in November, after which hardline Hamas, though battered, declared victory.

Suhaib Salem / Reuters

A poster depicting late Palestinian and Fatah leader Yasser Arafat.

Abbas remains based in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, but several of his senior advisers attended Friday's march in the Gaza Strip, festooned with yellow Fatah flags rather than the green Hamas colors that have dominated such events since Hamas fighters drove Fatah from the territory in 2007. 

Ahmed Zakot / Reuters

A youth waves a Palestinian flag as he climbs a tree during the rally in Gaza City.

Egypt has long tried to broker Hamas-Fatah reconciliation, but past efforts have foundered over questions of power-sharing, control of weaponry, and to what extent Israel and other powers would accept a Palestinian administration including Hamas. Read the full story.

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Kyodo via Reuters

North Koreans attend a rally to celebrate the successful launch of the Unha-3 (Milky Way 3) rocket, which carried the second version of the Kwangmyongsong-3 satellite, in Pyongyang on December 14, 2012.

Reuters reports — When North Korea's Kim Jong Un commemorates a year of his rule next week, he will be able to declare he has fulfilled the country's long-held dream of becoming a "space powerhouse".

In a mass parade in Pyongyang on Friday, tens of thousands of soldiers dressed in olive green and standing in serried ranks, as well as bareheaded civilians, celebrated this week's successful rocket launch, hailing Kim's "victory".

"Under the great leadership of Kim Jong Un, we are carrying out a sacred task towards our last victory so as to build strong and prosperous nation," Kim Ki Nam, a politburo member from the Workers Party of Korea, told the applauding and cheering crowds that turned out in freezing temperatures. Read the full story.

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KCNA via Reuters

Kim Jong-Un smokes a cigarette at the General Satellite Control and Command Center after the launch of the Unha-3 (Milky Way 3) rocket in Cholsan county, North Pyongan province on December 12, 2012.
EDITOR'S NOTE: Photo released by the state-run North Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) on December 14.

KCNA via EPA

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un celebrating with staff members at the Pyongyang General Satellite Control Command Center after the successful launch of the Kwangmyongsong-3 satellite on December 12, 2012.
EDITOR'S NOTE: Photo released by the state-run North Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) on December 14.

Kyodo via Reuters

North Korean soldiers attend a rally to celebrate the successful launch of the rocket, in Pyongyang on December 14, 2012.

Jon Chol Jin / AP

North Korean military band members perform during a mass rally organized to celebrate the success of a rocket launch at Kim Il Sung Square in Pyongyang on Dec. 14, 2012.

Kyodo via Reuters

North Koreans applaud in front of portraits of North Korea's founder Kim Il-sung (L) and late leader Kim Jong-il as they gather at a rally in Pyongyang on December 14, 2012.

See more images related to North Korea on PhotoBlog

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Emmanuel Dunand / AFP - Getty Images

A young supporter of presidential candidate Mitt Romney is dressed as "Super Romney" at a campaign rally in Reno, Nevada, on Oct. 24.

Pablo Martinez Monsivais / AP

A supporter dressed in costume is seen cheering during a campaign event for President Barack Obama at City Park in Denver, on Oct. 24.

Slideshow: On the campaign trail

Reuters, Getty Images

In the final push in the 2012 presidential election, candidates Mitt Romney and Barack Obama make their last appeals to voters.

Launch slideshow

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Related: As Libya dithers, fighters take on security role

Mohammed Salem / Reuters

Libyans wave as a parachutist prepares to land at a rally in Tripoli Nov. 17, 2011.

Sabri Elmhedwi / EPA

A Libyan airborne soldier performs during a military event organized by the Tripoli's Military Council at the capital's hippodrome in Tripoli, Libya, Nov. 17.

Follow @msnbc_pictures

Carl Court / AFP - Getty Images

Police clash with protesters outside the Topshop store in central London, during a mass demonstration against government financial cuts on Saturday, March 26. Tens of thousands marched through London today in a demonstration against the government's austerity measures, amid a heavy police presence that failed to stop outbreaks of violence.

Dylan Martinez / Reuters

Demonstrators break windows of the Ritz Hotel, during a protest organized by the Trades Union Congress, called 'The March for the Alternative,' in central London on March 26.

Reuters reports:

A quarter-million mostly peaceful demonstrators marched through central London on Saturday against the toughest cuts to public spending since World War II, with some small breakaway groups smashing windows at banks and shops and spray painting logos on the walls.

Another group of black-clad protesters hurled paint bombs and ammonia-filled light bulbs at police.

Organizers of the March for the Alternative said people from across the country were peacefully joining in the demonstration, the biggest protest in London since a series of rallies against the Iraq war in 2003.

Commander Bob Broadhurst of the Metropolitan Police confirmed that more than 250,000 people had marched peacefully, but said around 500 had caused trouble in London's main shopping streets.

He said nine people had been arrested, for public disorder and criminal damage. Police said 28 people had been injured during the demonstration, and seven were admitted to hospitals for a range of problems, including shortness of breath and a suspected hip fracture. Five police officers were also injured and one of those had to be treated in hospital for a groin injury.

Khaled El Fiqi / EPA

Egyptians carry a long national flag during a gathering in Tahrir square, Cairo on February 18, 2011. More than one million people attended traditional Friday prayers in central Cairo's Tahrir Square to call on Egypt's military rulers to speed up reforms and their crackdown on corruption. Egyptians also celebrated the day marking one week after Egypt's president Hosny Mubarak was forced to step down by nation-wide mass protests.

Ben Curtis / AP

Young Egyptians wearing facepaint in the colors of the national flag arrive at the square, as tens of thousands of Egyptians gather to pray and celebrate in downtown Cairo, Feb. 18, 2011.

Marco Longari / AFP - Getty Images

Egyptians hold a picture of Mohammed Mahrus, a protester killed during the popular revolt which ousted president Hosni Mubarak a week ago, at Tahrir Square on February 18, 2011.

Pedro Ugarte / AFP - Getty Images

An Egyptian army band plays music in Cairo's Tahrir Square on February 18, 2011 during celebrations marking one week after Egypt's long-time president Hosni Mubarak was forced out of office by an unprecedented wave of protests in the Arab world's most populous country.

Full story.  More photos from Egypt today.

Jim Young/Reuters

A book thrown onto the stage narrowly misses U.S. President Barack Obama at a rally at Vernon Park in Philadelphia on Sunday, Oct. 10. A U.S. Secret Service agent, bottom right, appears to watch as the book flies over the stage. Obama, kicking off a busy week of campaigning, strove to energize his base on Sunday in order to minimize losses for Democrats in the November elections.

Saul Loeb/AFP-Getty Images

In this photo, the book can be seen flying behind Obama's right shoulder.

Saul Loeb/AFP-Getty Images

The book continues on its path (top right).

 Inquiring minds would like to know who hurled a book at President Obama on Sunday at a rally in Philadelphia. After looking at the photos, can you name the book?

The U.S. Secret Service spoke with the book-thrower and described him as over-exuberant. You can watch a video of the incident HERE.

This is slightly reminiscent of the Iraqi reporter Muntadhar al-Zeidi who threw a shoe at former President Bush during a press conference in Iraq in December 2008.