AFP - Getty Images
Argentina's Jorge Bergoglio (L), elected Pope Francis I, appearing at the window of St Peter's Basilica's balcony after being elected the 266th pope of the Roman Catholic Church on Wednesday, March 13, 2013 at the Vatican. Read the full story.
Americans were among the tens of thousands who gathered to witness the unveiling of Pope Francis.
Dmitry Lovetsky / AP
See more images from the Vatican.
Bullit Marquez / AP
Catholic devotees jostle to get closer to the centuries-old image of the Black Nazarene in a raucous celebration on its feast day Wednesday, Jan. 9, 2013 in Manila, Philippines. The annual procession by hundreds of thousands of devotees is now becoming to be a tourist attraction.
Navesh Chitrakar / Reuters
A devotee holds a lamp as she waits for sunrise to offer prayers during the "Chhat" festival in Kathmandu, Tuesday, Nov. 20, 2012. Hindus in Nepal are celebrating "Chhat", a four-day festival that honours the sun god, by praying at sunrise and sunset and giving offerings to seek blessings for their families.
Navesh Chitrakar / Reuters
A hand of a devotee is pictured while offering prayer to the setting sun.
Prakash Mathema / AFP - Getty Images
Nepalese Hindu women worship the sun as they stand in the Bagmati River during the Chhath festival.
Erik De Castro / Reuters
Filipino miners push a cart containing sacks of mineral muck ore in the gold mining town of Diwalwal on Wednesday.
Erik De Castro / Reuters
Filipino miners use water to get gold dust from diced muck ore.
Erik De Castro / Reuters
A gold trader uses a stone to classify the grade or value of a gold nugget.
Reuters reports: Arthur Uy, who looks after Mount Diwata as governor of Compostela Valley province in southern Philippines, the top small-scale gold mining province in the Philippines, said the black market in gold is mainly based in the capital, Manila. "All the production of small-scale mines, almost all, now goes to the black market, because there is no tax in the black market," said Rex Banggawan, an accountant for a small-scale mining cooperative that buys and sells gold in the mountain city of Baguio in northern Philippines. "After that, smuggling is automatic."
"Most of the gold is being smuggled out to Hong Kong, that's the biggest market," said Uy, a two-term governor whose family of Chinese descent partly owns one of the four most productive small-scale mines on Mount Diwata. Continue reading the full story.
Erik De Castro / Reuters
A view of houses in the gold mining town of Diwalwal in Compostela Valley, southern Philippines.
Cesar Manso / AFP - Getty Images
A man dressed up as the devil jumps over babies lying on a mattress in the street during 'El Colacho', the 'baby jumping festival' on Sunday, June 10, in the village of Castrillo de Murcia, near Burgos. Baby jumping (El Colacho) is a traditional Spanish practice dating back to 1620 that takes place annually to celebrate the Catholic feast of Corpus Christi. The Colacho represents the devil who takes away the evil from the babies as he jumps over them in this medieval religious custom.
Ellen Liebner / EPA
Participants of a world record challenge observe a line of toy cars in Pausa, Germany, Sunday, June 10. According to the Trabant Club Pausa, the club managed to create the longest line of toy cars in the world with 3100 miniature vehicles and broke a world record.
Ricardo Moraes / Reuters
A devotee of Sao Jorge, also known as Saint George, lights candles during the celebrations of Sao Jorge's day in Rio de Janeiro on April 23. Sao Jorge, called Ogum in the Afro-Brazilian religion Umbanda, is one of the most popular saints in Brazil, with the belief that the saint provides protection against any evil for the faithful.
Ricardo Moraes / Reuters
A devotee of Sao Jorge, also known as Saint George, sings during the celebrations of Sao Jorge's day in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil on April 23.
Ricardo Moraes / Reuters
The faithful gather on April 23 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil to celebrate Sao Jorge, also known as Saint George. Sao Jorge, called Ogum in the Afro-Brazilian religion Umbanda, is one of the most popular saints in Brazil, with the belief that the saint provides protection against any evil for the faithful.
Ricardo Moraes / Reuters
A member of the crowd holds up a figurine representing Saint George during the celebration of Sao Jorge's day in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil on April 23.
Ricardo Moraes / Reuters
Devotees of Sao Jorge, or Saint George, attend a mass on April 23 during the celebrations of Sao Jorge's day in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
MSNBC Travel: Carnival in Rio de Janeiro and beyond
Christopher Furlong / Getty Images
A giant deep sea diver emerges from the Albert Dock to begin a journey through the streets of Liverpool during the Titanic Sea Odyssey on April 20 in Liverpool, England.
Christopher Furlong / Getty Images
A giant deep sea diver puppet, part of a street theatre production entitled "Sea Odyssey," walks through the streets in Liverpool, England, on April 20.
Andrew Yates / AFP - Getty Images
A giant deep sea diver puppet, part of a street theatre production entitled "Sea Odyssey," walks through the streets in Liverpool, England, on April 20.
Phil Noble / Reuters
Performers stand on the head of a giant deep sea diver puppet as it is lifted out of the Salthouse Dock in Liverpool, northern England on April 20.
Two puppets, a man and his niece, will roam through the streets of Liverpool, northern England, and April 20-23 looking for each other during the Sea Odyssey festival. The free event, organized by the French company Royal de Luxe is one of a series of events marking the 100th anniversary of the sinking of The Titanic. The liner, registered in Liverpool, sank on its maiden voyage to New York on April 15, 1912.
The tragic tale is about a man who went down with the Titanic. His brother, the giant deep sea diver and uncle of the little giant girl, is on a 100-year quest to find his brother on the ocean floor and lay him to rest. Instead he finds a letter to his brother from his niece, that she wrote three days before the cruise liner hit an iceberg and sank. He vows to return it to the girl and tell her what happened to her father.
The two are reunited at the end of the 23-mile route.
Andrew Yates / AFP - Getty Images
A giant puppett, the neice in the Sea Odyssey story, is lifted from a boat outside St. George's Hall in Liverpool, England on April 20.
Christopher Furlong / Getty Images
The little girl giant makes its way through the streets of Liverpool, England on April 20.
Christopher Furlong / Getty Images
People photograph giant puppets on the streets of Liverpool, England on April 20. French street theatre company Royal De Luxe will be performing the Titanic Sea Odyssey over the next three days.
Massive puppets performed in a street theater event for the 100th anniversary of the sinking of the Titanic. TODAY.com's Dara Brown reports.
Franzi Zoger / AFP / Getty Images
German Chancellor Angela Merkel is a perfect perch for these lories, or Rainbow Lorikeets, during a visit to Vogelpark Marlow in one of her electoral districts in northern Germany.
Tauseef Mustafa / AFP - Getty Images
Kashmiri fishermen throw their nets into Dal Lake at sunset in Srinagar on April 16. Tourism workers in Srinagar, located in the Indian state of Jammu and Kashmir, are hopeful that the summer will bring more tourists to the region after years of civil unrest which has driven both domestic and foreign visitors away.
Khaled Abdullah / Reuters
This one made me pause as I edited this afteroon: Supporters of Yemen's former president Ali Abdullah Saleh sit with posters of Saleh attached to their belts attend a rally marking Saleh's 70th birthday anniversary in Sanaa March 23, 2011. Saleh stepped down in February after a year of massive protests against his 33-year rule.
More news from Yemen
Roosevelt Cassio / Reuters
Retired Brazilian police officer Andre Luiz Pinheiro, 50, dressed as superhero Batman, talks to children in a public school in Taubate city in Sao Paulo state March 17, 2012. Pinheiro is helping police patrol the crime-ridden streets of Taubate, in Brazil. He was officially presented in the districts with the highest crime rates in Sao Paulo state. Police captain Warley Takeo, one of the policemen who decided to bring in the character to help them fight drug traffickers, said the measure would bring long-term benefits. Takeo said making a connection between the police and Batman would help children have a clearer idea of good and bad.
Roosevelt Cassio / Reuters
A police officer jokes with a boy dressed as Batman, during a visit to a school by retired Brazilian police officer Andre Luiz Pinheiro, 50, who dresses up as Batman, in Taubate city in Sao Paulo state March 17, 2012.
The Telegraph reports the Pinheiro said, "I will not actually battle crime. But I do think I am fighting crime in a preventive way, by helping these children to avoid becoming criminals. This is my job, this is my battle."
Do you think comic book heros can help restore the image of police officers and keep kids from becoming criminals?
E-mail updates
Follow on Twitter
Subscribe to RSS