2013: THE YEAR IN PICTURE

A Griffon Vulture chick hatches from an egg collected in southern Israel that was kept in an incubator at the Jerusalem Biblical Zoo. Its protection is part of the efforts to raise the number of endangered bird species in the region.

A man walks on sulphur and mineral salt formations near Dallol in the Danakil Depression, northern Ethiopia. Many merchants have travelled here with their camels to collect the mineral-rich salt, so that it can be sold around the country. With an average temperature of 34.4 degrees Celcius, it is one of the hottest and harshest environments on earth.

Two women wearing typical Sevillana outfits are seen laughing during the Feria de Abril (April fair) in Seville, southern Spain.

A Blue Morpho butterfly lands on a little girl’s nose at the Sensational Butterflies Exhibition in London.

Flowers and coloured powder are thrown in the air as Holi, also known as the Festival of Colours, is celebrated by widows in Vrindavan, India. Traditionally, widows are expected to renounce earthly pleasures and do not celebrate this festival. However, this year, they joined in the celebrations as part of a movement to eliminate negative stigma and also to integrate widows into mainstream society.

A woman prays after learning that Pope Francis is elected as the new leader of the Roman Catholic Church. Jorge Mario Bergoglio of Argentina is the first non-European pontiff in nearly 1,300 years.

Ram Bai, mother of Ram Singh, the driver of the bus in which a young woman was gang-raped and fatally injured, cries inside her house in the slum of Ravi Das camp. Four of the six accused in the rape case, including Singh, resided in this area. Ram Singh hanged himself in his jail cell, prison authorities said. He was one of the main accused in one of India's most high-profile criminal case.

 Lesleigh Coyer of Michigan lies down in front of her brother Ryan’s grave, who served for the U.S. Army and lost his life in Afghanistan.

A courageous mouse climbs onto the back of a snake as it bites another mouse during feeding time at a zoo in Zhejiang province, China.

Young gymnasts from the sports school in Jiaxing, Zhejiang province in China stretch themselves on wooden bars during their daily exercise session.

A model poses for the camera as her makeup is applied for Vivienne Westwood’s Autumn/Winter 2013 collection presentation at London Fashion Week.

Number 13, Cleveland Cavaliers’ Tristan Thompson, hangs on the hoop rim after his dunk at the NBA Rising Star Challenge games in Texas.

Masqueraders parade on the final day of the Trinidad and Tobago Carnival by the Port of Spain.

A worker pours water on snakes in preparation to slaughter them. The snake slaughterhouse near Cirebon in Indonesia’s Java province delivers snake meat for health remedies, and snake skin to make fashion goods.

A lady in a red coat walks behind Belgian riot policemen during clashes with Arcelor Mittal workers from several Liege steel plants demonstrating in Namur. Arcelor Mittal, the world's largest steel producer, plans to shut a coke plant and six finishing lines at its site in Liege, Belgium. This would affect up to 1,300 employees.

A boy holds a homemade French flag in the recently liberated town of Douentza, Mali.

A protester against Egypt's President Mohamed Mursi shows shotgun cartridges that he said were fired by riot police during clashes along Qasr Al Nil bridge, which leads to Tahrir Square in Cairo.

Fighters from the Free Syrian Army's Tahrir al Sham brigade fire back at Syrian army during heavy fighting in the Mleha suburb of Damascus.

Werner Freund, a wolf researcher at Wolfspark Werner Freund in Merzig, Germany, feeds an Arctic wolf with meat from his mouth.

A miner working for Hungary’s last remaining deep-cast coal mine 70 km west of Budapest takes a shower after his shift.

Colourful confetti was dropped during New Year celebrations in Times Square, New York.


Source: http://news.ph.msn.com