Costa Concordia Cruise Ship Disaster

On the night of Friday, January 13, the luxury cruise ship Costa Concordia, with more than 3,200 passengers and 1,000 crew members on board, struck a reef, keeled over, and partially sank off Isola del Giglio, Italy. Six people are now confirmed dead, including two French passengers and one Peruvian crew member, apparently after jumping into the chilly Mediterranean waters after the wreck. 

Fourteen more people still remain missing, as search and rescue teams continue their efforts to find survivors. The incident occurred only hours into the cruise, and passengers had not yet undergone any lifeboat drills that plus the severe list of the ship made evacuation chaotic and frightening. Captain Francesco Schettino has been arrested on suspicion of involuntary manslaughter, causing a shipwreck and abandoning ship. 

Gathered here are surreal and unsettling photos of the massive cruise ship after it capsized off the coast of Italy. As of this writing, 6 people are dead and 14 are still missing.

View of the Costa Concordia taken on January 14, 2012, after the cruise ship ran aground and keeled over off the Isola del Giglio. Five passengers drowned and about 15 still remain missing after the Italian ship with some 4,200 people on board ran aground. The Costa Concordia was on a trip around the Mediterranean when it apparently hit a reef near the island of Giglio on Friday, only a few hours into its voyage, as passengers were sitting down for dinner. (Filippo Monteforte/AFP/Getty Images) 

This photo acquired by the Associated Press from a passenger of the luxury ship that ran aground off the coast of Tuscany shows fellow passengers wearing life-vests on board the Costa Concordia as they wait to be evacuated, on Saturday, January 14, 2012. (AP Photo/Courtesy from tourist aboard the ship)  

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2012 Dakar Rally

The Dakar Rally or simply The Dakar,  formerly known as The Paris–Dakar or Paris to Dakar Rally, is an annual rally raid type of off-road automobile race, organised by the Amaury Sport Organisation. Most events since the inception in 1978 were from Paris, France, to Dakar, Senegal, but due to security threats in Mauritania, which led to the cancellation of the 2008 rally, the 2009 Dakar Rally was run in South America (Argentina and Chile). It was the first time the race took place outside of Europe and Africa. It has stayed in South America from 2009 to the present, 2012. The race is open to amateur and professional entries. Amateurs typically make up about eighty percent of the participants.

Despite its name it is an off-road endurance race, called a rally-raid rather than a conventional rally, the terrain the competitors traverse is much tougher and the vehicles used are true off-road vehicles rather than the modified on-road vehicles used in rallies. Most of the competitive special sections are off-road, crossing dunes, mud, camel grass, rocks and erg among others. The distances of each stage covered vary from short distances up to 800–900 kilometres (500–560 mi) per day.

2012 rally attract more than 500 teams and are currently speeding across the deserts of Argentina, Chile, and Peru, racing more than 8,300 km (5,150 mi) in the 33rd annual Dakar Rally. Competitors pit themselves against the elements, driving specialized off-road cars, trucks, motorcycles, and quadbikes through challenging terrain for two weeks. 

One rider, Argentine Jorge Martinez Boero, has already died this year in a crash. The 2012 Dakar Rally began in Mar del Plata, Argentina, on January 1, and racers will reach the finish line in Lima, Peru, on Sunday, January 15, after which I will add a few more photos to complete coverage of this year's competition. 

Stefan Svitko rides his KTM during the 10th stage of the Dakar Rally 2012, from Iquique to Arica, Chile, on January 11, 2012. (Reuters/Jerome Prevot) 

All the motorbike riders pose for a group photo during preparations for the 2012 Dakar Rally in Mar del Plata, Argentina, on December 31, 2011. (Bryn Lennon/Getty Images)  

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Iran - From Inside You (Probably) Never Seen Before

Iran has appeared in numerous headlines around the world in recent months, usually attached to stories about military exercises and other saber-rattlings, economic sanctions, a suspected nuclear program, and varied political struggles. Iran is a country of more than 75 million people with a diverse history stretching back many thousands of years.

While over 90 percent of Iranians belong to the Shia branch of Islam, the official state religion, Iran is also home to nearly 300,000 Christians, and the largest community of Jews in the Middle East outside Israel. At a time when military and political images seem to dominate the news about Iran, it would be interesting to take a recent look inside the country, to see its people through the lenses of agency photographers.

Keep in mind that foreign media are still subject to Iranian restrictions on reporting.

Iranian grooms, Javad Jafari, left, and his brother, Mehdi, right, pose for photographs with their brides, Maryam Sadeghi, second left, and Zahra Abolghasemi, who wear their formal wedding dresses prior to their wedding in Ghalehsar village, about 220 mi (360 km) northeast of the capital Tehran, Iran, on July 15, 2011. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi) 

Iranians Morteza Alavi and Mehdi Hagh Badri fly with a tandem paraglider over northwestern Tehran, on May 20, 2011. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)  

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Mexico's Drug Tunnels

Around 17 tons of marijuana have been seized after the discovery of a tunnel which police said was one of the most significant drug-smuggling passages ever found on the U.S-Mexico border. The tunnel stretched around 400 yards between warehouses in San Diego and Tijuana, was lined with wood supports and equipped with lighting and ventilation systems.

Authorities announced the bust at a news conference yesterday near packages of dope festooned with labels of Captain America, Sprite and Bud Light - the coded markings used to identify the owners.

17 tons of marijuana... It's awesome dude...

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Philippine Deadly Tropical Storm Washi

On December 16th, Tropical Storm Washi struck the Philippine island of Mindanao, bringing 10 solid hours of torrential rainfall - up to 16 inches (400mm) in some places - causing multiple flash floods and mudslides. Already-swollen rivers overflowed their banks, inundating some areas under more than 3 meters (10 ft) of muddy water in less than an hour, sweeping away vehicles and homes.

 The deaths of more than 1,000 residents have been confirmed, making Washi the deadliest storm of 2011. Nearly 50,000 residents remain in evacuation centers as government agencies and aid organizations are now working to recover and rebuild what they can.

 Collected here are recent images from storm-battered Mindanao.

Rescuers carry a girl to safety following a flash flood that inundated Cagayan de Oro city, Philippines, on Saturday, December 17, 2011. Tropical Storm Washi (Sendong) triggered flash floods in the southern Philippines, killing scores of people. (AP Photo/Erwin Mascarinas) 

Aerial view shows logs swept away by flash floods caused by Tropical Storm Washi in the coastal areas of Iligan City, on December 19, 2011. Disaster agencies on Monday rushed to deliver body bags, food, water, and medicine to crowded evacuation centers in the southern Philippines as officials considered digging mass graves for hundreds killed in weekend flash floods. (Reuters/Richel Umel/Pool)  

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How To Demolished Building In China

While the story behind the demolition of this apartment is quiet interesting, I was more interested in knowing how the hell they manage to get two excavators up there? I believe there might be three possibilities. 1 - They use crane to lift the excavator up. 2 - They dismantle the excavators into pieces and assemble it back. 3 - They actually store the excavators from the beginning. Chinese is great. Hohoohooohoho...

Excavators dismantle Chinese highrise from the top down. This 18-story residential tower in Taizhou, Zheijiang Province. The building was completed in January and was hailed as a luxury development with a 'perfect' ocean view. But months later it was found to be leaning.

Experts have suggested the ground beneath the highrise sank because the reclaimed land it was built on is unable to support such large buildings. Hu Zhizhong, an architectural researcher at Taizhou University, said reclaimed land commonly 'settles unevenly', but the sinking in this building was so severe that it could be that the land is simply unsuitable.

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2011 World Review In Photos Part III

2011 was a year of global tumult, marked by widespread social and political uprisings, economic crises, and a great deal more. We saw the fall of multiple dictators, welcomed a new country (South Sudan), witnessed our planet's population grow to 7 billion, and watched in horror as Japan was struck by a devastating earthquake, a tsunami, and a nuclear disaster. 

From the Arab Spring to Los Indignados to Occupy Wall Street, citizens around the world took to the streets in massive numbers, protesting against governments and financial institutions, risking arrest, injury, and in some cases their lives. 

Collected here is Part 3 of a three-part photo summary of the last year, covering 2011's last months.

Occupy Wall Street protesters march and hold signs in New York City on September 17, 2011. Frustrated protesters had been speaking out against corporate greed and social inequality on and near Wall Street for the previous two weeks, further sparking a protest movement that spread across the world. Original here. (CC BY SA Carwil Bjork-James) 

A worker prepares rappelling lines at the top of the Washington Monument as inspections to the structure begin on September 27, 2011. Engineers planned to rappel down the 555-foot (170-meter) Washington Monument to assess damage from a rare 5.8-magnitude earthquake and storms that struck the U.S. capital in August. (Reuters/Kevin Lamarque)  

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2011 World Review In Photos Part II

2011 was a year of global tumult, marked by widespread social and political uprisings, economic crises, and a great deal more. We saw the fall of multiple dictators, welcomed a new country (South Sudan), witnessed our planet's population grow to 7 billion, and watched in horror as Japan was struck by a devastating earthquake, a tsunami, and a nuclear disaster. 

From the Arab Spring to Los Indignados to Occupy Wall Street, citizens around the world took to the streets in massive numbers, protesting against governments and financial institutions, risking arrest, injury, and in some cases their lives. 

Collected here is Part 2 of a three-part photo summary of the last year, covering 2011's middle months.

Surf rescue swimmer Doug Knutzen carries Dale Ostrander to the shore of Long Beach, Washington, on August 5, 2011. Rescue swimmers Eddie Mendez (left) and Will Green had found Ostrander in the surf, after the boy was underwater for more than 20 minutes. Ostrander was hospitalized and placed in a medically induced coma for a time, but has since returned home and started the 7th grade. His recovery is still in progress, as he continues to undergo speech and physical therapy. (AP Photo/Damian Mulinix/Chinook Observer) 

Robonaut 2 (R2) waits inside the electromagnetic interference chamber at Johnson Space Center following tests that ensure the robot's electronic systems won't cause problems for other important systems at the International Space Station. Humanoid robot R2 journeyed to the space station onboard the Space Shuttle Discovery during the STS-133 mission, conducting tests, hoping to eventually build a robot helper suitable to assist humans in complex tasks in space or on Earth. (NASA)  

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2011 World Review In Photos Part I

2011 was a year of global tumult, marked by widespread social and political uprisings, economic crises, and a great deal more. We saw the fall of multiple dictators, welcomed a new country (South Sudan), witnessed our planet's population grow to 7 billion, and watched in horror as Japan was struck by a devastating earthquake, a tsunami, and a nuclear disaster. 

From the Arab Spring to Los Indignados to Occupy Wall Street, citizens around the world took to the streets in massive numbers, protesting against governments and financial institutions, risking arrest, injury, and in some cases their lives. 

Collected here is Part 1 of a three-part photo summary of the last year, covering 2011's first several months.

A wave approaches Miyako City from the Heigawa estuary in Iwate Prefecture after the magnitude 9.0 earthquake struck the area March 11, 2011. The earthquake, the most powerful ever known to have hit Japan, combined with the massive tsunami, claimed more than 15,800 lives, devastated many eastern coastline communities, and triggered a nuclear catastrophe at the Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear power station. (Reuters/Mainichi Shimbun) 

A protester stands in front of a burning barricade during a demonstration in Cairo, Egypt, on January 28, 2011. Police and demonstrators fought running battles on the streets of Cairo on Friday in a fourth day of unprecedented protests by tens of thousands of Egyptians demanding an end to President Hosni Mubarak's three-decade rule. (Reuters/Goran Tomasevic)  

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Google's Most Popular News Search 2011

If you can glean hints about a nation's soul by its most popular searches, then there's plenty to mull over when you consider most popular search-engine keywords for the year 2011. Most popular news search for 2011.

No. 9 News Search: Facebook. Admit it: You 'like' this. "Facebook" was the ninth most searched news term in 2011 on Google.

No. 8 News Search: New York. The city so nice, they Googled it twice.

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Thailand Great Flood 2011 Part IV

The massive body of water now surrounding Bangkok is continuing its long, destructive trip toward the ocean. The flood is the result of the heavy monsoon rains that drenched Southeast Asia four months ago, leaving Thailand and neighboring countries submerged and claiming more than 1,000 lives across the region. 

The waters that inundated Ayutthaya to the north of Bangkok have largely receded, but suburbs to the south and west remain under threat, with evacuation notices still being issued. Central Bangkok appears to have been spared the worst of the flooding, due in part to a protective wall of sandbags some 6 km (3.7 mi) long. Throughout the surrounding area, many thousands remain in evacuation centers, or with friends and family, waiting for the worst flooding in decades to recede. 

Collected here are images from Thailand over the past two weeks.

A man uses stilts to walk through floodwaters in Bangkok, on November 9, 2011. (Nicolas Asfouri/AFP/Getty Images)

A Buddha head in the roots of a Bodhi tree is partially submerged by floodwaters in the ruins of Wat Mahathat temple in Thailand's ancient capital, Ayutthaya, on November 6, 2011. The floods in Thailand began in July and have devastated large parts of the central Chao Phraya river basin, killed more than 500 people and disrupted the lives of more than two million. (Reuters/Adrees Latif) 

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Thailand Great Flood 2011 Part III

The worst flooding Thailand has seen in 50 years appears to be coming down from its high-water mark, largely sparing central Bangkok while continuing to inundate surrounding suburbs and farms. Heavy monsoon rains have submerged nearly a third of the country's provinces since July, killing more than 370 people. Over the weekend, high tides and heavy flooding threatened central Bangkok, but defenses appear to have held. However, some residents in surrounding areas have expressed anger at being placed on the outside of these protective barriers and having floodwater diverted toward them. Areas west of Bangkok are still expected to be hard hit in the coming days as the last of the flooding makes its way to the sea. Gathered here are images from Thailand as the waters start to recede and the task of recovery begins.

Thai soldiers hold onto each other, pulling against the stream of water flowing into a neighborhood after a wall was breached by the swollen Chao Phraya River in Bangkok, Thailand, on October 30, 2011

Local residents evacuate their flooded neighborhood on the back of a truck in an area near the Chao Praya river in Bangkok, on October 29, 2011.

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Thailand Great Flood 2011 Part II

Heavy monsoon rains have been drenching Southeast Asia since mid-July, causing mudslides and widespread flooding. The deluge has now reached Bangkok, with rising water and associated problems affecting most of the city's 10 million residents. 

Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra said that parts of the capital could be inundated by up to 1.5 meters of water and remain flooded for up to a month. Around Bangkok, the second-largest airport has closed, food prices are soaring, clean water is becoming scarce, and the country is declaring a holiday from Thursday until Monday to allow people to evacuate. 

The Chao Phraya river is predicted to overflow its banks in the city sometime today, and authorities say that if the protective dikes fail to hold the water, all parts of Bangkok will be vulnerable to the floodwater.

Cars are parked on a highway overpass to avoid floods in Ayutthaya province near Bangkok, on October 25, 2011.

Residents evacuate from their flooded town, north of Bangkok, on October 25, 2011. Around 320 people have died in flood-related incidents since late July according to the Department of Disaster Prevention and Mitigation, as Thailand experiences the worst flooding in 50 years with damages running as high as $6 billion.

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