Are you a publisher? Try Daylife's Intelligent Content Services Platform
Selected and fresh photos from around the web.
BASRA, IRAQ - OCTOBER 18: People gather around a Land Rover as it arrives at the village Al Houta on October 18 2008 near Basra, Iraq. The trip by the 51 Sqn Royal Air Force Regiment Force Protection Wing was part of a 'key leader engagement' (KLE) visit to the village close to the Basra Airbase to recruit local labour and engage with the village shiek. Visits of this type are seen as key in efforts to continue winning the support of the local Iraqi population. Although improved security in the region has brought some benefits such as improved trade and commerce, much of the infrastructure remains in a poor state of repair. Britain's Prime Minister Gordon Brown has indicated that the number of UK troops could be scaled down - especially as the security situation in the south of the country continues to improve.
Democratic presidential nominee Senator Barack Obama (D-IL) speaks during a campaign rally in the rain at the University of Mary Washington in Fredericksburg, Virginia, September 27, 2008.
A puppy stands on a truck carrying people to be evacuated from the area in preparation for the approach of Hurricane Gustav in Batabano, on the southern coast of Cuba, August 30, 2008. Powerful Hurricane Gustav roared toward western Cuba on Saturday with 125 mph (205 kph) winds on its way to the oil-rich Gulf of Mexico after a deadly pass through the Caribbean.
BANGKOK, THAILAND - AUGUST 30: A member of Anti-government People's Alliance for Democracy (PAD) stands behind barbed wire outside Government on August 30, 2008, in Bangkok, Thailand. The protesters want to unseat the seven-month old coalition government lead by Prime Minister Samak Sundaravej.
A Buddhist monk looks on in Phnom Penh, Cambodia Thursday, Jan. 8, 2009. Buddhism is the predominate religion in Cambodia.
(L-R) Brooke Burke, Carrie Ann Inaba, Tom Bergeron and Samantha Harris pose with their award for Favorite Competition Reality show for "Dancing with the Stars" at the 35th annual People's Choice awards in Los Angeles January 7, 2009.
Nicolas Kiefer of Germany retires from the court in a wheelchair after injuring his ankle playing Dominik Hrbaty of the Slovak Republic during their singles match on Session 9 of the Hopman Cup in Perth on January 8, 2009. Kiefer was leading 3-1 games in the first set.
WASHINGTON - JANUARY 07: U.S. President George W. Bush (C) meets with President-elect Barack Obama (2nd-L), former President Bill Clinton (2nd-R), former President Jimmy Carter (R) and former President George H.W. Bush (L) in the Oval Office January 7, 2009 in Washington, DC. On January 20, 2009 Barack Obama will be sworn in as the nations�s 44th president.
North Korean leader Kim Jong-il (2nd R in the front row) visits the Chollima Steel Complex at an undisclosed location in North Korea, in this undated picture released by the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) December 25, 2008.
Balloons with anti-North Korea leaflets released by former North Korean defectors and anti-North Korea activists fly towards the North in Imjinkak pavilion, near the demilitarised zone (DMZ) separating the two Koreas in Paju, about 55 km (34 miles) north of Seoul, December 3, 2008. Dozens of activists, who demanded improvements of North Korea's human rights and the release of South Koreans abducted by the North, launched about 90,000 anti-Pyongyang leaflets in helium-filled balloons near DMZ on Wednesday.
An Israeli woman and her two children take cover during a rocket attack near Kfar Aza, just outside the northern Gaza Strip January 7, 2009. The woman came to meet her husband, an Israeli army officer currently serving on the Gaza border. Rockets exploded as they were waiting for him. Israel postponed on Wednesday a decision on whether to order its armed forces to storm the Gaza Strip's urban centres, an Israeli official said, citing Egyptian- and French-led efforts to secure a truce with Hamas.
This sale is an early Christmas present to the oil and gas industry, from a lame duck administration with one foot already out the door ... The way the Bush administration has tried to do this in secret is simply outrageous. Secretary [Dirk] Kempthorne must put a stop to this. Once these pristine wilderness lands are destroyed we can never get them back. 
The nomination of Ken Salazar definitely represents an improvement over what we’ve had with Dirk Kempthorne. But it is not the kind of improvement that is required to put right all of the things that have gone so dreadfully wrong during the Bush Administration with regard to the environment.
It is, Katie. The investigative reports were released a day after President Bush had a private lunch with Interior Secretary Dirk Kempthorne, the man in charge of the agency at the heart of the scandal. That was behind closed doors. Today's embarrassment was very public.
Dirk Kempthorne as governor, as senator and as interior secretary has always stood for incentive-based, moderate approaches to protecting species ... This proposal is consistent with that.
Interior Secretary Dirk Kempthorne cited dramatic declines in sea ice over the last three decades and projections of continued losses, meaning, he said, that the polar bear is a species likely to be in danger of extinction in the near future. But Kempthorne said it would be 'wholly inappropriate' to use the protection of the bear to reduce greenhouse gases, or to broadly address climate change.
That's one of the most important things we can do. We've got to provide the opportunity, knowledge, and excitement about people working outdoors.
We are stewards ... We are given this responsibility,which is an awesome responsibility to take care of the land, to take care of wildlife, and beautiful sceneries — the landscape. It would be tragic if we did a good job of doing that and forgot to bring the children along so that as they inherit this, they don't have a connection, they don't have a passion in their hearts; it doesn't make sense to them.
You have to understand the history in order to appreciate all the things that have been done by the early conservationists. This conference embodies the new challenge that we have for the 21st Century.
