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Today marks the start of the Chinese Lunar New Year 2012, the Year of the Dragon. One of the 12 animals of the Chinese zodiac, the dragon signifies good fortune and power. In the Chinese astrological cycle, this year is also associated with the element of water, which makes 2012 the Year of the Water Dragon -- an emblem of optimism and growth that comes around only once every 60 years. People around the world are ushering in this auspicious year with displays of fireworks, family get-togethers, temple visits, and street festivals. Collected below are images from several countries where revelers have been welcoming the arrival of the Water Dragon. A performer dressed in traditional costume and wearing makeup drinks tea as he and others prepare to take part in Chinese new year celebrations at the 700-year-old Dongyue Temple in Beijing, on January 23, 2012. The temple is the largest of its kind in northern China for the Zhengyi school of Taoism, and was originally built by Taoist monks in the 14th century. Thousands of people visit a lantern festival to celebrate the Chinese New Year of the Dragon in Shanghai, on January 23, 2012. A woman burns incense to pray for good fortune on the first day of the Chinese Lunar New Year at Yonghegong Lama Temple in Beijing. |
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view Chinese Lunar New Year 2012 as presented by: The Atlantic |
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Diversity is everywhere in India, from its religions and languages to its economy, and climates. The second-most populous nation in the world, India is home to more than 1.2 billion people. Most are Hindu, but seven other religions -- including Islam, Christianity and Sikhism -- make up nearly 20 percent of the population. January 26 will be India's 62nd Republic Day, marking the date in 1950 when the country's constitution came into force. Collected here are recent photos from across the vast nation, offering only a small glimpse of the people and diversity of India. Indian dancers perform during the 2011 Federation Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA) gala night in Gurgaon on the outskirts of New Delhi, on December 9, 2011. Indian children dressed as Hindu God Shiva, right, and Parvati, hold a toy gun as they pose for a photograph during the annual traditional fair of Magh Mela at the confluence of the rivers Ganges, Yamuna and the mythical Saraswati, in Allahabad, India, on January 15, 2012. Indian beggars with their arms stretched ask for alms from Buddhist devotees visiting the Mahabodhi temple, believed to be the place where Buddha attained enlightenment, during the Kalachakra Buddhist festival in the town of Bodh Gaya, in the eastern state of Bihar, India, on January 6, 2012. |
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view Scenes From India as presented by: The Atlantic |
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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 images of the Costa Concordia, as efforts are still underway to find the fourteen passengers that remain missing. |
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view The Wreck of the Costa Concordia as presented by: The Atlantic |
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Two years ago tomorrow, January 12, a catastrophic 7.0-magnitude earthquake struck Port-au-Prince, Haiti, leveling thousands of structures and killing hundreds of thousands of people. Haiti, already an impoverished nation, appears in many ways to have barely started recovery 24 months later, despite more than $2 billion in foreign aid. So many homes were destroyed that temporary tent cities hastily set up throughout Port-au-Prince have begun to appear permanent -- more than 550,000 people still live in the dirty and dangerous encampments throughout the Haitian capital. Schools are being rebuilt, and some residents are now beginning to move out of the encampments, rediscovering a sense of community. But jobs and a sense of security remain elusive. Gathered here are recent photos from a still-suffering Haiti, two years after the earthquake. A couple stands on the balcony of their home overlooking a densely populated neighborhood near Petionville, a suburb of Port-au-Prince, Haiti, on October 28, 2011. Students wait for the first bell at the Roger Anglade school on the first day of the new school year in Port-au-Prince, on October 3, 2011. The school year was delayed by a month because the administration of Haiti's President Michel Martelly had yet to iron out details on the National Fund for Education, a new program that helps to ensure Haitian children can enroll in school through the use of tuition subsidies. A man who lost a hand during the earthquake applauds the speech of Haiti's President Michel Martelly during the re-inauguration of the St Pierre public plaza in Port-au-Prince, on November 11, 2011. The plaza was one of many where people left homeless by the January 2010 earthquake set up shelter. |
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view Haiti: 2 Years After the Quake as presented by: The Atlantic |
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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. Statues of Ronald McDonald and the Hamburglar, outside a flooded McDonald's restaurant in Bangkok, on October 24, 2011. Millions of people in the Thai capital nervously prepared for the advancing and seemingly unstoppable flood waters after a fresh warning for residents to evacuate certain danger zones. |
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view Bangkok Underwater as presented by: The Atlantic |
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Muammar Qaddafi has been killed in fighting in Sirte, according Libya's National Transitional Council. Anti-government fighters had been closing in on Qaddafi's final stronghold in Sirte, and reportedly attacked a convoy carrying the former leader today, capturing him. Qaddafi was apparently alive at the time, but died soon afterward. The uprising that began in February and built to an armed revolution has now claimed control of the country, the death of Qaddafi, and the capture of one of his sons today. Collected here are images from Sirte over the past ten days, and of the events surrounding the death of Qaddafi. See also How Qaddafi Fooled Libya and the World by Max Fisher. A tattered banner depicting Muammar Qaddafi hangs from a building during a street battle in the center of the city on October 12, 2011 in Sirte, Libya, eight days before the reports of the death of the former leader. National Transitional Council (NTC) fighters say this is the final assault on Muammar Qaddafi's home town as they captured the main hospital, university and the Ouagadougou Conference Center. Libyan refugees in Tunisia celebrate after hearing news that Libyan leader Muammar Qaddafi was killed in Sirte, outside their embassy in Tunis October 20, 2011. People react during the funeral of a rebel killed in the Sirte by pro-Qaddafi forces in Benghazi, on October 13, 2011. |
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view Libya: The End of Qaddafi and the Fall of Sirte as presented by: The Atlantic |
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Nine days ago, a Liberian-flagged container ship called the Rena ran aground on Astrolabe Reef, 14 miles offshore from Tauranga Harbor on New Zealand's North Island. In addition to the 2,100 containers aboard, the Rena was carrying 1,700 tons of fuel oil and another 200 tons of diesel fuel. A cracked hull and rough seas have dislodged more than 80 containers and spilled some 300 tons of oil already, fouling Tauranga beaches and reportedly killing some 1,000 birds so far. Salvage teams are racing to offload as much remaining oil as possible while cleanup crews are hard at work, coping with New Zealand's worst environmental disaster in decades. A dead seabird on the shore as thick fuel-oil from the stricken container ship Rena fouls beaches at Papamoa, near Tauranga, on October 12, 2011. The Liberian-flagged container ship Rena, stuck aground on a reef off the coast of Tauranga, New Zealand, on October 13, 2011. Soldiers continue the clean up operations after more oil from the stricken vessel Rena washed up along the Bay of Plenty coastline, on October 13, 2011 in Tauranga, New Zealand. |
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view Oil Spill Disaster on New Zealand Shoreline as presented by: The Atlantic |
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It's now been three weeks since the "Occupy Wall Street" protests began in New York City's Financial District, and the movement has grown, spreading to other cities in the U.S. Protesters have organized marches, rallies, and "occupations" from Boston to Boise, Los Angeles to New Orleans, Seattle to Tampa. Using social media, handmade signs, and their voices, they are voicing anger at financial and social inequality and protesting the influence of corporate money in politics. Seattle police recently arrested 25 protesters camping out in Westlake Park, following on the heels of 700 arrests on New York's Brooklyn Bridge last week. Collected here are a some of the scenes from these protests across the U.S. over the past week, as the movement moves forward with no signs of slowing. Protestors march through downtown Boise, Idaho, Wednesday October 5, 2011. Activists have been showing solidarity with movement in many cities, including Occupy Boise. More than 100 people withstood an afternoon downpour in Idaho's capital to protest. Police arrest a protester on New York's Brooklyn Bridge during Saturday's march by Occupy Wall Street on October 1, 2011. Protesters speaking out against corporate greed and other grievances attempted to walk over the bridge from Manhattan, resulting in the arrest of more than 700 during a tense confrontation with police. The majority of those arrested were given citations for disorderly conduct and were released, police said. A woman who identified herself as Janelle K. holds up a sign during an "Occupy Las Vegas" demonstration on the Las Vegas Strip in Las Vegas, Nevada, on October 6, 2011. |
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view Occupy Wall Street Spreads Beyond NYC as presented by: The Atlantic |
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