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July 5, 2009
Independence Day Fireworks
NEW YORK (AP) -- Fireworks lit the night sky above New York with a kaleidoscope of colors shooting 1,000 feet into the air on an Independence Day that began with the Statue of Liberty's crown opening to the public for the first time since Sept. 11, 2001. It was the nation's biggest fireworks display, with more than 22 tons of pyrotechnics exploding Saturday over a mile-and-a-half of the Hudson River, a new vantage point for New York's festivities. Millions of spectators watched from both sides of the river. While the recession forced many communities to scale down, or even cancel, their fireworks, "we're a country of survivors and fighters, and we try to make things work," said Gary Souza, whose family-owned, California-based company is staging the New York display as well as hundreds of others across the country -- including the nation's capital. In Washington, the daylong celebrations started with a parade along Constitution Avenue and ended with fireworks over the Washington Monument as a band played a medley of patriotic music.(19 images)

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People standing on 42nd Street watch fireworks explode over the Hudson River during Macy's annual 4th of July fireworks show on July 4, in New York. AP / Peter Morgan


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July 2, 2009
Operation Khanjar - U.S. Marines in Afghanistan
NAWA, Afghanistan (AP) -- U.S. Marines suffered their first casualties of a massive new military campaign Thursday as they engaged in sporadic gunbattles along 55 miles of Taliban-controlled heartland in southern Afghanistan. One Marine was killed and several others were injured or wounded on the first full day of the assault, the largest military operation in Afghanistan since the fall of Taliban government in 2001. The offensive was launched shortly after 1 a.m. Thursday local time in Helmand province, a Taliban stronghold in the southern part of the country. The goal is to clear insurgents from the hotly contested Helmand River Valley before the nation's Aug. 20 presidential election. Dubbed Operation Khanjar, or "Strike of the Sword," the military push was described by officials as the largest and fastest-moving of the war's new phase. British forces last week led similar missions to fight and clear out insurgents in Helmand and neighboring Kandahar provinces. (21 images)

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A U.S. Marine from 2nd Marine Expeditionary Brigade, RCT 2nd Battalion 8th Marines Echo Co. takes up a fighting position after off loading from a helicopter during the start of Operation Khanjari on July 2, in Main Poshteh, Afghanistan. The marines are part of an operation to take areas in the Southern Helmand Province that Taliban fighters are using as a resupply route. The marines also plan to help the local Afghan population prepare for the upcoming presidential elections. Getty Images / Joe Raedle


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July 1, 2009
It's hot outside
It's summer in the northern hemisphere and it's hot.
At least 24 people have died in a scorching heat wave that has swept over half a dozen Indian states, officials said. Blistering hot, dry winds have swept across most parts of north and central India, wilting plants and forcing people to avoid the outdoors when they can. The highest temperature of 120 degrees Fahrenheit this week was recorded in Bundelkhand district of northern Uttar Pradesh state. In parts of the state, villagers performed rituals to induce rain, pouring water on children lying on the ground with their hands clasped toward the sky.
In Britian, the meteorological office said it had raised the country's heat wave alert status amid the country's warmest spell in three years. The Met Office said Wednesday it had raised the heat wave alert to level three -- the second highest -- for the first time since 2006. Temperatures reached 86 degrees Farenheit in London by mid-afternoon. Britain's health service said it received more than 300 calls Tuesday from people suffering from heat-related ailments.
In the United States, Memphis, Tenn. authorities suspect two more people died from the heat on Wednesday, bringing the total to six so far this year. In Maryland, health officials warned residents to take precautions to deal with summer heat following two heat-related deaths. In Texas, mostly sunny skies were predicted for the Gulf Coast with highs near 100 and heat index values around 107 near Houston. (19 images)

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Children lie in sludge as a ritual to induce rain, Nari Bari, about 30 miles from Allahabad, India, Friday, June 26. At least 24 people have died in a scorching heat wave that has swept through at least half a dozen Indian states, the weather department and officials said Friday. AP / Rajesh Kumar Singh


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June 30, 2009
U.S. troops withdraw from Iraqi cities
BAGHDAD (AP) - The American military completed a withdrawl from Iraq's cities on Monday as part of a U.S.-Iraqi security pact. It marks the first major step toward withdrawing all American forces from the country by Dec. 31, 2011. President Barack Obama has said all combat troops will be gone by the end of August 2010. Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki said in a nationally televised address that "those who think that Iraqis are not able to protect their country and that the withdrawal of foreign forces will create a security vacuum are committing a big mistake." The Iraqi government has named June 30 National Sovereignty Day and declared a public holiday. (21 images)

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Iraqi soldiers celebrate following a parade to mark the withdrawal of U.S. troops from Iraqi cities and towns across the nation on June 30, in the southern city of Karbala, 110 kms south of the capital of Baghdad. Iraqi forces took control of towns and cities across the country to replace departing U.S. forces, a milestone in the country's recovery six years after the U.S.-led invasion. AFP / Getty Images / Mohammed Sawaf


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June 26, 2009
World reaction to Michael Jackson's sudden death
LONDON (AP) -- Michael Jackson was due to make his triumphant return to the stage in London next month -- but instead his sudden death has left millions of fans feeling they've lost a lifelong friend. The dramatic death of the brilliant singer seemed to obscure his recent controversies and kindle warmer memories of Jackson the child star and Jackson the show-stopping, moonwalking headliner. The worldwide chorus of grief united the famous -- statesmen and superstars alike -- and the legions of ordinary people who grew up with "Thriller" and "Beat It." Word of Jackson's death jolted nearly everyone, from a young man in Colombia who was named after the King of Pop, to Malaysians who named a soy drink for him, to a generation of people around the world who have tried, in vain, to moonwalk.(25 images)

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Sand sculptures of Michael Jackson, a guitar and his fedora hat, made by Sudarshan Pattnaik are seen at the golden sea beach for the fans to pay floral tribute to the "King of Pop" at Puri, India, Friday, June 26. The 50-year-old musical superstar died Thursday, just as he was preparing for what would be a series of 50 concerts starting July 13 at London's famed 02 arena. AP / Biswaranjan Rout


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June 25, 2009
Return to Camp Leatherneck
CAMP LEATHERNECK, Afghanistan (AP) -- U.S. Gen. Stanley McChrystal said that U.S. and other NATO troops must make a "cultural shift" away from being a force designed for high intensity combat and instead make protecting Afghan civilians their first priority. The newly arrived four-star commander said Wednesday he hopes to install a new military mindset by drilling into troops the need to reduce the number of Afghan civilians killed in combat. McChrystal is expected to formally announce new combat rules within days that will order troops to break away from fights -- if they can do so safely -- if militants are firing from civilian homes. One effect of the new order will be that troops may have to wait out insurgents instead of using force to oust them, he said. Thousands of Marines this spring have poured into Helmand -- the country's most violent province and the world's largest producer of opium poppies. Southern Afghanistan is the center of the Taliban-led insurgency, which has made a violent comeback in the last three years. (23 images)

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U.S. Marines from the 2nd MEB, 2nd Battalion, 3rd Marines fire mortars at Taliban positions from inside their base at Now Zad in Afghanistan's Helmand province on Monday June 22. AP / David Guttenfelder


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June 23, 2009
Hindu pilgrimage to the Amarnath shrine
SRINAGAR, India (AP) -- Thousands of Hindu devotees are making an annual pilgrimage to an icy cave in Indian-controlled Kashmir amid tight security in the Muslim-majority region, officials said. At least half a million devotees are expected to make the pilgrimage to the Amarnath shrine over the next two months. Thousands of army and paramilitary troops have been deployed along the route -- which was targeted during the 1990s by the Muslim separatist rebels still fighting Indian security forces in the region. Hindus worship a stalagmite inside the cave as an incarnation of the Lord Shiva, the Hindu god of destruction and regeneration. The groups of pilgrims are staggered over two months for security and logistical reasons. Last year, protests sparked by a planned government transfer of land to build amenities for the pilgrims -- a decision later rescinded -- led to a crackdown by security forces that left at least 50 dead, mostly Muslims. (19 images)

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Suresh, a physically challenged pilgrim makes his way to the Amarnath cave, near Dumail, 80 miles northeast of Srinagar, India, Sunday, June 21. Hundreds of pilgrims annually go to the remote Himalayan shrine of Amarnath at 14,500 feet above sea level to worship an icy stalagmite representing Shiva, the Hindu god of destruction. AP / Mukhtar Khan


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June 21, 2009
Summer solstice
STONEHENGE, England (AP) -- Pagans and partygoers drummed, danced or gyrated in hula hoops to stay awake through the night, as more than 35,000 people greeted the summer solstice Sunday at the ancient stone circle of Stonehenge. Despite fears of trouble because of the record-sized crowd, police said the annual party at the mysterious monument was mostly peaceful. Stonehenge, which sits on Salisbury Plain about 80 miles southwest of London, is one of Britain's most popular tourist attractions, visited by more than 750,000 people a year. It was built in three phases between 3,000 B.C. and 1,600 B.C. Mystery surrounds the monument's original purpose. The solstice is one of the few times during the year that visitors can get close enough to touch the rocks. (25 images)

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Thousands of people raise their hands to receive the first rays of the "Tata Inti" (God Sun) through the "Gateway of the Sun" -stone gateway at the Tiahuanaco archaeological site believed to have been used as calendar- in the winter solstice during the Aymara New Year celebration on June 21, in Tiwanaku (or Tiahuanaco), 71 Km east of La Paz, Bolivia. Some 30,000 people will attend the event to receive the Aymara Year 5517. AFP / Getty Images / Aizar Raldes


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June 19, 2009
Daily life
A look at daily life as captured in the images of Associated Press photographers around the world.(28 images)

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Pakistani boys swim in a pond to beat the heat in Hyderabad, Pakistan on Monday, June 8. Recently most of the country is in the clutches of a sweltering heat wave, with temperatures raising up to 120 degrees Fahrenheit in some cities. AP / Pervez Masih


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June 17, 2009
Volvo Ocean Race
The nine-month, 42,500-mile race started in Alicante, Spain, in October and finishes in St. Petersburg, Russia, this summer after visiting South Africa, India, Singapore, China, Brazil, the United States, Ireland and Sweden. Points are awarded for arriving in a port first, for being the first to reach markers along the way and for in-port racing. Each of the seven entries has a sailing team of 11 crewmembers. They race day and night for more than 30 days at a time on some of the legs. While racing, crews eat freeze dried food, experience temperature variations from 25 to 104 degrees Farenheit and only have one change of clothes. (21 images)
Volvo Ocean Race website

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Anders Dahlsjo helms Ericsson 3 during the 6th leg of the Volvo Ocean Race between Rio De Janeiro and Boston, on April 14, in the Atlantic Ocean. Ericsson Racing Team / Gustav Morin via Getty Images


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