2009: The Year In Photos

The New Year's fireworks explode over the Prague pendulum and lighting, the symbol of the EU, early on January 1, 2009. The Czech Republic took over the six-month European Union presidency from France( AFP/ Michal Cizek)

Shia pilgrims gather near the tomb of Imam Hussein to commemorate of his death in the holy city of Karbala, Iraq , 7 January 2009. Hundreds of thousands of Iraqi shia visit the holy city of Karbala throughout the Ashura week to mark the death of Imam Hussein. (epa)

The body of the Russian lawyer Stanislav Markelov lies on the ground after he was shot dead in Moscow on January 19, 2009. He was representing the family of a Chechen girl -- Elza Kungayeva -- and was opposing the early release of of the Russian officer jailed for her murder. His murder became a symbol of human rights abuses in Chechnya. (ITAR-TASS)

Barack Obama's hand lies on a bible as he is sworn in as the 44th US president by Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts in front of the Capitol in Washington on January 20, 2009. (AFP)

U.S. President Barack Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama dance during the Commander-in-Chief Ball at the National Building Museum in Washington, DC, January 20, 2009. (AFP / Saul Loeb)

Patriarch-elect of Moscow and All Russia, Kirill kisses the golden cross after being elected at the National Orthodox Church Council in Christ the Savior cathedral in Moscow, Russia, 27 January 2009. (epa)

Russian policemen detain a participant of a banned National-Bolshevic ultra-left organization, shouting 'We hate government!' during a communist protest rally in the center of Moscow on 31 January 2009. Some hundred demonstrators demanded support for the working class amidst the national crisis. (epa) March of dissent

A scene from the International Santa Claus Festival in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan on February 7, 2009. (RFE/RL)

I - Iranian female students waving national flags during a ceremony marking the 30th anniversary of the 1979 Islamic revolution in Tehran, Iran on 10 February 2009

Belarusian youth clashed with police while they held their annual oppisition rally on St. Valentines day in Minsk on 14 February 2009

A Kosovo Albanian man adjusts Albanian national flags in the town of Kacanik, southeast of Pristina, on 15 February 2009, on the eve of the first anniversary of Kosovo's declaration of independence from Serbia. Ethnic Albanian-majority Kosovo declared independence from Serbia on 17 February 2008. Kosovo is recognized as independent by more than 50 countries. (epa)

The horse-mobile hybrid of Ivan Melnikov, a resident of the village of Stary Kuklyuk at Elabuzhsky rayon in Tatarstan pictured on February 25, 2009. (ITAR-TASS/Vasily Aleksandrov)

U.S. soldiers arrived from Afghanistan sit inside a plane at the U.S. airbase 30 km outside Bishkek in Manas on February 26, 2009. The soldiers who had been serving with ISAF forces in Afghanistan made a layover on their way to Germany. The United States is still holding out hope for a deal with Kyrgyzstan to avoid the closure of the U.S. military supply base there for Afghanistan even after the Kyrgyz president formalized the shutdown.

The hands of the U.S. Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton (R) and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, after Clinton presented a device with a red knob to Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, during their meeting in Geneva, Switzerland on March 6, 2009. The yellow block with a red button, writing 'reset' in English and 'overload' in Russian. (epa) top2009

Fireworks explode over the Akhmad Kadyrov mosque in Grozny, Chechnya late on March 9, 2009 during a religious ceremony to mark the birthday of the Muslim prophet Mohammed. (AFP/ Viskhan Magomadov)

An Afghan health worker drops polio vaccine into the mouth of a child on the second day of a vaccination campaign in Kabul on March 16, 2009. A new three-day nationwide immunization campaign against polio began March 15 in a joint operation with the Ministry of Public Health, the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) and the World Health Organization (WHO). Afghanistan is one of only of a handful of countries in the world that still has the crippling polio virus with new cases reported every year, most often in areas where insurgent threats mean vaccinators are unable to reach all children.

Elderly Russian men and women sunbathe near the wall of the Peter Paul fortress in St. Petersburg on March 16, 2009. Russians are enjoying some sunshine at the end of a long harsh winter. (AFP/Elena Palm)

A bus is passing near a large election billboard of the presidential candidate of the ruling VMRO DPMNE party George Ivanov in Skopje on March 20, 2009. Macedonia went to the polls on March 22 in presidential and local elections termed pivotal for its hopes of EU accession, less than a year after a parliamentary vote was marred by deadly shootings. The conservative candidate, George Ivanov won with a landslide victory in the runoff held two weeks later, on April 5.

Mounted Kyrgyz men play the traditional central Asian sport of Kok-Boru in Bishkek on March 24, 2009 to mark the Kyrgyzstan's Revolution Day holiday. Kyrgyzstan celebrated the 4th anniversary of the 2005 political revolution.

Iraqi female police cadets train on Ak-47 Kalashnikov machine guns in Karbala, south of Baghdad, on March 26, 2009. A car bomb ripped through a crowd in Baghdad on March 26, killing at least 16 people, including women and children, a day after the U.S. military said violence in Iraq was at its lowest in six years. top2009

Members of the pro-Kremlin youth group Nashi (Ours) throw shoes at a basketball hoop bearing a picture of Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili in Moscow on April 1, 2009. (AFP)

FRANCE, Strasbourg : An area of the Passerelle Mimram pedestrian bridge which connects Kehl, Germany to Strasbourg, France is pictured on April 4, 2009 during the NATO summit. The NATO summit, which marks the organization's 60th anniversary, took place on April 3 and 4, 2009 in Strasbourg and the neighboring German cities of Baden-Baden and Kehl. (AFP) top2009

U.S. President Barack Obama gives his speach beside the statue of the first Czechoslovak President Tomas Garrigue Masaryk at Hradcansky square in Prague on April 5, 2009 . President Barack Obama pledged that the US would lead the quest for a world without nuclear weapons, denouncing "fatalism" over nuclear weapons proliferation.

Moldovans wave a flag at a rally near a government building in Chisinau on April 8, 2009. Moldova's president warned that authorities would use force to prevent a repeat of the violent riots that shook the ex-Soviet country after a disputed election victory by his Communist Party.

A protester shouts slogans during an opposition rally in front of the Parliament building inTbilisi, Georgia, on 8 April 2009. Georgian opposition leaders expected to bring tens of thousands of people onto the streets on 09 April 2009 for mass protests to press President Mikhail Saakashvili to step down and call new elections. (epa) top2009

Former Russia's richest businessman and head of Yukos oil company Mikhail Khodorkovsky is escorted to the Khamovnichesky district court in Moscow, Russia, on April 10 2009. Lawsuits seeking to recover a total of 170 billion rubles (about 3.7 billion Euro) have been brought as part of the new criminal case against Mikhail Khodorkovsky and former Menatep CEO Platon Lebedev. (epa)

Iranian snipers in full camouflage take part in the Army Day parade in Tehran on April 18, 2009. Iranian President hailed his country's armed forces as the "guarantor" of regional security, during a low-profile parade marking the Islamic republic's Army Day

Pakistani soldiers stand guard on top of a mountain overlooking the Swat valley at Banai Baba Ziarat area in northwest Pakistan on May 22, 2009. The army took control of the mountain used by the Taliban as a training camp on May 20, according to the army.

Activists of the Ukrainian ultra-nationalist organization UNSO march to mark Heroes Day in the western Ukrainian city of Lviv on May 24, 2009. Ukraine commemorates on May 24 those who lost their lives for the independence of the country. (AFP)

Palestinian men listen to the U.S. President Barack Obama as he delivers a speech at Cairo University, at a coffee shop in the West Bank town of Bethlehem on June 4, 2009. The Palestinian Authority hailed as a "good beginning" U.S.President Barack Obama's speech to the Muslim world in which he reiterated his support of a Palestinian state.

A Iranian riot-police officer sprays tear-gas at a supporter of defeated Iranian presidential candidate Mir Hossein Musavi attacking him with a police stick during riots in Tehran on June 13, 2009.

Supporters of opposition leader Mir-Hossein Mussavi (depicted in the poster they hold), attend a renewed protest demonstrations in the street of Tehran, Iran, 18 June 2009. The demonstrators, mainly supporters of Iranian opposition leader, Mir-Hossein Mussavi, protested against alleged fraud in last week's presidential election. (epa)

A screen grab taken on June 21, 2009 from a video posted on YouTube allegedly shows Iranian men trying to help a wounded woman named "Neda" after getting shot in the chest during a protest in Tehran on June 20, 2009. At least 10 people were killed in the latest unrest to shake Tehran, state television said on June 21, as the opposition stepped up its defiance of Iran's Islamic rulers over the disputed election.

A poster from Iranian fans adorns a makeshift shrine and memorial to music legend Michael Jackson, outside the Jackson family compound in Encino, California on June 29, 2009. Michael Jackson, "the King of Pop," died June 25 at the age of 50. (AFP)

China -- Muslim ethnic Uyghurs carry a woman who fainted during a protest in Urumqi in China's far west Xinjiang provinc - TOP2009

Russia -- U.S. President Barack Obama (L) and President of Russia Dmitry Medvedev shake hands after delivering speeches at the Russian-American business summit, Moscow, 07Jul2009 - ITAR-TASS 129: MOSCOW, RUSSIA. JULY 7, 2009. U.S. President Barack Obama (L) and President of Russia Dmitry Medvedev shake hands after delivering speeches at the Russian-American business summit, organised by the Russian Union of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs and the United States Chamber of Commerce. TOP2009

Russia--Former Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev (R) listens to US President Barack Obama delivering a speech at the graduation ceremony of the New Economic School in Moscow, 07Jul2009 - Former Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev (R) listens to US President Barack Obama delivering a speech at the graduation ceremony of the New Economic School in Moscow on July 7, 2009. Obama said today the United States wanted a strong, prosperous but also democratic Russia, as he set out his vision of the US relationship with its former Cold-War era foe. AFP PHOTO / Saul LOEB TOP2009

Ukraine -- Metropolitan Volodymyr (L) and Russian Orthodox Church Patriarch Kirill during liturgy in Pechresk Lavra in K - UKRAINE, Kiev : Russian Orthodox Church Patriarch Kirill (R) and Ukrainian Metropolitan Volodymyr (L) cross themselves during liturgy in Kiev Pechresk Lavra in Kiev on July 28, 2009. The head of the Russian Orthodox Church, Patriarch Kirill arrived in Ukraine on Monday for a ten-day visit TOP2009

Russia -- Police detain protesters during the 2009 March of Dissent in Moscow, 31Jul2009 - Caption: ITAR-TASS 122: MOSCOW, RUSSIA. JULY 31, 2009. Opposition protester being detained by the police during the 2009 March of Those Who Disagree, at Moscow's Triumfalnaya Square. (Photo ITAR-TASS / top2009

Russia -- Prime Minister Vladimir Putin swims the butterfly during his vacation outside the town of Kyzyl in Southern Siberia, 03Aug2009 - Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin swims the butterfly during his vacation outside the town of Kyzyl in Southern Siberia on August 3, 2009. AFP PHOTO / RIA-NOVOSTI / ALEXEY DRUZHININ top2009

Georgia -- People mourning the victims of the 2008 South Ossetia War during the Candle of Memory event, Tskhinvali, 08Aug2009 - ITAR-TASS 04: TSKHINVALI, SOUTH OSSETIA. AUGUST 8, 2009. People mourning the victims of the 2008 South Ossetia War during the Candle of Memory event as the entire country marks the first anniversary of the war, also known as the Russia-Georgia War. (Photo ITAR-TASS / Valery Matytsin) top2009 04. Южная Осетия. Цхинвали. 8 августа. Участники акции "Свеча памяти", посвященной годовщине начала военных действий в Южной Осетии. Фото ИТАР-ТАСС/ Валерий Матыцин

Iran -- Iranian opposition suspects cover their faces during their second hearing at a revolutionary court in Tehran, 08Aug2009 - top2009

Afghanistan - Supporters of presidential candidate Abdullah Abdulllah wait for him moments before his arrival to an electoral rally in Dai Kundi province, 14Aug2009 - Del312325 Object name AFGHANISTAN - VOTE - RALLY AFGHANISTAN, Dai Kundi : Thousand of supporters of Afghan presidential candidate Abdullah Abdulllah wait for him moments before his arrival to an electoral rally in Dai Kundi province, in central Afghanistan on August 14, 2009. Presidential race heavy-hitters jetted across Afghanistan to win votes ahead of next week's elections as an official said talks were underway to persuade the Taliban not to attack polling day. top2009

Afghanistan -- Afghans watch a live debate of President Hamid Karzai, and two of his rival candidates Ramzan Bashar Dost and Ashraf Ghani, on TV at a shop in Kabul, 16Aug2009 - Afghans watch a live debate of Afghan incumbent President Hamid Karzai, and two of his rival candidates Ramzan Bashar Dost and Ashraf Ghani, on TV at a shop in Kabul, western Afghanistan on 16Aug2009. Hamid Karzai, for the first time on August 16 took part in a live debate on TV with his two rival candidates independent lawmaker Ramzan Bashar Dost and former finance minister Ashraf Ghani, ahead of presidential and provincial council elections to be held 20 August 2009. top2009

Chuwashia: Imams performs praying in Bulgar city, 17Aug2009 - Chuwashia: Imams performs praying in Bulgar city, 17Aug2009 top2009

Ingushetia -- Volunteers carry a victim at a site of an explosion of a police compound in Nazran, 17Aug2009 - RUSSIAN FEDERATION, Nazran : Volunteers carry a dead body at a site of explosion of a police compound in Nazran on August 17, 2009. A truck packed with explosives rammed through the gates Monday of a police compound in southern Russia and exploded in an attack that killed at least 16 people and wounded dozens top2009

Russia -- Russian emergency rescuers work at the scene of an accident at the Sayano-Shushenskaya hydroelectric power station in Cheryomushky, 19Aug2009 - Russian emergency rescuers work at the scene of an accident at the Sayano-Shushenskaya hydroelectric power station in Cheryomushky on August 19, 2009. Rescuers insisted they had not given up hope for 62 workers still missing two days after a flood engulfed a Siberian hydroelectric power station in the latest calamity to hit the Russian energy industry. AFP PHOTO / ALEXANDER NEMENOV top2009

Afghanistan -- A girl displays her finger marked with indelible ink after casting her vote at a polling station in Kabul, 20Aug2009 - AFGHANISTAN, Kabul : An Afghan girl displays her finger marked with indelible ink after casting her vote at a polling station in Kabul on August 20, 2009. Afghans voted to elect a president for just the second time in their war-torn history as a massive security clampdown swung into action to prevent threatened Taliban attacks derailing the ballot. top2009

Poland -- A Polish veteran at ceremonies marking the anniversary of the first day of World War II at Westerplatte Monument in Gdansk, 01Sep2009 - POLAND, Gdansk : A Polish veteran looks at navy soldiers and honour guards on early September 1, 2009 during ceremonies marking the anniversary of the first day of World War II at Westerplatte Monument in Gdansk. top2009

Russia -- President Dmitry Medvedev awards tennis player Elena Dementyeva the order Service to the Fatherland, Moscow, 0 - RUSSIAN FEDERATION, Moscow : Russian President Dmitry Medvedev awards tennis player Elena Dementyeva the order Service to the Fatherland, IV Degree, at the Kremlin in Moscow on September 8, 2009. Medvedev handed out state awards to several dozen sports professionals in a ceremony at the Kremlin. top2009

China -- 60th anniversary National Day celebrants in Beijing, 01oct2009 - CHINA, Beijing : A father carries his daughter as they celebrate National Day in Beijing on October 1, 2009. China formally kicked off mass celebrations of 60 years of communist rule with a 60-gun salute that rung out across Beijing's historic Tiananmen Square but due to security concerns most of Beijing's 17 million citizens were relegated to watching the pageant in their hometown on television like the rest of China. AFP PHOTO/Peter PARKS top2009

Kosovo - Setting the statue of U.S. President Bill Clinton in Pristina, 12Oct2009 - top2009

Russia -- Sanitary service workers prepare to burn up swine that were killed to combat African swine plague in the Tsimlyansk district, Rostov Oblast, 06Oct2009 - 62. Россия. Ростовская область. 6 октября. Сотрудники санитарных служб готовят к сжиганию туши павших животных во время ликвидации очага африканской чумы свиней в Цимлянском районе. Фото ИТАР-ТАСС/ Валерий Матыцин ROSTOV REGION, RUSSIA. OCTOBER 6, 2009. Sanitary service workers prepare to burn up swine that were killed to combat African swine plague in the Tsimlyansk district, Rostov Oblast top2009

Afghanistan -- US Marines are engulfed in a storm of dust and debris as a CH-53 helicopter lands to transport them from their forward operating base in Farah Province, 12Oct2009 - AFGHANISTAN, Farah province : US Marines from Fox Company 2nd Battalion 3rd Marines are engulfed in a storm of dust and debris as a CH-53 helicopter lands to transport them from their forward operating base in Farah Province, southern Afghanistan, on October 12, 2009. Twenty Taliban militants were killed and a number arrested in separate operations involving foreign forces and Afghan troops, police, military commanders and the government said today. top2009

Iraq -- An Iraqi nurse attends to an injured soldier at a hospital in the northern city of Kirkuk, 255 kms from Baghdad, 13Oct2009 - IRAQ, Kirkuk : An Iraqi nurse attends to an injured soldier at a hospital in the northern city of Kirkuk, 255 kms from Baghdad, on October 13, 2009. Ten people were killed, including two Iraqi soldiers and the leader of a Sunni Arab militia allied with the United States, in bombings across Iraq. Two Iraqi soldiers were killed by a roadside bomb targeting their patrol near ethnically mixed Kirkuk, which is at the centre of a land dispute between the autonomous Iraqi region of Kurdistan and the central government. top2009

Iran -- Two Iranian children fly kites in a Kite festival in Mahallat, 17Oct2009 - http://www.farsnews.com/imgrep.php?nn=8807250786 top2009

Afghanistan -- An elderly man walks through the Bird Street Market in Kabul, 19Oct2009 - AFGHANISTAN, Kabul : An elderly Afghan man walks through the Bird Street Market in Kabul on October 19, 2009. Afghanistan's Electoral Complaints Commission on October 19 released a report into allegations of fraud in the country's presidential election, two months after the controversial polls.The report by the UN-backed commission is pivotal to a decision about whether Afghanistan can declare a new president or if the war-torn country must go to the polls for a second time. The ECC said it had delivered the results of its finding to the Independent Election Commission (IEC), ordering it to "invaldiate a certain percentage of each candidates' votes". top2009

Georgia -- US actor Andy Garcia during the shooting of a scene in Tbilisi, 20Oct2009 - top2009

Iraq -- An Iraqi weeps as he walks away from the ministries of justice and labour following a suicide bombing, 25Oct2009 - An Iraqi weeps as he walks away from the ministries of justice and labour following a suicide bombing on 25Oct2009. Twin suicide car bombs blasted the justice ministry and the provincial offices in central Baghdad killing at least 90 people and injuring 600 others. top2009

Pakistan -- A youth mourns as shops burn at a market following a deadly car bomb blast in Peshawar, 28Oct2009 - PAKISTAN, Peshawar : A Pakistani youth mourns as shops burn at a market following a deadly car bomb blast in Peshawar on October 28, 2009. A car bomb destroyed a packed Pakistani market October 28, slaughtering 80 people and underscoring the blood-drenched scale of the extremist threat top2009

Russia -- A boy wears mask as swine flu spreads through the city of Chita, 29Oct2009 - Chita public-sector workers told to wear masks as swine flu spreads through the city top2009

Belarus -- Remembrance Day (Dziady) march in Minsk, 01Nov2009 - Дзяды 2009 top2009

Iran -- A member of the Basij militia holds an anti-US slogan during a rally outside the former US embassy in Tehran, 04Nov2009 - IRAN, Tehran : An Iranian member of the Basij militia holds an anti-US slogan during a rally outside the former US embassy in Tehran on November 4, 2009 to mark the storming of the American embassy by Iranian students 30 years ago. Thousands of Iranians staged the noisy anti-US rally in central Tehran as riot police armed with batons and firing teargas moved in as several hundred opposition supporters attempted to stage an anti-government protest. top2009

Russia - Soldiers clad in replica WWII uniforms and weapons prepare to a military parade rehearsal on Moscow's Red Square, 05Nov2009 - RUSSIAN FEDERATION, Moscow : Russian soldiers clad in replica WWII uniforms and weapons prepare to a military parade rehearsal on Moscow's Red Square on November 5, 2009. The parade is a reenactment of the November 7, 1941 events, when troops marched directly to the front from Red Square to fight the invading fascist troops. top2009

Germany -- A tree grows through the bumper of a VW Beetle with East German licence plate near Fuldatal, 06Nov2009 - Caption: A tree grows through the bumper of a VW Beetle near Fuldatal, Germany, 06 November 2009. The Beetle was supposedly the first car to cross the German-German border after the Berlin Wall was opened. Hidden in a garden it is a little memorial of German-German history. POTW46 top2009

Russia -- Communists march to mark 92th anniversary of Great October Revolution in Moscow, 07Nov2009 - Russia -- Communists march to mark 92th anniversary of Great October Revolution in Moscow, 07Nov2009 stalin POTW46 top2009

Germany -- The Brandenburg Gate surrounded by dominoes, representing the Berlin Wall, stretching from the Tor to Potsdamer Square in Berlin, 08Nov2009 - Caption: epa01926369 The Brandenburger Tor surounded by dominoes, representing the Berlin Wall, stretching from the Tor to Potsdamer Square in Berlin Germany on 08 November 2009. Some 1,000 of these dominos have been set up between the Reichstag building, Brandenburg Gate and Potsdam Square and mark the former course of the Berlin Wall. On 09 November at eight o'clock in the evening, the dominos will be toppled during the celebration of the 20th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall. top2009 POTW46

U.S. -- A fallen soldiers memorial is seen in front of the podium where the memorial service for the thirteen victims of the shooting rampage by US Army Major Nidal Malik Hasan will be served, 10Nov2009 - UNITED STATES, FORT HOOD : A fallen soldiers memorial is seen in front of the podium where the memorial service that US President Barack Obama and first lady Michelle Obama will attend for the thirteen victims of the shooting rampage by US Army Major Nidal Malik Hasan on November 10, 2009 in Fort Hood, Texas. Hasan, an army psychiatrist, killed 13 people and wounded 30 in a shooting at the military base on November 5, 2009. top2009 POTW46

Serbia -- A man kisses the hand of Serbian Orthodox Patriarch Pavle during a memorial service at the Congregational church, in Belgrade, 15Nov2009 - epa01934797 A man kisses the hand of Serbian Orthodox Patriarch Pavle during a memorial service at the Congregational church, in Belgrade, Serbia, 15 November 2009. Patriarch Pavle, who led Serbia's Christian Orthodox Church through its post-Communist revival and called for peace and conciliation during the Balkan conflicts of the 1990s, died on 15 November 2009 at the age of 95. POTW47 top2009 Photo by epa/KOCA SULEJMANOVIC

Czech Republic - Czech people watch a symbolic iron curtain falling on Narodni trida in Prague in commemoration of the 20th anniversary of the Velvet Revolution, on 17Nov2009 - CZECH REPUBLIC, Prague : Czech people watch a symbolic iron curtain falling on Narodni trida in Prague in commemoration of the 20th anniversary of the Velvet Revolution, on November 17, 2009. Thousands of Czech citizens followed the same route taken by student demonstrators in 1989 until a violent intervention by riot police took place in what was then communist Czechoslovakia. The event in 1989 sparked a series of much larger protests and strikes that ended with in the relinquishing of power by the communist authorities in December of 1989, paving the way for the democratic election of a post-communist government under the leadership of then-President Vaclav Havel. AFP PHOTO/ JOE KLAMAR top2009 POTW47

Saudi Arabia -- Muslim pilgrims arrive gather at Mount Arafat, southeast of the city of Mecca, 26Nov2009 - SAUDI ARABIA, ARAFAT : Muslim pilgrims gather at Mount Arafat, southeast of the Saudi city of Mecca on November 26, 2009. Some 2.5 million Muslims from more than 160 countries converge annually on the Islamic cities of Mecca and Medina in western Saudi Arabia for the hajj pilgrimage. AFP PHOTO/MAHMUD HAMS POTW48 top2009

Russia -- Workers inspect a damaged railway carriage, 28Nov2009 - RUSSIAN FEDERATION, UGLOVKA : Workers inspect a damaged railway carriage not far from the village of Uglovka in Russia's Novgorod region on November 28, 2009, as it travelled between Moscow and Saint Petersburg. Rescue workers searched for bodies on November 28, 2009 and investigators opened a terrorism probe after a Russian passenger train derailed overnight, reportedly killing 39 people and injuring nearly 100 more. AFP PHOTO / KIRILL KUDRYAVTSEV POTW49 top2009

Norway -- Nobel Peace Prize laureate, US President Barack Obama poses with the diploma and medal during the Nobel Peace prize award ceremony in Oslo, 10Dec2009 - NORWAY, Oslo : Nobel Peace Prize laureate, US President Barack Obama smiles on the podium with his diploma and gold medal during the Nobel ceremony at the City Hall in Oslo on December 10, 2009. The president faces a tricky task of reconciling the revered honor with his decision just last week to send 30,000 troops to escalate the war in Afghanistan, a move which tripled the US force there since he took office. AFP PHOTO / Jewel SAMAD top2009 POTW50