The Week in Pictures
Team Canada 1 with pilot Lyndon Rush, top, slides in the break lane after crashing behind the finish line in fourth place in the FIBT Four-Man Bobsled World Cup competition in Altenberg, Germany. No one was injured. (Matthias Rietschel / Associated Press)
Greenpeace activists stand under floating car hoods in Lake Chapultepec in
Cincinnati wide receiver Chad Ochocinco stops to say a prayer at a poster of fallen teammate Chris Henry moments after the visiting Bengals’ 27-24 loss to the San Diego Chargers. (Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)
Eric Guevara, 3, gets a handshake and a Mickey Mouse toy at Fred Jordan Mission’s skid row Christmas toy and food giveaway. (Genaro Molina / Los Angeles Times)
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Tantan, a 1-month-old male Francois monkey, is seen with his parents at the zoological gardens Zoorasia. (Itsuo Inouye / Associated Press)
Crews work to clear the tarmac at Logan International Airport in Boston. A spokesman said the airport should be back to normal by Monday. (Michael Dwyer / Associated Press)
Former Maoist rebels participate in a torch rally. The former rebels announced a three-day general strike after talks between the leaders of their party and the ruling party failed. (Binod Joshi / Associated Press)
A couple makes their way across a street in Baltimore. A blizzard-like storm rocked the Mid-Atlantic and Northeast, crippling travel across the region and causing hundreds of thousands of power outages. The storm system stretched from the Carolinas north to New England and spread into some Midwestern states. (Karl Merton Ferron / Baltimore Sun)
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A snowball fight took over the intersection of 14th and U streets during a snow storm. The event was organized by a Twitter group calling for people to gather and participate; more then 200 showed up. (Pablo Martinez Monsivais / Associated Press)
On the outskirts of Tuba City, Ariz., Ilandric Begay, 3, plays with a gun in the shadeless, dusty backyard area his mother wishes was “more better” for her children. (Barbara Davidson / Los Angeles Times)
Maelle Ricker #1 of Canada (1st place), Dominique Maltais #4 of Canada (3rd place), Simona Meiler of Switzerland (2nd place), and Tanja Frieden #7 of Switzerland (4th place) race down the track during the women’s final of the FIS Snowboardcross World Cup 2010. (Streeter Lecka / Getty Images)
A ball of flame erupts from a gas station that burned in the capital. African Union peacekeepers, Somalia government forces and local residents attempted to extinguish the blaze. Officials believe insurgents may have caused the fire. (Abdurashid Abdulle / Agence France-Presse)
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The sun goes down behind a Ferris wheel at a Christmas market in Berlin. More snowfall and cold temperatures are forecast for the next few days in the German capital. Europe’s biggest economy continued to recover steadily from its worst recession in decades, a leading survey showed. (Timur Emek / AFP / Getty Images)
Beachgoers catch the golden light of late afternoon at Belmont Shore in Long Beach, where temperatures felt a lot like summer. (Luis Sinco / Los Angeles Times)
Martin Tstamarck leaves his flooded mobile home in Pembroke Park, Fla., after more than 14 inches of rain fell across the southern part of the state. (Joe Raedle / Getty Images)
An Afghan child looks out at a U.S. Marine with the 2nd Battalion 2nd Marines “Warlords” out on an operation in the Garmsir district of Helmand province, in southern Afghanistan. (Kevin Frayer / Associated Press)
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A diver in a Santa Claus costume feeds a group of fish as a dolphin passes at the Hakkeijima Sea Paradise park complex in Yokohama, southwest of Tokyo. (Franck Robichon / EPA)
A man feed seagulls from a bridge on the Dambovita River in Bucharest. Romania was hit by a thick blanket of snow that caused major transport problems and power outages in some areas of the southeastern European country. Most flights from Bucharest airport were delayed and many trains from the capital were canceled. (Daniel Mihailescu / AFP / Getty Images)
Austria’s Benjamin Raich goes airborne en route to a ninth-place finish in the World Cup Super-G ski race in the Saslong Classic at Val Gardena, Italy. Aksel Lund Svindal of Norway won the event in 1 minute 38.35 seconds. (CHRISTOPHE SIMON / AFP / Getty Images))
Deer stand in the snow after a winter storm southeast of London. (Carl de Souza / AFP/Getty Images)
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A left-wing Israeli protester dressed as a clown in an army uniform is arrested by riot police in East Jerusalem. The incident took place outside a house in the Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood in East Jerusalem that has become a center of protest over Jewish settlements. (Mohammar Awad / EPA)
Two Iranian pro-government women march past a poster bearing portraits of the late revolutionary leader Ayatollah
Lebanese rescuers evacuate a survivor from a freighter that sank in stormy seas off north Lebanon with at least 80 people aboard. The Panamanian-flagged Danny F II was transporting livestock from Uruguay to the Syrian port of Tartus.
Here’s an Associated Press account, filed at 7:24 a.m. Dec. 18. Check our U.S. and World News page for updates.
TRIPOLI, Lebanon (AP) -- Rescue workers searched the stormy waters off Lebanon on Friday after a cargo ship sank, killing at least nine crew members and leaving dozens missing.
The Panamanian-flagged cargo ship carrying thousands of sheep and other livestock went down Thursday in heavy rain.
A senior Lebanese army officer said 35 people were still missing. Of the 83 crew members on board, 39 were rescued and nine bodies were recovered, the officer said on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to media.
The crew members were from Britain, Australia, Russia, Lebanon, Syria, Pakistan, the Philippines and Uruguay, the state-run National News Agency reported.
The ship was believed to have been sailing from Uruguay to Syria. It went down Thursday afternoon some 11 miles (17 kilometers) from the Lebanese port city of Tripoli.
Rescue operations continued Friday despite high waves. Red Cross workers helped several dazed survivors, wrapped in woolen blankets, into ambulances Friday. One man, unable to walk, grimaced as a rescue worker carried him over his shoulder.
One of the Pakistani crew members, Ahmad Khan, said that before the vessel sank the crew felt it shake. The captain then instructed the crew to put on life vests and jump into the water, from where they watched the ship go under, he said.
The rescue effort was being carried out by the Lebanese navy, a U.N. peacekeeping force, two civilian ships and two British helicopters from Cyprus.
(Joseph Eid / AFP/Getty Images)
Sylvain Dufour of France races in the FIS Snowboard Parallel Giant Slalom World Cup. (Doug Pensinger / Getty Images)
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Nasir Mia, right, helps upright an 11-foot noble fir Christmas tree on a wooden stand at Tina’s Trees. (Mel Melcon / Los Angeles Times)
President Obama exits the Oval Office and heads for Marine One on the first leg of his journey to Copenhagen, Denmark, to attend the U.N. conference on climate change. (Saul Loeb / AFP / Getty Images)
A young skateboarder tries out the new Boyle Heights Skate Plaza, which officially opened Thursday at Hollenbeck Park. The 14,000-square-foot, tri-level skateboard park was built at a cost of $350,000, which was funded in part by the city and professional skateboarder Rob Dyrdek, founder of the Safe Spot Skate Spot program for children. (Luis Sinco / Los Angeles Times)
The rising sun tops a spruce tree, bringing dazzling rays but little warmth to Fred Brancuto and his dog, Augie. (Robert F. Bukaty / Associated Press)
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Ethnic Albanians chop firewood at a market in Pristina, Kosovo. (Armend Nimani / AFP/Getty Images)
Israeli police officers arrest a Jewish settler following scuffles at the entrance of the West Bank Jewish settlement Thursday. The Israeli settlers tried to block the entrance of civil administration inspectors enforcing a 10-month limited freeze on construction in the West Bank settlements. (Ilia Yefimovich AFP / Getty Images)
Farmers dump hay outside the presidential Elysee Palace on Thursday to protest falling food prices and demand more help from the government. The Agriculture Ministry said this week that farmers’ revenue fell 34% in 2009. (Francois Mori / Associated Press)
A Romanian woman, a relative of a victim of the 1989 anti-communist revolution, is overwhelmed during a religious commemoration at Heros of the Revolution cemetery northwest of Bucharest on Thursday. Dozens of people from all over the country paid respects to those who took to the streets 20 years ago, sparking the revolution that toppled Eastern Europe’s most repressive communist regime. More than 1,000 people were killed across Romania during clashes between demonstrators and forces loyal to ruthless dictator Nicolae Ceausescu. (Robert Ghement / EPA)
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A man shovels snow in Friesland, the northern region of the Netherlands, on Thursday. (Jaap Schaaf AFP / Getty Images)
A woman on a ski tour walks toward a cross on the Alp Salaz, 6,700 feet above sea level, above Untervaz during a frosty day at 8.6 degrees Fahrenheit on Thursday. (Arno Balzarini / Associated Press)
Michelle Monaghan and
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Cape penguins wearing Christmas-style scarves walk together at the Hakkeijima Sea Paradise aquarium Thursday. A Christmas show will be held daily to attract visitors until
Lava cascades down Mayon volcano in the central Philippines, where a state of imminent disaster has been declared. Ten of thousands of people have fled their homes ahead of an expected eruption. (Dennis M. Sabangan / EPA)
Flight medic Sgt. Antonio Gattis, left, of Salisbury, Md., helps Marine Pfc. Joseph Adams of Douglasville, Ga., to a medevac helicopter after he was injured at his forward operating base. (Scott Olson / Getty Images)
Pakistani lawyers listen on a cellphone outside of the Supreme Court as judges rule against an amnesty law that has protected President Asif Ali Zardari from prosecution on corruption charges. Full story (Farooq Naeem / AFP/Getty Images)
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The 180-ton luxury yacht Elegance RPH is out of its element as it’s pulled across a street in Dusseldorf, Germany, trying to make its way to the city’s fairground for the “Boot 2010” fair, open Jan. 23-31. (Martin Meissner / Associated Press)
Snow gathers on a deer’s antlers as the animal sits in Richmond Park in London. (Dan Kitwood / Getty Images)
Riot police try to control the crowd. They fired pepper spray and beat protesters with batons as hundreds of demonstrators sought to disrupt climate change conference. Police said 260 protesters were detained. Full story (Thibault Camus / Associated Press)
Danish riot police use their batons to push back protesters outside of the Bella Center, the venue of the United Nations climate change conference in Copenhagen. Full story (Peter Dejong / Associated Press)
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A skier catches some air during the first downhill training session of the men’s World Cup in Val Gardena, Italy. (Christophe Simon / AFP / Getty Images)
A steam engine climbs a gradient on the Brocken Mountain Railway near Drei Annen Hohne in eastern Germany as snow and low temperatures turned the landscape into a winter wonderland. (Frank Drechsler / Associated Press)
People gather with candles at the Opera Square in Timisoara, one of the starting points of the 1989 Romanian Revolution, to re-create the uprising that brought down communist rule in that country. (Daniel Mihailescu / AFP/Getty Images)
Dan Carcillo of the Philadelphia Flyers is restrained by linesman Jonny Murray after Carcillo had fought with a player from the Pittsburgh Penguins. The Penguins defeated the Flyers, 6-1. (Bruce Bennett / Getty Images)
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Marestella Torres of the Philippines wins the gold medal in the long jump at the 25th Southeast Asian Games. (Wason Wanichakorn / Associated Press)
Ultra-Orthodox Jewish residents light Hanukkah candles in the window of their home in the Mea Shearim neighborhood. (Abir Sultan / EPA)
Indonesians try to extinguish a fire that raged through food stalls and houses in a slum in Jakarta. The cause was not immediately known. There were no reports of injuries. (Dita Alangkara / Associated Press)
Rescue workers help a woman wounded in an explosion in the Afghan capital on Tuesday. A suicide car bomber struck near the home of a former Afghan vice president and a hotel frequented by Westerners, killing at least eight people and wounding nearly 40 in a neighborhood considered one of Kabul’s safest. (Daud Yardost / AFP-Getty Images)
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Erna Waechter keeps warm after a snowstorm in the Thuringian Forest near Oberhof on Tuesday. (Jens Meyer / Associated Press)
A man stands near a globe at the Bella Center in Copenhagen, where the international conference on climate change is being held. (Adrian Dennis / AFP-Getty Images)
Snowboarders ride the ski lift at Timberline Lodge on Tuesday. Heavy snowfall is complicating the search for two climbers missing on Mt. Hood. Anthony Vietti, 24, of Longview, Wash., and Katie Nolan, 29, of Portland, Ore., have been missing since Friday. (Don Ryan / Associated Press)
Smoke from power plants rises over Novodevichi Convent in Moscow on Tuesday. A vicious frost held the Russian city in its grip as temperatures hit minus 13 degrees Fahrenheit. (Mikhail Metzel / Associated Press)
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Birds fly over a snow-covered frozen pond near the Novodevichy monastery in Moscow. Temperatures in
Dede Koswara poses for a photographer in his home village in Bandung. Due to a rare genetic problem with Dede’s
A Filipino rides a zipline against the backdrop of the Mayon volcano in Legazpi City. After five successive minor ash explosions and 43 volcanic earthquakes recorded in 24 hours, the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology on Dec. 14 raised the alert level at Mayon Volcano from two to three. An official for the province has ordered the Joint Task Force Mayon to pre-position its vehicles for a possible evacuation of 30,000 residents. (Dennis M. Sabangan / EPA)
Lil Wayne, second from right, arrives at State Supreme Court in New York. The rapper pleaded guilty in a 2-year-old gun case. (Andy Kropa / Getty Images)
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A visitor walks past a photo collage at the
Environmental activists hold a demonstration in the center of Denmark’s capital. World leaders started arriving in Copenhagen today to attend the climate summit, where they hope to work toward a global agreement. (Jeff J Mitchell / Getty Images)
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Director Connie Jones, center, and longtime volunteers Elsa Alvarado, left, and Jessie Allen embrace and weep after fire destroyed the Southwest Community Center at 1601 W. 2nd St. in
A man bathes in the Yamuna River in New Delhi, where more than a quarter of residents have no access to piped water. (Daniel Berehulak / Getty Images)
Camilla, the Duchess of Cornwall, visits the 4th Battalion The Rifles at Bulford Camp, where she presented Afghanistan campaign medals to British soldiers. The 4th Battalion The Rifles was formed in February 2007. (Chris Jackson / Getty Images)
Increased activity by the Mayon volcano near the Philippine town in Albay province has prompted authorities to order the evacuation of 9,000 families. (Charism Sayat / AFP/Getty Images)
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A member of the royal guard yawns before the arrival of Vietnamese President Nguyen Minh Triet at the Pardo Palace. (Victor R. Caivano / Associated Press)
A Turkish vessel is half sunk near Sukhumi, capital of the breakaway Georgian region of Abkhazia, on the Black Sea. (Sergey Ponomarev / Associated Press)
A woman, right, and children interact with a giant Rubik’s Cube at the exhibition “The 80s Are Back” at the Powerhouse Museum in Sydney. Drawing on the museum’s extensive collection and complemented by signature items borrowed from collectors and entertainers, the exhibition, which opened last week, explores life and popular culture in Australia in the 1980s. (Greg Wood / AFP / Getty Images)
Attendees of the United Nations Climate Change Conference walk past a globe at the Bella Centre in Copenhagen. Negotiations for a new agreement to combat global warming entered their second week today, prompting an influx of new arrivals, notably from ministerial delegations. (Axel Schmidt / AFP / Getty Images)
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College student Kim Hyuck-joon adjusts his false beard in front of a mirror during the first day of Santa Claus school in Seoul. Christmas is one of the biggest holidays celebrated in South Korea, with over half the population being Christians. (Ahn Young-joon / Associated Press)
Naung Kya and Nyi Nyi Tun of Myanmar compete during the men’s 10-meter platform synchronized diving finals at the 25th Southeast Asian Games in Vientiane, Laos. (Wong Maye-E / Associated Press)
People walk past snow-covered trees on the mountain Schauinsland in the Black Forest region of southern Germany. (Winfried Rothermel / Associated Press)
Palestinian families wait to receive free food at an Islamic Council charity in the West Bank city of Hebron. The charity, run by the local Islamic council there, provides free meals year round to poor Muslims. (Abed Al Hashlamoun / EPA)
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A Hamas security officer shouts slogans during a rally marking the 22nd anniversary of the Islamist movement’s founding. Appearing at the rally in Gaza City, Hamas Prime Minister Ismail Haniya told tens of thousands of supporters gathered there that his group remained committed to the elimination of Israel. (Mahmud Hams / AFP / Getty Images)
Security officers stop an activist from the Ukrainian women’s movement FEMEN from climbing a barrier in Kiev’s Mykhailivska Square prior to a special event regarding the 2012 UEFA European Football Championship. The FEMEN movement speaks out against sex tourism and the trafficking of women in Ukraine. (Efrem Lukatsky / Associated Press)