Picture of the Day !!!

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Iraq Oil
FILE - In this file photo of Friday, July 17, 2009, an Iraqi worker operates valves at the Nahran Omar oil refinery near the city of Basra 550 kilometers (340 miles) southeast of Baghdad, Iraq. A consortium grouping U.S. and European oil giants Exxon Mobil Corp. and Royal Dutch Shell PLC won the right to develop one of Iraq’s most prized oil fields, Iraq’s Oil Ministry spokesman said on Thursday Nov. 5, 2009, as the OPEC nation looks to revamp its battered energy sector. (AP Photo

 

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Fort Hood Shooting
Spc. Ryan Howard of Niles, Mich., right and Spc. David Straub of Ardmore, Okla. wait for news of fellow soldiers while waiting at the gate of the Army base after a shooting at Fort Hood, Texas, Thursday, Nov. 5, 2009.

 

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Fort Hood Shooting
FILE - In a Tuesday, Dec. 11, 2007 file photo, the gift of a teddy bear waits as soldiers from the 1st Cavalry Division and 13th Sustainment Command stand in formation during a homecoming ceremony at Fort Hood, Texas. The Army says seven people were killed and 20 wounded in a pair of shootings at the Fort Hood Army base in Texas. An Army spokesman at the Pentagon says the shootings began about 1:30 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 5, 2009 at a personnel and medical processing center at Fort Hood.

 

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Colombia Military
Air Force officers are reflected in a puddle during a military ceremony to celebrate the 90 th anniversary of Colombia’s Air Force in Bogota, Thursday, Nov. 5, 2009.

 

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Bird Feature
Hundreds of small birds take flight near a wine vineyard as a storm rolls in at the Niagara College Teaching Winery on Thursday, Nov. 5, 2009 in Niagara-on-the-Lake, Ont.

 

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Switzerland Solar Airplane
The prototype of a solar powered plane is checked on the field of the airport in Duebendorf, Switzerland, Friday, Nov. 6, 2009. Swiss adventurer Bertrand Piccard plans to fly around the world to highlight the potential of alternative energy sources. The prototype, HB-SIA, has the wingspan of a jumbo jet but weighs only as much as an average family car.

 

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Russia Parade
Russian soldiers dressed in Red Army World War II uniform run during a mock attack at the Red Square during a parade in Red Square in Moscow, Russia, Saturday, Nov. 7, 2009. The parade marks the 68th anniversary of a November 7 parade on Red Square when soldiers went directly to the front during World War II. November 7 for decades was a holiday celebrating the 1917 Bolshevik Revolution.

 

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Iraq Police Graduation
Iraqi police women look on during a Police graduation ceremony, at Baghdad’s Police College, Ministry of Interior Complex, Iraq, on Monday, Nov. 9 , 2009. Hundreds of police officers including fifty women that graduated Monday from the professional police course will join the police force in Baghdad.

 

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India Jammu
A security officer stands guard at Jammu and Kashmir states’ Civil Secretariat, as it reopens in Jammu, India, Monday, Nov. 9, 2009. India’s Jammu-Kashmir state government functions from two capital cities, Jammu in winter and Srinagar in summer, a practice locally known as ”durbar move” and started by Kashmir’s ruler Maharaja Ranbir Singh in 1872.

 

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Germany Wall Anniversary
A woman places a rose into part of the former Berlin wall, Monday Nov. 9, 2009, following a commemoration ceremony for the 20th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall on Nov. 9, 1989, at the wall memorial ”Bernauer Strasse” in Berlin, Germany. (Photo LEHTIKUVA

 

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South Korea Koreas Naval Clash
FILE - In this June 15, 2009 photo, South Korean Navy patrol boats engage in an exercise in the West Sea, South Korea. Navy ships of the two Koreas exchanged fire Tuesday, Nov. 10, 2009, along their disputed western sea border, a South Korean military officer said

 

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Colombia Rebels
A soldier talks on his cell phone after heavy combat with rebels in Corinto in southern Colombia, Tuesday, Nov. 10, 2009. At least nine soldiers were killed and four wounded when they came under mortar attack by about 100 rebels of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC, according to Col. Luis Danilo Murcia. No information was given regarding wounded or dead rebels.

 

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Fort Hood Memorial
A flag flies at half-staff at Fort Hood, Texas, during a memorial service for the victims of the Fort Hood shootings on Tuesday Nov. 10, 2009.

 

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Brazil Blackouts
Cars drive through Paulista Av. in Sao Paulo during a blackout Tuesday, Nov. 10, 2009. Brazil’s Minister of Mines and Energy Edison Lobao said a massive power failure that threw Brazil’s two largest cities along with other parts of the country into darkness Tuesday night affecting millions of people, after the huge Itaipu hydroelectric dam suddenly went offline. Power was restored in some areas of the city, more than two hours after it went out.

 

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Philippines Volcano
Mayon volcano spews grayish ash for the second time in a day Wednesday, Nov. 11, 2009 at Legazpi, Albay province, about 340 kilometers (212 miles) southeast of Manila, Philippines. Chief state volcanologist Renato Solidum said the cone-shaped Mayon volcano in the central Philippines has shot an ash plume into the air and advised nearby residents to be ready to move to safety in case of eruption. The country’s most active volcano last erupted in 2006 and typhoon-triggered mudslides later that year buried entire villages, killing more than 1,000 people.

 

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China Air Force
Two J-10 fighters perform in an aerobatic show to celebrate the 60th anniversary of the People’s Liberation Army Air Force in Beijing Wednesday Nov. 11, 2009. China’s air force has replaced hundreds of antiquated MIG fighters as part of a thoroughgoing upgrade of its technical capabilities, although it still lags far behind its main rival, the United States.

 

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San Diego Cigar Marine Congress
FILE - This April 9, 2003 file photo shows Staff Sgt. Nick Popaditch of the 3rd Battalion, 4th Marines Regiment, smoking a cigar while standing on top of his tank, in downtown Baghdad in front of a statue of Saddam Hussein just before his unit helped tear it down. Popaditch, 42, who was blinded in one eye by a rocket-propelled grenade to the head in Fallujah announced Tuesday Nov. 10, 2009, he is running for Congress in California’s most southern district. He is seeking the Republican nomination to unseat Democrat Bob Filner.

 

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Australia Iceberg
In this Nov. 5, 2009, photo provided by the Australian Antarctic Division, a large iceberg spotted off Macquarie Island, about 1,500 kilometers (930 miles) southeast of Australia, mid-way between Antarctica and Australia. It is a rare sight in waters so far north, Australian scientists said Thursday, Nov. 12, 2009.

 

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Turkey defense
A Turkish army Leopard 1 tank drives through a test range at a military base near the western town of Arifiye, Turkey, Thursday, Nov. 12, 2009. It is the last of 171 Leopard tanks refurbished with high-tech fire control units by Turkish defense company Aselsan. Turkey is trying to modernize its aging tank fleet while hoping to build its own indigineous tank, dubbed the Altay.

 

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Iraq Navy
A U.S soldier stands as the Iraqi Navy patrol ship Nasir (Victory) 701 arrives at the port Umm Qasr near Basra Iraq’s second-largest city, 550 kilometers (340 miles) southeast of Baghdad, Iraq during a handover ceremony, on Thursday, Nov. 12, 2009. Italian shipyard Fincantieri has handed over the ship, the second of four patrol vessels ordered by the Iraqi Navy. (AP Photo