Amazing News

'Hundreds on the run' after Haiti jailbreak

freehugsworld@gmail.com (Freeman Hugsworld) — Tue, 12 Aug 2014 07:04:00 -0700

Gang attacks high-security prison in raid that was aimed at freeing businessman imprisoned on child kidnap charges.

An armed gang has attacked Haiti's main high-security prison in an audacious jailbreak, officials and police said, and hundreds of inmates may have flooded out, according to residents.
Police spokesman Gary Desrosiers said officials were not sure how many of the 899 inmates escaped from the prison northeast of the capital, but he said 10 had been recaptured.
Residents of the small town told the AFP news agency that several hundred people came out of the prison, running in every direction, just moments after intense gunfire broke out in the jail.
At least two guards suffered bullet wounds in the attack, which occurred shortly before noon at the Croix-des-Bouquets prison.

Desrosiers told reporters the raid apparently was aimed at freeing Clifford Brandt, a businessman who has been imprisoned since 2012 on charges of kidnapping at least two children.
"It was a conspiracy carried out inside the prison that caused the escape. There was no attack from outside, contrary to what had been announced," Desrosiers said.
"We are already actively searching for a numbers of fugitives - especially Clifford Brant. We are asking the population to collaborate with us."
Haiti's government offered a reward of about $20,000 for information leading to the recapture of Brandt.
The prison was built in 2012 with Canadian financial aid to replace a prison devastated by the country's 2010 earthquake.

Source:

Al Jazeera and agencie

Iraq president asks deputy speaker to be PM

freehugsworld@gmail.com (Freeman Hugsworld) — Tue, 12 Aug 2014 06:59:00 -0700

Fouad Massoum asks Haider al-Abadi, country's main Shia coalition's nominee for prime minister, to form a government.

Iraq's president has asked Haider al-Abadi, Iraq's main Shia coalition nominee for prime minister, to form a government.
Fouad Massoum tasked Abadi, first deputy speaker of parliament, with the role during a brief ceremony broadcast live on television on Monday.

"The country is now in your hands," Massoum told Abadi, who moments earlier was selected as nominee for prime minister instead of incumbent Nouri al-Maliki by the Shia National Alliance parliamentary bloc.
Maliki remains caretaker prime minister until Abadi can form a new government, which he has 30 days to do.
The official Facebook page for Maliki's State of Law coalition said Abadi's nomination had "no value," and a senior leader in the Dawa party, to which both Abadi and Maliki belong, said Abadi's nomination did not represent the group.
"Haider al-Abadi was not nominated by the Dawa party, and he only represents himself," said Khodair al-Hozaei, who served as vice-president, under former President, Jalal Talabani.
Al Jazeera's Jane Arraf, reporting from Erbil, said that Maliki would launch a legal case to prevent Abadi from taking office.
Allies of the incumbent prime minister called the attempt to remove him a "Kurdish and American conspiracy," Arraf said.
Iraqi state TV said the the electoral slate would hold a news conference, which will be attended by Maliki.
News of Abadi's appointment has been welcomed by the US and the UN, with the latter's special representative in Iraq, Nickolay Mladenov, praising Massoum for fulfilling "his role".
Mladenov also warned the country's military from getting involved in the political process.
"The Iraqi Security Forces should refrain from actions that may be seen as interference in matters related to the democratic transfer of political authority," he said in a statement.
The deepening political tensions come as fighters from the Islamic State group made advances by capturing the town of Jalawla northeast of Baghdad, after defeating Kurdish Peshmerga troops.
This latest round of political infighting could hamper efforts to stem advances by the Sunni group.
The State of Law had won the most parliament seats in the April elections and Maliki had seen himself as keeping the post for a third term.
But has been accused by critics of steering the country toward a sectarian war.

'Constitution violation'
In a televised speech late on Sunday, Maliki had declared that he would file a legal complaint against Masum, for committing a "clear consitution violation" by missing a deadline to ask the biggest bloc in parliament to nominate a prime minister.
Iraqi special forces loyal to Maliki were deployed at Baghdad's main intersections on Monday, police officials said.
An Al Jazeera source reported that there were heightened security but there were no tanks visible.
On Monday, the French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius called on the EU to "mobilise" to respond to appeals from Iraqi Kurds for arms to fight Islamic State members, as the US continues its air campaign against the fighters.

Senior US officials told AP news agency on Monday that the Obama administration, which launched airdrops and airstrikes last week to support Kurdish and Iraqi forces battling the armed group, has begun directly providing weapons to the Kurdish peshmerga forces.
On Sunday, Obama said resolving the crisis would be a "long term project" that would not end unless Iraqis formed an inclusive government capable of keeping the country from breaking apart.
No official comment has yet been made about the weapons supply.
While the airdrops appear to have provided urgently needed aid, the harsh conditions of the Sinjar mountain range in mid-summer have taken scores of lives among Iraq's Yazidi minority, who are threatened by the armed group.

More than 30,000 Yazidis, mainly from Sinjar, have already crossed into an area of northern Iraq controlled by Kurdish forces after a week-long journey that took them through Syria after they left the mountain, according to Yazidis and UN officials.

A 'new Turkey' under President Erdogan?

freehugsworld@gmail.com (Freeman Hugsworld) — Tue, 12 Aug 2014 06:57:00 -0700

Turkey's new president-elect is expected to change the political system, but experts say Erdogan faces many challenges.

Results showed Erdogan winning 52 percent of the votes in Turkey's first presidential election [Reuters]

Istanbul, Turkey - Turkey's outgoing Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan has secured the majority required to win in the first round of the country's first direct presidential elections, but low voter turnout in the landmark polls has raised uncertainty around Erdogan's efforts to change the country's political system.
"There is no doubt that he won the election, but it is not the resounding mandate [Erdogan] was seeking to transform the Turkish constitution," said Soli Ozel, a professor of international relations and political science at Istanbul Bilgi University.
Provisional results showed Erdogan winning 52 percent of the vote, ahead of his two rivals, Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu, the main candidate of the two main opposition parties in parliament, the centre-left Republican People's Party (CHP) and the far-right Nationalist Movement Party (MHP), and pro-Kurdish Selahattin Demirtas.
Early estimates indicated that 70 percent of the 53 million eligible voters participated in the election, a sharp drop from the 89 percent turnout that gave Erdogan's ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) a resounding victory in local elections in March.
Voting in Turkey is compulsory and the state punishes those who do not vote with a monetary fine, but the law is rarely enforced.

There is no doubt that he won the election, but it is not the resounding mandate [Erdogan] was seeking to transform the Turkish constitution.

- Soli Ozel, professor at Istanbul Bilgi University

Ahead of Turkish parliamentary elections in 2015, Erdogan is expected to push through constitutional change to bolster the current role of president, and transform Turkish politics into a US-style presidential system with executive powers.
"A new constitution on the path to a new Turkey will be one of our priorities if elected president. A new constitution means a new future," Erdogan said during his campaign.

Polling booths in Istanbul were quiet well into the afternoon on Sunday, with voters trickling in at a
major polling station in central Besiktas. "I'm voting for Erdogan, for the prosperity and wellbeing of the country," said salesman Hassan Korc, 52, in Kasimpasa, the working class neighbourhood where Erdogan was born and raised.
"We couldn't express our religion openly before. Everyone is more comfortable now, whether they wear a headscarf or not," he told Al Jazeera.
While remaining popular among the country's majority Sunni Muslim voters, and boasting successful economic credentials, Erdogan has faced the biggest challenges to his 11-year reign as prime minister in the last year - violently suppressing a mass uprising against his rule in 2013 and enduring a widespread corruption scandal.
Critics point to growing disenchantment with the man they perceive to be increasingly authoritarian.

Erdogan wins Turkey's presidential election.

"I will vote for Ekmeleddin even though I don't like him at all," said Zafer Asilmar, 40, a telecommunications manager in the CHP stronghold of Besiktas, at the polls. "We are going to lose anyway, but at least if it goes to a second round, it would send the message that there are 50 percent who don't support him [Erdogan]," he said,
Others said the inevitability of Erdogan's win at presidential elections - seen as less critical to the success of the party than local elections in March - and summer holidays were behind the lower turnout, even in AKP-supporting districts.
"We wouldn't expect such a change among the electorate from local elections in March," said Galip Dalay, a researcher at the Ankara based Foundation for Political, Economic and Social Research (SETA). "The motivation to go to the polls was lower than the local elections; the consequences were not so high, " he said, noting that all previous opinion polls predicted Erdogan would win by a wide margin.

IN PICTURES: Turkey votes in presidential election

Erdogan now faces the much more critical challenge of choreographing the right domestic political conditions to transition the country to the presidential system. AKP officials have argued Turkey - a NATO member and key Washington ally - is more suited to a presidential system, suggesting the current parliamentary system is an outdated relic of unwanted military rule.

A first round win means more legitimacy for Erdogan and will strengthen his case for being a stronger president, but the uncertainty is not in the outcome of this election, but the set-up of the new Turkish government.

- Sinan Ulgen, EDAM think tank and Carnegie Europe scholar

Erdogan has pegged his campaign to a vision of a "new Turkey", in what most interpret as moving the country away from its secular past. But others fear a transition to a presidential system that will give Erdogan special powers over the military and courts and will remove a system of checks and balances in what they say is an already-eroding democracy.
Analysts said he will need to appoint a compliant government which will exercise his will, but also lead the AKP to victory in parliamentary elections and retain a majority to successfully push through the constitutional amendments.
"A first round win means more legitimacy for Erdogan and will strengthen his case for being a stronger president, but the uncertainty is not in the outcome of this election, but the set-up of the new Turkish government," said Sinan Ulgen, chairman of the Istanbul-based EDAM think tank, and a visiting scholar at Carnegie Europe.
The post of prime minister will prove critical. "Who the party chooses as prime minister is important because that person will be tasked by Erdogan to set up the new cabinet," Ulgen said.
Under the current constitution, Erdogan will need to resign as chairman of the ruling AKP once confirmed as president. The outgoing president, Abdullah Gul, will handover the post on August 20. The party will then need to convene an extraordinary convention to elect a new prime minister and cabinet.
Ulgen said Erdogan will seek to extend his influence as outgoing prime minister and president-elect to choose the new cabinet. "He will stretch the limits of constitutional constraints because he will want to secure a big win at parliamentary elections," he said, adding that he expected Erdogan to focus "almost exclusively" on domestic politics ahead of the 2015 elections, including the peace process with Turkey's Kurds.

Source:

Al Jazeera

Iraq president asks deputy speaker to be PM

freehugsworld@gmail.com (Freeman Hugsworld) — Tue, 12 Aug 2014 05:28:00 -0700

Fouad Massoum asks Haider al-Abadi, country's main Shia coalition's nominee for prime minister, to form a government.

When the Wind creativity

freehugsworld@gmail.com (Freeman Hugsworld) — Mon, 13 Jan 2014 06:14:00 -0800

When the Wind creativity
Over time

In the place when the human not exist

Creativity of nature in silence

On the place, A place to live where angels and demons in the safety and stability
Luck of the four seeds
Brothers endlessly
Gateway Paradise
Entrance to hell
Mammoth sad
Big Pig
When lawless
Wind Dagger
Last haven
Battle Satan
Smile frog :)

Brothers endlessly

Gateway Paradise

Luck of the four seeds

Entrance to hell

Mammoth sad

Big Pig

When lawless

Wind Dagger

Last haven

Battle Satan


Just Frog Smile :)

The End...

I Don’t Care How Photoshopped These Images Are… I Want To Live In This Fantastical World.

freehugsworld@gmail.com (Freeman Hugsworld) — Sun, 12 Jan 2014 11:52:00 -0800

Publication de Amazing News.

A 97 year old woman takes care of her paralyzed 60 year old son. There's nothing like a mother's love.

freehugsworld@gmail.com (Freeman Hugsworld) — Sun, 12 Jan 2014 11:47:00 -0800

Publication de Amazing News.

A Couple Beautifully Says Goodbye To Their Deceased Dog. The Last 2 Photos Destroyed Me.

freehugsworld@gmail.com (Freeman Hugsworld) — Fri, 10 Jan 2014 09:52:00 -0800

Helena and Laurent are a San Francisco-based couple who are not only married, but they work together as wedding photographers. According to their Web site, Helena always wanted to be an artist and Laurent wanted to fly through the desert and photograph lions. They are living a slightly modified version of their dreams (less lions) and love to share that special wedding day with the couples that they photograph.
So it’s no surprise that when their beloved dog, Lunga, recently passed away, they sent her off in beautiful style.

In Lunga’s younger years, she was in a traveling circus.

Helena & Laurent Photography

When Hurricane Katrina hit, Lunga was there… and she swam out!

Helena & Laurent Photography

Helena and Laurent are sad to see her go.

Helena & Laurent Photography

But this weekend, they will plant a Weeping Cherry tree over the place where she lays in an urban farm plot owned by their family.

Helena & Laurent Photography

She will always be surrounded by bunnies, chickens, and her best dog-friend Quila.

Helena & Laurent Photography

I’m sure Helena and Laurent will never forget her.

Helena & Laurent Photography

to see The Last 2 Photos go to the source page :) from here http://www.viralnova.com

Nissan Queen TAXIS in London

freehugsworld@gmail.com (Freeman Hugsworld) — Wed, 8 Jan 2014 09:57:00 -0800

Japan's Nissan is fighting for a foothold in London's taxi market, pitting a redesigned vehicle against the city's distinctive black cabs now made by a Chinese company.

Nissan (NSANF) unveiled its new taxi for London on Monday, promising further changes to the NV200 model over the coming months to make it a zero-emissions car.
The NV200 taxi is already available in New York, Tokyo and Barcelona. The London version will be on sale from December 2014.
Nissan is going head-to-head with Chinese auto giant Geely (GELYF) -- owner of The London Taxi Company -- whose traditional cabs have a near monopoly in the city.
Related: A bumpy road for The London Taxi Company
The London Taxi Company has dominated the market for decades, but after years of losses the company went bankrupt in late 2012 when a safety problem led to a recall of 400 cabs.
Major shareholder Geely brought it back from the brink in early 2013, paying £11 million ($18 million) to buy the company and restart production at its U.K. facilities.
It's now working on producing 1,400 vehicles for the U.K. market -- at a rate of 12 per day -- but is also facing competition from Germany's Mercedes-Benz, a division of Daimler AG (DDAIF), which is selling another model to London cabbies.
Related: Which city has the world's best taxis?

London's taxi scene represents a small fraction of total global auto sales, but automakers believe the international city is a good place to showcase their designs.
Ian Fletcher, a senior auto analyst at IHS in London, said Nissan wants to promote the NV200 model in London in the hopes of drumming up sales of its low-emissions and electric cars.
"This is part of a wider strategy of attracting cabbies into buying more [Nissan] vehicles, but it is also part of Nissan's electric vehicle strategy," he said, noting that uptake in the electric vehicle market is lower than the company would like.
London mayor Boris Johnson has called for all London cabs to be emissions-free by 2020. Nissan's electric version of the NV200 will be launched in 2015.

Take a ride in NYC's taxi of tomorrow

Nissan's NV200 taxi has faced various setbacks in New York. Former Mayor Mike Bloomberg wanted it to become the city's main taxi model but the plan was knocked off course by a combination of technical shortcomings, city hall bumbling, and political wrangling.
Over a dozen different types of vehicles are currently certified for use as taxis in New York City.

Regard Sur Pakistan — à Pakistan in my page freeHugs "facebook"

freehugsworld@gmail.com (Freeman Hugsworld) — Tue, 7 Jan 2014 17:09:00 -0800

Publication de Free Hugs.

Elena Chernyshova Regard Sur Pakistan

freehugsworld@gmail.com (Freeman Hugsworld) — Tue, 7 Jan 2014 05:41:00 -0800

Elena Chernyshova is a Russian documentary photographer based in France, born in 1981 in Moscow, USSR.

Self-taught photographer, she got passion for this visual language during her studies in the Architectural academy. After two years of work as an architect, Elena left her job and went on the expedition by bicycle around Eurasia with Gael de Cevoisier. Toulouse – Vladivostok – Toulouse: 30 000 km, 26 countries, 1004 days of cultural, human and challenge experience. This experience was decisive to become a photographer.

Photography for her is a way to investigate the daily life of different groups and communities in the context of environmental, political and economic changes. Her work aims to visualize the impact of certain conditions on human activity, ways of adaptation and diversity of lifestyles.

In 2011 she was awarded with the grant of Lagardère foundation for realization of a documentary ‘Days of Night – Nights of Day’ about the daily life of the industrial city of Norilsk, located 400km north of the polar circle, in Siberia.

Publications:
National Geographic, Le Monde, Internazionale, Days Japan, A/R magazine, Newsweek Russia, Ecology and Life.

Awards:
- Selection of the Circulation Photo Festival, photo project ‘Days of Night, Nights of Days’
-“Runners up” in the 2013 JGS Photography Contest, Forward Thinking Museum, project ‘Days of Night, Nights of Days’
- Finalist of « Invisible Photographer Asia Photos Essay Awards 2013 », photo project ‘Days of Night, Nights of Days’
- Laureate of the Lagardère fund 2012 for photography grant, for the project ‘Days of Night, Nights of Days’.
- ‘coup de cœur of ANI’ 2010 (during the ‘Visa pour l’Image’ festival), project ‘Awaiting Movement’
- ‘Europen Emerging Talent’ during the Nikon International Photo Contest 2008-2009
Exhibitions:
April – Juin 2011: ‘Inter-espaces Urbains’, Galerie Photon, Toulouse, France.
April – May 2011: ‘Le Mythe de la Femme Russe’, cité de l’espace, Toulouse.
December 2010 – Mars 2011: ‘Trans-Asiatique’, Galerie of ANA agency, Paris.
August – September 2010: ‘The dance of the Kalashs’, Visa Off, Perpignan

Source:

Regard Sur Pakistan
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4 more pictures : Elena Chernyshova

Russians Adapt to a Freezing, Dark, and Polluted Place

freehugsworld@gmail.com (Freeman Hugsworld) — Tue, 7 Jan 2014 05:20:00 -0800

How do people adapt to life in one of the most polluted cities in the world, in sub-zero temperatures, during extended periods with no daylight?
Photographer Elena Chernyshova recently set out to explore those questions in Norilsk, Russia, a city of more than 170,000 people located above the polar circle.

The city-factory of Norilsk has only one reason to exist: maintaining the biggest metallurgical and mine complex in the world.

Launch Gallery

Norilsk is home to a massive mining and metallurgical complex—workers extract and process vast amounts of nickel, copper, and cobalt, making up more than 2 percent of Russia’s GDP. But the history of the area is bleak. Soviets originally profited from the area’s resources through Gulag labor. From 1935 to 1956 more than 500,000 prisoners were forced to work in the freezing cold under inhumane conditions. Many died. Now, most people live in Norilsk by choice—they have strong social and familial networks and can make a decent wage.

A melting department in Norilsk is filled with gas emissions. Workers suffer from pollution, heat, and noise, and must use masks or breathing tubes connected to oxygen tanks. Compensation for the risks is countered by 90 official holidays, and early retirement at 45-years old.

Launch Gallery

However, the relatively good economy comes with a price—the city is so polluted that residents suffer high rates of cancer, lung disease, blood and skin disorders, and depression. The amount of sulfur dioxide in the air is so high that vegetation in an almost 20-mile radius has died, and residents are forbidden from gathering berries or mushrooms due to high toxicity.A building in Norilsk sits abandoned after a damaged pipe filled it with water. Despite its prosperity, Norilsk faces a huge maintenance problem. The majority of buildings were constructed on pilings, which are now shifting due to melting permafrost.

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Chernyshova recently spent eight months in Norilsk between 2012 and 2013, over three separate trips. I caught up with her over email to learn more about her project, as well as the surprises she encountered while documenting this unique place.
(This interview has been edited for length and clarity.)
COBURN DUKEHART: What was your inspiration for this project?
ELENA CHERNYSHOVA: My mother lived in Chukotka (far northeast Russia) in a small town above the polar circle for 10 years. As a child, I was fascinated by her stories about the polar night, polar day, Northern lights, frost descending to -60 degrees, sparkling crispy snow, and food delivered in dry form or powder. These conditions seemed to me unusual, almost fairy-tale like. I wanted to experience this life long before I became a photographer.
Five years ago I met a girl from Norilsk. Her stories re-awoke my curiosity, and from that moment I couldn’t say whether I wanted to do a story about the adaptation of people to the hostile environment of the North, or about Norilsk itself. It was inseparable.

One of the best ways to adapt to the cold is quenching. Norilsk has a “Walrus” club whose members swim in outdoor ice-holes despite the temperature. After swimming people warm themselves in small banyas (saunas) that are heated with steam from the power plant.

Launch Gallery

COBURN: What story were you trying to tell through these pictures?ELENA: I wanted to show the particularities of this city: its isolation, extreme climate conditions, polar night, history of its creation, architectural particularities, huge dimension, and the daily life of people involved in its operation. I also wanted to show the ecological catastrophe, and the domestication of this environment. The complexity of Norilsk inspired me a lot.

Norilsk is one of the coldest cities in the world with an average winter temperature of -25° C. Winter lasts 280 days per year, and even a simple trip outside can be dangerous. A column of 15-20 buses transports workers between the city and factories three times a day. If one bus breaks down, passengers can quickly be evacuated to another bus.

Launch Gallery

COBURN: Was there anything you discovered about the people of Norilsk that surprised you?ELENA: The people of Norilsk are full of affection and deep nostalgia. I couldn’t understand how a place that looks like a hell on earth could awaken such sentiments.
When I was in Norilsk, people often complained about the city, its administration, awful ecology, tough climate, isolation (plane tickets are so expensive, that some people can’t leave for several years), slow Internet, etc., but they were also deeply attached to, and sincerely loved, Norilsk.

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Anna Vasilievna Bigus, 88, was sent to the Gulag in Norilsk at age 19. Her fault was to have survived the German invasion of her village in the western part of Ukraine—she was then considered by the Soviets to be a collaborator of the German army. After her liberation at the age of 29, she stayed in the city, having no other place to go.

Launch Gallery

There is also a spirit of brotherhood. Difficulties unite people. A simple trip from the house to the shop can be an extreme challenge, and these extremes teach us to appreciate many simple things that seem banal in other conditions, like daylight, warmth, or a cup of hot tea. Overcoming hardship makes us stronger—awakes personal potential.Also, there are not a lot of places to go out, and the old Russian tradition of meeting in somebody’s flat and having a kitchen party is still alive. The Internet is bad, so people spend much more time communicating in person. I am still in contact with lot of people from Norilsk—some have become really good friends.

Children are allowed outside only under certain conditions, and sometimes have to spend several months indoors. Large enclosed spaces are designed for them, so they can enjoy activities like cycling and running, even in the winter.

Launch Gallery

COBURN: What were some of the challenges you faced in shooting this story?ELENA: The main challenges were ecology, climate, and the polar night. During the summer, the gas from the factories stays in the lower levels of the atmosphere. Sometimes the pollution was so high I got an asthma attack and couldn’t breathe.
For about two months there is no sun, no light at all. I was completely disoriented all the time and had a horrible insomnia for more than a month. I was very tired all day, then couldn’t fall asleep because my body hadn’t actually woken up. Psychologically it was hard—I had an unreasonable anxiety, an almost animal fear that the light would never come back.
Norilsk people consider your first polar night as a test. If you make it without difficulties you can live in the region. I have not passed this test.

During the polar night the sun doesn’t rise above the horizon, leaving the area without light. The period lasts in Norilsk from the end of November until the end of January. During this time, the body slows down its release of melatonin, causing a lack of deep sleep, increased anxiety, and depression, and physical discomfort. Most of the apartments in Norilsk have UV lamps to reproduce natural light.

Launch Gallery

COBURN: What do you hope people will learn from these photographs?ELENA: I hope these photos awake some questions. Where are the limits of human ambition in the race for natural resources? How much are we willing to damage nature and the health of hundreds of thousands of people in the drive for riches? What are the limits of human adaptation to extreme living conditions? For example, after two months in Norilsk I didn’t pay much attention to the things that had surprised me at the beginning. They just became habit.

Dolgoe Lake lies at the foot of Norilsk and separates the industrial area from the city. City architects imagined a large park and a recreation area here, but development was never done. Still, picnics, barbecues, sunbathing, and swimming are organized when the sun is out.

Launch Gallery

A selection of these photos were published in the November 2013 Russian edition of National Geographic. View more of Elena Chernyshova’s work on her website.

Pictures We Love: Signals and Remnants

freehugsworld@gmail.com (Freeman Hugsworld) — Tue, 7 Jan 2014 05:05:00 -0800

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National Geographic’s Proof blog invited the photography and design teams of National Geographic magazine to look back through the hundreds of photographs from the over 75 stories published in 2013 and select one photo that spoke to their heart, intrigued them, inspired awe, made them smile—in short, to choose their favorite photo from this past year. Over the next several days we’ll bring you a round-up of the breathtaking, the touching, the extraordinary, the imperfect, and the beautiful.

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Kate LaRue, Senior Designer, Digital

This looks like the set of an M.I.A. video. Beautiful. Yet it has a simple significance: the captured bags are evidence of the many travelers who have passed through the desert. The people didn’t stay, but Salopek’s photo proves they were there.—

To Walk the World, December 2013
Photograph by John Stanmeyer

Launch Gallery

Dennis Dimick, Executive Editor, Environment

Standing as if waiting for signals from another world, these men on the Djibouti shores hope for a faint cellphone signal from neighboring Somalia. The power of this picture speaks to our enduring quest to explore—to connect with each other wherever we go—despite facing often daunting obstacles as we roam across the Earth. We are not alone. We are all connected, or try to be.

Elena Sheveiko, Photo Coordinator

As it happens, I’ve worked with John Stanmeyer since his first ever story in National Geographic. And each story had an image that touched a hidden string in my soul. Years later, I still hear the sound. This picture from “To Walk the World” is one of them. It makes me want so much for everybody desperately trying to connect with others, to be heard and hear back from loved ones.

View these photographs and more in our interactive Year in Review.

Source: National Geographic

Once Labeled a Traitor, Korean Aims to Be a Hero

freehugsworld@gmail.com (Freeman Hugsworld) — Sun, 5 Jan 2014 19:10:00 -0800

Jean Chung for The New York Times

SEOUL, South Korea — HONG YOON-HEE had an extraordinary tale to tell, to anyone who would listen, about how he risked his life trying to save South Korea during a pivotal moment in the Korean War but was then condemned to death and had to flee to the United States.

Enlarge This Image

Jean Chung for The New York Times

Pictures of Mr. Hong, from left, in the South Korean Army, a military academy and the North Korean Army.

His plan, he said, was to clear his name.

Last year, after years of scouring military archives in the United States and South Korea and filing petitions and lawsuits, Mr. Hong achieved that goal. In February, a court in Seoul overturned his 1950 conviction of treason for fighting for North Korea.

Mr. Hong, 83, said in an interview that his quest was only half over, however. Now, he wants to be recognized as a hero.

“For 63 years, I lived with the stigma of being a traitor,” said Mr. Hong, who lives in California but remains a South Korean citizen and has visited Seoul frequently. “The truth is I helped save South Korea during one of its most critical times.”

When North Korea invaded the South in June 1950, Mr. Hong was a sergeant in the South Korean Army. He was among those trapped in Seoul when President Syngman Rhee fled south and the Han River bridge was bombed behind him, cutting off the evacuation route.

Mr. Hong said he had been desperate to catch up with the retreating South Korean troops. A friend, who turned out to be an underground Communist, suggested that Mr. Hong join the advancing North Koreans and then defect to South Korea at the front line. So Mr. Hong approached the North Koreans, claiming to be a brother of the North Korean vice prime minister, Hong Myong-hee. (They were, in fact, distant cousins.)

By August, Mr. Hong’s North Korean unit was approaching the Pusan perimeter, the defense line American and South Korean troops had built around southeastern South Korea. Then one day, he said, he heard that the North Korean leader, Kim Il-sung, had ordered a general offensive in early September in an all-out attempt to break through the perimeter and win the war.

“I couldn’t wait,” Mr. Hong said. “I might be killed crossing the front lines, but if the North won the war, my identity would be exposed and that would be the end of me, too.”

ON the night of Aug. 31, 1950, he slipped away. The next morning, he saw South Korean soldiers and shouted that he had urgent information. He was debriefed for hours by an American intelligence officer.

On Sept. 11, after he had returned to his old South Korean unit, the military police accused him of being a Communist spy.

Mr. Hong was tortured and sentenced to death, but his lawyer, an old acquaintance, appealed to the judge, who reduced the sentence to life imprisonment.

He was released in 1955, two years after the war ended, but remained under police surveillance. In 1973, fearing arrest under newly tightened security laws, he and his wife moved to the United States, where he ran a supermarket and a restaurant.

“I didn’t tell even my wife about my past because I didn’t want to burden my family with the stigma,” he said. “I thought that the information I provided in 1950 must have turned out to be wrong and that was the reason I was punished.”

In 1994, Mr. Hong found out that the United States military’s official history of the Korean War credited a North Korean defector, Maj. Kim Song-jun, with providing the crucial information about the 1950 offensive. The South Korean military’s history also cited Major Kim, calling his tip “so well-timed that the U.S. Eighth Army could alert all front-line units to be prepared for the enemy attack.”

But the more Mr. Hong researched Major Kim, the more skeptical he became. Major Kim’s debriefing report said only that he “heard a general offensive was to start.” And that debriefing took place days after the offensive had begun.

Major Kim, who returned to the North in a prisoner exchange in 1953, “seemed to be getting the credit due to me,” Mr. Hong said.

In 2000, the South Korean government’s Institute for Military History Compilation admitted that citing Major Kim as the source of the warning was an error. Mr. Hong also found his 1950 court-martial records, which contained mistakes, too. In the section on his treason conviction, the records said that he had fought South Korean troops on Sept. 3, 1950. But by then, he was back with his South Korean unit.

Despite the errors in the records, in 2007, the South Korean Supreme Court rejected Mr. Hong’s appeal for a retrial, citing lack of evidence.

Then in 2011, in the archives at the National Institute of Korean History in Seoul, he found a 1954 memo by Lt. Col. Roy E. Appleman, who wrote part of the official American history of the war.

Colonel Appleman said in the memo that he learned from American intelligence sources that Mr. Hong defected on Sept. 1, 1950, and gave a report on a planned North Korean offensive, which was relayed to the Far East Command in Tokyo.

But Colonel Appleman also wrote that he could not find Mr. Hong’s records and thought that Mr. Hong had been executed. Unable to confirm his role, he decided to cite Major Kim instead “due to the urgency” of publication deadlines.

That memo proved crucial to winning the retrial that cleared Mr. Hong’s name. In its February verdict, the Seoul district court praised his “long struggle to shed light on the Korean War and prove his innocence.”

BUT should Mr. Hong be recognized as a war hero?

Lee Sang-yup, a Korean War veteran who made many television documentaries about the war, called Mr. Hong’s case “one of the most unusual stories from the war.”

“I believe the information he brought with him was important for the United Nations forces at a critical time of the war,” Mr. Lee said.

Lee Gi-yun, a novelist, said that when he first met Mr. Hong in 1995 he was “a distraught old man whose children had found out about his time in prison and demanded to know if he was indeed a traitor.”

“He said he wanted to leave a record of what he did even if the rest of the world didn’t recognize it,” Mr. Lee added.

The Institute for Military History Compilation said that the allied forces had already anticipated the North Korean offensive from their own intelligence reports. The institute’s historians said they could not assess Mr. Hong’s contribution until the debriefing records were found.

But Mr. Hong insists that after reading thousands of pages of prisoner-of-war debriefings, he was the only one who crossed the front lines 63 years ago with the crucial information at that critical time.

“I’m convinced that I was a savior to the allied forces,” he said.

I’d Normally Be Outraged If Something Alive Was Found In My Food. But This Guy Is So Darn Cute.

freehugsworld@gmail.com (Freeman Hugsworld) — Sun, 5 Jan 2014 18:45:00 -0800

When making a salad, most people like to add toppings to make the dish more interesting. Croutons, onions, cheese and even … frogs? This Reddit user’s mother was making a salad, when suddenly, she got a big shock. Within the unwashed lettuce, she found something she never expected. It wasn’t a bug or a worm… it was actually something pretty cute.

This little tree frog was hiding deep in the lettuce.

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He had been refrigerated for at least three days, but was still looking pretty chipper!

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It’s actually not that uncommon for frogs to be found with fruit or vegetables.

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Many frogs survive the winter by hibernating, which is probably what this tiny frog did whenever he was refrigerated along with his lettuce.
Source: reddit.com

This Might Be The Scariest Trail In The World. But You’ll NEVER Guess Where It Leads. Unbelievable.

freehugsworld@gmail.com (Freeman Hugsworld) — Sun, 5 Jan 2014 18:34:00 -0800

We hope you’re not afraid of heights, because this even made our palms sweat. What you see below is a mountain in China called Mt. Hua Shan. At its base, you’ll find a gigantic set of stone stairs, called “the Heavenly Stairs.” These stairs go so high up the mountainside, it’s hard to see where they end. If that wasn’t enough, the precarious stairs lead to the world’s most dangerous trail, the Hua Shan plank path. The plank trail leads high up the Hua Shan mountain just outside the city Xi’an. No one will force you to wear safety gear, although it’s strongly encouraged. The trail itself is dangerous and stunning, but what is at the top will really shock you.

The stairs themselves, although beautiful, are daunting.

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And they are the easiest part of the climb.

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However, countless people make the dangerous journey for what’s at the top…

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As you climb the stairs, you pass little villages and houses that have cropped up on the mountain.

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Then, once you get high enough, you can take a gondola to the southern peak, where the plank path awaits.

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This is where the path turns truly dangerous, with nothing but planks to walk on and a rail of chains to hold onto.

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There’s almost nothing from keeping you from falling.

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There are parts you must climb as well, with toe holes cut out.

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Our palms are sweating just looking at this path.

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… Woah.

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But, if you’re brave enough to keep climbing…

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You’ll find something pretty interesting at the end of your journey.

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At the very top of the southern peak is a Taoist temple that was converted into a teahouse.

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Thousands of people climb the world’s most dangerous path to end up at a teahouse.

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So, either these people really like dangerous climbing, or they really like tea. Either way, you should probably check out the teahouse at the top of Mt. Hua Shan.
Source: reddit.com

Obama Speaks On Nelson Mandela's Death

freehugsworld@gmail.com (Freeman Hugsworld) — Sun, 5 Jan 2014 12:58:00 -0800

I Had No Clue What I Was Seeing In This First Picture. Then I Zoomed In And…OMG.

freehugsworld@gmail.com (Freeman Hugsworld) — Sun, 5 Jan 2014 09:29:00 -0800

From a distance it’s quite hard to know what you’re seeing here, but as you look closer and closer you’ll see just how amazing mother nature can be.

That’s odd. Looks like some sort of a wave?

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Or are those groups of people at a music festival?

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Oh right, penguins!

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King Penguins to be exact, thousands upon thousands of them.

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The brown wave formations are brown baby King Penguins, that the adults have herded together into groups.

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They do this to create a kind of a day care facility for their chicks.

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So that most of the adults can go about their penguin day of mostly catching fish.

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While select other penguins take the duty of guarding these creches of chicks.

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The penguins do this so the chicks can retain their body warmth better in a tighter and more controllable group, as well as allowing the adults to protect them from predators.

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“Hey, check out my fur coat!”

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Here’s a better aerial view of these incredible wave-like patterns of brown baby penguins herded into their creches.

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The chicks take between 10 to 13 months to raise, and seeing how they cannot regulate their body temperature very well the parents have to care for them round the clock for the first three weeks. After that initial period they put the chicks into one of these “day care” creches, returning only every two or three days with food for their young.
All these pictures were taken at the shoreline of the southern Atlantic Ocean island of South Georgia, which is a British territory close to the Falklands. It’s one of the main breeding colonies for King Penguins.
Source: Liam Quinn on flickr.com and dailymail.co.uk

These Siblings Recreated Their Childhood Photos For Their Parents. The Result Is Hilarious Perfection.

freehugsworld@gmail.com (Freeman Hugsworld) — Mon, 30 Dec 2013 16:58:00 -0800

These five siblings decided they wanted to do something really special for their parents this Christmas. After a long discussion, they settled on something simple: they were going to be childish. Although, it wasn’t in the way you think (although, Christmas isn’t Christmas without some bickering and name-calling).
They decided to re-create their childhood photos. The results were epic.

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Nothing makes a parent feel young like seeing their adult offspring act like children again.
from :

http://www.viralnova.com/adult-children-photos/

Source: reddit.com

What Happened Seconds After They Took This ‘Selfie’ Is Horrifying. There Are No Words.

freehugsworld@gmail.com (Freeman Hugsworld) — Mon, 30 Dec 2013 16:39:00 -0800

This past friday morning, four friends in Beirut, Lebanon met up to hang out and, more or less, do what ordinary 16-year-olds do. One of them decided to take a ‘selfie’ photo of the group. What happened next is beyond horrific.

This is the photograph. Notice two things: the gold vehicle in the background and the boy in the red sweatshirt. His name is Mohammad al-Chaar. Seconds later, the unthinkable happened…

A car bomb in the gold vehicle exploded, shrapnel striking al-Chaar in the head. These 4 innocent teenagers’ lives were forever changed in an instant.

The next day, he died. These are his high school friends mourning their tragic loss at the funeral.

The terrorist attack was targeting a leading Lebanese political official. Mohamad Chatah, the country’s former finance minister and a foreign policy advisor to Prime Minister Saad Hariri were both killed in the attack. In total, 8 people, including Mohammad al-Chaar from the photo, were killed. At least 70 others were wounded.

A user on Reddit, named goodbatch, commenting after viewing the photos above said it perfectly:

“This photo makes me think and feel so many different things – and they’re all pretty much terrible. Anger, for the senseless loss of an innocent young life that was full of promise for the future. Sadness, at the grief that his friends and family must be feeling. Then sadness multiplied when I extend this thought to include the other victims of the attack. Of all terrorist attacks. But above all I feel fear, for my own life, in the context of this unstoppable human culture of horrific violence. Even living in a relatively safe country, this makes me think of my own mortality. Because I live in a world where normal people commit unspeakable acts of evil because they believe it is justified, where I could be collateral damage in a person’s quest for martyrdom and glory, and where large-scale political agendas overshadow the tremendous and irreplaceable value of a single person’s little life. All this from a boy in a red sweatshirt. May he rest in peace.”

Everything can change in a moment. Sometimes, the world is an unfair, horrifying place to be.

Birds Do This All The Time. But Seeing It Actually Happen Is Pretty Awesome.

freehugsworld@gmail.com (Freeman Hugsworld) — Mon, 30 Dec 2013 16:38:00 -0800

A bird building a nest isn’t anything out of the ordinary, but when you see the process yourself, your mind will be blown. A Reddit user uploaded a series of pictures, documenting two birds building a nest, step by step. Mother Nature is pretty incredible sometimes.

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They were able to build their little (literal) love nest just using their saliva, dirt and twigs… animals are incredible.
Source: reddit.com
If you were impressed by these creative little birds, then you should probably share this article.

This Looked Like The Grossest Christmas Present Ever. It Turned Out Beautiful.

freehugsworld@gmail.com (Freeman Hugsworld) — Mon, 30 Dec 2013 16:37:00 -0800

For Christmas, this girl received a package from her boyfriend that she never expected. When she unwrapped the present, she didn’t understand what she was seeing. The confusion quickly wore off, though, when she realized what she was supposed to do with this seemingly disgusting present.

Sarah opened her gift and saw… a big bag of freshly sealed oysters.

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Then, she realized they weren’t for eating.

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She began to shuck the oysters, a slow process.

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(Also a pretty gross process.)

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Once open, however, the oysters revealed their own gifts: pearls.

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In all different colors!

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At the end of it all, she ended up with about 54 pearls in 5 different colors.

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And that’s why you never judge a book by its cover…
Source: reddit.com

You may think something is just a stinky bag of oysters, but it’s actually beautiful pearls. Share this article if you would like getting a gift like this!

Some Guy Posted His Hospital Bill Online. You’ll See Why Everyone’s Talking About It.

freehugsworld@gmail.com (Freeman Hugsworld) — Mon, 30 Dec 2013 16:35:00 -0800

A 20 year-old man came down with appendicitis in October of this year. He posted the bill on Reddit and it has gone viral. The US Health Care system is a topic of much debate, not only in the US but around the world. A lot of countries get ‘free’ health care, so needless to say, this has stirred up a lot of conversation.
As if waking up in excruciating pain isn’t enough, this is the bill he received in the mail a couple months later. Take a look:

The original cost was over $55,000. Because the 20 year-old man was on his father’s insurance, the cost was lowered to $11,000.

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Which is still an obscenely high bill to pay for such a young man. He was in the Recovery Room for 2 hours and it cost him $7,500.

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The actual surgery cost $16,000.

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This bill caused quite an uproar. A lot of citizens of other countries chimed in with their own experiences.

An Australian with appendicitis never even saw a bill.

A Canadian’s mother had foot surgery and her only charge was $60…for cable.

A Malaysian paid the equivalent of $25 for an appendectomy.

And then other Americans gave their two cents (or hundreds of thousands of dollars):

This American got cancer and had to file for bankruptcy. At age 24.

His cousin died because he had reached his “lifetime limit” for treatment. He was 27.

$2000 for a night’s stay, a juice box and a pill.

We don’t take political sides here in any way, but it’s hard to deny that these costs are absurd. No matter how you think this should be fixed, I think we can all agree that it needs to be.
What’s your opinion? Share this guy’s hospital bill with others.

It Looks Like A Boring Box In A Room. But What Came Out Of It Blew My Non-Engineering Mind.

freehugsworld@gmail.com (Freeman Hugsworld) — Mon, 30 Dec 2013 16:34:00 -0800

Looks can be deceiving… so make sure to never underestimate someone’s creativity. Take this box for example. It seems like it’s just a normal chest, albeit a cool one, right?

What it really is will leave your jaw on the floor. You won’t see this one coming. I didn’t.

It starts out as a normal box, just looking all boxy.

Then whoa. What are you doing, box?

It’s transforming into something.

I still don’t know what.

But it’s getting interesting. Is that a filing cabinet?

Okay, that’s definitely a desk that just seemed to come out of thin air.

More boxes within boxes.

Within boxes. And a little chair for the desk. Cool.

A closet appears to be forming in the corner…

And some kind of shelving to the right. Are you serious, box?

And a… could it be…?

For real?

That’s definitely a bed being produced before my very eyes.

With a pillow!

How all of that came out of a box just blew my non-engineering mind. But I want it.

It’s an entire room in a box! Yep, that’s apparently possible.
If I could find a way to stuff an entire apartment in a box, I’d be set. Any interior designer magicians out there?

In The First Photo, She Seemed Like An Average Teen Girl. Then I Saw The Rest And… Wow.

freehugsworld@gmail.com (Freeman Hugsworld) — Mon, 30 Dec 2013 16:33:00 -0800

The brave and beautiful girl you see below? Her name is Paige. She is a little different from most other young teens, as she was born without the fingers on her right hand. No matter how different she is, or how hard her life is, she still keeps a smile on her face. Paige is one of the most impressive girls we have ever seen.

She isn’t like other girls.

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She doesn’t really care that she is different.

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She didn’t have a prosthetic arm until she was 14, until Touch Bionics gave her one. She can move each finger on the prosthetic by making motions with her smaller hand.

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Paige encounters many adults and children who ask her about her differences…

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She usually has the same response: “You know how I have blonde hair and you have brown hair? That’s because everyone is born different right?” Sometimes they are receptive, sometimes they’re not.

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However, she really wants more people to realize that “differences” aren’t so different at all.

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And Paige has some words of wisdom you should hear: “Basically the point I am trying to make is don’t concentrate on what someone doesn’t have. Concentrate on what they do.”

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” Teach your children to accept everyone. I always meet parents who scold their children for asking what happened to my hand, but truthfully that makes them afraid.”

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“It makes being different into something that should be looked down on, as if it is something bad. Let them ask questions, let them learn that being different is OKAY!”

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The bottom line is this: we’re all different. People like Paige get it, and more of us need to be understanding and accepting.
Source: imgur.com
Share this article with your friends if you agree!