Ivan Sekretarev / AP
The State Historical museum, foreground left, as well as Red Square and Kremlin towers, right, are dimmed at dusk, before city street lighting is turned on, as seen from a hotel roof in Moscow, Russia, Monday, Feb. 20, 2012. Brightly lit building at back left is the GUM store.
Reuters
A Hindu holy man, or sadhu, applies ashes on his face at the premises of the Pashupatinath Temple during the Shivaratri festival in Kathmandu on Monday, Feb. 20, 2012.
Dado Galdieri / AP
A reveler with the iconic Yellow Submarine painted on her face participates in the Beatles-themed street party, "Sargento Pimenta," Portuguese for "Sergeant Pepper," at the Aterro do Flamengo urban park in Rio de Janeiro on Feb. 20.
Dado Galdieri / AP
Revelers sing during the Beatles-themed street party, "Sargento Pimenta," Portuguese for "Sergeant Pepper," at the Aterro do Flamengo urban park, in Rio de Janeiro, Feb. 20. The group that organizes the party gives the Beatles repertoire a Brazilian tweak, adapting "All My Loving" to the peppy beat of a traditional Carnival "marchinha," and infusing "Hard Day's Night" with a Rio funk sound.
Dado Galdieri / AP
A reveler puckers up during a Beatles-themed street party,
English speakers got their moment in the Carnival sun on Monday as a wild, Beatles-themed street party let them shake it up, baby, with a samba swing to "Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da," a Rio funk inspired "Hard Day's Night," and "Hey Jude" spiked with an infectious upbeat energy.
"Sargento Pimenta," Portuguese for "Sergeant Pepper," is one of more than 400 raucous street parties that spring up throughout Rio de Janeiro during Carnival season.
-- The Associated Press contributed to the blog post
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Dado Galdieri / AP
A couple kiss in a crowd gathered to participate in the Beatles-themed street party, "Sargento Pimenta," Portuguese for "Sergeant Pepper," on Feb. 20.
Dado Galdieri / AP
A stranger attempts, unsuccessfully, to convince a party-goer dressed as a ballerina to stay with him, as the other two similarly dressed friends run off during the Beatles-themed street party, "Sargento Pimenta," Portuguese for "Sergeant Pepper."
David Mercado / Reuters
From Rio de Janeiro to Venice revelers took to the streets in colorful costumes.
Richard Heathcote / Getty Images
Mara Elena Aiacoboae of Romania competes in the Women's 10m Platform Preliminary round during the 18th FINA Visa Diving World Cup at The Aquatics Center on Feb. 20 in London. The diving competition has been called a test for the upcoming Olympics in July.
Toby Melville / Reuters
Thousands of British fans poured into the sleek, wave-shaped London Aquatic Center to witness the Diving World Cup, the latest test event for the upcoming 2012 Olympics.
Geoff Caddick / EPA
Chinese divers Kai Qin and Yutong Lou win the men's synchronized 3-meter springboard at the FINA Diving World Cup held in the Aquatic Center in London.
The Aquatics Center that will host four events at this summer's Olympics was given a big thumbs-up Monday when the London venue opened its doors for competition for the first time with the weeklong Diving World Cup.
Whie the event provides a final opportunity for divers to secure qualify for London, it also gives many top performers an early chance to sample the atmosphere of an Olympic venue. The Aquatics Center will also host swimming, synchronized swimming and modern pentathlon this summer.
"Pools have their own uniqueness, design and engineering to depict culture, history or innovation. This captured all of them," said American diver Troy Dumais, a three-time Olympian. "These are phenomenal facilities. We don't often get to see things like this and sometimes it can be overwhelming and mythical, and it can throw you out of your routine."
China dominated the opening day's action, with Qin Kai and Luo Yutong winning the men's synchronized 3-meter springboard.
-- The Associated Press contributed to this blog post.
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Toby Melville / Reuters
Christopher Mears Nicholas Robinson Baker of Britain dive during the Men's Synchronised 3 meter Springboard preliminary round on Feb. 20. The diving competition has been called a test for the upcoming Olympics in July.
Ricardo Arduengo / AP
A JROTC cadet walks past a covered bronze statue of President Barack Obama prior to an unveiling ceremony along the "Avenue of Heroes" outside the capitol building, in San Juan, Puerto Rico on Feb. 20.
In San Juan, Puerto Rican officials marked Presidents Day by unveiling bronze statues of U.S. President Barack Obama and former President Lyndon B. Johnson, pointedly noting that people who live on the island can't vote in the U.S. general election and lack other basic rights.
The two life-sized statues are the newest additions to the "Avenue of Heroes," outside the capitol building in the U.S. island territory. The statues honor every sitting president who ever visited Puerto Rico, dating back to Theodore Roosevelt. Obama became the eighth when he visited in June.
-- The Associated Press contributed to this blog post.
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Ricardo Arduengo / AP
A junior ROTC color guard advances with the national flags of the U.S. and Puerto Rico, at the an unveiling ceremony in San Juan on Feb. 20.
Ricardo Arduengo / AP
Puerto Rico's resident commissioner Pedro Pierluisi and Sen. Carmelo Rios unveil a bronze statue of President Barack Obama at the Avenue of Heroes outside the capitol building, in San Juan.
Matt Slocum / AP
New York Yankees' Mariano Rivera signs autographs after practice at spring training, Feb. 20, in Tampa, Fla.
David Goldman / AP
Tampa Bay Rays outfielder Sam Fuld works out as pitchers and catchers officially report spring training in Port Charlotte, Fla.
David Goldman / AP
Tampa Bay Rays fan Nathan Vetter, 13, holds out his David Price baseball card to autograph as Price passes by after a spring training workout on Feb. 20.
Frank Gunn / The Canadian Press via AP
Toronto Blue Jays' Travis Snider and J.P. Arencibia joke around as they shag fly balls during spring training on Feb. 20, 2012, in Dunedin, Fla.
Matt Slocum / AP
New York Yankees non-roster invitee Matt Daley walks to the clubhouse after spring training practice on Feb. 20 in Tampa, Fla.
David Goldman / AP
Tampa Bay Rays first baseman Matt Mangini takes batting practice as pitchers and catchers officially report to spring training on Feb. 20 in Port Charlotte, Fla.
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Damir Sagolj / Reuters
Policemen and villagers use sticks and grass cutters to destroy a poppy field above the village of Tar-Pu, in the mountains of Shan State, Myanmar, Jan. 27, 2012. Myanmar has dramatically escalated its poppy eradication efforts since September 2011, threatening the livelihoods of impoverished farmers who depend upon opium as a cash crop to buy food.
Damir Sagolj / Reuters
Soldiers and villagers walk home after destroying the poppy fields above the village of Ho Hwayt, in the mountains of Shan State, Myanmar, Jan. 26, 2012.
Damir Sagolj / Reuters
Children at a school in the village of Tar-Pu, in the mountains of Shan State, Myanmar, Jan. 27, 2012.
Damir Sagolj / Reuters
An ethnic Pa-O man takes a bath after meeting with representatives of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) and Myanmar's police at the village of War Taw, in the mountains of Shan State, Jan. 27, 2012.
Reuters reports: Since taking power a year ago, the nominally civilian government of President Thein Sein has launched a series of political and economic reforms. It has also dramatically accelerated a campaign to eradicate opium poppies and shed Myanmar's pariah status as one of the world's top drug producers.
Forging a lasting peace is arguably Thein Sein's toughest challenge, and it is complicated by opium. As in Afghanistan and Colombia, the drug trade has long fueled conflict in Myanmar, providing cash to buy weapons and a lucrative product to fight over.
Chopping down opium poppies is the easy part. Helping former poppy-growing families develop alternative crops and livelihoods is complicated and costly. Full story.
Matthias Schrader / AP
A skier makes his way in front of snow covered roofs in Lech, western Austria, Monday, Feb. 20, 2012.
Looks like good skiing...
Musadeq Sadeq / AP
A child stands with his father as they wait to receive blankets and winter jackets from Welthungerhilfe, a German NGO, during a snow fall at a camp for internally displaced Afghans in Kabul, Afghanistan, Feb, 20. 2012. More than 40 people, most of them children, have frozen to death in what has been Afghanistan's coldest winter in years.
Hopefully, the weather will improve soon.
See more photos from Afghanistan in our slideshow below.
Qais Usyan / AFP - Getty Images
More than ten years after the beginning of the war, Afghanistan faces external pressure to reform as well as ongoing internal conflicts.
Ina Fassbender / Reuters
A float depicting Iran's President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad with a stick of dynamite in his mouth accompanied by the text 'Nuclear Program' makes it's way through the crowds during the traditional Rose Monday carnival parade in Duesseldorf, Feb. 20, 2012. The Rose Monday parades in Cologne, Mainz and Duesseldorf are the highlight of the German street carnival season.
Ina Fassbender / Reuters
A carnival float depicting German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Nicolas Sarkozy made from papier-mache at the traditional Rose Monday carnival parade in Duesseldorf Feb.20, 2012.
Ralph Orlowski / Getty Images
Carnival revelers accompany a float with the likeness of outgoing German President Christian Wulff in the Rose Monday parade on Feb. 20, 2012 in Mainz, Germany.
Frank Augstein / AP
A carnival float depicting German Chancellor Angela Merkel wearing an umbrella skirt, symbolizing the Europen bailout fund (in German, 'Rettungsschirm') at the carnival parade in Duesseldorf, Feb. 20, 2012.
In Rio, the floats are spectacular, but in Germany, they seem to enjoy poking fun at world leaders.
David Mercado / Reuters
From Rio de Janeiro to Venice revelers took to the streets in colorful costumes.
Andrej Isakovic / AFP - Getty Images
A man takes a picture of big chunks of melting ice moving on the Danube River in Belgrade, Serbia, on Feb. 20, 2012.
Darko Vojinovic / AP
People break the ice on a frozen part of the Danube in Belgrade on Feb. 20, 2012. Big chunks of melting ice have damaged hundreds of small boats and several restaurants located on rafts, officials said Monday.
The Associated Press reports from Belgrade, Serbia — Big chunks of melting ice moving on the Danube River have damaged hundreds of small boats and several restaurants located on rafts, officials said Monday.
The thick ice, which had closed hundreds of miles of Europe's busy waterway during the region's recent cold snap, started moving Sunday afternoon because of rising temperatures.
As ice floes up to 1.6 feet thick began to break up in the Belgrade area, hundreds of parked boats crashed into each other and several barges were swept away, officials said. Read the full story.
Felipe Dana / AP
A Dancer of Porto da Pedra samba school parades on a float during carnival celebrations at the Sambadrome in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, on Feb. 20, 2012.
Felipe Dana / AP
Dancers of Vila Isabel samba school parade at the Sambadrome on Feb. 20, 2012.
Felipe Dana / AP
A dancer from the Mocidade samba school parades on a float at the Sambadrome on Feb. 20, 2012.
Victor R. Caivano / AP
Revelers, some wearing costumes, cross a bridge as they arrive at the Sambadrome on Feb. 19, 2012.
Nacho Doce / Reuters
Children play as adults watch the Portela samba school parade at the Sambadrome on Feb. 19, 2012.
Silvia Izquierdo / AP
Performers from the Beija Flor samba school parade at the Sambadrome on Feb. 20, 2012.
Thousands of revelers gathered at the Sambadrome Sunday night for the crown jewel of Rio carnival as thirteen samba schools vied for a prize. Their elaborate floats, massive percussion sections and troupes of sequin and feather-clad dancers made their way down the avenue as spectators looked on from the bleachers.
David Mercado / Reuters
From Rio de Janeiro to Venice revelers took to the streets in colorful costumes.
On Saturday, a record-breaking 2.2 million people had attended the Cordao da Bola Preta parade, one of the city's oldest carnival street parties, the BBC reports.
The authorities see the five-day event as a crucial test for Rio's new central command center, which the city hopes will be a key to keeping order when it hosts 2014 soccer World
— The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Victor R. Caivano / AP
A man sleeps on litter-filled stands at the end of the first day of carnival parades at the Sambadrome on Feb. 20, 2012.
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