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Archive for June 2013

June 28, 2013 Permalink

Summer scenes: 2013 photos

Heading to camp, cooling off, stormy afternoons, and visiting the ice cream vendor must mean a change of seasons. The northern hemisphere a week ago marked the summer solstice, the day with the most sunlight of the year and the official kickoff for summer. -- Lloyd Young -- Editors' note: The Big Picture is taking next week off and will begin posting again on Monday, July 8. ( 40 photos total)

A girl takes a cold shower in order to refresh herself at Ada Ciganlija lake in Belgrade, Serbia, on June 20. The Balkan region is experiencing a heat wave, with temperatures rising as high as 37 degrees Celsius (99 Fahrenheit). (Marko Drobnjakovic/Associated Press)
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June 27, 2013 Permalink

Editors note: Vacation

The Big Picture is taking next week off and will begin posting again on Monday, July 8.
June 27, 2013 Permalink

Brazil: June protests and demonstrations

Protests are ongoing in Brazil as people took to demonstrating against high World Cup spending. It was the latest in a wave of protests, beginning with those against transportation fare increases and later expanding to other issues, including the rights of indigenous people, abortion and gay marriage, poor public services, and general displeasure with the nation’s government, which many see as corrupt. The unrest is the worst the nation has seen in two decades. -- Lloyd Young ( 39 photos total)

Demonstrators shout as they protest against the Confederation's Cup and the government of Brazil's President Dilma Rousseff in Brasilia on June 17. Tens of thousands of demonstrators marched through the streets of Brazil's biggest cities on Monday in a growing protest that is tapping into widespread anger at poor public services, police violence and government corruption. Protesters are using the Confederation's Cup as a counterpoint to amplify their concerns. (Ueslei Marcelino/Reuters)
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June 24, 2013 Permalink

Supermoon 2013

Photographers around the world looked up to the sky this past weekend to capture the "supermoon." This is the phenomenon when the moon makes its closest approach to Earth, appearing 30 percent brighter and about 14 percent larger than a typical full moon. It occurs about once every 14 months and is technically called a perigee full moon. At 221,823 miles from Earth, the supermoon was a feast for the eyes.-Leanne Burden Seidel (24 photos total)

A cotton candy vendor walks in from of the moon during the Los Angeles Angels' baseball game against the Pittsburgh Pirates, June 22 in Anaheim, Calif. (Mark J. Terrill/Associated Press)
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June 21, 2013 Permalink

World Refugee Day 2013

Yesterday marked World Refugee Day, as the United Nations high commissioner for refugees, António Guterres, visited Jordan to highlight the 1.6 million registered people who have fled the ongoing conflict in Syria. The UN refugee agency, which was set up in 1950 to aid those still displaced after World War II, reports that there are some 10.5 million refugees worldwide. -- Lloyd Young ( 29 photos total)

Afghan refugee children, swim in muddy water created from a broken water pipe, on the outskirts of Islamabad, Pakistan, on June 17. Pakistan hosts over 1.6 million registered Afghans, the largest and most protracted refugee population in the world, according to the UN refugee agency. (Muhammed Muheisen/Associated Press)
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June 19, 2013 Permalink

“Monks’ message of humility”

Reuters photographer Ricardo Moraes spent time documenting a religious fraternity called O Caminho, (The Way), a group of Franciscan monks and nuns who help the homeless on the streets of Rio de Janeiro. They consider the election of Pope Francis, the first pontiff to take the name of St Francis of Assisi, to be a confirmation of their beliefs in poverty and simplicity. -- Reuters ( 20 photos total)

Brother Jose Wellington Damasio Antonio, a member of the Franciscan fraternity O Caminho, prays in the chapel of fraternity's house in the Campo Grande neighborhood of Rio de Janeiro on April 2. (Ricardo Moraes/Reuters)
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June 17, 2013 Permalink

The start of the Monsoon season

Monsoon season in southern Asia has begun, and in India the rains arrived ahead of schedule, easing drought concerns. Monsoon rains can be disruptive and even deadly, but crucial for the farmers whose crops feed millions of people. Though concerns for flooding are prevalent, the arrival of the rains brings colorful celebrations and relief from the heat every year. -Leanne Burden Seidel (32 photos total)

An Indian buffalo herder holding a traditional handmade umbrella stands in a field to keep watch of his buffaloes as monsoon clouds hover above in Bhubaneswar, India, on June 13, 2013. (Biswaranjan Rout/Associated Press)
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June 13, 2013 Permalink

Graduation season 2013

Graduation season is well underway, with kindergartners, high schoolers, college seniors and graduate students alike donning caps and gowns to celebrate their achievement. With their diplomas, graduates also get words of wisdom from a commencement speakers and a good excuse to celebrate. -- Lloyd Young ( 31 photos total)

US Naval Academy graduates throw their hats at the conclusion of their commencement and commission ceremony, attended by President Barack Obama at the Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium on May 24 in Annapolis, Md. (Michael Reynolds/European Pressphoto Agency)
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June 12, 2013 Permalink

Walls

They keep things out or enclose them within. They're symbols of power, and a means of control. They're canvases for art, backdrops for street theater, and placards for political messages. They're just waiting for when nobody's looking to receive graffiti. Walls of all kinds demarcate our lives. -- Lane Turner (41 photos total).
Note: You can now follow @bigpicture on the social network App.net, where you own your own data. If you'd like to try it out, we've also got some free invites for our readers.

Workers clean the curtain wall of the 40-story National Bank of Economic Social Development in Rio de Janeiro on December 12, 2012. (Vanderlei Almeida/AFP/Getty Images)
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June 7, 2013 Permalink

Daily Life: May 2013

For this edition of our look at daily life we share images from France, Ukraine, Serbia, Turkey, Ecuador, Germany, Italy and a few others from around the world. -- Lloyd Young -- Editors note: The Big Picture will publish again next Wednesday June 12. ( 52 photos total)

A girl plays on May 28 with soap bubbles during the Share Drive of Life charity event organized by the Kiev Chapter Ukraine motorcycling club for children with autism in a park in Kiev. The number of children with various forms of autism in Ukraine increased over the past five years by 2.35 times, and 2,791 children were under the supervision of child psychiatrists in 2012. (Sergei Supinsky/AFP/Getty Images)
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June 5, 2013 Permalink

Flooding in Europe (updated)

The Danube River reached its highest level in 500 years. The Elbe, Rhine, and other rivers and tributaries are cresting high as well as swathes of central Europe lie inundated by floodwaters that have killed 12 and displaced tens of thousands. Germany, Austria, Switzerland, and the Czech Republic have been severely affected, as Hungary prepares for the swell of water. Gathered here are images of the flooding and people affected in the last several days. -- Lane Turner (49 photos total)

The river Rhine floods Mainz, Germany on June 2, 2013 (picture taken with an underwater camera). (Fredrik Von Erichsen/AFP/Getty Images)
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June 3, 2013 Permalink

Protests in Turkey (updated)

An undercurrent of explosive anger at the government of Turkey found a fuse on May 31 as a protest over the demolition of a public park in Istanbul quickly spread to other cities and encompassed simmering passions on broader issues in Turkish political life. Police have used tear gas and water canons to break up the protests, which have grown as demonstrators express opposition to what they view as the increasing authoritarianism of Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan. [NOTE: Nine new photographs from June 11 and 12 have been added as the protests continue.] -- Lane Turner (38 photos total)

Tear gas surrounds a protestor holding a Turkish flag with a portrait of the founder of modern Turkey, Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, as he takes part in protests against the Turkish Prime Minister and his ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) in Ankara on June 1, 2013. (Adem Altan/AFP/Getty Images)
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