Image Flashback 2011

Lagen Island, El Nido, Palawan, Philippines
A Sobering Reflection at Year's End


This is a meditative day



2011 is about a dismal year

Afghanistan





A U.S. Army soldier takes five with an Afghan boy during a patrol in Pul-e Alam, a town in Logar province, eastern Afghanistan
(Reuters / Umit Bektas)


Canada





Australian Scott Jones kisses his Canadian girlfriend Alex Thomas after she was knocked to the ground by a police officer’s riot shield in Vancouver, British Columbia. Canadians rioted after the Vancouver Canucks lost the Stanley Cup to the Boston Bruins
(Getty Images / Rich Lam)


Chile





A student is punched in the face by a police officer in Chile. Students in Chile are demanding a new framework for education
(Reuters / VICTOR RUIZ CABALLERO)





Chile’s Puyehue volcano erupts, causing air traffic cancellations across South America, New Zealand, Australia and forcing over 3,000 people to evacuate
(Reuters)


China





A distressed bride attempts suicide in China after her fiance abruptly called off their marriage. Still in her wedding gown, she tried to kill herself by jumping out of a window of a seventh floor building. Right as she jumped, a man managed to catch and save her
(Reuters / CHINA DAILY)


England





A woman jumps from a burning building during the London riots in August
(Amy Weston / WENN.com)





Flowers and tributes are seen outside the home of Amy Winehouse in London on July 24
(Reuters / STEFAN WERMUTH)


Japan





A whirpool forms off the Japanese coast after the tsunami on March 11
(Reuters / Kyodo )





A woman cries while sitting on a road amid the destroyed city of Natori, Miyagi Prefecture in northern Japan after the massive earthquake and tsunami
(Reuters / ASAHI SHIMBUN)





An aerial shot of the damage immediately following the Japanese tsunami
(Reuters / KYODO)





A girl in isolation for radiation screening looks at her dog through a window in Nihonmatsu, Japan on March 14
(Reuters / Yuriko Nakao)


Kenya





Mihag Gedi Farah, a seven-month-old child, is held by his mother in a field hospital of the International Rescue Committee in the town of Dadaab, Kenya. The baby has since made a full recovery
(AP / Schalk Van Zuydam)


Libya





A Libyan rebel is pictured with Gadhafi’s golden gun
(Getty Images / Philippe Desmazes)





A woman rebel fighter supporter fires an AK-47 rifle as she reacts to the news of the withdrawal of Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi’s forces from Benghazi on March 19
(Reuters / GORAN TOMASEVIC)


New Zealand





Office workers look for a way out of a high rise building in central Christchurch, New Zeland on February 22. A strong earthquake killed at least 180 people
(Reuters / Simon Baker)


Norway





Friends and loved ones gather at the Oslo cathedral to mourn 93 victims killed in twin terror attacks from a bombing in downtown Oslo and a mass shooting on Utoya island on July 24
(Getty Images / Paula Bronstein)


Thailand





A woman hangs onto a street sign in chest deep water along the flooded streets in Rangsit on the outskirts of Bangkok on October 24
(Getty Images / Paula Bronstein)




United States





A monstrous dust storm (Haboob) roared through Phoenix, Arizona in July
credit: unknown





Firefighters of Ladder Company 4 — which lost seven men on 9/11 — perched together on their aerial ladder, watching a news bulletin in Times Square declaring that Osama bin Laden was dead on May 2
credit: unknown





A University of California Davis police officer pepper-sprays students during their sit-in at an “Occupy UCD” demonstration in Davis, California
(Jasna Hodzic)





A man sits in front of a destroyed apartment building following the Joplin, Missouri tornado
(Reuters)





A mother comforts her son in Concord, Alabama, near his house which was completely destroyed by a tornado in April
(AP / Jeff Roberts)





Billy Stinson comforts his daughter Erin Stinson as they sit on the steps where their cottage once stood on August 28 in Nags Head, N.C. The cottage, built in 1903 and destroyed by Hurricane Irene, was one of the first vacation cottages built on Albemarle Sound in Nags Head
(Getty Images / Scott Olson)





Two lights from the former site of the World Trade Centers shine for the 10th anniversary of 9/11
(Reuters / GARY HERSHORN)





Cars are abandoned on Chicago’s Lake Shore Drive during the “Snowpocalypse” in February
credit: unknown





A protester gets sprayed in the face with pepper spray at an Occupy Portland protest
(Randy L. Rasmussen/The Oregonian)





A before and after shot of Joplin, Missouri after a massive tornado on May 22
credit: unknown





Robert Peraza, who lost his son Robert David Peraza in 9/11, pauses at his son’s name at the North Pool of the 9/11 Memorial
(Getty Images / Justin Lane)





Members of the national security team receive an update on the mission against Osama bin Laden in the Situation Room of the White House on May 1
(Reuters / HANDOUT)





Slain Navy SEAL Jon Tumilson’s dog “Hawkeye” lies next to his casket during funeral services in Rockford, Iowa. Tumilson was one of 30 American soldiers killed in Afghanistan on August 6 when their helicopter was shot down during a mission to help fellow troops who had come under fire
credit: unknown