Early blooming cherry blossoms hang over a pond at the Brooklyn Botanical Gardens in New York, Wednesday, April 22, 2009. Earth Day has been celebrated on April 22 since 1970, to encourage awareness and appreciation of the earth's environement.
Long Lineup
People wait to cast their votes at a polling station in the Katlehong township, east of Johannesburg, South Africa, Wednesday, April 22, 2009. Voters lined up before sunrise Wednesday in an election that has generated an excitement not seen since South Africa's first multiracial vote in 1994, and that was expected to propel Jacob Zuma to the presidency after he survived corruption and sex scandals.
On The Air
Marine One soars towards the Washington Monument in Washington on April 22, 2009. The president was taking the helicopter en route to give a speech in Iowa about energy conservation and alternative fuels. However, the day was not an energy-efficient one for Obama -- it took two trips in Air Force One and four in Marine one to get him to Iowa and back.
Man Of Power
Conor Gentes, left, who works in marketing for the Jones Soda Co., rides bicycles with other Jones employees to power computers and other office equipment, Wednesday, April 22, 2009, at the company's headquarters in Seattle. To mark Earth Day, the company reduced its electrical needs for the day so that about 10 riders on bikes attached to generators provided power all day for the beverage-maker's operations.
Spring At The White House
Tulips are in bloom in the White House Rose Garden in Washington on Wednesday, April 22, 2009.
On Mountain High
A couple hugs in front of white clouds on the visitor platform at Germany's highest mountain, Zugspitze, near Garmisch-Partenkirchen, southern Germany, on Wednesday, April 22, 2009.
Happy Hillary
Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton laughs on Capitol Hill in Washington, Wednesday, April 22, 2009, as she hears a comment from a member as she arrives to testify before the House Foreign Affairs Committee.
Paris Protest
A Tamil Tiger banner is seen as Pro-Tamil demonstrators gather at Trocadero Plaza in Paris, Wednesday, April 22, 2009, during a protest to pressure Sri Lanka authorities to halt its assault on Tamil-held areas. The demonstration targets the Sri Lankan government, which is trying to defeat Tamil rebels who want to create an independent state for the Tamil people, formed from part of Sri Lanka.