U.S. entrepreneur Anousheh Ansari adjusts her helmet just before the launch of the Soyuz TMA-9 spaceship from the Baikonur cosmodrome in Kazakhstan, Monday, Sept. 18, 2006. The spaceship is headed to the International Space Station. Ansari, an Iranian-born American telecommunications entrepreneur paid a reported $20 million to become the fourth space tourist to take a trip on a Russian spacecraft and visit the station.
... And Liftoff!
A Soyuz TMA-9 booster rocket blasts off from the Baikonur cosmodrome in Kazakhstan, Monday, Sept. 18, 2006. The rocket is carring U.S. entrepreneur Anousheh Ansari, Russian cosmonaut Mikhail Tyurin and U.S. astronaut Miguel Lopez-Alegria to the international space station.
Pope's Words Fuel Anger
Iraqis burn an effigy of Pope Benedict XVI during a demonstration in Basra, Iraq's second-largest city, Monday Sept.18, 2006.The protest was against his speech last week in Germany, particularly his quoting of a medieval text that characterized some of the teachings of Islam's founder as "evil and inhuman" and referred to spreading Islam "by the sword." Benedict said Sunday that he is "deeply sorry" his remarks on Islam.
Brits In Basra
British soldiers patrol in their armored vehicle in Basra, Iraq's second-largest city, 340 miles southeast of Baghdad, Monday Sept.18, 2006. Bombers and gunmen killed eight people in Iraq Monday as Iraqi forces prepared to further tighten security ahead of the holy month of Ramadan, when violence traditionally spikes across Iraq.
Saddam Trial Session
Saddam Hussein sits in the dock during his trial on genocide charges in the fortified Green Zone in Baghdad, Monday Sept. 18, 2006. Saddam and six co-defendants are being tried on charges of committing atrocities against Kurds during the Operation Anfal crackdown in northern Iraq nearly two decades ago. The prosecution alleges some 180,000 people died in the campaign.
Moment In The Shade
A Spanish U.N. peacekeeper sits in the shade at the Spanish troops' new base in the southern village of Taibeh, Lebanon, Monday, Sept. 18, 2006. The commander of the U.N. peacekeeping force in Lebanon said that his troops will not try to disarm Hezbollah, saying that was a matter for the Lebanese government.
On Golden River
A fisherman rows his boat in the river Brahmaputra in Machghat, about 16 miles east of Gauhati, India, Monday, Sept. 18, 2006.
Firefighters hose the ceiling of Albany Coins and Jewelry during a fire Monday, Sept. 18, 2006, in Albany, Ore. Three downtown businesses suffered major damage in the fire that officials said is suspicious.
Dirty Job Still Brings A Smile
A smiling miner showers after working in Hatfield Colliery on Monday, Sept. 18, 2006, in Doncaster, England. Work has started on revamping the colliery. Up to $1.5 billion is to be invested in the site in a partnership between Powerfuel, and Kuzbassrazrezugol one of Russia's largest mining companies. The colliery hopes to produce 2 million tons of coal per year by 2009. A clean coal power station would also be built.
Butterfly Royalty
A Monarch butterfly feeds in a field of wildflowers in Chisolm Creek Park in Wichita, Kan., Monday, Sept. 18, 2006. The annual 2,000-mile migration of Monarchs from Canada to central Mexico may prove hazardous to the butterflys' population if drought conditions in Oklahoma and Texas persist, said Chip Taylor, Kansas University biology professor and director of Monarch Watch.