Year In Photos: World

A waitress in a cafe in Bochum, Germany, uses a calculator to find the correct change in euros for the mark bill. Change is given out only in the new euro currency, which replaced the currencies in 12 EU countries on Jan. 1, 2001.

March 15

Palestinian Kefah al Shoani, 29, weeps in the family home before the funeral of her husband Maher al Shoani, 30, killed during an Israeli incursion into Ramallah. Israel's battle with the Palestinians deepened in 2002 with a cycle of suicide bombings and Israeli military sweeps.

Mar. 18

The body of Zimbabwe farmer Terry Ford lies under a blanket with his Jack Russell dog curled up on him after he was allegedly shot dead by a group of war veterans and farm invaders at his Gowrie farm in Norton, about 30 kilometers west of Harare. Ford, was the 10th white farmer killed since militants began often violent occupations of white-owned land two years ago.

April 9

Guardsmen present arms as the hearse carrying the coffin of Britain's Queen Mother travels through London's Parliament Square, en route to Windsor, following her funeral service in London's Westminster Abbey.

April 23

Pope John Paul II reads his message to American cardinals gathered in his private library in Vatican City. U.S. Church leaders took dramatic steps to regain their credibility following a wave of child sex abuse allegations and revelations.

April 24

Demonstrators bang on the steel gate of a closed bank in the financial district in Buenos Aires, Argentina, as they demand a return on their investments. Argentines were upset over a banking freeze and uncertain of the government's ability to surmount the country's deepest downturn in decades.

May 1

French youths parade with a French flag in front of the Bastille in Paris as hundreds of thousands participate in a May Day rally against far-right presidential candidate Jean-Marie Le Pen. Le Pen stunned the world by winning a place in the runoff of the French presidential election, even though he was then thrashed by incumbent Jacques Chirac.

May 9

Mourners lined up to pay their last respects to the assassinated politician Pim Fortuyn outside the Roman Catholic cathedral in Rotterdam, Netherlands. Fortuyn's populist, anti-immigration party ranked among the country's top three parties before his death, but soon fell into disarray.

May 14

An amputee gets a mark of indelible ink on his right toe during voting in Freetown, Sierra Leone. The mark was given to ensure that no one voted more than once. Terrorized for over a decade by rebels who hacked off the limbs even of children, Sierra Leoneans cast ballots in elections seen as a test of their hard-won peace.

July 27

An Su-27 fighter plane crashes into a crowd of spectators at an air show in Lviv, Ukraine. At least 76 people were reported killed.

Aug. 13

A view of the historical Charles Bridge and flooded houses on Prague's Mala Strana (Lower Town), top. The Czech capital was hit by the worst flooding since 1954.

Aug. 19

Afghanistan President Hamid Karzai releases a dove during Afghanistan's Independence Day ceremony in Kabul. Karzai was elected in June to unanimously to run the country for the next 18 months; he spent much of 2002 trying to heal ethnic divisions, getting a grip on powerful warlords and their own private armies, and surviving assassination plots.

Sept. 17

North Korean leader Kim Jong Il, left, and Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi shake hands after their first-ever summit meeting at a guesthouse in Pyongyang, North Korea.

Sept. 23

In this file handout photo from the Palestinian Authority, Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat is seen usuing a batery-powered light at the desk in his office in the West Bank town of Ramallah. Arafat, whose compound has been raided in the past, found himself caught in the tightest chokehold yet as Israel attempted to flush out wanted men holed up inside.

Oct. 17

Iraqi President Saddam Hussein shows a sword given to him as a gift before being sworn in as president for the next seven years in Baghdad.

Oct. 20

Hundreds of Iraqis storm the Abu Ghraib jail 21 miles northwest of Baghdad, following the annoucement by President Saddam Hussein that most prisoners were going to be freed. In the United States, Secretary of State Colin Powell said the amnesty was a political ploy by Saddam.

Oct. 21

A man walks away from the site of a bus bombing in Karkur Junction, northern Israel. At least 13 people on the bus were killed. Israel began imposing curfews on hundreds of thousands in the West Bank's Palestinian cities, bringing a sharp decline in bombing attacks, but not their complete cessation.

Nov. 6

Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon sits alone in the Knesset, Israel's parliament in Jerusalem. Israel headed into another critical election pitting a hawk, Sharon, against a dovish challenger, Amram Mitzna. Meanwhile, some younger Palestinian leaders for the first time questioned the wisdom of continuing an uprising more than two years old.

Nov. 13

An oil-soaked bird sits on the beach of Mar de Fora near Finisterre, northern Spain. The Bahamas-flagged tanker Prestige cracked in a storm and bled oil off the Galician coast for six days, until it finally broke apart and sank while being towed to deeper waters.

Dec. 3

An UNMOVIC vehicle stands parked at the entrance after United Nations weapons inspectors entered the Al-Sajoud palace, one of Saddam Hussein's presidential palaces along the Tigris River in Baghdad. The return of the inspectors is widely seen as President Saddam Hussein's last chance to avoid a devastating war with the United States.