Kharkiv is Ukraine's second-largest city, and as in the whole country sports are taken seriously. The most popular sport is football. In 2012 in Kharkiv will pass European Football Championship.
Capturing the true essence of Christmas, Lapland is the perfect place to take your family for the holiday period. Situated in the arctic regions of northern Sweden, Finland and Norway, there are a villages in each country around where you can enjoy the full festive experience.
More than 6 billion people live in countries where serious levels of public sector corruption are fueling inequality and exploitation, according to Transparency International's 2015 index of perceived public sector corruption. The group's annual report measures perceptions of corruption due to the secrecy surrounding most corrupt dealings. Two thirds of the 168 countries assessed were identified as having a serious corruption problem. Somalia, which has been mired in conflict since civil war broke out in 1991, ranks bottom of the list. (Photo by Feisal Omar/Reuters)
The 8th annual Miss International Queen beauty pageant was held in Pattaya in Thailand. The twenty-one contestants from fifteen countries were all born male, so the Miss International Queen 2012 pageant is not an average beauty pageant.
Photo: Panvilas Mongkol, a contestant from Thailand, waits for the start of the final night of Miss International Queen 2012 transgender/transsexual beauty pageant in Pattaya November 2, 2012. Some 21 contestants from 15 countries, all of them born male, compete in the week-long event for the crown of Miss International Queen 2012. (Photo by Damir Sagolj/Reuters)
In his series “Ballerinas of Cairo”, photographer Mohamed Taher documents Egyptian dancers making the city streets their stage – pirouetting, leaping and posing their way through their country’s sprawling capital. The photos are, at first glance, stunning snapshots of a city’s vibrant culture in motion. (Photo by Mohamed Taher/Ballerinas of Cairo)
The Arcaid awards highlight the best architectural photographs of the year – pictures of everything from giant arenas to tiny huts. The shortlisted photographs will be exhibited at the World Architecture Festival in Berlin, from 16 to 18 November, with an overall winner announced during the event’s gala dinner. Here: The stage for Haduwa Arts & Culture Institute, Ghana. Architect: (applied) Foreign Affairs. Nominated in the Sense of Place category. The open-air auditorium of this arts institute in Apam, Ghana, is built from ultra-strong curved bamboo. (Photo by Julien Lanoo)
This 1999 photo, supplied by HBO, shows a younger-looking James Gandolfini, who plays mob boss Tony Soprano, in an episode from the first season of the HBO cable television mob series, “The Sopranos”. Actor James Gandolfini, best known for his Emmy-winning portrayal of a conflicted New Jersey mob boss in the acclaimed HBO cable television series “The Sopranos”, has died while vacationing in Rome, the network said on June 19, 2013. (Photo by Anthony Neste/AP Photo/HBO)