Free fall

Last updated on: December 21, 2011 13:31 IST

From the uprisings across the Arab world to the devastating earthquake, tsunami and nuclear disaster in Japan, there was no lack of news in 2011. In this special series, rediff.com brings to you images that helped define the year.

PART I: Smashing PHOTOS of the YEAR

PART II: Smashing PHOTOS of the YEAR

Wingwalker Todd Green falls from John Mohr's Steerman aircraft to his death, after losing his grip while trying to perform a transfer to the helicopter during Selfridge Air Show, near Detroit in the United States.

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Photographs: David Angell/Reuters

Tags: PHOTOS , Wingwalker Todd Green , John Mohr , YEAR

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Last updated on: December 21, 2011 13:31 IST

A wave approaches Miyako City from the Heigawa estuary in Iwate Prefecture in Japan after the magnitude 8.9 earthquake struck the area on March 11.

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Photographs: Mainichi Shimbun/Reuters

Tags: PHOTOS , Miyako City , Heigawa , Japan

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Last updated on: December 21, 2011 13:31 IST

A school boy, carrying a backpack, walks past burning fuel tankers along the GT road in Nowshera, located in Pakistan's Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa Province on October 7, 2010.

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Photographs: Adrees Latif/Reuters

Tags: Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa Province , Nowshera , Pakistan

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Last updated on: December 21, 2011 13:31 IST

Lenny Zappavigna of Australia takes a hit from Miguel Vazquez of Mexico during their IBF lightweight title fight at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada.

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Photographs: Steve Marcus/Reuters

Tags: MGM , Miguel Vazquez , Lenny Zappavigna , IBF

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Last updated on: December 21, 2011 13:31 IST

A woman takes part in a SlutWalk protest, in central Seoul on July 16, 2011. About 100 protesters, mostly women, attended the SlutWalk protest march which became a movement of rallies around the world after a Toronto policeman suggested in January that women could avoid sexual assault by not dressing like a "slut."

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Photographs: Truth Leem/Reuters

Tags: , Toronto , Seoul

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Last updated on: December 21, 2011 13:31 IST

The moon rises over the Bronx section of New York City on March 19, 2011. The rise of a full moon - called a "Super Moon" - occurs when it arrives at its closest point to the Earth in 2011, a distance of 221,565 miles or 356,575 km away.

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Photographs: Mike Segar/Reuters

Tags: New York City , Moon , Earth , Bronx

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Last updated on: December 21, 2011 13:31 IST

A demonstrator gestures in front of riot police as he is sprayed by water canons during a protest by European workers and trade union representatives to demand better job protection in the European Union countries in Brussels. Tens of thousands of people marched through Brussels to urge European leaders holding a two-day summit in the Belgian capital to scrap or ease austerity measures, which unions say will slow economic recovery and punish the poor.

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Photographs: Eric Vidal/Reuters

Tags: Brussels , European Union

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Last updated on: December 21, 2011 13:31 IST

Mohamed, 10, stands guard at the frontline along the western entrance of Ajdabiyah. Mohamed's rebel fighter father earlier had given him a rifle and asked him to replace him in his duties. Britain pressured other NATO members to beef up ground attacks in Libya to try to open the deadlock in the country's civil war.

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Photographs: Yannis Behrakis/Reuters

Tags: NATO , Mohamed , Young Guns , Britain

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Last updated on: December 21, 2011 13:31 IST

A US Army soldier with the 10th Special Forces Group and his military working dog jump off the ramp of a CH-47 Chinook helicopter from the 160th Special Operations Aviation Regiment during water training over the Gulf of Mexico as part of exercise Emerald Warrior 2011 in this US military handout image from March 1, 2011. The New York Times and other United States media reported that a military canine accompanied Navy SEAL Team Six commandos into a compound in Abbottabad, Pakistan in a raid that killed Al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden.

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Photographs: Manuel J. Martinez/Reuters

Tags: Osama bin Laden , Special Forces Group , New York Times , Al Qaeda , United States

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Last updated on: December 21, 2011 13:31 IST

Buddhist novice monk Kyaw Thiha plays during heavy rainfall at Shin Ohtama Tharya monastery in Yangon on May 31, 2011. Entering monkhood is a rite of passage for many Myanmar boys, although most of them spend a few days to a few months rather than as a lifetime commitment. The Sangha, as monks are collectively known in Myanmar, is a powerful social force in the country and is widely revered. They have also been politically active since the colonial times, calling for justice and democracy on behalf of the people.

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Photographs: Soe Zeya Tun/Reuters

Tags: Kyaw Thiha , Sangha , Myanmar , Yangon

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Last updated on: December 21, 2011 13:31 IST

A dog barks at a formation of riot police near the Greek parliament in Athens on June 15, 2011. Tens of thousands of grassroot activists and unionists converged on Athens' central Syntagma (Constitution) Square Wednesday as Prime Minister George Papandreou prepared to push through a new five-year campaign of tax hikes, spending cuts and selloffs of state property to continue receiving aid from the European Union and International Monetary Fund and avoid default.

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Photographs: Pascal Rossignol/Reuters

Tags: International Monetary Fund , George Papandreou , Athens , European Union

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Last updated on: December 21, 2011 13:31 IST

A car bomb explodes as a member of a Thai bomb squad checks it in Narathiwat province, south of Bangkok on July 1, 2011. The bomb planted by suspected insurgents wounded the squad member, police said.

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Photographs: Reuters

Tags: , Narathiwat , Bangkok

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Last updated on: December 21, 2011 13:31 IST

A Sudan People's Liberation Army (SPLA) soldier stands in line during a rehearsal of the Independence Day ceremony in Juba.

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Photographs: Goran Tomasevic/Reuters

Tags: Sudan People's Liberation Army , Juba

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Last updated on: December 21, 2011 13:31 IST

A sunflower field is seen in stormy weather near Donzere, southern France.

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Photographs: Pascal Rossignol/Reuters

Tags: , Donzere , France

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Last updated on: December 21, 2011 13:31 IST

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The India-Pakistan border appears as an orange line in this photograph taken by the Expedition 28 crew on the International Space Station (ISS) on August 21, 2011 and released on September 4, 2011. The fence between the two countries is floodlit for surveillance purposes. Srinagar (L), Islamabad (bottom C), Lahore (centre near the border line) and Delhi (top C) can be seen as brighter spots.

Photographs: Reuters

Tags: ISS , Islamabad , Delhi , India-Pakistan , Lahore

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Free fall

Perimeter breached

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Making a point

Super Moon

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Young Guns

Up, up and away

Rain drops keep falling on my head

An unlikely protestor

Blowup!

Red Fury

Crack the sky

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