برترین های قرن 21

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2009: Battling in boxer shorts

Soldiers from the U.S. Army First Battalion, 26th Infantry take a defensive position at firebase Restrepo after taking fire from Taliban positions in the Korengal Valley of Afghanistan's Kunar Province on May 11. Spc. Zachery Boyd of Fort Worth , Texas , left, manned his post in "I love NY" boxer shorts and flip-flops after rushing from his sleeping quarters. To Boyd's right are Spc. Jordan Custer of Spokane , Wash. , and Spc. Cecil Montgomery of Many, La.

2009: Protesting Iranian election

Hundreds of thousands of supporters of leading opposition candidate Mir Hossein Mousavi turn out to protest the result of Iran's presidential election at a rally in Azadi Square in Tehran on June 15. Days of massive demonstrations and sometimes violent crackdowns by government forces followed the declaration that President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad had been re-elected.

2009: Flood rescue in Brazil

A man shouts for help to save a woman from raging floodwaters Oct. 7 in Sao Jose do Rio Preto , Brazil . Several drivers were trapped in their cars after heavy rain caused flooding. The woman was reportedly rescued.

2008: Tossed to safety in Germany

Residents of an apartment building throw 9-month-old Onur Celar from a fourth-floor window to rescuers below Feb. 3 in Ludwigshafen , Germany . A fire started on the first floor, trapping residents above, but a policeman safely caught the girl. The fire killed nine people and injured 28.

2008: Family mourns after China quake

Relatives cry next to the body of a student near a school in Hanwang Town, Mianzhu County, Sichuan province, on May 14. China faced a daunting rebuilding task to replace millions of homes, schools and businesses destroyed by the May 12 earthquake, which killed more than 68,000 people.

2008: Debris jams bridge in Iowa flooding

Buildings, boats and debris are pushed against a railroad bridge over the swollen Cedar River on June 14 in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. Rain that began falling in early June caused flooding in the upper Midwest that drove tens of thousands from their homes and caused billions of dollars in damage

A Georgian man holds the body of a relative after a Russian warplane dropped a bomb on an apartment block in Gori, 50 miles from Tbilisi , on Aug. 9. At least five people were killed. In August, Georgia and Russia fought a short war over the region known as South Ossetia.

2007: Truck explodes in China

Firefighters work to extinguish a blaze after a truck loaded with aluminum powder exploded in Wuxi, in east China's Jiangsu province, on Jan. 2. No one was injured.

2007: Croc bites off veterinarian's arm

A crocodile clutches the lower left arm of veterinarian Chang Po-yu at the Shoushan Zoo in Kaohsiung, Taiwan, on April 11. The croc bit Chang's arm off when he tried to remove a tranquilizer dart. Two bullets were fired at the croc, but it was unharmed. The arm was reattached.

2007: Mourning slain soldier-fiancé

Mary McHugh visits the grave of her fiancé, Sgt. James Regan, in Section 60, the newest portion of Arlington National Cemetery , outside Washington , D.C. , on May 27. Regan, a U.S. Army Ranger, was killed by an improvised explosive device in Iraq in February.

2007: Air show collision in Poland

Two planes from the Zelazny aerobatics team collide during a performance at an air show in Radom, Poland, on Sept. 1 as a third plane in the maneuver, left, passes by unscathed. Both pilots in the collision died, but there were no injuries reported in the crowd.

2006: Resisting West Bank evacuation

A Jewish settler struggles with Israeli security officers as authorities evacuate the Amona settlement in the West Bank on Feb. 1. Thousands of troops clashed with hundreds of settlers after the Supreme Court cleared the way for the demolition of nine homes in the illegal settlement.

2006: Brazil prison crisis

Prisoners hold one guard hostage with a knife at his throat as two others lie bound on the floor at the Campo Mourao prison in Parana, Brazil, on May 15. Deadly gang violence in the streets of Sao Paulo was mirrored in the Brazilian prison system.

2006: Spiraling wake in the water

A personal watercraft leaves a pattern in the waters of the North Fork of the St. Lucie River in Stuart , Fla. , on April 5.

2005: Daughter reacts after dad killed in Iraq

One of two daughters of Jalil Shaalan, a school security guard, reacts after her father was shot down in front of them outside the school by unknown gunmen. The incident happened in the Amarayah district of Baghdad on July 21.

2005: Makeshift memorial to New Orleans resident

A makeshift tomb at a New Orleans street corner Sept. 4 conceals a body that had been lying on the sidewalk for days in the wake of Hurricane Katrina. The Category 4 storm had hit the city almost a week earlier, on Aug. 29. Nearly 2,000 people died in the hurricane and subsequent floods, making it one of the deadliest storms in U.S. history.

2004: Terrorist attack in Madrid

Victims sit on the tracks just outside Madrid's Atocha station as they are tended by rescue workers after deadly explosions March 11. Ten nearly simultaneous blasts killed 182 people on packed Madrid commuter trains. Investigators found the attacks were directed by an al-Qaida-inspired terrorist cell.

2004: Chaos in Haiti

A Haitian child loots a piece of meat Feb. 27 at Port-au-Prince's main commercial seaport as news of anti-government rebels' nearing the city throws the capital into chaos.

2004: Terrorist attack at Russian school

A boy cries after he and other hostages were freed Sept. 3 by special forces from a school in Beslan, southern Russia , after a three-day siege by terrorists ended with more than 330 people dead.

2003: Nuns get first taste of snow

Sister Rosa Elena, right, hits Sister Amanda de Jesus with a snowball after class Jan. 22 at Mount St. Michael's Seminary in Spokane , Wash. The two nuns, visiting from Mexico , said it was the first time they had ever seen snow.

2003: Struggling to prevent suicide

California Highway Patrol officers try to rescue Jorge Dominguez, who was threatening to kill himself March 1 at the interchange between State Route 55 and I-405 in Orange County. The officers lost their grip when the 32-year-old Tustin man pushed off with his free leg, and he fell about 60 feet. He suffered extensive injuries but survived.

2003: Statue of Saddam topples

A statue of Iraqi President Saddam Hussein falls in central Baghdad on April 9. U.S. troops pulled down the 20-foot-high statue as Iraqis danced on the surrounding plaza. For many, the scenes were reminiscent of the 1989 fall of the Berlin Wall. Despite the seeming quick victory, 2003 was just the start of a U.S.-led occupation of Iraq that lasted through 2009.

2003: Iraqis mourn deaths in family

An Iraqi family mourns the death of three relatives in Baghdad, Iraq, on April 10. The three -- a father, his teenage son and another male relative -- were shot and killed by U.S. Marines the night before after the car they were driving allegedly did not stop while passing a building occupied by the Marines.

2003: Cold zoo, warm meerkat

A meerkat warms itself under a heat lamp July 3 at Taronga Zoo in Sydney, Australia, where unseasonably cold weather led zookeepers to give the sun a helping hand.

2003: Battle cry in Liberian conflict

A soldier loyal to the Liberian government shouts a battle call after firing a rocket-propelled grenade at rebel forces July 23 at a key front-line bridge in Monrovia, Liberia. President Charles Taylor went into exile the next month and is now on trial in the Hague for atrocities committed in Sierra Leone.

2002: Afghanistan's scars

Mohboba, 7, with ointment applied to her face for a skin ailment called leishmaniasis, stands against a bullet-pocked wall waiting to be treated at a health clinic March 1 in Kabul, Afghanistan. The parasitic disease plagues many poverty-stricken children in Afghanistan.

2002: Air show disaster

An SU-27 fighter crashes into a crowd July 27 at an air show in Lviv, Ukraine, killing 83 people. Prosecutors blamed pilot error and poor planning, saying organizers should not have allowed stunts over spectators.

2001: 9/11 impact

Hijacked United Airlines Flight 175 from Boston crashes into the south tower of the World Trade Center and explodes at 9:03 a.m. on Sept. 11 in New York City . The crash of two airliners hijacked by terrorists loyal to al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden caused the collapse of the twin towers. A third airliner was crashed into the Pentagon in Arlingon , Va. , and a fourth into a field in Shanksville , Pa. In total, 2,974 victims and the 19 hijackers died in the attacks.

2000: The battle for Elian Gonzalez

A Border Patrol agent confronts Donato Dalrymple, holding 6-year-old Elian Gonzalez inside a bedroom closet at the home of the Cuban boy’s Miami relatives on April 22. Elian had been found clinging to an inner tube off the south Florida coast, sparking a high-profile custody battle between his relatives in Miami and his father in Cuba. The boy was seized in the raid and eventually returned to his father.

2000: Concorde in flames

A passenger in another plane snapped this photo of Air France Flight 4590 as the Concorde trailed flames during its takeoff from Paris on July 25. Moments later, the supersonic jet crashed, killing all 109 people on board and five more on the ground.