2012 in pictures

2012 was a year rich in events, from large events such as the London Olympic Games and the US presidential race, and to the regional conflicts in the Middle East and Africa. Which began two years ago and never-ending "Arab Spring" still significantly affects Syria, and Egypt. The slow recovery from the global economic crisis has brought severe austerity measures in Europe, which leads to widespread mass protests.

We offer pictures of the outgoing year, showing its first quarter.

2012 in pictures

January 14, 2012. The liner "Costa Concordia" ran aground and tilted near the island of Giglio. 32 passengers and crew members died after an Italian ship with about 4,200 people on board hit a shoal. "Costa Concordia" cruise the Mediterranean made when ran into a reef off the island of Giglio on Friday, a few hours after the start of travel, where passengers sit to dine. The ship's captain, Francesco Schettino, who reportedly left the ship soon after it crashed, lost his job and charged with murder.

2012 in pictures

January 16, 2012. A man rides through a fire in the small village of San Bartolomé de Pinares in Spain. On horseback ride through the fires the night before the official day of honoring animals in honor of St. Anthony, patron of animals.

2012 in pictures

January 22, 2012. Sydney, Australia. The well-known actress of the Australian Ballet Amber Scott (right) and dance theater actor Patrick Bangarra Teydey while the photograph on the roof of the Sydney Opera House to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the opening of the ballet.

2012 in pictures

January 22, 2012. The presidential candidate of the Republican former governor of Utah Jon Huntsman stands on the counter in a diner in the town of Hampstead, New Hampshire, USA.

2012 in pictures

2 January 2012. The sun highlights the silhouette of a horse through the tissue barrier at the races in Plumpton, England.

2012 in pictures

7 January 2012. The leopard attacked the Indian laborer in a residential area Silpuhukhuri Indian city of Guwahati. Three people were seriously injured in attacks by wild cat before she was caught and placed in the public zoo. 40-year-old worker has fully recovered, leopard, according to press reports, were released into the wild in the Wildlife Refuge.

2012 in pictures

January 24, 2012. Roger Federer kick on the left in the quarterfinal match against Argentine Juan Martin del Potro at the Australian Open in Melbourne Park, Melbourne, Australia.

2012 in pictures

January 25, 2012. Members of the United Kennel Club Japan cares about animals, taken from the exclusion zone around the nuclear power plant in Fukushima. Dogs and cats that were left in Fukushima exclusion zone experienced a strong radiation, food shortages and the winter cold. March 11, 2011 earthquake in 9.0 points and a massive tsunami led to the worst nuclear accident in the world over the past 25 years, forcing the people living in the vicinity of Fukushima, run, do not always managing to take with them their pets.

2012 in pictures

January 19, 2012. The body of the bandit is seen for bullets riddled windscreen of a car in Hungapeo, Michoacan, Mexico. In a shootout between gunmen and soldiers, two bandits were killed, while three of them managed to escape. Although the increase in the level of violence in the wars of Mexican drug traffickers seem to have slowed down in 2012, the terrible murder - still a usual thing.

2012 in pictures

January 15, 2012. Crowded trains are preparing to hit the road after the final prayer ceremony on the outskirts of Dhaka, Bangladesh.

2012 in pictures

January 25, 2012. Arizona Governor Jan Brewer, a Republican lively gestures during a conversation with US President Barack Obama after his arrival at Phoenix Mesa Airport, in Mesa, Arizona. When she then asked what she was talking with the President, Brewer said: "He was a little excited about my book." Publishing has recently released a book called "Scorpions for breakfast" - something like a political autobiography, where Jan Brewer talks about how long it protects the signing of the controversial Arizona law against illegal immigrants, against which Obama favors.

2012 in pictures

January 5, 2012. A resident of the Netherlands stands at the window of his home in the city of Dordrecht. Hurricane winds reaching 110 km / h and heavy rains hit the Dutch coast. About a quarter of the country is below sea level.

2012 in pictures

February 26, 2012. Aung San Suu Kyi, the icon of the pro-democracy forces in Myanmar, closes the hand from sunlight. She arrived in the village Tongwa that is located about 50 km from Yangon to speak at a rally during the election campaign.

2012 in pictures

January 10, 2012. Peshawar, Pakistan. A man wounded in the blast, put on his shoes before he will be taken to the hospital. The bomb, which was intended to blow up the representatives of tribal militias against the Pakistani Taliban, has exploded in the market close to the Afghan border, killing scores of innocent people.

2012 in pictures

February 7, 2012. The lamp posts, covered with ice in the Croatian city of Senj on the Adriatic coast.

2012 in pictures

February 26, 2012. The actress Angelina Jolie poses for photographers before the 84th Academy Awards.

2012 in pictures

February 19, 2012. South Africa. Helicopter transports the black rhino. For the seventh black rhino population moved to the free territory from poachers in the Limpopo province.

2012 in pictures

February 23, 2012. A woman in a wheelchair in a clash with the protection of public order police in the center of La Paz, Bolivia. Disabled hundreds arrived to La Paz after the protest march by about 1,600 km, lasting more than a hundred days to ask the Bolivian government to pay the financial assistance in the amount of 3,000 bolivianos ($ 434) to each Bolivian with disabilities.

2012 in pictures

February 10, 2012. The two-month monkey named Julian biting the ear transvestite actor named Kang backstage Tiffany Show Pattaya, which is 150 kilometers east of Bangkok, Thailand. Tiffany first show was staged as a performance of one actor for his friends on the eve of the new 1974. Since then, it has become a world famous transvestite cabaret with dozens of artists performing every night.

2012 in pictures

February 16, 2012. Australia. Surfer.

2012 in pictures

February 10, 2012. The Afghan border police sits in a helicopter before the operation "Eagle Storm" in profintsii Helmand.

2012 in pictures

February 12, 2012. The burning police. Greeks are rioting in Athens against the parliament plans to adopt new austerity measures aimed at preventing bankruptcy.

2012 in pictures

February 24, 2012. The boy, a refugee in Myanmar.

2012 in pictures

March 28, 2012. Susan Clark of Santa Monica, California protesting against health care reform before the Supreme Court in Washington, DC, USA on the last day before the adoption of the Law on Health Care, signed by President Barack Obama. Red hand painted on her face, in her words it means that socialism violates her freedom of choice and right.

2012 in pictures

February 15, 2012. The police soldiers and journalists from the bottom top to hide during the armed uprising of prisoners in Komayagua, Honduras, to the north of the capital Tegucigalpa, which led to the deaths of at least 360 people

2012 in pictures

March 22, 2012. North Indian city of Allahabad. A farmer carries a basket of cucumbers grown them on the market for sale.

2012 in pictures

March 2, 2012. Greg Cook hugs his dog Coco named after her release from the ruins of Greg's house in East Limestone, Alabama, USA. Several tornadoes swept over the area, committing severe damage in Limestone and Madison counties.

2012 in pictures

March 14, 2012. A man stands in a crumbling building of the Bulgarian Communist Party on the mountain Bazludzha, in central Bulgaria. After more than two decades after the fall of the communist regime, which it was supposed to celebrate, a monument of the communist era still standing, causing problems for the Bulgarian authorities, who can neither maintain nor dismantle it.

2012 in pictures

March 21, 2012. The reaction Sufen Huan, a resident of the village Yangzhi, the destruction of her home workers, Guangdong province, China. Workers mistakenly demolished a part of her house, which was not included in the demolition project.

2012 in pictures

27 March 2012 in Jakarta, Indonesia. "Molotov cocktail" thrown during clashes between protesting students and the government over plans to raise the last fuel price by a third.

2012 in pictures

March 24, 2012. Guanajuato, Mexico. Dog on the road, which will pass just about Pope Benedict XVI.

2012 in pictures

March 4, 2012. The Prime Minister and candidate for president of Russia Vladimir Putin tearfully vytupaet at a rally of his supporters at Manezh Square near the Kremlin. Next to him - President Dmitry Medvedev.

2012 in pictures

March 16, 2012. Syrian rebel posing on a horse in the village of Al-Shatura in northwest Syria near the border with Turkey.

2012 in pictures

March 10, 2012. Idlib, northern Syria. Husband and two children of the woman killed during the shelling of their home.

2012 in pictures

March 26, 2012. New Delhi, India. Attempt self-immolation of Tibetan activist before his visit to the Chinese leader Hu Jintao.

2012 in pictures

April 17, 2012. The sky over Washington, DC, USA. After the last flight into orbit in March 2011, the space shuttle Discovery Boeing-747 aircraft delivered to the National Air and Space Museum of the Smithsonian Institution.

2012 in pictures

April 16, 2012. Norwegian terrorist Anders Breivik in court.

2012 in pictures

April 15, 2012. Indio, California. Snoop Dogg performs on stage along with the holographic image of Tupac Shakur.

2012 in pictures

April 18, 2012. US President Barack Obama in the Henry Ford Museum.

2012 in pictures

March 18, 2012. frosted tree in a park in the center of Beijing.

2012 in pictures

21 April 2012. Player Dortmund "Borussia" Lukasz Piszczek pouring beer on the head of his coach Jürgen Klopp after the victory in the game.

2012 in pictures

April 24, 2012. Pyongyang, North Korea. The giant image of the new commander in chief, Kim Jong Un is shown on a giant screen during the concert dedicated to the 80th anniversary of the founding of the North Korean army.

2012 in pictures

April 11, 2012. Young men on the punk festival in Yangon, Myanmar.

2012 in pictures

April 26, 2012. Colorado Boulder, USA. From the tree falls bear asleep under the influence of tranquilizers. He wandered around the campus of the local university and was caught by environmentalists.