Pictures of the Day 15 August 2012
(01 of17)
Venus, right top, emerges from a crescent moon about 40 minutes after being veiled in the back in the night sky over Sapporo, northern Japan, early Tuesday, Aug. 14, 2012. A rarely seen eclipse of Venus by the transiting moon was observed in Japan. (AP Photo/Kyodo News) J
(02 of17)
This color-enhanced view of NASA's Curiosity rover on the surface of Mars was taken by the High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment (HiRISE) on NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter as the satellite flew overhead. Colors have been enhanced to show the subtle color variations near the rover, which result from different types of materials. .The descent stage blast pattern around the rover is clearly seen as relatively blue colors (true colors would be more gray). Curiosity landed within Gale Crater, a portion of which is pictured here. Photo by NASNASA/JPL-Caltech/University of Arizona/ABACAPRESS.COM
(03 of17)
Great Britain Paralympian David Phillipson posing with local children as he holds the 2012 Paralympic Games torch, during a photocall in Cotgrave, Nottingham. (Lewis Stickley/PA)
(04 of17)
Olympic pandas Tao Tao, Fu Wa and Huan Huan play at Changyu Dongtian Panda House on May 4, 2010 in Wenling, Zhejiang Province of China. Fu Wa, a six-year-old male panda, was one of the eight "Olympic pandas" on display in Beijing in 2008. He was sent to Ya'an Bifengxia Panda Base to perform a body check on Wednesday. After that, Fu Wa, together with another Olympic panda Feng Yi, will be on loan for 10 years to Malaysia to strengthen bilateral ties between the two countries. (Photo by Zhou Xuejun/ChinaFotoPress)
(05 of17)
Computer gaming fans queue in front of an exhibition booth in Cologne, Germany. Computer games trade fair Gamescom has started with a record number of exhibitors. More than 600 companies present software, hardware and accessories for interactive entertainment. Photo: OLIVER BERG/PA
(06 of17)
A night view of Mecca, Saudi Arabia. Saudi Arabia's King Abdullah hosted an extraordinary session of the Organization of Islamic Conference, a body of 57 member states, which agreed to discuss suspending Syria's membership. (AP Photo/Saudi Press Agency)
(07 of17)
A Chinese man holds a national flag during a protest outside the Japanese Embassy in Beijing Wednesday, Aug. 15, 2012. Chinese hold a protest against Japan plans to nationalize disputed islands, which also claimed by Taiwan and China. The islands called Senkaku in Japanese and Diaoyu in Chinese have long been a source of tension in the region. (AP Photo/Andy Wong)
(08 of17)
The US military has conducted a test flight of its hypersonic jet Waverider, aiming to reach Mach 6 (4,300mph; 6,900km/h) above the Pacific Ocean. At that speed it could travel from London to New York in about an hour. Results from the test flight have not yet been released. The Pentagon and Nasa hope to use the project to develop faster missiles. During a test in June 2011, Waverider travelled at Mach 5, but failed to reach the target speed. It is one of several projects currently under way to create a hypersonic aircraft. The X-51A Waverider is set to demonstrate hypersonic flight. Powered by a Pratt Whitney Rocketdyne SJY61 scramjet engine, it is designed to ride on its own shockwavem and accelerate to about Mach 6. (U.S. Air Force graphic via ABACAPRESS.COM)
(09 of17)
Amy Childs launches her debut fragrance at Aura Mayfair, in London. PA
(10 of17)
Schoolchildren wearing Indian flag color dresses sit in front of the 17th century Red Fort during a gathering to mark 65th anniversary of India's independence from British rule, in New Delhi, India. (AP Photo/Manish Swarup)
(11 of17)
South African Xolile Mngeni, left, shields his face with his jacket as he sits in the dock alongside a police officer at a court in Cape Town, South Africa. The trial of a South African man accused of shooting a bride to death in a honeymoon slaying allegedly arranged by her husband has begun. Mgneni pleaded not guilty Wednesday to charges over the November 2010 death of Swedish woman Anni Dewani. (AP Photo/Schalk van Zuydam)
(12 of17)
Houses are submerged in floods at City Camp Lagoon in Baguio City, northern Philippines. A second tropical storm in as many weeks battered the northern Philippines on Wednesday as forecasters warned that the still-reeling capital could see more flooding. (AP Photo)
(13 of17)
A couple talk as the sun sets at Enoshima beach in Fujisawa, near Tokyo. (AP Photo/Shizuo Kambayashi)
(14 of17)
A disabled soldier of Sri Lankan army competes in the long jump event during an athletic competition for disabled soldiers in Diyagama, suburbs of Colombo, Sri Lanka, Wednesday, Aug. 15, 2012. Tens of thousands of soldiers were wounded in a quarter-century civil war with Tamil Tiger rebels who were crushed by government troops in 2009. (AP Photo/Gemunu Amarasinghe)
(15 of17)
Koehlbrand Bridge is lit up blue in the port in Hamburg, Germany. Around 100 bridges, buildings, port terminals and cranes in the port will be lit up with around 6,000 blue fluorescent lights for "Blue Port" for a week. Photo: Wolfgang Zabel/PA
(16 of17)
The new Eelephant baby is presented to the public for the first time in her enclosure at the zoo in Berlin, Germany. It is less than a meter in height and weighs 160 kg. The female elephant baby will recieve the Thai name 'Anchali'. Photo: ROBERT SCHLESINGER/PA
(17 of17)
Vegetarian Silvia Wald puts a cloth ham on the sales counter of her shop "Aufschnitt" (German for cold cuts) in Berlin, Germany. Wald an engineer in clothing technology started in 2009 to design meat products made from cotton stretch velvet, lycra, wool or micro fibre with a realistic look. The sausages have different functions such as pillows, seat cushions, or just for decoration. (AP Photo/Gero Breloer)