Pictures of the Year 2006: User's Choice

January

A young man looks though a frozen window of a tram in Minsk, Belarus, Jan. 22 as temperatures plunge to -22 F. Abnormally cold weather that has gripped Russia, came to Belarus as well.
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February

Nam Choke, an 8-year-old bull elephant (L), and Boonrawd, a 7-year-old cow elephant, form a heart shape with their trunks at an elephant camp in the former Thai kingdom of Ayutthaya, 44 miles north of Bangkok Feb. 12.
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March

Surrounded by a Renick, Mo., neighborhood wiped flat by a tornado, Chris Longdon, 17, left, is hugged by his friend, Katlyn Kendall, during a search for belongings, March 13. The tornado killed Longdon's parents as it destroyed their trailer home.
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April

A forest lies flooded along the overflowing banks of the Danube River in Bechet, west of Bucharest, Romania, April 11. Central Europe remains awash in two weeks of flooding caused by melting snow and heavy rains.
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May

Learning the ways of the world, baby Canada geese at Occoquan Regional Park in Lorton, Va., try to chase away a pesky swallowtail butterfly after it tried landing on them several times, May 16.
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June

Our galaxy's neighbor Andromeda is seen in enhanced glory in this infrared composite image from NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope, released June 5. The new view shows Andromeda's dust lanes twisting all the way into a center crammed full of stars.
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July

A swirling spiral of flame burns Joshua trees and brush in Pioneertown, Calif., July 11. Some 40,000 acres have burned in the massive wildfire, which threatens this Old West-themed town north of Palm Springs, used to shoot dozens of old Westerns.
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August

Greeks gather at the site of the ancient Temple of Poseidon ruins to admire the full moon as it rises over the cape of Sounion, some 37 miles south of Athens, Aug. 8.
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September

As lower Manhattan and the nation reflects on the fifth anniversary of the 9/11 attacks, the Tribute in Lights beam to the sky from Ground Zero, the former site of the World Trade Center, Sept. 11.
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October

Jacob Roberts, 5, the son of a fallen Baltimore firefighter, salutes while being consoled by sister Katie, 11, during funeral services, Oct. 16. Allan Roberts died when a roof collapsed during a home fire, trapping him and two other firefighters, who survived.
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November

Northern lights dance across the sky near Palmer, Alaska, Nov. 22.
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December

The 15th Asian Games in Doha, Qatar, gets under way in a fiery opening ceremony as performers hold torches on entering the main arena, Dec. 1.
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