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Muhammed Muheisen / AP

The Year in Pictures for 2009

Experience an audio slide show of the best news and sports images from around the world and close to home.

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Week in Pictures
Image:
Mary Chind / AP
Week in Sports Pictures
Harvie Allison / AP
Recent slide shows
Image: Walter Cronkite
Luke Frazza / AFP/Getty Images
Picture stories
Afghanistan
David Goldman / Gamma
A Georgian man cries near the body of his relative after a bombardment in Gori
Gleb Garanich / Reuters
John Mccolgan / Alaska Fire Service - BLM
Image: Ready to Launch: Summer Jobs
Carissa Ray / msnbc.com
Jim Seida / msnbc.com
Image: Soldiers with the Indiana National Guard 1538th Transportation Company
John Makely / John Makely
BLOODSHED IN JUAREZ
Shaul Schwarz
Reader questions
Frequently asked questions
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Image: A homeless man dressed as Santa Claus
Vincent Kessler / Reuters
PhotoBlog

View and discuss the pictures and issues that caught our eyes.

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News photos

U.S., world, and environment
Image: Walter Cronkite
Luke Frazza / AFP/Getty Images
Newsmaker Farewells 2009

From Walter Cronkite (above) to Sen. Ted Kennedy, remembering newsmakers and intriguing personalities who died in the past year.

Image:
Mary Chind / AP
Image: A column of ash shoots up to the sky from the Mayon volcano
Romeo Ranoco / Reuters
Image: Ronald Reagan
Getty Images
Image: Memorial day homage
John Moore / Getty Images
Image: Evicting Harvey Lesser in Boulder, Colo.
John Moore / Getty Images
Image: Christmas at the White House
J. Scott Applewhite / AP
Image: Young Afghan villagers
Zohra Bensemra / Reuters
Yamal, Russia. October, 2009
Yuri Kozyrev / NOOR
Image: A heroin addict in Kabul
Image: -
Banaras Khan / AFP - Getty Images
Image: Major Shannon Cole
Erin Grace Trieb / PANOS

Entertainment photos

Celebrity, music, movie, TV and fashion
Image: Bea Arthur
AP
Curtain calls of 2009

Some big names in entertainment bid us farewell this year, including Farrah Fawcett, Michael Jackson, and Patrick Swayze.

Classic Media
Image: Actress Brittany Murphy dead at 32
Tracey Nearmy / EPA file
Image: -
Leon Neal / AFP - Getty Images
Portrait Of Marlon Brando
Hulton Archive / Getty Images
Image: George Clooney in 'Up in the Air'
Paramount Pictures
Image: Leighton Meester
Jason Merritt / Getty Images
Image:
Max Nash / AP
Image: Sarah Jessica Parker
Akira Suemori / AP
Image: David Letterman
CBS
The Colbert Report In Iraq
Handout / Getty Images
Image: Avatar
20th Century Fox
Image: Media Preview Of The Museum Of Modern Art: Tim Burton
Jemal Countess / Getty Images
Image: Movie, Independence Day
20th Century Fox

Sports photos

Big matchups, sports stars and history
Image:
Damian Dovarganes / AP
South Africa on center stage

Images: Big names show up for 32-team draw for 2010 World Cup.

Image:
Harvie Allison / AP
Image: Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim v New York Yankees, Game 6
Nick Laham / Getty Images
Elise Amendola / AP
New Orleans Hornets v Denver Nuggets, Game 5
Doug Pensinger / Getty Images
Terrell Owens, Brandon Meriweather
Mike Groll / AP
Cincinnati v Pittsburgh
Jared Wickerham / Getty Images
Darron Cummings / AP
PGA Championship - Final Round
Jamie Squire / Getty Images
US golfer Tom Watson chips onto the 18th
Adrian Dennis / AFP - Getty Images
Reed Saxon / AP
Atlanta Thrashers v New York Islanders
Jim Mcisaac / Getty Images
Stanley Cup Finals - Pittsburgh Penguins v Detroit Red Wings - Game Seven
Bruce Bennett / Getty Images

Travel photos

U.S. and worldwide destinations
Image: Deep powder at Heavenly Ski Resort
Corey Rich / Courtesy of Heavenly Ski Resort
Hit the lifts

Take a visual tour of some of the most popular ski and snowboard playgrounds in America — and beyond.

Image: Christmas Lights in Barcelona
Julian Martin / EPA
Image:
Image: Oasis of the Seas
Hans Deryk / ASSOCIATED PRESS
Image: The Empire State Building at night
Dave Etheridge-Barnes / Getty Images
Image: Reflection of Autumn Trees in Vltava River
Filip Singer / EPA
A reveler of Grande Rio samba school per
Antonio Scorza / AFP/Getty Images
Charles Rex Arbogast / AP file
Image: Vancouver
Albert Normandin / Tourism British Columbia via AP
Image: Sleeping Beauty Castle in Disneyland
Paul Hiffmeyer / Disneyland
Las Vegas Strip Exteriors
Ethan Miller / Getty Images
Revellers from Salgueiro samba school dance during the second night of the Carnival parade in Rio de Janeiro's Sambadrome
Sergio Moraes / Reuters
Image: The Myrtles Plantation
The Myrtles Plantation

Technology and science photos

Space, technology, gadgets and science
NASA astronaut Mike Massimino is pictured as he peers through a window on the aft flight deck of the Earth-orbiting Space Shuttle Atlantis during the mission's fourth spacewalk to refurbish and upgrade the Hubble Space Telescope
Ho / Reuters
Year in Space 2009

Click to see images of Hubble's revival and other outer-space highlights from 2009.

Image: Virgin Galactic's SpaceShipTwo, First Commercial Spacecraft, Unveiled In CA
David Mcnew / Getty Images
David Domozych
Image: Female Jumping Spider
Thomas Shahan
NASA astronaut Mike Massimino is pictured as he peers through a window on the aft flight deck of the Earth-orbiting Space Shuttle Atlantis during the mission's fourth spacewalk to refurbish and upgrade the Hubble Space Telescope
Ho / Reuters
Image: US Department of Energy hosts the 2009 Solar Decathlon at the National Mall in Washington DC
Michael Reynolds / EPA
Image: Lucky the turtle
TODAY Show
Image: Cat Ba leopard gecko, Vietnam
Thomas Ziegler / WWF via EPA
Image: Saturn
NASA
Image: Hubble
NASA / ESA / Hubble SM4 ERO
"Earthrise" seen by the Apollo 8 astronauts in December 1968. Credit: NASA.
NASA
Jim Winn / Trifecta
Image: Hubble view
Chandra X-ray Observatory Center / NASA
NASA

More photos

Pets, health and business slide shows
Image: A Malayan tiger is seen at the National Zoo in Kuala Lumpur
Bazuki Muhammad / Reuters
Animal Tracks

A leaping squirrel, a yawning tiger, a playful panda pair, a baby beluga whale – plus many more images of cute critters.

Image: Emperor penguin feeding chick
Ty Hurley / IUCN
Image: Controversial Body Worlds Exhibition
Christopher Furlong / Getty Images
Image: A boy gzaes through a window during a nap session at the Mai Hoa orphanage in An Nhon Tay, Vietnam.
Justin Mott / Redux Pictures
Image: 'Black Friday' Across The USA
Stephen J. Coddington / Zuma Press
GERMANY-ANIMALS-WILD-BOAR-DOG-OFFBEAT
Sascha Schuermann / AFP - Getty Images
Sara Naomi Lewkowicz / 2009 Mountain Workshops
Image: Tuffy, sports a mohawk while competing in the fifth annual Times Square Dog Day Masquerade, in New York
Natalie Behring / Reuters
Image: Madoff's Palm Beach home
J Pat Carter / AP
Image: BHS-ENTERTAINMENT-MISS UNIVERSE
Timothy A. Clary / AFP - Getty Images
US Playboy Magazine publisher Hugh Hefne
Gabriel Bouys / AFP/Getty Images
Image:
Remy De La Mauviniere / AP
Image: A cat during the Pets Fashion Week Russia in Moscow
Alexander Natruskin / Reuters
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