Photographs 2013, Part 2

A mix of pics from around the world – some of the people, places and events that made up 2013 . . .

An aerial photo of a neighborhood in Moore, Oklahoma, completely flattened by the massive tornado on May 20, 2013. In less than an hour, 25 were killed, 375 injured, 1,150 homes destroyed, damages adding up to more than $2 billion.

Chinese astronaut Nie Haisheng waves before stepping out of the re-entry capsule of China's Shenzhou-10 spacecraft after it landed in Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, on June 26, 2013. Three Chinese astronauts returned to Earth, touching down after a successful 15-day mission in which they docked with a space laboratory.

United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, left, applauds as the members of the "Malala Day" Youth Assembly wish Malala Yousafzai, center, a happy birthday, on July 12, 2013 at United Nations headquarters. Yousafzai, the Pakistani teenager shot by the Taliban for promoting education for girls, celebrated her 16th birthday by addressing the U.N. The U.N. declared July 12 "Malala Day," to honor the teen who returned to school in March after medical treatment in Britain for injuries suffered in the October attack.

Syria in Ruins. A man walks along a damaged street filled with debris after years of warfare, in Deir al-Zor, Syria, on June 17, 2013.

A submerged idol of Hindu Lord Shiva stands in the flooded River Ganges in Rishikesh, in the northern Indian state of Uttarakhand, on June 18, 2013. Torrential monsoon rains caused havoc in northern India, leading to flash floods, cloudbursts and landslides.

A garden with a swimming pool is inundated by the waters of the Elbe River during floods near Magdeburg in the state of Saxony Anhalt, on June 10, 2013. Tens of thousands of Germans, Hungarians and Czechs were evacuated from their homes as soldiers raced to pile up sandbags to hold back rising waters in the region's worst floods in a decade.

Smuggled bear paws, arranged on the ground at the China-Russia border in Manzhouli, Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, on June 15, 2013. Two Russians were arrested for smuggling 213 bear paws into China at a China-Russia land border, according to the Chinese customs police's recent announcement. Bear paws reportedly are believed by some people in China to have high nutritional value.

Millions attend as Pope Francis celebrates a huge mass at Copacabana Beach in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, on July 28, 2013

A Yellow Scorpion eats his prey near Sde Boker in the Negev Desert, Israel, on August 5, 2013. Scorpions have chemicals in their cuticle that naturally fluoresce when viewed under black light.

An aerial view shows the Costa Concordia as it lies on its side next to Giglio Island taken from an Italian navy helicopter, on August 26, 2013. The wrecked cruise ship was successfully righted soon after, nearly two years after the liner capsized and killed at least 30 people off the Italian coast. The giant vessel, which has lain partly submerged in shallow waters off the Tuscan island of Giglio since the accident in January 2012, was rolled off the seabed and onto underwater platforms.

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