With the Iwo Jima Memorial in the foreground, fireworks burst over Washington during the capital on Jan. 1 millennium celebration

Mizumi Malfitamo kisses her husband, Francesco, as they celebrate the arrival of the year 2000 in New York City's Times Square shortly after midnight Jan. 1

Fires sweep through South Africa's premium wine-producing region of Simonsberg in the Western Cape on Jan. 19. Nearly all the estates in the area suffered some damage.

Miguel Saavedra, left, holds up a picture of 6-year-old Elian Gonzalez during a Jan. 5 protest outside the U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service office in Miami. The INS ordered Gonzalez to be returned to his father, who lives in Cuba.

Christina Knisley, left, gives a farewell kiss to her sister, Kimberly Fudge, on Jan. 6 after a sentencing hearing in Pomona Superior Court in California. Fudge was convicted of second-degree murder in connection with the death last June of her 5-month-old son, who was left for hours locked in a hot car. She was sentenced to 15 years to life in prison.

Republican presidential hopeful John McCain casts a shadow on a U.S. flag as he points to a questioner during a Jan. 12 town hall-style meeting at the VFW hall in Milford, N.H.

A Turkish woman weeps as she sits next to her son's grave in a military cemetery in Istanbul Jan. 14. Relatives of Turkish soldiers who lost their lives in clashes against Kurdish rebels protested a government decision putting the execution of Kurdish rebel leader on hold

Elian Gonzalez, the 6-year-old at the center of a U.S.-Cuban controversy, playfully sprays sticky plastic string at a familiar group of photographers as they hang over his backyard fence in Miami.

A multiple-exposure image shows the progress of the Jan. 20 lunar eclipse, as seen from Elm Street in downtown Dallas. The first exposure was made with a wide-angle lens early in the evening, when there was still enough light to illuminate the buildings. Five other exposures were made with a telephoto lens, for a closer view of the moon at different stages of the eclipse.

Motorcycles zoom into the desert Jan. 20 at the start of the 14th stage of the Dakar Rally, heading from Libya to Egypt. The annual international race ends in Cairo.

At the urging of his daughter, GOP presidential candidate Alan Keyes jumps into a mosh pit after attending a Renewing America rally Jan. 23 in Des Moines, Iowa. Political satirist Michael Moore promised the endorsement of his cable TV program to the first candidate who jumped into the pit.

Homeless people huddle around a steam vent, trying to escape the cold during a heavy snowfall in Washington on Jan. 25. The unexpected storm dropped more than a foot of snow on the East Coast.

Cuban military students wave flags during a rally at a Havana military school Jan. 25. President Fidel Castro and hundreds of military students listened to speeches and songs calling for the return of 6-year-old Elian Gonzalez to his father in Cuba.

A Malaysian Hindu devotee recites a prayer as he undertakes a ritual cleansing before starting his pilgrimage to the Batu Caves temple during the observance of Thaipusam in Kuala Lumpur Jan. 21. Almost a million Hindus make the annual pilgrimage to the temple in a religious ritual of pain and penance.

The shadow of GOP presidential front-runner George W. Bush is cast onto an American flag as he addresses a campaign rally Jan. 22 in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. Bush garnered the most support in Iowa’s GOP presidential caucus Jan. 24.

A monk walks under a sea of red lanterns at a temple in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, on Jan. 31. Hundreds of lanterns give a festive atmosphere to welcome the Chinese New Year, falling on Feb. 5. This is a particularly auspicious year in the Chinese cycle: the “year of the dragon.”

Children from the Karen National Union hold assault weapons during Jan. 31 celebrations marking the 51st anniversary of the rebel army's rebellion against the Myanmar government in Tak, near the border with Thailand.