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Graduates of the class of 2013 react to their commencement address given by U.S. President Barack Obama as rain falls during a spring downpour at Morehouse College in Atlanta, Georgia May 19, 2013. Morehouse is the only all male, historically black college in the United States.
Watch a snippet of Obama's commencement speech:
Orania is a South Africa's only "purely" white town founded in the Northern Cape province in 1991 by Afrikaners, for Afrikaners opposed to the post-apartheid "rainbow nation," just after the release of Nelson Mandela. One thousand people live in Orania, and they try to be as self-sufficient as possible. They have their own money, as well as their own flag. Orania's population grows at nine per cent a year. It attracts Afrikaners who feel to be left out in the new South Africa, and who are scared of the country's high crime rates. The little town is protected by article 235 of South Africa's constitution, which guarantees the right of self-determination. But residents here are thinking big — their next goal is the creation of an Afrikaner Republic.
Photos taken by Stephane de Sakutin of AFP/Getty Images on April 17, 2013.
A young boy plays by a painted wall reading "Welcome in Orania" in Afrikaans.
Afrikaner pupils attend a lesson with their teacher.
A cashier holds Orania's currency notes.
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Guests take their seats during the Ceremonial funeral of former British Prime Minister Baroness Thatcher at St Paul's Cathedral on April 17, 2013 in London, England. Dignitaries from around the world today join Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh as the United Kingdom pays tribute to former Prime Minister Baroness Thatcher during a Ceremonial funeral with military honours at St Paul's Cathedral. Lady Thatcher, who died last week, was the first British female Prime Minister and served from 1979 to 1990.
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REUTERS/Haleem Al-Halabi
REUTERS/Haleem Al-HalabiA man drinks water as he searches for survivors in the rubble of a damaged area, what activists said was a result of an airstrike by the Syrian regime, in Al-Sukkari neighborhood in Aleppo April 7, 2013. REUTERS/Haleem Al-Halabi
Relatives of Maisara Abu Hamdiyeh, a Palestinian prisoner who died of cancer while in Israeli detention, comfort each other at Al-Ahli hospital in the West Bank city of Hebron ahead of his funeral on April 4, 2013. The Palestinian leadership has accused Israel of medical negligence, despite moves by the prison service to secure his early release on compassionate grounds, with news of his death sparking angry clashes with the army, notably in Hebron. (Marco Longari/AFP/Getty Images)
Palestinian police escort the body of Maysara Abu Hamdiyeh during his funeral in Hebron on Thursday. (AP Photo/Nasser Shiyoukhi)
A Laiki Bank manager tries to calm depositors waiting for the opening of the bank's branch in Nicosia March 28, 2013. Banks in Cyprus opened their doors on Thursday for the first time in almost two weeks, with tight controls on transactions to prevent a run on deposits after the island was forced to accept a stringent EU rescue package to avert bankruptcy. (Yannis Behrakis/Reuters)
It was a decade ago today that U.S. bombs first rained down on Baghdad, Iraq, while in Washington, then-President George W. Bush announced the start of hostilities — a U.S.-led coalition with the U.K. and other forces — on March 19, 2003. It was already the early hours of March 20, 2003, in Iraq when the airstrikes began.
The military action quickly ousted Saddam Hussein, but led to years of bloodshed as Sunni and Shiite militants battled U.S. forces and each other, leaving nearly 4,500 Americans and more than 100,000 Iraqis dead.
At the end of 2011, U.S. Defense Secretary Leon Panetta officially declared the Iraq War over with the last U.S. troops withdrawing from Iraqi soon after. Iraq's alleged possession of weapons of mass destruction that posed a threat to the coalition, prompting the invasion in 2003, were never found in these 10 years following the start of the invasion.
A decade later, Iraq’s long-term stability and the strength of its democracy are uncertain. While the country is freer than it was during Saddam’s murderous rule, its Shiite-led government is arguably closer to Tehran than to Washington. It faces an outpouring of anger by the Sunni minority that was dominant under Saddam and at the heart of the insurgency that followed his ouster.
With files from the New York Times and Associated Press.
Smoke rises from the Trade Ministry in Baghdad on March 20, 2003, after it was hit by a missile during U.S.-led forces attacks. (Jerome Delay/AP Photo)
A U.S. Marine watches a statue of Saddam Hussein being toppled in Firdaus Square in downtown Baghdad on April 9, 2003. (Jerome Delay/AP Photo)
Piles of torn and burned Iraqi currency bearing the portrait of Saddam Hussein lie in ashes on the floor of the burned Baghdad Central Bank on April 18, 2003. (David Guttenfelder/AP Photo)
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View of the hearse carrying the coffin of Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez while leaving the Military Hospital to the Military Academy, on March 6, 2013, in Caracas.The flag-draped coffin of Venezuelan leader Hugo Chavez was borne through throngs of weeping supporters on Wednesday as a nation bade farewell to the firebrand leftist who led them for 14 years.
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Male and female Marine recruits go through boot camp in February 2013 at MCRD Parris Island, South Carolina. Female enlisted Marines have gone through recruit training at the base since 1949. All female enlisted Marines, and male Marines who were living east of the Mississippi River when they were recruited, attend boot camp at Parris Island. About six per cent of enlisted Marines are female. About 11 per cent of female recruits who arrive at the boot camp fail to complete the training, which can be physically and mentally demanding. On January 24, 2013, U.S. Secretary of Defence Leon Panetta rescinded an order — which had been in place since 1994 — that restricted women from being attached to ground combat units. All photos by Scott Olson of Getty Images.
Recruits arrive by bus for boot camp.
Stacey Graham of Richmond, Virginia, and other recruits respond to a drill instructor's orders to call home shortly after arriving. One of the first things Marine recruits do after arriving at Parris Island is make a call home where they read a script to let their families know that they have arrived safely at the base.
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