Photo Essay

Bolivia's Lithium-Powered Future

What the global battery boom means for the future of South America's poorest country.

BY JOSHUA KEATING | OCTOBER 21, 2009

A Third Intifada?

Contention over the disputed Al-Aqsa mosque and Temple Mount site have once again unleashed violence in Jerusalem and the West Bank. Could a third intifada erupt?

BY BOBBY PIERCE | OCTOBER 14, 2009

Edward Burtynsky's Oil

A decade of photographs exploring the impact of oil from the acclaimed Canadian photographer Edward Burtynsky. The collection will be on display at Washington D.C.'s Corcoran Gallery through Dec. 13.

OCTOBER 9, 2009

Europe's Lactose Intolerance

Dairy farmers in Europe are having a cow over low milk prices and have taken themselves -- and their bovines -- to the streets.

BY BOBBY PIERCE, JORDANA TIMERMAN | OCTOBER 6, 2009

Let the Red Times Roll

Beijing has spared no expense to ensure that the military parade and mass pageant planned for October 1 to celebrate the 60th anniversary of the People's Republic of China are both spectacular and free from security snafus.

BY CHRISTINA LARSON | SEPTEMBER 29, 2009

China Turns 60

Thursday, October 1, 2009, marks the 60th anniversary of the founding of the People's Republic of China. While the country gears up to celebrate, FP looks back on six decades in the world's oldest continuously red state.

SEPTEMBER 28, 2009

Inside The Digital Dump

Photos by Natalie Behring

SEPTEMBER 23, 2009

Vova and Dima 4eva?

Does Russia's tandem still get along?

BY JOSHUA KEATING | SEPTEMBER 16, 2009

Revenge of the Rivers

A summer of severe storms has left much of the world underwater.

BY MICHAEL WILKERSON | SEPTEMBER 11, 2009

Back to School with Swine Flu

Students are going back to school in many parts of the world, but this school year, there's something new to worry about in addition to grades and exams: swine flu.

BY MICHAEL WILKERSON | SEPTEMBER 2, 2009

Fasting and Feasting During Ramadan

Muslims everywhere are observing a holy month of fasting and feasts, a time of religious reflection shared with family and friends.

BY MICHAEL WILKERSON | AUGUST 28, 2009

Scenes from the Violent Twilight of Oil

Oil may be making its long goodbye, but twilight or not, the Oil Age still defines our world.

SEPT. / OCT. 2009

Voting Day in Afghanistan

Despite the milestone achievement of those Afghans who voted in the recent election, the country still has a long war ahead.

BY MICHAEL WILKERSON | AUGUST 20, 2009

Hillary in Africa

Three weeks after U.S. President Barack Obama visited Africa, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton returned to the region for a sweeping, 11-day, seven-country tour. What both dignitaries shared, besides rock star-worthy receptions, was a rhetoric urging political reform, extolling good governance, and affirming Africa's "promise."

BY ADITI NANGIA | AUGUST 13, 2009

Afghanistan’s Long War

With presidential elections approaching and a wave of U.S. troops who entered last month, Afghanistan has been struggling to establish itself as a stable state. The war that began after the 9/11 terrorist attacks has dragged on, and the only thing certain is that there's still a long road ahead.

BY BRIAN FUNG, MICHAEL WILKERSON | AUGUST 7, 2009

A Whale of a Controversy

Japan's dolphin-hunting industry gets skewered in The Cove, a just-released documentary by director Louie Psihoyos. But after this year's setbacks at the International Whaling Commission's annual meeting, dolphins aren't the only marine mammals that are in trouble.

BY BRIAN FUNG | JULY 31, 2009

The Obamans Abroad

While U.S. President Barack Obama stayed in Washington to work on domestic issues, Vice-President Joe Biden and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton embarked on separate overseas tours. From Tblisi to Thailand, the two drew large crowds, crossed swords with a few enemies, and made one or two slip-ups as well.

BY JAMES DOWNIE | JULY 24, 2009

Don't Call It a Surge

A wave of U.S. troops entered Afghanistan this month, but don't dare call it a surge. President Barack Obama's preferred terms are "increase," "reinforcement," and "enabling forces." Meanwhile, July has proven to be the deadliest month for foreign troops in Afghanistan.

BY ADITI NANGIA | JULY 17, 2009

Photo Essay: Who Are the Uighurs?

What motivates China's restless Muslim minority?

BY JOSHUA KEATING | JULY 9, 2009

The Least Free Places on Earth

As the United States celebrates its Independence Day, here's a look at some places with nothing to cheer about. The following images are from the bottom 21 countries and territories from Freedom House's Freedom in the World report, with text prepared by the staff of Freedom House.

JULY 2, 2009

King of the World

Fans around the world mourn Michael Jackson on June 26, 2009.

JUNE 26, 2009

Children at Work

While many children are now enjoying summer holidays from school, others are toiling away in sweatshops. Amid the Great Recession, more parents may be pulling their children out of school and putting them to work to supplement family income.

BY PREETI AROON | JUNE 25, 2009

Portraits of Instability

Haunting images from the world's most fragile states.

BY ELIZABETH DICKINSON, ANNIE LOWREY, JOSHUA KEATING | JULY/AUG 2009

Photo Essay: Happy Birthday, Buddha

Swine flu and the Taliban in Pakistan may be worrying many people, but for Buddhists, now is a time of celebration. It's Buddha's birthday.

BY PREETI AROON | MAY 7, 2009

Photo Essay: 10 Environmental Challenges We've Got to Solve

Climate change and a rapidly growing middle class are putting enormous pressure on the Earth. Unless we innovate ourselves out this dire situation, the planet is in peril.

BY PREETI AROON, GREG SHTRAKS | APRIL 22, 2009

The Land of No Smiles

Renowned documentary photographer Tomas van Houtryve entered North Korea by posing as a businessman looking to open a chocolate factory. Despite 24-hour surveillance by North Korean minders, he took arresting photographs of Pyongyang and its people -- images rarely captured and even more rarely distributed in the West. They show stark glimmers of everyday life in the world's last gulag.

BY TOMAS VAN HOUTRYVE | APRIL 15, 2009

Daily Life in Yemen

An ancient land that globalization seems to have passed by, Yemen -- where the “underpants bomber” allegedly trained for his failed Christmas Day attack -- is not just about Islamic extremism, choking traffic, and crushing poverty.

BY SANDY CHOI | FEBRUARY 20, 2009

Photo Essay: India's Real-World Slumdogs

With Slumdog Millionaire winning 8 Academy Awards, it's easy to view Mumbai's slums as wastelands of filth and misery. But they're actually vibrant business centers filled with scrappy entrepreneurs. If some wealthy elites get their way, though, the slums' days may be numbered.

BY PREETI AROON | FEBRUARY 4, 2009

Photo Essay: Gaza's (Literal) Underground Economy

Since Hamas gained control of Gaza in June 2007, Israel has blockaded the flow of goods into and out of the territory. But when trade is closed aboveground, the economy simply moves underground, in more ways than one.

BY PREETI AROON | NOVEMBER 20, 2008

Wide Angle: The State at Work

Running a poor country has never been a tougher job. Civil servants are asked to do the people's work with very little, sometimes with nothing at all. They see to it that the job gets done -- or grinds to a halt. Meet the bureaucrats.

PHOTOGRAPHS BY JAN BANNING | JUNE 12, 2006