Photos: 2012 Photos of the Year by the Associated Press
December 10, 2012
In this March 20, 2012 file photo, suspended by wires, Chinese artist Li Wei performs in the sky at La Villette in Paris. Wei's work often depicts him in apparently gravity-defying situations. (AP Photo/Francois Mori, File)
In this Nov. 11, 2012 file aerial photo, the two homes that were leveled and the numerous neighboring homes that were damaged from a massive explosion that sparked a huge fire and killed two people are shown in Indianapolis. Nearly three dozen homes were damaged or destroyed, and seven people were taken to a hospital with injuries. The powerful nighttime blast shattered windows, crumpled walls and could be felt at least three miles away. Authorities have said they believe the explosion was intentional and caused by natural gas but have released no other details. (AP Photo/The Indianapolis Star, Matt Kryger, File) NO SALES
In this Sept. 11, 2012 file photo, this still image included in a video obtained by the Associated Press from Fahd al-Bakoush, a freelance videographer and activist, which has been authenticated based on its contents and other AP reporting, shows the body of U.S. Ambassador Chris Stevens being moved by Libyan civilians trying to rescue him after gunmen and protesters rampaged through the U.S. consulate in Benghazi, Libya. The group of Libyans had stumbled across Stevens' seemingly lifeless form inside a dark room and didn't know who he was, only that he was a foreigner, al-Bakoush and two other witnesses told the AP. The Arabic script in the photo translates into English as, "photo Fahd al-Bakoush." (AP Photo/Fahd al-Bakoush, File)
In this June 18, 2012 file photo, Indigenous squeeze into a subway train as they ride to the People's Summit for Social and Environmental Justice in defense of the commons, a parallel event taking place alongside the United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development, or Rio+20, in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. The Earth summit ran through June 22, with three final days of high-profile talks among some 130 top leaders from nations around the globe. (AP Photo/Felipe Dana, File)
In this Nov. 11, 2012 file photo, a young man and a woman enjoy swimming in flooded St. Mark's Square in Venice, Italy. High tides flooded Venice, leading Venetians and tourists to don high boots and use wooden walkways to cross St. Mark's Square and other areas under water. (AP Photo/Luigi Costantini, File)
In this Jan. 7, 2012 file photo, a wild full grown leopard scalps the head of a man as it attacks after wandering into a residential neighborhood in Gauhati, in the northern state of Assam, India. Later the leopard was tranquilized by wildlife official and taken to the state zoological park. The leopard ventured into a crowded area and injured four people before it was captured and caged. (AP Photo/Manas Paran, File)
In this June 11, 2012 file photo, Chris Combs, of Troy, left, and Stephanie Locke, of Clawson, cross the street in downtown Birmingham, Mich. while participating in a protest by gun enthusiasts. The protest wass in support of eighteen-year-old Sean Michael Combs, of Troy, who was arrested in Birmingham while carrying a rifle. Combs was charged with brandishing a weapon, disturbing the peace, and obstructing a police officer. (AP Photo/The Detroit News, David Guralnick, File)
This Nov. 10, 2012 file photo shows a view of the fireworks display organized by Kuwait's government to commemorate Constitution Day in Kuwait City. The 60 minute $14 million spectacle was competing for a place in the Guiness Book of Records. (AP Photo/Gustavo Ferrari, File)
n this June 5, 2012 file photo, revelers on the Mall in London watch Britain Queen Elizabeth II appear on the Buckingham Palace balcony as part of a four-day Diamond Jubilee celebration to mark the 60th anniversary of Queen Elizabeth II accession to the throne. (AP Photo/Sang Tan, File)
In this Aug. 30, 2012 file photo, residents evacuate their flooded neighborhood in LaPlace, La. Hurricane Isaac staggered toward central Louisiana, its weakening winds driving storm surge into portions of the coast and the River Parishes between New Orleans and Baton Rouge. (AP Photo/Eric Gay, File)
In this Oct. 14, 2012 file photo provided by Red Bull Stratos, pilot Felix Baumgartner of Austria jumps out of the capsule during the final manned flight for Red Bull Stratos. In a giant leap from more than 24 miles up, Baumgartner shattered the sound barrier while making the highest jump ever with a tumbling, death-defying plunge from a balloon to a safe landing in the New Mexico desert. (AP Photo/Red Bull Stratos, File)
In this Nov. 29, 2012 file photo, members of the Palestinian delegation react as they surround Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, center, applauding, during a meeting of the United Nations General Assembly after a vote on a resolution on the issue of upgrading the Palestinian Authority's status to non-member observer state passed in the United Nations in New York. (AP Photo/Kathy Willens, File)
In this Jan. 16, 2012 file photo, a man rides a horse through a bonfire in San Bartolome de Pinares, Spain in honor of Saint Anthony, the patron saint of animals. On the eve of Saint Anthony's Day, hundreds ride their horses trough the narrow cobblestone streets of the small village of San Bartolome during the "Luminarias," a tradition that dates back 500 years and is meant to purify the animals with the smoke of the bonfires and protect them for the year to come. (AP Photo/Daniel Ochoa de Olza, File)
In this May 1, 2012 file photo, a police lieutenant swings his baton at Occupy Wall Street activists in New York. Hundreds of activists with a variety of causes spread out over New York City on International Workers Day, or May Day, with Occupy Wall Street members leading a charge against financial institutions. (AP Photo/Mary Altaffer, File)
In this July 31, 2012 file photo, an Indian barber holding a candle, gives a haircut for a customer at his shop in Kolkata, India. India's energy crisis cascaded over half the country when three of its regional grids collapsed, leaving 620 million people without government-supplied electricity for several hours in, by far, the world's biggest blackout. (AP Photo/Bikas Das, File)
In this June 27, 2012 file photo, Tarra Piet, right, is embraced by her cousin Kursty Setty as they stand in Piet's fathers flooded pet store Live Oak Fla. Dozens of homes and businesses were flooded by torrential rains from Tropical Storm Debby. (AP Photo/Dave Martin, File)
In this April 12, 2012 file photo, George Zimmerman, right, stands with a Seminole County Deputy during a court hearing in Sanford, Fla. Zimmerman was charged with second-degree murder in the shooting death of the 17-year-old Trayvon Martin. (AP Photo/Gary W. Green, Orlando Sentinel, Pool, File)
In this March 4, 2012 file photo, Spanish bullfighter Juan Jose Padilla performs during a bullfight in the southwestern Spanish town of Olivenza. Padilla, who lost sight in one eye and has partial facial paralysis after a terrifying goring returned to the bullring, five months after his injury. (AP Photo/Daniel Ochoa de Olza, File)
Tom Sullivan, center, hugs his wife Terry, left, and daughter Megan outside Gateway High School, Friday July 20, 2012, in Aurora. Sullivan is still missing his son, who he said was at the movies where about 50 people were shot 12 fatally early Friday in Aurora. RJ Sangosti, The Denver Post
In this Nov. 14, 2012 file photo, Jihad Masharawi weeps while he holds the body of his 11-month old son Ahmad, at Shifa hospital following an Israeli air strike on their family house, in Gaza City. The Israeli military said its assassination of the Hamas military commander Ahmed Jabari, marks the beginning of an operation against Gaza militants. (AP Photo/Majed Hamdan, File)
In this Nov. 18, 2012 file photo, a Palestinian man kisses the hand of a dead relative in the morgue of Shifa Hospital in Gaza City. (AP Photo/Bernat Armangue, File)
In this Nov. 27, 2012 file photo, people prepare to bury the bodies of some of the 112 victims of a garment factory fire in Dhaka, Bangladesh. (AP Photo/Khurshed Rinku, File)
In this June 21, 2012 file photo, Indian employees are evacuated as smoke billows after the Maharashtra state government building caught fire in Mumbai, India. Hundreds of employees were evacuated from the seven-story government building as more than two dozen fire engines battled the major fire that raged for more than three hours in India's financial and entertainment capital. (AP Photo/File)
In this Feb. 29, 2012 file photo, Santosh, who sells donkey milk, holds a baby upside down after feeding him some of the liquid, locally believed to be a cure for a persistent cough in a slum in Mumbai, India. Millions of children are growing up in squalid urban areas and denied basic services despite living close to them. UNICEF said children living in slums and shantytowns often lack water, electricity and healthcare and urged policy makers to ensure urban planning meets the needs of children. (AP Photo/Rafiq Maqbool, File)
In this Jan. 29, 2012 file photo, underprivileged Indian children dressed in costume to look like the late Mahatma Gandhi arrive on a bus before attempting a world record in Kolkata, India. Local non-government organizations put on the event and a total of 485 children took part in the rally ahead of the anniversary of Gandhi's death which falls on January 30th. (AP Photo/Bikas Das, File)
In this Dec. 1, 2012 file photo, Actress Meryl Streep uses her iPhone to get a photo of her and Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton following the State Department Dinner for the Kennedy Center Honors gala at the State Department in Washington. (AP Photo/Kevin Wolf, File)
In this Nov. 27, 2012 file photo, aviculturists at the Audubon Species Survival Center in New Orleans, wearing crane costumes, round up four endangered Mississippi sandhill cranes and transport them from their current habitat, to the Mississippi Sandhill Crane National Wildlife Refuge in Gautier, Miss. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert, File)
In this Feb. 5, 2012 file photo, people walk along an icy promenade past ice covered cars and trees on the shores of Lake Geneva in Versoix, Switzerland. Across Eastern Europe, thousands of people dug out from heavy snow that had fallen during a cold snap and killed hundreds of people. (AP Photo/Keystone/Martial Trezzini, File)
In this Nov. 26, 2012 file photo, police officers are sprayed with milk by European milk farmers during a demonstration outside the European Parliament in Brussels. Farmers drove their tractors into the European Quarter of Brussels for a two-day demonstration to protest against what they believe are unfair milk prices. (AP Photo/Geert Vanden Wijngaert, File)
In this Sept. 5, 2012 file photo, Russian President Vladimir Putin waits in a motorized hang glider next to a Siberian white crane, on the Yamal Peninsula, in Russia. Putin took part in a flight as part of a program devised by environmentalists to lead the endangered cranes, which were raised in captivity, on their migration to Asia. (AP Photo/RIA-Novosti, Alexei Druzhinin, Presidential Press Service, File)
In this July 14, 2012 file photo, people try to extinguish the fire after a man set himself alight in Tel Aviv, Israel during rally marking the anniversary of a wave of demonstrations that swept the country to protest the high cost of living and other social issues. He was later rushed to a hospital where he was being treated for serious burns, police said. (AP Photo/Ben Kelmer, File)
In this Nov. 20, 2012 file photo, Israeli soldiers and a civilian take cover as a siren alerting of an incoming rocket from Gaza Strip sounds in Ofakim, southern Israel. (AP Photo/Tsafrir Abayov, File)
In this March 18, 2012 file photo, Archbishops stand next to the body of Pope Shenouda III is seated on the throne of Mar Morqos, or St. Mark, as mourners gather for the viewing of the patriarch at the Coptic Orthodox Church in Cairo, Egypt. Pope Shenouda III, the patriarch of the Coptic Orthodox Church who led Egypt's Christian minority for 40 years during a time of increasing tensions with Muslims, died. He was 88. (AP Photo/Amr Nabil, File)
In this Oct. 9, 2012 file photo, former Penn State University assistant football coach Jerry Sandusky, center, is taken from the Centre County Courthouse by Centre County Sheriff Denny Nau, left, and a deputy, after being sentenced in Bellefonte, Pa. Sandusky was sentenced to at least 30 years in prison, effectively a life sentence, in the child sexual abuse scandal that brought shame to Penn State and led to coach Joe Paterno's downfall. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke, File)
In this Feb. 26, 2012 file photo, best actress Meryl Streep, left, for "The Iron Lady" and best actor Jean Dujardin for "The Artist" pose with their awards during the 84th Academy Awards in the Hollywood section of Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Joel Ryan, File)
This July 13, 2011 file photo, made available on the International Security Assistance Force's Flickr website shows the former Commander of International Security Assistance Force and U.S. Forces-Afghanistan Gen. Davis Petraeus, left, shaking hands with Paula Broadwell, co-author of "All In: The Education of General David Petraeus." Petraeus resigned as CIA director over his extramarital affair with his biographer, Broadwell. (AP Photo/ISAF, File)
In this Nov. 17, 2012 file photo, smoke rises during an explosion from an Israeli forces strike in Gaza City. Israel bombarded the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip with nearly 200 airstrikes widening a blistering assault on Gaza rocket operations by militants to include the prime minister's headquarters, a police compound and a vast network of smuggling tunnels. (AP Photo/Hatem Moussa, File)
In this May 23, 2012 file photo, chief midwife Maria Antoneta Cabral Barbosa holds a newborn baby boy she had just delivered by flashlight, at the regional hospital in Gabu, Guinea-Bissau. In Guinea-Bissau, one of the deadliest places in the world to give birth, a woman has a 1 in 19 chance of maternal death, compared to about 1 in 2,100 in the United States. Experts say women are increasingly heading to medical centers when things go awry, but logistical, financial, and cultural barriers are still keeping many pregnant women from seeking help in time. (AP Photo/Rebecca Blackwell, File)
In this Nov. 20, 2012 file photo, Israelis Sapir, left, and her boyfriend Ron, right, last names not given, walk inside Sapir's home, hit by a rocket fired by militants from Gaza Strip, in the southern city of Beersheba, Israel. (AP Photo/Tsafrir Abayov, File)
In this Feb. 16, 2012 file photo, new North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, second from left, applauds as he leaves the stands at Kumsusan Memorial Palace in Pyongyang after reviewing a parade of thousands of soldiers and commemorating the 70th birthday of the late Kim Jong Il. (AP Photo/David Guttenfelder, File)
In this Aug. 5, 2012 file photo, and publicly provided by the police department in Hanover, Germany, a squirrel is trapped in a manhole cover in Isenhagen, northern Germany. After they were called by neighbors, police managed to free the animal by using olive oil. (AP Photo/Police Hanover, File)
In this March 26, 2012 file photo, Tibetan exile Jamphel Yeshi screams as he runs engulfed in flames after setting himself on fire at a protest in New Delhi, India, against Chinese President Hu Jintao's visit to India. Yeshi died two days later while hundreds of other activists were being held without charge before the president's arrival. Hu arrived in New Delhi for a summit with India, Russia, Brazil and South Africa. (AP Photo/Manish Swarup, File)
In this Nov. 19, 2012 file photo, U.S. President Barack Obama, right, waves as he embraces Myanmar democracy activist Aung San Suu Kyi after addressing members of the media at Suu Kyi's residence in Yangon, Myanmar. Obama became the first U.S. president to visit the Asian nation also known as Burma. (AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais, File)
In this March 1, 2012 file photo, small screens show South Korean President Lee Myung-bak as participants listen to his speech during the 93th anniversary ceremony of Independence Movement Day, a public holiday to remember activists who fought for Korean independence against Japanese colonization, in Seoul, South Korea. (AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon, File)
In this April 26, 2012 file photo provided by the CU Independent, shows a bear that wandered into the University of Colorado Boulder, Colo., dorm complex Williams Village falling from a tree after being tranquilized by Colorado wildlife officials. Colorado University police spokesman Ryan Huff said the bear was likely 1-3 years old and weighed somewhere between 150-200 pounds. (AP Photo/CU Independent, Andy Duann, File)
In this June 29, 2012 file photo, Egypt's President-elect Mohammed Morsi waves to supporters after giving a speech at Tahrir Square in Cairo. (AP Photo/Khalil Hamra, File)
In this Feb. 26, 2012 file photo, Myanmar's pro-democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi is silhouetted against setting sun as she arrived to deliver her speech during an election campaign rally in Thongwa village some 50 kilometers (31 miles) from Yangon, Myanmar. (AP Photo/Altaf Qadri, File)
In this Feb. 26, 2012 file photo, Actress Angelina Jolie poses on the red carpet for photographers as she arrives the 84th Academy Awards in the Hollywood section of Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Amy Sancetta, File)
In this July 17, 2012 file photo, Dancers in Taiwan's Paper Windmill Cultural Foundation perform during a dress rehearsal of Paper Windmill Fantasia in Taipei, Taiwan. With integration of familiar nursery rhymes, passionate dance, literary meaning and sophisticated art forms, this drama claims an unprecedented performance demonstrating the unique innovations of the modern theater in Taiwan. (AP Photo/Wally Santana, File)
In this Aug. 31, 2012 file aerial photo, homes flooded by Hurricane Isaac in Braithwaite, La., are seen. (AP Photo/David J. Phillip, File)
In this Aug. 16, 2012 file photo, police surround the bodies of striking miners after opening fire on a crowd at the Lonmin Platinum Mine near Rustenburg, South Africa. South African police opened fire on a crowd of striking workers at a platinum mine, leaving an unknown number of people injured and possibly dead. Motionless bodies lay on the ground in pools of blood. (AP Photo/File)
In this July 23, 2012 file photo, James E. Holmes appears in Arapahoe County District Court in Centennial, Colo. Holmes was being held on suspicion of first-degree murder, and facing additional counts of aggravated assault and weapons violations stemming from a mass shooting in a movie theater in Aurora, Colo., that killed 12 and injured dozens of others. (AP Photo/Denver Post, RJ Sangosti, Pool, File)
In this May 18, 2012 file photo provided by Facebook, Facebook founder, Chairman and CEO Mark Zuckerberg, center, rings the Nasdaq opening bell from Facebook headquarters in Menlo Park, Calif. Robert Greifeld, second from right, CEO of the Nasdaq-OMX Stock Market, Inc. The social media company had its IPO. (AP Photo/Nasdaq via Facebook, Zef Nikolla, File)
In this Sept. 28, 2012 file photo, Nepalese gather around the burning wreckage at the crash site of a Sita Air airplane near Katmandu, Nepal. The plane carrying trekkers to the Everest region crashed and burned just after takeoff in NepalÃs capital, killing the 19 Nepali, British and Chinese people on board. (AP Photo/File)
In this May 20, 2012 file photo, hikers watch an annular eclipse from Papago Park in Phoenix. The annular eclipse, in which the moon passes in front of the sun leaving only a golden ring around its edges, was visible to wide areas across China, Japan and elsewhere in the region before moving across the Pacific to be seen in parts of the western United States. (AP Photo/The Arizona Republic, Michael Chow, File)
In this April 3, 2012 file photo, more than 200 pit bulls and other breeds are chained in their respective steel drum cages at a coffee farm lot in San Pablo city, Laguna province, south of Manila, Philippines, following their rescue from South Korean nationals. Dozens of pit bulls rescued from a dogfighting ring were being put down by activists who said there were no facilities to rehabilitate them and prevent them from again being used in underground arenas. (AP Photo/Bullit Marquez, File)
In this March 12, 2012 file photo, Luxembourg's Prime Minister Jean-Claude Juncker, right, puts his hands on the neck of Spain's Economy Minister Luis de Guindos, center, as Dutch Finance Minister Jan Kees De Jager, left, looks on during a meeting of eurozone finance ministers at the EU Council building in Brussels. As ministers chatted with each other at the meeting, the eurogroup's chief, Jean-Claude Juncker, came up behind Spanish finance minister, Luis De Guindos, and jokingly grabbed him by the neck with both hands, but the gesture soon appeared to change into a laughing friendly greeting and then deep discussion. The 17 euro countries were trying to focus on issues beyond the Greek crisis and deal with longer-term issues in their currency union, like discussing Spain's high deficits and potentially dangerous imbalances in some countries. (AP Photo/Virginia Mayo, File)
In this Aug. 17, 2012 file photo, feminist punk group Pussy Riot members, from left, Yekaterina Samutsevich, Maria Alekhina and Nadezhda Tolokonnikova sit in a glass cage at a court room in Moscow, Russia. The women, two of whom have young children, are charged with hooliganism connected to religious hatred. The case was widely seen as a warning that authorities will tolerate opposition only under tightly controlled conditions. T-shirt on right worn by Tolokonnikova is Spanish and translates to "They shall not pass", a slogan often used to express determination to defend a position against an enemy.(AP Photo/Sergey Ponomarev, File)
In this May 6, 2012 file photo, a wounded opposition protester winces in pain during a rally in Moscow. Riot police in Moscow began arresting protesters who were trying to reach the Kremlin in a demonstration on the eve of Vladimir Putin's inauguration as president. (AP Photo/Mikhail Metzel, File)
In this June 5, 2012 file photo, Britain's Prince Charles, Britain's Queen Elizabeth II and Prince William stand on the balcony at Buckingham Palace during the Diamond Jubilee celebrations in central London. (AP Photo/Stefan Wermuth, Pool, File)
In this June 26, 2012 file photo, fire from the Waldo Canyon wildfire burns as it moved into subdivisions and destroyed homes in Colorado Springs, Colo. (AP Photo/Gaylon Wampler, File)
In this April 24, 2012 file photo, North Korea's new commander in chief, Kim Jong Un is displayed on a giant screen during a concert on the eve of the 80th anniversary of the founding of the North Korean army in Pyongyang, North Korea. (AP Photo/Ng Han Gua, File)
In this Monday, Nov. 26, 2012 file photo, a man takes photographs inside a burned out garment factory on the outskirts of Dhaka, Bangladesh. The blaze at the factory killed 112 workers. (AP Photo/File)
In this April 9, 2012 file photo, President Barack Obama does pushups during the annual White House Easter Egg Roll at the White House in Washington. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster, File)
In this March 28, 2012 file photo, Afghan security forces escort Taliban militants clad in Afghan women dresses to be presented to the media at the Afghan intelligence department in Mehterlam, Laghman province, east of Kabul, Afghanistan. Afghan Intelligence forces arrested seven Taliban militants in Qarghayi district of Laghman province. (AP Photo/Rahmat Gul, File)
In this Aug. 8, 2012 file photo, a man carries puppies back inside their house as other dogs stay on the roof at a flooded area in Marikina City, east of Manila, Philippines. Widespread flooding that killed at least 11 people, battered a million others and paralyzed the Philippine capital began to ease as cleanup and rescue efforts focused on a large number of distressed residents, some still marooned on their roofs. (AP Photo/Aaron Favila, File)
In this Jan. 10, 2012 file photo, a man injured in a bomb blast puts on a shoe before being taken to the hospital in the Khyber region, near Peshawar, Pakistan. A bomb targeting a tribal militia opposed to the Pakistani Taliban exploded in a market close to the Afghan border, killing dozens of people in the deadliest blast in the country in several months. (AP Photo/Qazi Rauf, File)
In this Tuesday, Feb. 14, 2012 file photo Ultra-Orthodox Jews gather for the traditional Jewish wedding of Chananya Yom Tov Lipa, the great-grandson of the Rabbi of the Wiznitz Hasidic followers, in the ultra-Orthodox town of Bnei Brak near Tel Aviv, Israel. (AP Photo/Oded Balilty, File)
In this Sept. 5, 2012 file photo, people run for cover as smoke rises from the site of a fire at a fireworks factory on the outskirts of Sivakasi, about 500 kilometers (310 miles) southwest of Chennai, India. Police in southern India arrested six employees of the fireworks factory for a massive blaze that killed 40 workers and injured 60 others. (AP Photo, File) INDIA OUT
In this Sept. 1, 2012 file photo, a villager offers flowers to a female adult elephant lying dead on a paddy field in Panbari village, about 50 kilometers (30 miles) east of Gauhati, India. The elephant was hit by a train and killed while crossing railway tracks with a herd of wild Asiatic elephants. (AP Photo/Anupam Nath, File)
In this Feb. 1, 2012 file photo, an unidentified woman throws flour on French Socialist Party candidate for the 2012 presidential elections, Francois Hollande, in Paris. The woman ran to the side of the podium where Hollande stood to sign a "social contract" in favor of housing for all. (AP Photo/SZG, File)
In this April 6, 2012 file photo, the burning fuselage of an F/A-18 Hornet lies smoldering after crashing into a residential building in Virginia Beach, Va. (AP Photo/Zach Zapatero, File)
In this Oct. 12, 2012 file photo, spectators gather to watch the space shuttle Endeavour make its way down Manchester Blvd. in Los Angeles. Endeavour's 12-mile road trip kicked off as it moved from its Los Angeles International Airport hangar en route to the California Science Center, its ultimate destination. (AP Photo/Chris Carlson, File)
In this Aug. 19, 2012 file photo, surrounded by British police, WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange, center, makes a statement to the media and supporters from a window of the Ecuadorian Embassy in central London. Assange entered the embassy in June in an attempt to gain political asylum and prevent him from being extradited to Sweden, where he faces allegations of sex crimes, which he denies. Assange called on United States President Barack Obama to 'end a "witch hunt" against the secret-spilling WikiLeaks organization. (AP Photo/Sang Tan, File)
In this May 6, 2012 file photo, Russian riot police disperse opposition protesters in downtown Moscow. Riot police in began arresting protesters who were trying to reach the Kremlin in a demonstration on the eve of Vladimir Putin's inauguration as president. (AP Photo/Sergey Ponomarev, File)
In this may 24, 2012 file photo, lawmakers scuffle from pro-presidential and oppositional factions in the parliament session hall in Kiev, Ukraine. The hall erupted over a bill that would allow the use of the Russian language in courts, hospitals and other institutions in the Russian-speaking regions of the country. (AP Photo/Maks Levin, File)
In this Nov. 22, 2012 file photo, people stand near a house sitting in the middle of a new main road on the outskirts of Wenling city in east China's Zhejiang province. Authorities have demolished the five-story home that stood incongruously in the middle of a new main road and had become the latest symbol of resistance by Chinese homeowners against officials accused of offering unfair compensation. (AP Photo/File) CHINA OUT
In this April 3, 2012 file photo, a tornado touches down in Lancaster, Texas, south of Dallas. Tornadoes tore through the Dallas area, peeling roofs off homes, tossing big-rig trucks into the air and leaving flattened tractor trailers strewn along highways and parking lots. (AP Photo/The Dallas Morning News, Parrish Velasco, File)
In this March 14, 2012 file photo, former Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich reaches over a railing to shake supporters' hands at his home in Chicago. The 55-year-old Democrat was due to report to a prison in Colorado to begin serving a 14-year sentence, making him the second Illinois governor in a row to go to prison for corruption. (AP Photo/Charles Rex Arbogast, File)
In this Jan. 22, 2012 file photo, Hindu devotees cross a newly constructed temporary bridge at Sangam, the confluence of rivers Ganges and Yamuna, in Allahabad, India. Hundreds of thousands of Hindu pilgrims take dips in the confluence, some hoping to wash away sins and others to secure a spouse, during the month long festival. (AP Photo/Rajesh Kumar Singh, File)
In this Aug. 24, 2012 file photo, mass murderer Anders Behring Breivik, makes a salute after arriving in the court room at a courthouse in Oslo. Breivik, who admitted killing 77 people in Norway last year, was declared sane and sentenced to prison for bomb and gun attacks. (AP Photo/Frank Augstein, File)
In this Nov. 7, 2012 file photo, a riot police officer is engulfed by petrol bomb flames thrown by protesters in front of the parliament during clashes in Athens. (AP Photo/Dimitri Messinis, File)
In this March 16, 2012 file photo, Indian students hold a large poster of Indian cricketer Sachin Tendulkar after Tendulkar batted for his landmark 100th century, at a school in Chennai, southern India. Tendulkar, who had been stuck on 99 centuries for a year, became the first cricketer to score 100 international centuries when he hit to square leg and ran a single against Bangladesh in the Asia Cup. (AP Photo/File) INDIA OUT
In this Oct. 19, 2012 file photo, a Lebanese rescue man, carries an injured boy at the scene of an explosion in the mostly Christian neighborhood of Achrafiyeh, Beirut, Lebanon. A car bomb ripped through eastern Beirut, shearing the balconies of off residential buildings and sending bloodied victims pouring out into the streets in the most serious blast this city has seen in years. (AP Photo/Hussein Malla, File)
In this Oct. 30, 2012 file photo, Brian Hajeski, 41, of Brick, N.J., reacts as he looks at debris of a home that washed up on to the Mantoloking Bridge the morning after superstorm Sandy rolled through in Mantoloking, N.J. Sandy, the storm that made landfall, caused multiple fatalities, halted mass transit and cut power to more than 6 million homes and businesses. (AP Photo/Julio Cortez, File)
In this July 22, 2012 file photo, Bradley Wiggins, winner of the 2012 Tour de France cycling race, celebrates as he crosses the finish line of the last stage of the the Tour de France cycling race over 120 kilometers (74.6 miles) with start in Rambouillet and finish in Paris, France. (AP Photo/Laurent Rebours, File)
In this Oct. 29, 2012 file photo, the floor of the New York Stock Exchange is empty of traders in New York. All major U.S. stock and options exchanges remained closed with Hurricane Sandy nearing landfall on the East Coast. Trading has rarely stopped for weather. A blizzard led to a late start and an early close on Jan. 8, 1996, according to the exchange's parent company, NYSE Euronext. The NYSE shut down on Sept. 27, 1985 for Hurricane Gloria. (AP Photo/Richard Drew, File)
In this Aug. 5, 2012 file photo, an artist performs during a pre-show for the artistic gymnastics apparatus finals at the 2012 Summer Olympics in London. (AP Photo/Gregory Bull, File)
In this Sept. 5, 2012 file photo, former President Bill Clinton bows as President Barack Obama walks on stage after Clinton's address to the Democratic National Convention in Charlotte, N.C. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite, File)
In this Jan. 12, 2012 file photo, Mohammad Saber Yaqoti Hussaini Khedri, second right, the calligrapher of the world's biggest copy of the holy Quran turns a page at a ceremony in Kabul, Afghanistan. Khedri claims to have completed the writing of the world's biggest copy of Islam's holy Quran in 5 years along with his nine students and the financial support of a well- known figure Afghan Sayed Mansoor Nadri. (AP Photo/Musadeq Sadeq, File)
In this Aug. 2, 2012 file photo, Samantha Arevalo Salinas of Ecuador starts in a women's 800-meter freestyle swimming heat at the Aquatics Centre in the Olympic Park during the 2012 Summer Olympics in London. (AP Photo/David J. Phillip, File)
In this April 2, 2012 file photo, Kentucky's Michael Kidd-Gilchrist (14) celebrates in front of Kansas' Tyshawn Taylor at the end of the NCAA Final Four tournament college basketball championship game in New Orleans. Kentucky won 67-59. (AP Photo/David J. Phillip, File)
In this Sept. 24, 2012 file photo, a Free Syrian Army soldier, right, looks through a mirror which helps him see Syrian troops from the other side, as he takes his position with his comrade during fighting, at the old city of Aleppo city, Syria. (AP Photo/Hussein Malla, File)
In this May 29, 2012 file photo, elderly people lay on their beds after they were evacuated from the nearby hospital, in Mirandola, northern Italy. A powerful earthquake killed at least 15 people and left 200 injured as it rocked a swath of northern Italy hit just nine days ago. Factories, warehouses and churches collapsed, dealing a second blow to a region where thousands remained homeless from the previous, stronger temblor. The 5.8 magnitude quake left 14,000 people homeless in the Emilia Romagna region north of Bologna, one of ItalyÌs most agriculturally and industrially productive areas. (AP Photo/Marco Vasini, File)
In this Oct. 28, 2012 file photo, San Francisco Giants relief pitcher Sergio Romo (54) and catcher Buster Posey and celebrate after striking out Detroit Tigers third baseman Miguel Cabrera (24) to win Game 4 of baseball's World Series in Detroit. The Giants won 4-3. (AP Photo/Tim Donnelly, File)
In this March 29, 2012 file photo, Mireia Arnau, 39, reacts behind the broken glass of her shop stormed by demonstrators during clashes at the general strike in Barcelona. Spanish workers livid over labor reforms they see as flagrantly pro-business staged a nationwide strike and tried to bring the country to a halt by blocking traffic, closing factories and clashing with police in rowdy demonstrations. (AP Photo/Emilio Morenatti, File)
In this Jan. 25, 2012 file photo, Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer points during an intense conversation with President Barack Obama after he arrived at Phoenix-Mesa Gateway Airport in Mesa, Ariz. Asked moments later what the conversation was about, Brewer, a Republican, said: "He was a little disturbed about my book." Brewer had recently published a book, "Scorpions for Breakfast," something of a memoir of her years growing up and defends her signing of Arizona's controversial law cracking down on illegal immigrants, which Obama opposes. Obama was objecting to Brewer's description of a meeting he and Brewer had at the White House, where she described Obama as lecturing her. (AP Photo/Haraz N. Ghanbari, File)
In this Sept. 26, 2012 file photo, a worker is seen partially submerged under water as he tries to repair a broken pipe in Caracas, Venezuela. (AP Photo/Rodrigo Abd, File)
In this Sept. 30, 2012 file photo, European team captain Jose Maria Olazabal kisses the trophy after winning the Ryder Cup PGA golf tournament at the Medinah Country Club in Medinah, Ill. (AP Photo/David J. Phillip, File)
In this Oct. 16, 2012 file photo, Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney, left, and President Barack Obama spar during the second presidential debate at Hofstra University in Hempstead, N.Y. (AP Photo/Charlie Neibergall, File)
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