2012: The Year in Pictures
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August 6: U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton meets with Nelson Mandela, 94, former president of South Africa, at his home in Qunu, South Africa.
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August 7: A Free Syrian Army fighter takes cover during clashes with the Syrian Army in central Aleppo, Syria.
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August 15: Activists holding Chinese and Taiwanese flags are arrested by Japanese police officers after landing on Uotsuri Island, one of the islands claimed by both China and Japan.
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August 24: German Chancellor Angela Merkel and Greek Prime Minister Antonis Samaras before talks in Berlin to discuss Greece's fiscal crisis.
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August 29: Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney watches the Republican National Convention with his grandchildren from his hotel room in Tampa, Florida.
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August 30: Actor Clint Eastwood speaks to an empty chair on the final night of the Republican National Convention.
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September 18: Aung San Suu Kyi visits the Voice of America in Washington, D.C. as part of her tour of the United States. (Alison Klein for VOA)
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October 9: Former Penn State University assistant football coach Jerry Sandusky, center, is taken from court after being sentenced to at least 30 years in prison for child sexual abuse.
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October 12: The Space Shuttle Endeavour is transported from Los Angeles International Airport to its retirement home at the California Science Center in Exposition Park in Los Angeles, California.
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October 14: Felix Baumgartner of Austria jumps out of a capsule more than 38 kilometers above the Earth during the final manned flight for Red Bull Stratos.
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October 16: Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney, left, and President Barack Obama spar during the second presidential debate, Hofstra University in Hempstead, New York.
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October 29: Sea water floods the Ground Zero construction site in New York. Superstorm Sandy forced the shutdown of mass transit, schools and financial markets and sent coastal residents fleeing.
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October 30: A parking lot full of yellow cabs is flooded as a result of superstorm Sandy in Hoboken, New Jersey.
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November 1: The remnants of a roller coaster sits in the surf three days after Hurricane Sandy came ashore in Seaside Heights, New Jersey.
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November 6: U.S. President Barack Obama celebrates with first lady Michelle Obama and their daughters Malia (R) and Sasha at an election night victory rally in Chicago, Illinois.
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November 9: Paula Broadwell was reported to have been involved in an extramarital affair with General David Petraeus, which triggered his resignation as Director of the Central Intelligence Agency when it was discovered by the FBI.
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November 19: U.S. President Barack Obama embraces Aung San Suu Kyi after addressing members of the media at her residence in Burma. Obama became the first U.S. president to visit Burma.
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December 1: Actress Meryl Streep uses her iPhone to get a photo of her and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton following the Kennedy Center Honors gala in Washington.
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December 16: David Freedman, right, kneels with his son Zachary, 9, as they visit a sidewalk memorial for the 26 people, including 20 children, who were killed at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut.