Hurricane Wilma kills at least 8 in Mexico

Hurricane Wilma punished Mexico's Caribbean coastline for a second day Saturday, ripping away storefronts, peeling back roofs and forcing tourists and residents trapped in hotels and shelters to scramble to higher floors. Photo shows lamp post was lashed to the ground after Hurricane Wilma devastated Mexico's Caribbean resorts with floods and wild winds that smashed thousands of homes and killed at least eight.

All 117 killed in Nigerian plane crash

Rescue workers gather mutilated bodies following the crash of Bellview Airlines in the village of Lissa in the Ifo district, southwest Nigeria, 23 October, 2005. Nigerian rescuers struggled to gather and identify hundreds of severed body parts scattered Sunday amid smoking debris at the site of an airliner crash which rescuers said killed all 117 people on board.

Tropical Storm Alpha lands in Dominica

Two Dominican boys watch the overflown Matayaya river after the passage of Tropical Storm Alpha, 23 October, 2005 near Elias Pina, 275 km southwest of Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic. The river Matayaya destroyed the original bridge in 1998 after Hurricane George and the temporary bridge built in its place was now destroyed too.

Market supply keeps stable in quake-shaked S. Asian countries

A resident buys vegetables at a bazaar in Islamabad, capital of Pakistan, Oct. 23, 2005. Market supply keeps stable in the quake-shaked South Asian country.

Kaczynski leads in Polish presidential run-off

Polish presidential candidate and Warsaw Mayor Lech Kaczynski arrives at a polling station in Warsaw to cast vote during the country's presidential runoff Oct. 23, 2005. Poland held the presidential runoff Oct. 23 between Donald Tusk of the Civic Platform party and Kaczynski.

Tripartite Environment Ministers' Meeting concludes in Seoul

Xie Zhenhua (1st L), director of the State Environmental Protection Administration of China, South Korean Environment Minister Lee Jae-yong (C) and Japanese Environment Minister Koike Yuriko attend the news conference after the end of the 7th Tripartite Environment Ministers' Meeting (TEMM) in Seoul, capital of South Korea, Oct, 23, 2005.

Britain marks Battle of Trafalgar

British Royal Navy soldiers stand in lines at the foot of the Nelson Monument on the Trafalgar Square in London, capital of Britain, Oct. 23, 2005, during a ceremony marking the 200th anniversary of the Battle of Trafalgar.

Children's paintings express aspiration for peace

Children draw oil paintings on umbrellas in Shanghai, east China, Oct. 23, 2005. The Exhibition of Teen-agers' Painting and Calligraphy with the theme of "Peace, Development and Great Tomorrow" was opened on Oct. 23, with about 900 painting and calligraphy works expressing children's aspiration for world peace.

Silk fashion presented in Hangzhou

A model presents a creation of silk during a fashion show in Hangzhou, capital of east China's Zhejiang Province, Oct. 23, 2005. Designers from China, the United States, Indonesia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Malaysia and Australia displayed to the audience hundreds of patterns of silk dress on Oct. 23.

"Chocolate fountain"

Tourists taste chocolate jam at the South African Good Food & Wine Expo, in Johannesburg, South Africa, Oct. 22, 2005. Good Food & Wine Expo shows a kind of sweetmeat machine named "chocolate fountain" which provides chocolate jam circularly like a fountain, people can dip the chocolate jam with cotton candies, fruits, and vegetables etc.

Ill-fated Nigerian plane takes heavy tolls

Relatives of passengers on an ill-fated plane wait for news at an airport in Lagos, commercial capital of Nigeria, Oct. 23, 2005. The passenger plane belonging to Bellview Airlines and carrying 114 people crashed late Saturday shortly after take-off from Lagos. A senior Nigerian government official said on Sunday that more than half of the 114 passengers on board the crashed plane survived the accident in central Nigeria. (Xinhua Photo)

Goodbye, Ba Jin

Relatives and friends of Ba Jin stand in silent tribute before the deceased writer's sculpture in Baihuatan Park in Chengdu, Southwest China's Sichuan Province October 23, 2005. Ba Jin, one of China's most acclaimed novelists of the past century, died last Monday in a Shanghai hospital, aged 101. (newsphoto)

10th National Games closes in Nanjing

Chinese girls perform at the closing ceremony of the 10th National Games in Nanjing, East China's Jiangsu Province Sunday October 23, 2005. Jiangsu garnered 56 gold medals to top the tally for the first time in an event widely considered a rehearsal for the 2008 Olympic Games.