Jennifer Berry crowned Miss America 2006

22-year old Miss Oklahoma, Jennifer Berry, was crowed Miss America 2006 and first runner up came to Monica Pang, Miss Georgia at the 2006 Miss America pageant. The third was Alexa Jones Miss Alabama, according to China News Agency on January 13. It is learned that the Miss America pageant had been held in Atlantic City, New Jersey for 85 years, and this year, it was moved to Las Vegas.

Blasts cut Russian gas supplies to Georgia, Armenia

A Russian soldier guards part of the Mozdok-Tbilisi pipeline, twisted by a blast, near the village of Nizhni Lars in North Ossetia. Russian natural gas supplies to neighboring Georgia and Armenia were halted early Sunday after two explosions ripped through a gas pipeline linking Russia and Georgia.

2006 Miss Chinese Int'l Pageant

First runner-up Ginney Kanchanawat from Bangkok, winner Ina Lu from Johannesburg and second runner-up Annabelle Kong from Kuala Lumpur (L-R) pose after the Miss Chinese International Pageant 2006 beauty contest in Hong Kong Jan. 21.

Nalbandian, Ljubicic march on, Roddick out of Australian Open

Fourth seed David Nalbandian, seventh seed Ivan Ljubicic, unseeded players Marcos Baghdatis and Fabrice Santoro made it through to the men's singles last eight at the Autralian Open in Melbourne, while second seed Andy Roddick, former Open champion Thomas Johansson joined the exodus of seeds.

Morales holds symbolic ceremony in Indian ancestral style

Bolivian President-elect Evo Morales holds a staff of command during an ancient ritual in the Akapana site of the sacred place of Tiwanaku, 100 kilometers away from La Paz, Jan. 21, 2006. Morales held a symbolic inaugural ceremony in an Indian ancestral style Jan. 21, one day before his swearing-in as the first indigenous president of Bolivia.

Chinese immigrants' get-together to mark Spring Festival in L.A.

Dancers from China and United States perform Chinese traditional dance at the Kodak Theater in Hollywood, Los Angeles, Jan. 21, 2006. To mark the forthcoming Chinese traditional Spring Festival, local Chinese immigrants in Los Angeles had a get-together at the Kodak Theater Saturday night.

Fire at London bus depot closes A40

A fire at a bus station in west London destroyed three buses and forced the closure of the busy A40 road into the capital, January 22, 2006. Police evacuated local buildings but they believed no one was injured in the blaze.

"Chinese forest" on the Nile

File photo taken on Jan. 20, 2006 shows a bird's-eye view of the construction site of the Merowe Dam Project, 350 kilometres away from northern Khartoum, capital of Sudan. The project was launched by Chinese companies in Jun. 2003, and it was planed to be completed in Jun. 2008. As the second largest hydraulic power station following by the Aswan dam built on the Nile, it was the biggest hydraulic power project on the stocks in Africa.

Former PM wins presidential election in Portugal

Center-rightist Anibal Cavaco Silva, Portugal's former prime minister between 1985-1995 casts his vote at a polling station in Lisbon, capital of Portugal, Jan. 22, 2006. Anibal Cavaco Silva won Portugal's presidential election on that day.

Ocean number 1 returns home

People welcome China's first ever round-the-world ocean research mission Ocean Number 1 scientific mission ship in Qingdao, east China's Shandong Province on Jan 22, 2006. The Ocean Number 1 has visited the Pacific Ocean, the Atlantic Ocean and the Indian Ocean, covering a span of 100 thousand kilometers in 297 days' voyage.