Japan's princess Kiko said to be pregnant

Princess Kiko of Japan, wife of Emperor Akihito's second-eldest son said to be pregnant, news from Tokyo reported on Feb. 7, evoking the national repercussion and raising the possibility that the country's royal family could have its first male baby in over 40 years and the throne could be passed to a male heir.

New York Fashion Week

A model walks the runway during Betsey Johnson show at New York Fashion Week in New York on Feb. 6, 2006.

Funeral of former German President Johannes Rau

The coffin of late former German President Johannes Rau is carried out of Berlin's cathedral, the Berliner Dom, after a funeral service, February 7, 2006. Rau, who was Germany's President between 1999 and 2004, died January 27, after a long illness at the age of 75. At (C) is his widow Christina Rau, next to German President Horst Koehler.

Festive lanterns in great demand

Residents choose festive lanterns in Nanjing, capital city of east China's Jiangsu Province, Feb. 7, 2006. Festive lanterns have become popular with residents as the Lantern Festival, which will fall on Feb. 12 this year, is approaching.

Students apply for entrance to art majors

Students wait to get registered for the college entrance examination for art majors at a registration center in Jinan, East China's Shandong Province February 7, 2006. The province is expected to have more than 160,000 art examinees this year.

Cuba blocks US ticker with flags of mourning

Cuban President Fidel Castro (R) attends an event outside the U.S. diplomatic mission in Havana, Cuba on Feb. 6. Hundreds of Cubans hoisted 138 huge black flags bearing a white star in front of the U.S. diplomatic mission in Havana to mourn for the victims of the 1961 Bay of Pigs invasion, a 1976 bombing of a Cuban airliner, a string of Havana hotel blasts in the late 1990s, and other events they blame on the United States on that day.

Cross-Straits charter flight service ends

A woman with her child from China's Taiwan Province arrives in the Gaoqi Airport in Xiamen, southeast China's Fujian Province on Feb. 7, 2006. The MF884 flight of the Chinese mainland-based Xiamen Airlines landed at the airport, ending the charter flight service across the Taiwan Straits for this year's Lunar New Year holidays on Feb. 7.

Bush proposes 2.77 trillion-dollar budget

An employee displays U.S. President George W. Bush's 2007 budget report, on Capitol Hill in Washington, the United States, Feb. 6, 2006. George W. Bush sent Congress a 2.77 trillion-dollar budget on Monday for the fiscal year of 2007, which provides big increases for defense but squeezes other government programs in an effort to cut budget deficit. The budget requests 439.3 billion dollars for the Department of Defense, a seven percent increase over last year's budget.

French leaders meet visiting Chinese FM

Chinese Foreign Minister Li Zhaoxing (L) talks with French President Jacques Chirac (R) in Paris, capital of France, Feb. 7, 2006.