Friday Photo

Two pensioners fight during a protest rally, organized by trade unions in Riga on 18 June, 2009. Thousands of Latvians rallied in the Baltic state's capital as trade unions stepped up their battle against an austerity drive in an EU member nation trying to stave off bankruptcy. Some 5,000 people hit the streets after the Latvian Free Confederation of Trade Unions called for a protest against public spending cuts to meet the terms of an international bailout that is keeping Latvia afloat. The measures, passed by parliament on June 16, and due to come into force from July 1, include a controversial 10-percent cut in pensions. 'They might as well gather all the pensioners and shoot them. Then there'd be no problem and the budget would have the money,' said Nina, a demonstrator in her sixties who declined to give her last name. Other measures include a 20-percent cut in public-sector pay -- including salaries for government members -- and a reduction of around a quarter in the minimum wage.

ILMARS ZNOTINS/AFP/Getty Images

I found these photos of Italian Equal Opportunities Minister Mara Carfagna reacting to a speech by Muammar Qaddafi really intriguing. Caption contest anyone?

AFP/Getty Images 

Workers cover the Zugspitze glacier with mets on June 3, 2009 in Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Germany. Germany's highest mountain, the Zugspitze (2,962 metres), is getting a special shield to protect its glacier from melting.

Miguel Villagran/Getty Images

Russian President Dmitry Medvedev puts on special glasses during a visit to the Boris Yeltsin library in St. Petersburg on May 27, 2009.

 MIKHAIL KLIMENTYEV/AFP/Getty Images

Belarussian special forces soldiers use a sledgehammer to break flaming bricks on their backs in Minsk on May 19, 2009 during the country's annual military expo and arms fair.