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Model-train bars:

TOKYO - JUNE 03: A man watches a model train running along the bar at Bar Ginza Panorama Shibuya Branch on June 3, 2009 in Tokyo, Japan. The bar caters to model train enthusists and customers are able to bring their own model trains to run on the tracks.

Photo: Junko Kimura/Getty Images

Passport has mentioned in several dog-related posts that German Chancellor Angela Merkel has a fear of dogs, reportedly due to a childhood biting incident. But this week, Merkel appears to have finally found a dog that doesn't induce cynophobia:

Above, Merkel and Bavaria's state premier, Horst Seehofer, admire a dog-shaped bag nominated for a toy award as she tours the 2009 International Toy Fair on Feb. 4 in Nuremberg. Merkel would be totally styling with this doggie bag.

Photo: TIMM SCHAMBERGER/AFP/Getty Images

Karen Tumulty, yesterday:

The Vice President will attend the inauguration in a wheel chair, completing his transformation into Mr. Potter from "It's a Wonderful Life."

Dick Cheney, today:

Photo: Leslie E. Kossoff-Pool/Getty Images

A young girl gazes out of her class window at the school in the village of Gulucan on Nov. 17, 2008 in Hanyuan county, Sichuan province, China. More than 60 farmers' families live in six isolated locations, perched high above a spectacular canyon in the area. Some farmers' children have to walk three hours to their school along the edge of a crumbling, narrow mountain path with a sheer, 5,000-foot drop on one side. (Photo by Guang Niu/Getty Images)

The Obama transition team issued the following statement on today's meeting:

President-elect Barack Obama and Mrs. Michelle Obama were very warmly welcomed today at the White House by President George Bush and First Lady Laura Bush. Upon arriving, President-elect Obama and President Bush proceeded to the Oval Office, where they had a productive and friendly meeting that lasted for over an hour. They had a broad discussion about the importance of working together throughout the transition of government in light of the nation's many critical economic and security challenges. President-elect Obama thanked President Bush for his commitment to a smooth transition, and for his and First Lady Laura Bush's gracious hospitality in welcoming the Obama's to the White House."

The president-elect also held a mysterious private meeting at Washington's National Airport before heading back to Chicago.

Photo: Eric Draper/The White House via Getty Images

The BBC is reporting that the following photograph of North Korean dictator Kim Jong Il, released earlier this week, may be a fake:

From the above distance, everything looks fine. It's just Dear Leader, the paragon of health, inspecting the troops as normal. But zoom in, the BBC found, and a few inconsistencies raise red flags:

Maybe North Korea has stolen CNN's hologram technology?

On a serious note, the inconsistencies in the photograph raise the question of whether Kim is in fact incapacitated, or even dead. The latest speculation is that Chang Sun-Taek, Kim's brother-in-law, is running the show. But nobody really knows for sure.

So, should we be worried about a destabilizing succession battle in this paranoid, impoverished, nuclear-armed regime? Stuart Reid of Foreign Affairs, in a new piece for ForeignPolicy.com, says the answer is, surprisingly, no. Check it out.

UPDATE: It appears the top photo is not the exact same one as that examined by the BBC. Thanks to readers for alerting me to this, and sorry for the mistake. Also, South Korea's intelligence community believes the Kim photo is real.

Acrobats from the Jiangxi Acrobatic Troupe of China perform 'Candle Contortionists' at the 8th China Wuhan International Acrobatics Art Festival on Oct. 28, 2008, in Wuhan of Hubei province, China. The festival, one of the major acrobatics events in the country, attracts performers from more than 12 countries and regions.

Photo: China Photos/Getty Images

Peter Macdiarmid/Getty Images

Former British Telecom employee John Tasker stands in an old canteen in a secret air raid tunnel on Oct. 17, 2008 in London. The once-secret tunnels were built 100 feet under central London in 1940 as fully equipped air raid shelters and could accommodate 8,000 people. They have since been used by MI6 and the Public Records Office to hold 400 tons of secret documents. Current owner British Telecom (BT) once housed the London trunk exchange of the secure trans-Atlantic hotline between the presidents of the United States and the Soviet Union. BT is now seeking a buyer for the tunnels.

Read more about the tunnels here.