Today in photos

A Palestinian boy plays inside a destroyed car in an area targeted in last month's Israeli military offensive, in Jebaliya, northern Gaza Strip. A Thai man sleeps next to his pet outside a public park downtown Bangkok, Thailand. And Country Fire Authority (CFA) fireman douses a smoldering tree after a bushfire near the township of Daylesford , 150 kilometers (94 miles) northwest of Melbourne. View a slideshow of these images and more.

Section:Gallery

Tue., Feb. 24, 2009

A Palestinian boy plays inside a destroyed car in an area targeted in last month's Israeli military offensive, in Jebaliya, northern Gaza Strip, Tuesday, Feb. 24, 2009. United States aid for the Gaza Strip's reconstruction will likely top $900 million, an official said, as U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton prepared to make her first Mideast trip as America's top diplomat.

Hatem Moussa Ap
This handout photo released by Vandenberg Air Force Base, Calif., shows the launch early Tuesday, Feb. 24, 2009, of a Taurus XL rocket equipped with NASA's Orbiting Carbon Observatory satellite which apparently failed to separate from the launch vehicle and splashed into the ocean.

Airman Lee Ap
Britain's Queen Elizabeth II looks up at the statue of her mother as she attends a ceremony to unveil a memorial to Queen Elizabeth, the Queen Mother, on the Mall in London, Tuesday, Feb. 24, 2009. The bronze sculpture sits near a statue of the Queen Mother's husband, King George VI, near Buckingham Palace in central London. The Queen Mother died in 2002 at age 101.

Kirsty Wigglesworth Ap
Tiger Woods makes his way to the fifth hole as he practices for the World Golf Championships Accenture Match Play Championship Tuesday, Feb. 24, 2009, in Marana, Ariz.

Morry Gash Ap
A Kashmiri boatman smokes a hubble-bubble on his boat in the backdrop of a snow covered mountain at the Dal Lake in Srinagar, India, Tuesday, Feb. 24 2009.

Mukhtar Khan Ap
Country Fire Authority (CFA) fireman douses a smoldering tree after a bushfire near the township of Daylesford , 150 kilometers (94 miles) northwest of Melbourne, Tuesday, Feb. 24, 2009. With terrifying memories of Australia's deadliest wildfires still fresh in their minds, residents chose to flee rather than stay and protect their homes Monday when new blazes broke containment lines and threatened the forested fringes of the country's second-largest city.

Andrew Brownbill Ap
A dancer performs atop an Imperatriz samba school float at the Sambodrome in Rio de Janeiro, Tuesday, Feb. 24, 2009.

Ricardo Moraes Ap
Nicholas Fairall from US kisses his skis during the Men's Large Hill training session at the Ski Jumping competitions of the Nordic World Ski Championships in Liberec, Czech Republic, Tuesday, Feb. 24, 2009.

Petr Josek Ap
The mother of fashion designer Anand Jon, Shashi Abraham covers her face, at a candle light vigil for a fair trial of the designer in New Delhi, India, Tuesday, Feb. 24, 2009. After nearly two weeks of deliberation, a jury found Anand Jon Alexander, once featured on "America's Next Top Model," guilty of 14 felonies, including forcible rape, and two misdemeanors.

Mustafa Quraishi Ap
Orang-Utang Daisy is covered with a sheet as she lays in her enclosure in the zoological garden in Dresden, Germany, Tuesday, Feb. 24, 2009.

Matthias Rietschel Ap
Sylvester, an 8-week-old Sumatran tiger cub plays with a tiger doll at the Biblical Zoo in Jerusalem Tuesday, Feb. 24, 2009. Sylvester was abandoned by its mother and is being raised by the zoo's veterinarians. The Sumatran tiger is an endangered species with only about 400 living in the wild, according to the zoo's spokesperson.

Sebastian Scheiner Ap
Dr. Liz Kaufman, a Jerusalem's Biblical Zoo veterinarian holds Sylvester, an 8-week-old Sumatran tiger cub at the zoo in Jerusalem Tuesday, Feb. 24, 2009. Sylvester was abandoned by its mother and is being raised by the zoo's veterinarians. The Sumatran tiger is an endangered species with only about 400 living in the wild, according to the zoo's spokesperson.

Sebastian Scheiner Ap
Virginia Tech defensive back Victor Harris jumps before running a drill at the NFL football scouting combine in Indianapolis, Tuesday, Feb. 24, 2009.

Darron Cummings Ap
A Thai man sleeps next to his pet outside a public park downtown Bangkok, Thailand, early Tuesday, Feb. 24, 2009.

David Longstreath Ap
A broker dressed up as a doctor blows up a protective glove as he celebrates carnival at the stock exchange in Frankfurt, central Germany, on Tuesday, Feb. 24, 2009.

Daniel Roland Ap