[seekfrieddy]

Photo taken on April 14, 2010 and released on April 15, 2010 by North Korea's official Korean Central News Agency shows fireworks over Pyongyang to commemorate the Day of the Sun, late North Korean leader Kim Il-Sung's birthday. North Korea marked the anniversary of its late founder's birthday Thursday, following mass promotions for the military top brass and a fireworks display which stressed loyalty to the current ruler. Official media in the communist state has reported a festive mood for the "Day of the Sun" marking the birth of Kim Il-Sung who died in 1994. -- PHOTO: AFP




Ethnic Tibetans sit on the rubble of their collapsed houses after a 6.9-magnitude earthquake hit Jiegu Town of Yushu County, Qinghai province April 15, 2010. The death toll from an earthquake in China's remote and mountainous Yushu county has soared to 617, even as convoys of trucks carried in supplies and tents on Thursday for survivors braving the cold. -- PHOTO: REUTERS




Pigeons are seen outside the Blue Mosque, Afghanistan's most magnificent and biggest mosque, thought to be the location of the Tomb of Ali, the cousin and son-in-law of the Prophet Mohammed and the fourth Caliph of Islam, in Mazar-i-Sharif north of Kabul, Afghanistan. -- PHOTO: AP