Best of 24 hours 2007

Space: Jan 8, 2007. The image shows bright blue, newly-formed stars that are blowing a cavity in the centre of a star-forming region known as N90 that has fascinated scientists. Photograph: NASA/ESA/AP

Khartoum, Sudan: A gigantic cloud of dust known as "Haboob" advances over the city on 29 April 2007. These seasonal type of monsoons can reach a height of 3000 feet and can change the landscape in the few hours they last Photograph: STR/AFP

Baquba, Iraq: Soldiers try to push back Iraqis as they rush to receive humanitarian aid from the Iraqi ministry of trade on August 8 2007 Photograph: Olivier Laban-Mattei/AFP

Afghan boys in the southern province of Helmand, where British troops are based, ride donkeys as they pass by a sign reading: "Check point search". May 10 2007 Photograph: Abdul Khaleq/AP

Golan Heights: Israel's defense minister Amir Peretz, right, looks through binoculars without realising the plastic lens-caps were left on during a military drill, February 21 2007 Photograph: Effi Sharir/AP

China, Beijing: Lights come on in buildings at around 1pm on June 27 2007 during a rainstorm that casts the city in darkness. Beijing 2008 Olympics chiefs promise to have the best weather forecasting system of any Olympics Games Photograph: Greg Baker/AP

Sheffield, UK: Gordon Brown stands underneath a net full of balloons to be released during the opening of Westfield school on May 2 2007. He became prime minister at the end of June Photograph: John Giles/PA

Banda Aceh, Indonesia: An Acehnese woman kneels to be caned by Shariah law authorities on January 12 2007. The Indonesian government agreed to allow Shariah law in Aceh four years ago as part of negotiations to end the 29-year war between separatist rebels and the military Photograph: Binsar Bakkara/AP

Pilion, Greece: A wild fire burns a forest on 28 June 2007 during the country's heatwave Photograph: Paris Papaioannou/AFP

Dhaka, Bangladesh: A large numbers of pitchers and buckets are kept in an queue for collecting drinking water supplied by soldiers on 25 June 2007. Access to drinking water is a regular problem in central areas in the city Photograph: Abir Abdullah/EPA

Taean, South Korea: A oil-covered crab walks on the beach covered with crude oil spilled from a Hong Kong-registered tanker. Kim Jae-Hwan Photograph: Kim Jae-Hwan/AFP

Washington, USA: Democratic party Senator Barack Obama (centre) at a Senate Foreign Relations Committee meeting on Iraq on January 24 2007 Photograph: Jason Reed/AP

Baghdad, Iraq: A four-year-old Iraqi child cries as older boys pretend to execute him on July 2 2007. One popular game features children pretending to be battling militia and police Photograph: Hadi Mizban/AP

Rafah Border Crossing, Egypt: Palestinians wait in and outside buses to enter the Rafah border crossing terminal between the Gaza Strip and Egypt on February 7 2007. Israel, citing security concerns, has kept Gaza's main gateway to the outside world closed for long periods Photograph: Khalil Hamra/AP

Nyala, Sudan: A Turkish doctor examines a refugee at the Turkish Red Crescent Hospital on 03 August 2007 Photograph: Mustafa Ozer/AFP

Belfast, UK: Northern Ireland's deputy first minister Martin McGuinness, the UK's Northern Ireland minister Peter Hain, Northern Ireland's first minister, Ian Paisley, Britain's prime minister, Tony Blair, and the Republic of Ireland's prime minister, Bertie Ahern, stand outside Stormont on May 8 2007 as power-sharing returns to the province Photograph: Niall Carson/AP

Havana, Cuba: An image of the revolutionary leader Ernesto "Che" Guevara on Cuba's official state TV channel "Television Cubana" in a home on August 1 2007 Photograph: Rodrigo Abd/Getty

Mogadishu, Somalia: Islamist insurgents fire on Ethiopian positions on 26 April 2007. Ethiopian forces had seized control of insurgent strongholds after heavy fighting in the Somali capital Mogadishu Photograph: STR/AFP

Pristina, Kosovo, Serbia: Kosovo Albanians watch on a TV screen UN envoy Martti Ahtisaari's news conference in a restaurant on 02 February 2007. Earlier in the day a proposal delivered by former Finnish president Martti Ahtisaari presented to Serbian and Kosovar leaders did not "explicitly mention the independence of Kosovo, nor Serbia's sovereignty and territorial integrity in relation to our southern province," Serbian president Boris Tadic said in a statement. Photograph: Dimitar Dilkoff/AFP

London, UK: Traders operate in the pit at the London Metal Exchange. Photograph: Shaun Curry/AFP

Harare, Zimbabwe: Police clash with members of the national constitutional assembly who were demonstrating to demand a new constitution Photograph: STR/AP

Tripoli, Lebanon: In the middle of the image, two Lebanese soldiers stand next to a Red Cross vehicle amid the rubble of a building hit by a Lebanese artillery shell during fighting at the Palestinian refugee camp of Nahr el-Bared Photograph: Hussein Malla/AP

Rangoon, Burma: Monks are surrounded by cheering crowds as they march in protest against the military junta in Burma on 24 September 2007. Days of protests by thousands of monks, despite warnings of reprisals, rocked Burma Photograph: HO/EPA

Pyongyang, North Korea: South Korea's President Roh Moo-Hyun (R) and North Korean leader Kim Jong-il (C) review an honour guard during a welcoming ceremony on 2 October 2007 Photograph: STR/AFP

Moscow, Russia: Members of the pro-Kremlin movement Nashi protest against the British ambassador to Russia, Anthony Brenton, outside the British Embassy on December 5 2007. Nashi claimed the UK was sponsoring opposition during Russia's parliamentary election Photograph: Alexander Zemlianichenko/AP

Tenerife, Spain: An African immigrant is seen at Los Cristianos harbour, Canary Islands, after a group of 115 immigrants were intercepted by two Civil Guard Maritime Rescue patrol boats while trying to reach land on a small boat on 16 July 2007. Photograph: Manuel Lerida/EPA

Makati City, Philippines: Soldiers in position by a hotel that armed rebels took over in an attempt to oust the Philippine president Gloria Arroyo on 29 November 2007 Photograph: Francis R. Malasig/EPA

Karachi, Pakistan: A billboard welcoming Pakistan's former prime minister, Benazir Bhutto, on a roadside near the international airport Photograph: David Guttenfelder/AP

Lake Malawi, Malawi: A young boy watches fishermen pick their catch on the shores of Lake Malawi on August 1 2007 Photograph: Jerome Delay/AP