Another scene from Hanover: Putin is confronted by an activist from the Ukrainian women’s rights group Femen as Merkel looks on during their visit to an industrial exhibition. Photograph: Sasha Mordovets/Getty Images
Add this to the archive of awkward Vladimir Putin pics.
What’s with this trend of washed-out American celebrities cozying up to dictators and quasi-dictators of the world? Celebrity-diplomacy gone awry
First Rodman, now Seagal. Can’t wait for Pauly Shore to turn up in Iran. Corey Feldman in the Congo. Lionel Richie in post-Chávez Venezuela.
This amazing photograph of a lion’s mane jellyfish swam into our view today. Experienced photographer and diver Alexander Semenov plunged into the freezing waters of the White Sea, off the coast of north-west Russia, to document them. Photograph: Alexander Semenov/SPL/Barcroft
A fortuitous orbit of the International Space Station allowed the astronauts this striking view of Sarychev Volcano (Kuril Islands, northeast of Japan) in an early stage of eruption on June 12, 2009. Sarychev Peak is one of the most active volcanoes in the Kuril Island chain, and it is located on the northwestern end of Matua Island. Prior to June 12, the last explosive eruption occurred in 1989, with eruptions in 1986, 1976, 1954, and 1946 also producing lava flows. Ash from the multi-day eruption has been detected 2,407 kilometers east-southeast and 926 kilometers west-northwest of the volcano, and commercial airline flights are being diverted away from the region to minimize the danger of engine failures from ash intake.
My new favourite Tumblr: “Vladentine’s Day”: Love notes from Vladimir Putin.
This is hilarious. http://vladentinesday.tumblr.com/
Members of a local winter swimming club try to warm up on a bank of the Yenisei river at -17C in Divnogorsk, Siberia. See more around the world in 24 hours in pictures. Photograph: Ilya Naymushin/Reuters
Crazy Russians.
A human rights violation, wherever it’s committed, is a violation against humanity in the collective.
