Half a million Filipinos fled their homes as differing forecasts about the path of a dangerously erratic typhoon one predicting it will graze the capital, Manila prompted a wide swath of the country to prepare for a weekend of destructive winds and
Orion survived a searing, plunge through the atmosphere, heating up to 4,000 degree Fahrenheit (2,200 degree Celsius) - twice as hot as molten lava - and experiencing gravitational forces eight times stronger than Earth’s. (Photo: AP)
The point of the test flight, which cost NASA about $375 million, was to verify that Orion’s 16.5-foot (5-meter) diameter heat shield, parachutes, avionics and other equipment would work as designed prior to astronauts flying aboard. (Photo: AP)
Over the next few minutes, a total of 11 parachutes deployed to slow Orion’s descent, including three gigantic main chutes that guided the spaceship to a 20-mph (32 km/h) splashdown 630 miles (1,014 km) southwest of San Diego, California, at 11:29 a
Three hours later, it reached peak altitude of 3,604 miles (5,800 km) above the planet, a prelude to the most challenging part of the flight, a 20,000-mph (32,000 km/h) dive back into the atmosphere. (Photo: AP)
A U.S. spaceship designed to one day fly astronauts to Mars made a near-bullseye splashdown in the Pacific Ocean on Friday, wrapping up a flawless, unmanned debut test flight around Earth. (Photo: AP)
The Orion capsule blasted off aboard a Delta 4 Heavy rocket, the biggest in the U.S. fleet, just after dawn from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida.(Photo: AP)
Nelson Mandela’s widow Graca Machel, left, and unidentified family members carry a wreath to place bellow the 9 meters (30 feet) tall bronze statue of the late former South Africa President Nelson Mandela outside Union Buildings in Pretoria. (Photo
Worshippers of all denominations offer prayers at dawn at Freedom Park on the first anniversary of former South African President Nelson Mandela's death. "Twenty years of democracy has been possible because of Mandela," tribal chief Ron Martin said
"Twenty years of democracy has been possible because of Mandela," tribal chief Ron Martin said as the sun rose over the Pretoria hills and the smell of herbs burning in spiralled antelope horns wafted over the ceremony.
An interfaith service kicked off the day's events in Pretoria, at the Freedom Park building dedicated to the country's liberation heroes. (Photo: AP)
South Africans on Friday began marking one year since the death of Nelson Mandela with services, blasting of vuvuzelas and a cricket match to honour his enormous legacy as an anti-apartheid icon and global beacon of hope. (Photo: AP)
Al Shabaab rebels have been losing major Somali strongholds because of a military offensive by African Union and Somali troops this year, but have continued to stage hit-and-run bombings and shootings in Mogadishu and elsewhere in Somalia. (Photo:
There has been no claim of responsibility so far, but similar attacks have been carried out by the Islamist group al Shabaab, which wants to impose its harsh interpretation of Islam on Somalia. (Photo: AP)
Foreign security officers inspect wreckage at the scene of a suicide car bomb attack that targeted a United Nations convoy, outside the airport in Mogadishu, Somalia. A police officer says a suicide bomber rammed his vehicle into a U.N. convoy near
Seven people died in the attack when a suicide bomber blew himself up at the restaurant entrance and a car bomb struck when others came to help.
Filipino families seek refuge at a school used as an evacuation center as they prepare for Typhoon Hagupit in Legazpi, Albay province, eastern Philippines. (Photo: AP)
Filipino families sleep as they take refuge at a school used as an evacuation center as they prepare for Typhoon Hagupit in Legazpi, Albay province, eastern Philippines. (Photo: AP)
A Filipino man leans on a wall as strong winds brought by Typhoon Hagupit slam Legazpi, Albay province, eastern Philippines. (Photo: AP)
Typhoon Hagupit slammed into the central Philippines' east coast late Saturday, knocking out power and toppling trees in a region where 650,000 people have fled to safety, still haunted by the massive death and destruction wrought by a monster storm
At least 47 of the country's 81 provinces are considered potentially at high risk from Hagupit. (Photo: AP)
Typhoon Hagupit Filipino for "smash" was expected to hit the central Philippines late on Friday, lashing parts of a region that was devastated by 2013's Typhoon Haiyan and left more than 7,300 people dead and missing. (Photo: AP)