CaptionA soldier of Second Platoon, Battle Company of the Second Battalion of the US 503rd Infantry Regiment sinks onto an embankment in the Restrepo bunker at the end of the day. The Korengal Valley was the epicenter of the US fight against militant Islam in Afghanistan and the scene of some of the deadliest combat in the region.
CaptionA bomb explodes next to former Pakistan Prime minister Benazir Bhutto's vehicle during an attack on her motor convoy after an election rally. Bhutto was killed in the attack and at least 20 other people died in the blast. Supporters claimed that government security provisions for the opposition leader, who had recently returned from exile, had been inadequate.
CaptionSupporters of the main opposition party, the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC), run from water-cannon blasts and tear gas after police barred them from attending a rally in the capital. Leader of the party Morgan Tsvangirai had planned to use the gathering to launch a campaign for the presidency. The MDC had a court ruling allowing them to hold the event, but police ignored the decision. Tension was high, inflation was running at 1,600 percent and unemployment at 70 percent, after President Mugabe announced plans to defer presidential elections.
CaptionPolice chase protestors during unrest and looting in the opposition stronghold of Kibera, after disputed presidential elections. Thousands of people took to the streets after incumbent president Mwai Kibaki claimed victory, but opposition candidate Raila Odinga said the elections had been rigged and prepared to declare himself head of state. Protests and ethnic clashes between President Kibaki's Kikuyu community and Luo opposition supporters led to hundreds of deaths nationwide and some 250,000 people being displaced.
CaptionTwo rockets are launched towards Israel. The Israeli army reported that seven missiles were fired by Palestinian militants that day, lightly wounding two people. Israel responded with four air raids, targeting suspected arms caches and Hamas militant bases. Palestinian officials said seven people were wounded in the raids. A week earlier, Israel had resumed air strikes in Gaza after a six-month lull in response to Hamas rocket attacks on Israeli towns. In June the Palestinian government proposed a ceasefire.
CaptionPakistan opposition leader Benazir Bhutto campaigning ahead of general elections, scheduled for January. She was assassinated after addressing supporters at a rally. As Bhutto's convoy was leaving an attacker opened fire on her car. Shortly after that a bomb exploded. It was unclear if Bhutto died from bullet wounds, from the explosion, or by hitting her head as she ducked back into her car. At least 20 other people died in the bomb blast. Bhutto's assassination sparked days of nationwide rioting and raised the question of whether elections would be postponed. Supporters claimed that government security provisions for the opposition leader, who had recently returned from exile, had been inadequate.
CaptionA resident of Kibera runs from police during unrest. Violence swept through Kenya as current leader Mwai Kibaki's narrow electoral victory was disputed. The European Union observer mission backed opposition claims that some vote figures had been inflated. There were accusations of suspicious delays in announcing results and of tampering with the electoral register.
CaptionUS soldiers go out on a search patrol for three missing comrades in a Sunni stronghold. After the three American soldiers were captured in an ambush, some 4,000 US troops and 2,000 Iraqi soldiers mounted the search operation. As patrols fanned out to search the countryside they were hindered by IEDs ('improvised explosive devices') buried far from roads.
Organization / PublicationVII Network / Alexia Foundation
CategoryGeneral News
Prize1st prize
Date00-10-2007
CountryAfghanistan
PlaceYaka China, Korengal Valley
CaptionA man holds a wounded boy in front of a house. The boy received shrapnel wounds from a rocket during a US air strike on a suspected insurgent position in the village. Korengalis have a reputation for being tough and clannish, and have fought off all outside attempts to control them - including that of the Taliban in the 1990s. After the strike, which villagers said killed and wounded a number of civilians, elders declared jihad on American forces in the valley.
CaptionA sketch in the sand illustrates a 2003 assault on Furawiya village in Darfur in western Sudan. The diagram was drawn four years later in a refugee camp in neighboring Chad by Asdallah Asdel Khaled, a survivor of the attack. He had witnessed the total destruction of his village and atrocities committed against its inhabitants. Between 2003 and 2007, over 200,000 people were killed and millions displaced by ethnic conflict in Darfur, with large numbers fleeing to Chad.
CaptionThe victim of an attack by members of the Mungiki gang lies in a street in downtown Nairobi. Mungiki began as a secretive religious sect in Kenya in the 1980s, espousing a return to traditional values and a rejection of Western beliefs. Members are known for their trademark dreadlocks and rituals of tobacco sniffing. Banned in 2002, the sect appears to have evolved over the years into an underworld gang involved in murder, extreme violence, extortion and racketeering. Its activities are said to include demanding protection money from minibus taxi drivers and levying heavy fees for water and electricity supply in slum areas.
Organization / PublicationLaif Photos & Reportagen for Stern
CategoryGeneral News
PrizeHonorable mention
Date27-04-2007
CountryAfghanistan
PlaceKunduz
CaptionA German Army target is propped up for sniper practice. Some 3,200 German troops are in Afghanistan as part of the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) - the first time since World War II that the army has been deployed outside Germany. Based mainly in northern Afghanistan and around the capital Kabul, the troops are primarily involved in reconstruction work.
Organization / PublicationVII Network / Alexia Foundation
CategoryGeneral News stories
Prize1st prize
Date00-10-2007
CountryAfghanistan
PlaceKorengal Valley
CaptionCombined American and Afghan National Army forces conduct Operation Rock Avalanche to flush out insurgents from the Korengal Valley. The valley is considered to be the epicenter of American fighting in Afghanistan and one of the deadliest zones of conflict in the region. Located near the Pakistan border, it was the first part of a former mujahideen arms-smuggling channel, used to bring men and arms into the country. American military strategists believed that al-Qaeda was trying to revive the route.
CaptionSeptember - October. Soldiers of Battle Company of the Second Battalion of the US 503rd Infantry Regiment fire grenades and automatic weapons from their bunker. Nearly three-quarters of all bombs dropped by NATO forces in Afghanistan are dropped on and around the Korengal Valley. Yet much of the fighting is on foot, and ground gained is measured in yards, single hilltops, small patches of forest.
CaptionSoldiers of the dissident CNDP (National Congress for the Defense of the People) training. They are renowned for their discipline. The first free elections in four decades, held in 2006, did not put an end to violence and instability in the country. The process of integrating rebel militia into the national army remained delicate.
CaptionThe dress of an African girl hangs on a barbed-wire fence after she has crossed the Israeli-Egyptian border with her family. A growing number of migrants, many from the conflict-torn Darfur area of Sudan, passed illegally into Israel in 2007. Many had already lived for some years in Egypt. Israel argued that such people were not refugees but economic migrants, and reserved the right to refuse entry to asylum-seekers from what it regarded as enemy countries, such as Sudan. In July, the Egyptian president had promised to step up action against border infiltrators and the Egyptian military adopted a more aggressive stance towards them.
CaptionPeople gather for a candlelight vigil for brothers Jeremy and Justin Herring, aged 18 and 20, found dead of gunshot wounds in their family home. Their father, who was said by a relative to suffer from mental illness and depression, was charged with their murder.
CaptionFormer Pakistani prime minister Benazir Bhutto adjusts her headscarf during a press conference at her house. Bhutto had returned to Pakistan four days earlier after eight years of self-imposed exile, in order to lead her Pakistan People's Party in upcoming elections. A suicide bomb attack during her homecoming parade resulted in 139 fatalities. Bhutto held prayers for those killed in the bombing, blaming Islamic militants for their deaths. In a second attack, after a party rally on 27 December, Bhutto was assassinated.
CaptionKurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) commander Haval Syavent stands in the forest near the PKK camp of Arbur. The conflict between Turkish authorities and militants of the PKK has lasted decades and cost over 30,000 lives. The PKK are calling for an independent Kurdish state. More than half the world's Kurds live in the southeastern part of Turkey, near the border with Iraq. In 2007 Turkey accused the PKK of launching attacks from bases in the semi-autonomous Kurdish region of northern Iraq and threatened retaliatory strikes. Turkey, together with the USA and the European Union, has designated the PKK a terrorist organization.
CaptionThe village of Istmina, on the San Juan River, is home to many displaced and indigenous peoples. Violence has become endemic in Colombia, a country long ravaged by conflict between national security forces, outlawed armed groups and drug cartels. Women are particularly affected as victims of sexual assault. Marginal groups and aid workers suspected of helping guerillas have also been targeted.
CaptionPeople read names of victims in the Nanjing Massacre Memorial Hall. In December 1937, Japanese troops captured Nanjing, then capital of China. A period of violence ensued, in what has become known as the Nanjing Massacre. As people gathered to commemorate the 70th anniversary of the event, there was still no consensus as to numbers of victims, the extent of atrocities, or duration of the massacre. China maintains that some 300,000 people were killed, with thousands of others raped and tortured. Japan disputes the figures, saying the scale of killing and rape was considerably smaller. As the two countries become increasingly close trading partners, some effort is being made to avoid flaming antagonisms over what remains a delicate issue.
Organization / PublicationBul X Vision Photography Agency
CategorySports Action
Prize1st prize
Date15-03-2007
CountryFrance
PlaceFlaine
CaptionProfessional freeride skier Phil Meier (Switzerland) escapes an oncoming avalanche during Freeride Quest, a qualifying event for Xtreme Verbier, the freeriding world championship. The sport involves off-piste skiing through a variety of terrains, with very few restricting rules. It is not uncommon that a freerider triggers an avalanche. Meier finished the session safely. Of the 19 men competing in the event, five qualified for the world championships.
CaptionSwimmers pass the 250-meter buoy during a men's heat in the Triathlon World Cup. The event comprises a 1.5-kilometer swim, a 40-kilometer bicycle ride and a 10-kilometer run.
CaptionBodyboarder Jaime Jesus competes in the Nazaré Special Edition championship. The contest, one of the most important in Portuguese bodyboarding, does not begin until the waves are over three meters high. Jesus was tackling five-meter waves, and won the prize for the biggest wipe out (spectacular fall) during the competition.
CaptionA tradition of land-diving, 'nagol', has existed for centuries on this South Pacific island. Men and boys build tall timber towers and leap off them headfirst from different levels, sometimes as high as ten meters. They are prevented from falling to their deaths by vines tied to their ankles. The vines tauten and stop the descent just centimeters before the diver hits the earth. Divers choose their own vines in high hillside forests. nagol takes place between March and June when the vines are at their strongest and most elastic. nagol has become a popular tourist attraction with visitors paying considerable sums to tour companies for an opportunity to watch the spectacle. It was also the inspiration for bungee jumping which has become a lucrative sport in the West. Recently, there have been calls for more transparency about where the tourists' money goes and talk of an intellectual property rights claim on the bungee jumping industry.
CaptionThe Chinese synchronized swimming team practices on land during a training session for the FINA World Swimming Championships, which took place in Melbourne, Australia in March.
CaptionSwitzerland's Evelyne Leu competes in the women's freestyle skiing aerials World Cup competition at Deer Valley resort. Leu finished in fourth place.
Organization / PublicationOculi for The Australian Financial Review Magazine
CategorySports Features
Prize1st prize
Date2007
CountryAustralia
PlaceMaxwelton, Queensland
CaptionChildren watch a horse race in a small outback town. The annual Mawelton Race Meeting carries prize money totaling AUS$ 28,000 (nearly € 17,500), and attracts punters from all over the region. In an atmosphere that has changed little since the race club was established in 1951, visitors also participate in family foot races and games for young folk.
CaptionA member of the crew of the Victory Challenge collects the sail after a match in the Louis Vuitton Cup. The event is used as a preliminary to one of the world's most prestigious yacht races, the America's Cup - a one-to-one contest between the current holder of the trophy and the winner of the Louis Vuitton Cup.
Organization / PublicationYours Gallery / Focus Photo und Presse Agentur
CategorySports Features
Prize3rd prize
Date2007
CountryIndia
PlaceVaranasi
CaptionYoga practitioners exercising. Formerly known as Benares, Varanasi is one of the oldest cities in the world and has long been a center for the study and practice of yoga. A balance of physical exercise, breathing technique and mudra (gesture), yoga aims at a harmonizing of body, mind and emotions.
Organization / PublicationRedux Pictures for Field & Stream
CategorySports Feature stories
Prize2nd prize
Date2007
CountryUSA
PlaceTower City, Pennsylvania
CaptionCorey Bond (17) carries a rabbit shot in the coal banks. He has been hunting since he was 12. In some states it is legal for children under the age of 12 to hunt if in the company of a licensed adult hunter. Approved prey includes wild turkeys and other birds, rabbits and small mammals, and stags of a certain height. The removal of age barriers in hunting follows campaigns by some outdoor organizations to give young people the chance to discover recreations other than computer games.
CaptionThe 88-acre farm of Skatopia attracts skateboarders from all over the US. A culture of anti-establishment behavior that surrounds skateboarding has made it difficult to integrate the sport into mainstream society. Founder Brewce Martin set up Skatopia not only as a skateboarding venue, but as a sanctuary for the sport's unconventional enthusiasts. People filter in and out at will. Some camp out for a day or two, others build cabins from scraps and stay for months.
Organization / PublicationReportage by Getty Images for Newsweek
CategoryContemporary Issues
Prize1st prize
Date2007
CountryDR Congo
PlaceVirunga National Park
CaptionConservation rangers evacuate the bodies of four mountain gorillas found shot in the forest. The highly endangered gorillas live in an area beset with conflict. Rebel leaders in the region maintain that the Congolese government is collaborating with the Hutu-led FDLR (Democratic Liberation Forces of Rwanda), which was accused of involvement in the 1994 genocide against Tutsis in Rwanda. Rebel militia have entered the national park in pursuit of FDLR fighters who they say are hiding there. It is not always clear who is attacking the gorillas, but a number have been killed in ways that parallel human executions during the Rwandan genocide. Some are eaten as bush-meat. The gorillas' habitat is also being destroyed as both militia and illegal charcoal-makers are cutting down trees. There are an estimated 700 mountain gorillas remaining worldwide. More than half of these live in Virunga, where at least nine were killed during 2007. Rangers trying to protect gorillas have also come under attack.
CaptionA couple targeted in anti-gay violence after the Gay Pride parade wait for medical help. Later in the year, the parliament passed legislation to give same-sex partners many of the same rights as married couples. But after decades under communist rule, when homosexuality in Eastern Europe was either banned or ignored, it is still far less accepted than in Western Europe. For the first time in twelve years, the gay rights parade saw attacks on the participants. Many of the incidents involved neo-Nazi groups and some commentators maintained this was part of an increase of intolerance towards minority groups in Hungary.
CaptionA man shelters with his feverish child beneath a mosquito net. The net was not impregnated with any insecticide, making it less effective in malaria prevention. A subsequent medical test showed the child to be infected with the disease. Malaria is the leading cause of mortality in Uganda. Children under five and pregnant women are the worst affected.
