top 111 weird and wonderful pictures of 2011

The photography you saw in our News Pictures Of The Year overview showed a pretty dark and dismal world, but it’s not all doom and gloom on our globe. Plenty of fun and beauty surrounds us and these are some of our favorite weird and wonderful photos of 2011.

Military frogmen practice during a national day rehearsal at the Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall in Taipei October 5, 2011. REUTERS/Pichi Chuang

College students watch a cheerleader at a rally in Tokyo February 8, 2011. About 1,500 students from business schools attended the rally to boost their morale ahead of their job hunt. REUTERS/Kim Kyung-Hoon

Anti-government protesters take part in Friday prayers at Tahrir Square in Cairo February 4, 2011. REUTERS/Amr Abdallah Dalsh

Visitors wearing rabbit ear headbands watch a night parade held to celebrate Chinese New Year in Hong Kong February 3, 2011. The Lunar New Year began on February 3 and marks the start of the Year of the Rabbit, according to the Chinese zodiac. REUTERS/Tyrone Siu

People enjoy the frozen Lac de Joux lake at Le Pont in the Jura region in western Switzerland, January 30, 2011. The lake, when completely frozen, is among the largest natural ice rinks in Europe. REUTERS/Valentin Flauraud

Shinmoedake volcano erupts between Miyazaki and Kagoshima prefectures, in this aerial view taken January 28, 2011. REUTERS/Kyodo

Swiss acrobat Freddy Nock balances onthe cable of a funicular on Mount Corvatsch (3,303 m/9,908 ft) near the Swiss mountain resort of St. Moritz January 29, 2011. Nock walked down over a distance of some 1,600 metres (5,249 ft) from the mountain station of the cable car in 3,303 metres (10,836 ft) altitude to the middle station (2,702 metres/8,865 ft altitude). REUTERS/Arnd Wiegmann

Performers on stilts rest near a row of portable lavatories before the dress rehearsal for the Chingay parade in Singapore January 22, 2011. The word Chingay means the art of masquerade in Chinese Hokkien dialect. Chingay parade is an annual street and floats parade held during the Chinese new year period in Singapore. REUTERS/Tim Chong

Switzerland's photographer Denis Balibouse files his pictures under a full moon from Mont-Cenis Pass road in Lanslebourg during the Grande Odyssee sled dog race January 19, 2011. REUTERS/Denis Balibouse

Carlos Sainz of Spain drives his Volkswagen Touareg during the fifth stage of the third South American edition of the Dakar Rally 2011 from Calama to Iquique January 6, 2011. REUTERS/Eric Gaillard

Tsiuri Kakabadze, 80, performs during the Super Grandmother and Super Grandfather contest in Tbilisi January 5, 2011. Twenty-four participants aged over 70 from all over Georgia competed. REUTERS/David Mdzinarishvili

Army soldiers display their skills as they glide on ropes during a military parade to celebrate the 68th anniversary of Lebanon's independence day in downtown Beirut November 22, 2011. REUTERS/ Mohamed Azakir

An aerial view shows vehicles with their headlights on converging on the Soyuz TMA-02M spacecraft carrying ISS crew members, U.S. astronaut Michael Fossum, Russian cosmonaut Sergey Volkov and Japanese astronaut Satoshi Furukawa, after the spacecraft landed near the town of Arkalyk in northern Kazakhstan, November 22, 2011. REUTERS/Shamil Zhumatov

New vehicles are submerged in flood waters at the Honda factory in Ayutthaya province November 14, 2011. REUTERS/Damir Sagolj

A polar bear swims underwater in the St-Felicien Wildlife Zoo in St-Felicien, Quebec October 31, 2011. According to Environment Canada, Canada is home to around 15,000 of the estimated 20,000 polar bears in the world. REUTERS/Mathieu Belanger

Sex workers wearing skeleton masks, which represent the Day of the Dead, participate in a procession in Mexico City October 29, 2011. REUTERS/Carlos Jasso

A woman looks at an art installation named Forever Bicycles by dissident Chinese artist Ai Weiwei during a media preview of the Ai Weiwei Absent exhibition in Taipei October 28, 2011. REUTERS/Pichi Chuang

A baby moves his arms inside the pediatric unit at Escuela hospital in Tegucigalpa October 21, 2011. According to Honduras' health authorities, about 220,000 babies are born in Honduras each year and the cost of having a baby delivered at the public hospital is $10. REUTERS/Edgard Garrido

Triathletes start their 2.4 mile (3.9 km) swim at the Ironman World Championship triathlon in Kailua-Kona, Hawaii October 8, 2011. REUTERS/Hugh Gentry

Sambeg Shakya, 6, is carried on a chariot during the Indra Jatra Festival in Kathmandu September 16, 2011. Sambeg Shakya was hailed last year by Buddhist priests as Ganesh, or the god of good fortune, since when he has led several processions of Nepal's better-known living goddesses, also known as Kumari. The centuries-old ritual, once used by now-toppled kings who thought it would make them stronger, was the climax of the annual Hindu festival of Dasain, which lasts for two weeks and has become a major tourist attraction in Nepal. Sambeg will continue in his supporting role until he is big enough to fit in a chariot pulled by men, after which he must return to real life. REUTERS/Navesh Chitrakar

Revellers enjoy a thrill ride at the opening of the world's biggest beer fest, the Munich Oktoberfest, in Munich, September 17, 2011. REUTERS/Kai Pfaffenbach

Parents of freshmen students sleep on mats laid out on the floor of a gymnasium at Huazhong Normal University in Wuhan, Hubei province September 3, 2011. The university set out mats for some 600 parents accompanying new students on their first day of school, local media reported. Picture taken September 3, 2011. REUTERS/China Daily

Gliders from the aerobatic group Ocovski Bacovia (Shepherds from Ocova Village) perform during the Slovak International Air Fest in Sliac August 28, 2011. REUTERS/Radovan Stoklasa

A woman is seen at the Modern Moma commercial and residential complex in Beijing, August 24, 2011. REUTERS/Jason Lee

A meteor streaks though the night sky over the village of Kuklici, known for its hundreds of naturally formed stones which resemble human beings, near Kratovo, August 13, 2011. REUTERS/Ognen Teofilovski

A student reads the Koran before morning prayers during the holy month of Ramadan at the Al-Mukmin Islamic boarding school in Solo, Indonesia Central Java province, August 2, 2011. The Al-Mukmin Islamic boarding school, founded by Indonesian cleric Abu Bakar Bashir in 1972, has 231 teachers and houses 1,503 students, both males and females, between the ages 12 to 18. REUTERS/Beawiharta

Above & Beyond, an art exhibit comprised of 58,000 imprinted dog tags, one for every person who died in the Vietnam War, is seen at the National Veterans Art Museum in Chicago July 20, 2011. The museum houses more than 2,000 pieces of art by veterans from World War II to the current conflicts in the Middle East. The museum faces the risk of complete shutdown unless they can raise millions of dollars just to survive. REUTERS/Jim Young

Two-year-old chimpanzee Do Do bottle feeds milk to Aorn, a 60-day-old tiger cub, at the Samut Prakan Crocodile Farm and Zoo on the outskirts of Bangkok July 30, 2011. REUTERS/Sukree Sukplang

A diver surrounded by sardines performs Taekwondo during a promotional diving performance for summer vacation visitors at the Coex Aquarium in Seoul July 22, 2011. REUTERS/Jo Yong-Hak

An Asian elephant sprays sand in its enclosure at the zoo in Karlsruhe July 7, 2011. REUTERS/Alex Domanski

Workers use electric irons to smooth out a Communist Party of China flag on a table at the Beijing Jingong Red Flag factory located on the outskirts of Beijing June 28, 2011. The factory has made more than 30,000 flags over the last three months for the upcoming celebrations to mark the 90th anniversary of China's Communist Party on July 1. REUTERS/David Gray

Visitors ride a merry-go-round at the 'Wunderland Kalkar' (Wonderland Kalkar) amusement park in Kalkar June 20, 2011. Wunderland Kalkar was a nuclear fast breeder, which was completed but never taken online, and in 1995 Dutch investor Hennie van der Most bought it and transformed into an amusement park attracting some 600,000 visitors per year. REUTERS/Ina Fassbender

Divers from the Prefectura Naval Argentina inspect the Rio Limay covered with ash from Chile's Puyehue-Cordon Caulle volcano chain at the mountain resort of San Carlos de Bariloche in Argentina's Patagonia June 16, 2011. REUTERS/Chiwi Giambirtone

The International Space Station is seen with the docked space shuttle Endeavour in this May 23, 2011 handout photo courtesy of NASA. The photo was taken by Expedition 27 crew member Paolo Nespoli from the Soyuz TMA-20 following its undocking and is the first-ever image of a space shuttle docked to the International Space Station. REUTERS/NASA/Handout

Lightning flashes around the ash plume of the Puyehue-Cordon Caulle volcano chain near Entrelagos June 5, 2011. REUTERS/Carlos Gutierrez

Space shuttle Endeavour lands at the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida June 1, 2011. Endeavour touched down at its Florida home base early on Wednesday, capping a 16-day mission to deliver a premier science experiment to the International Space Station on NASA's next-to-last shuttle flight. REUTERS/Joe Skipper

Novice Buddhist monk Kyaw Thiha plays during a heavy rainfall at the Shin Ohtama Tharya monastery in Yangon May 31, 2011.REUTERS/Soe Zeya Tun

A farmer walks past a terrace of codonopsis pilosula, a traditional Chinese medicine also known as dang shen, in Min county, Gansu province May 31, 2011. REUTERS/Stringer

Lightning strikes the CN Tower during a thunderstorm in Toronto May 29, 2011. REUTERS/Mark Blinch

People watch as Spanish soldiers of the Marine infantry brigade simulate an assault on La Malagueta beach during a military operational exhibition, on the eve of celebrations to mark Spanish Armed Forces Day in Malaga May 28, 2011. REUTERS/Jon Nazca

A newborn baby listens to music played through earphones in a hospital in Kosice, May 25, 2011. The hospital uses music as therapy for babies when they are separated from their mothers. REUTERS/Petr Josek

Racegoers are seen at the bar on Ladies Day, the third day of the Royal Ascot race meeting in southern England June 16, 2011. REUTERS/Eddie Keogh

A Buddhist monk joins others in a ceremony for Vesak Day, an annual celebration of Buddha's birth, enlightenment and death, at Wat Dharmmakaya on the outskirts of Bangkok May 17, 2011. REUTERS/Damir Sagolj

A kangaroo stands on iron ore boulders near the port of Dampier in the Pilbara region of Western Australia April 19, 2011. REUTERS/Daniel Munoz

Pakistani Hindu devotees climb a mud volcano to perform a ritual offering of coconuts before visiting Shri Hinglaj Mata Temple located in Balochistan province province April 24, 2011. Every year thousands of Hindus from Pakistan and India gather to attend the four-day ritual at the Hinglaj Mata Temple in Balochistan. REUTERS/Akhtar Soomro

Concert goers dance in a spray of cooling mist amid the heat of the desert at the Coachella Valley Music & Arts Festival in Indio, California April 15, 2011. REUTERS/Mike Blake

Mithun, 11, carries soil at a laterite brick mine in Ratnagiri district, about 360km (224 miles) south of Mumbai, April 14, 2011. He is paid two Indian rupees ($0.04) per brick and carries an average of 100 bricks out of the mine each day. Each brick costs between 10-14 rupees ($0.22-$0.31), and weighs around 40 kg. REUTERS/Danish Siddiqui

A statue of late Chairman Mao Zedong is pictured under the sun at a white marble factory in Dashiwo, near Beijing April 11, 2011. REUTERS/Jason Lee

U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates (R) talks with U.S. Ambassador to Saudi Arabia James Smith on the tarmac before departing in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, April 6, 2011. REUTERS/Chip Somodevilla/Pool

Police officers are splashed with paint in Oxford Street, during a protest organised by the Trades Union Congress (TUC), called 'The March for the Alternative,' in central London March 26, 2011. REUTERS/Dylan Martinez

U.S. Navy safety swimmers stand on the deck of the Virginia class submarine USS New Hampshire after it surfaced through thin ice during exercises underneath ice in the Arctic Ocean north of Prudhoe Bay, Alaska March 19, 2011. REUTERS/Lucas Jackson

Seven laser beams, matching the colours of the stripes on the Utrecht University flag, are projected on the Dom Tower from a building in the university three kilometers (1.86 miles) away, in Utrecht March 22, 2011. The laser show, which runs from March 21 to 27, is part of the 375th anniversary celebrations of the university. REUTERS/Michael Kooren

Dancers attend the traditional Opera Ball in Vienna March 3, 2011. REUTERS/Lisi Niesner

Researchers dressed in panda costumes put a panda cub into a basket before transferring it to a new living environment at the Hetaoping Research and Conservation Center for the Giant Panda in Wolong National Nature Reserve, Sichuan province February 20, 2011. Researchers wear panda costumes to ensure that the cub's environment is devoid of human influence, according to local media. REUTERS/China Daily

A hawk attacks a rabbit during an annual traditional hunting competition near the village of Uzynagash outside Almaty, February 12, 2011. Kazakhstan's national sport of Sayat - or hunting with birds of prey - is popular in the Central Asian state. REUTERS/Shamil Zhumatov

A veiled Muslim protester wears sunglasses as she chants anti-government slogans during mass demonstrations against Egypt's President Hosni Mubarak in Alexandria February 4, 2011. REUTERS/Dylan Martinez

People apply coloured powder to a woman's face as they celebrate Holi, also known as the festival of colours, in Ahmedabad March 19, 2011. The traditional event heralds the beginning of spring and is celebrated all over India. REUTERS/Amit Dave

A reveller of the Portela samba school participates in the annual Carnival parade in Rio de Janeiro's Sambadrome March 6, 2011. REUTERS/Sergio Moraes

An owner waits with his dog, painted with spots, before a traditional dog fighting competition in Kabul February 18, 2011. REUTERS/Omar Sobhani

Friar Anthony rollerblades in downtown Rome February 24, 2011. REUTERS/Max Rossi

Drag queens tussle as they run on Sydney's iconic Bondi Beach during the Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras drag race March 4, 2011. REUTERS/Tim Wimborne

Karima Delli, a French member of the Group of the Greens/European Free Alliance, is disguised as a man to mark International Women's Day as she takes part in a voting session at the European Parliament in Strasbourg, March 8, 2011. REUTERS/Vincent Kessler

Somali camel herder Ali Abdullahi Hassan, 40, holds three Bactrian camels after taking them for a ride near the rural town of Gyttorp March 3, 2011. Hassan emigrated to Sweden in 2007 and had been working at odd jobs until a relative told him of a local couple who needed help tending to their pet camels. Now Hassan takes care of the three animals, Kalle, Anna and their son Karlsson, training them to carry riders and singing songs to them in Arabic. Picture taken March 3, 2011. REUTERS/Bob Strong

Lu Zhihao, 4, kicks a ball at a basketball court in Foshan, Guangdong province March 28, 2011. Lu, who is 1.1m tall and weighs 62 kg, put on weight dramatically since his appetite grew when he was 3 months old. His worried parents took him to several hospitals, but the reason for his obesity remains unknown, though it is possibly due to his dietary habit, according to local media. Picture taken March 28, 2011. REUTERS/Joe Tan

A radiation check-up worker uses a urinal at a toilet of an evacuation center in Koriyama, Fukushima Prefecture, northern Japan, April 1, 2011, located about 70 km (44 miles) from the earthquake and tsunami-crippled nuclear reactor. REUTERS/Kim Kyung-Hoon

Villagers stand next to trees covered in spider webs in the flood affected areas of K.N. Shah, located near Dadu in Pakistan's Sindh province, December 7, 2010. The cocooned trees have been a side-effect of spiders escaping flood waters in the area. Although people in this part of Sindh have never witnessed this phenomenon, they report there are now less mosquitoes, thus reducing the risk of malaria. Picture taken December 7, 2010. REUTERS/Department for International Development/Russell Watkins

Souvenir teabags with depictions of Britain's Prince William and Kate Middleton are seen in London April 7, 2011. A British minister said on

Wednesday that two billion people were expected to tune in to TV broadcasts to watch this month's royal wedding between Prince William and Kate Middleton on April 29. REUTERS/Suzanne Plunkett

A boy washes soap off while taking a bath next to shacks in Moita, near Lisbon April 8, 2011. REUTERS/Rafael Marchante

A Palestinian beekeeper holds a a smoker used to calm bees in order to collect honey at a farm in Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip May 3, 2011. REUTERS/Ibraheem Abu Mustafa

Simone Arrigoni of Italy attempts to set an apnea diving record, pushed by two dolphins named Paco and Marco, in Torvaianica near Rome May 19, 2011. Arrigoni completed 13 loops in 1 minute and 53 seconds to set a new record. REUTERS/Alessandro Bianchi

Labourers work at the construction site of a commercial complex in the eastern Indian city of Bhubaneswar May 19, 2011. The infrastructure sector accounts for just over a quarter of India's industrial output. REUTERS/Stringer

Karren, part of the Pujie Girls, poses for a photograph while demonstrating planking during an interview with Reuters outside Taiwan's National Theatre in Taipei May 25, 2011. Lying face flat on the ground may not be the world's most glamourous photo pose but two Taiwanese planking women have made a name for themselves on the Internet -- and hope to use the craze to spread positive social messages. Calling themselves the Pujie Girls which literally translates to falling on the street in Mandarin, the pair are Taiwan's most well-known plankers, with almost 100,000 fans following them on Facebook. To match Reuters Life! story TAIWAN-PLANKING/ REUTERS/Nicky Loh

Young Bavarian farmer woman Julia poses during a photo shoot for a calendar of German and Austrian farmer's wives in Kadeltshofen near Munich June 26, 2011. 'The German Girls edition 2012' is a homage to all young farmer's wives in Germany and Austria working in the agricultural industry. REUTERS/Michael Dalder

Brown bear (Ursus arctos) cub Medo plays with the Logar family dog in Podvrh village, central Slovenia June 1, 2011. The Slovenian Logar family has adopted the three-and-half-month-old bear cub that strolled into their yard about 30 days ago. Although the family would like to prepare a fenced enclosure for it, veterinary authorities would prefer to move it into a shelter for wild animals. REUTERS/Srdjan Zivulovic

A priest uses a book to shield himself from the sun as Pope Benedict XVI leads a solemn mass in Zagreb June 5, 2011. The Pope is on a two-day visit to Croatia. REUTERS/Alessandro Bianchi

Competitors ride with their bikes in a cable car to the start of the Downhill at the Mountain Bike World Cup in Fort William, Scotland, June 5, 2011. REUTERS/Russell Cheyne

Veterinary doctors take the blood of a tranquilized female Przewalski's horse for tests, at a farm at the village of Dolni Dobrejov near the city of Tabor June 14, 2011, before it is transported to the military airport in Prague for its eventual return to Mongolia. Prague zoo will transport four Przewalski's horses, a stallion and three mares, to Mongolia's Khovd province to return them to their native environment. Przewalski's Horse or the Dzungian Horse - is one of the last wild horses in the world. REUTERS/Petr Josek

A dog barks at a formation of riot police near the Greek parliament in Athens, June 15, 2011. Tens of thousands of grassroot activists and unionists converged on Athens' central Syntagma (Constitution) Square Wednesday as Prime Minister George Papandreou prepared to push through a new five-year campaign of tax hikes, spending cuts and selloffs of state property to continue receiving aid from the European Union and International Monetary Fund and avoid default. REUTERS/Pascal Rossignol

Children dressed up as smurfs take part in a promotional event in the Andalusian village of Juzcar, near Malaga, southern Spain, June 16, 2011. The facades of the houses were painted blue as part of a global promotion for the Sony Picture film The Smurfs which will premiere in New York City June 24, 2011. REUTERS/Jon Nazca

Holocaust survivor Betty Stein, 92, plays ping pong at a program for people with Alzheimer's and dementia at the Arthur Gilbert table tennis center in Los Angeles, California June 15, 2011. Founder Mikhail Zaretsksky says the sport does not cure, or even slow down the disease, but helps the 100 participants by raising their heart rate and the blood flow to their brains, and exercising them mentally as well as physically. He says it helps their depression, improves their balance, and makes them more alert. Picture taken June 15. REUTERS/Lucy Nicholson

Pedestrians take photographs of cyclists during the World Naked Bike Ride in Brussels June 18, 2011. This annual manifestation is performed to demand more respect for cyclists on the streets and to promote the bike as an alternative non-polluting transportation vehicle. REUTERS/Francois Lenoir

A Soviet WW II tank painted pink is loaded on a boat to be transported in Prague's city center, June 20, 2011. Original Soviet Army tank Nr. 23 was on display in Prague from the war until visual artist David Cerny painted it pink with friends in April 1991. The Czech Republic is commemorating the 20th anniversary of the departure of Soviet troops which invaded Czechoslovakia in 1968, and the tank was brought back to Prague from a military museum for a week for the occasion. REUTERS/Petr Josek

An Afghan girl takes part in a skate boarding competition to mark the third annual Go Skateboarding Day in Kabul June 21, 2011. REUTERS/Mohammad Ismail

An Emperor Penguin stands on a beach on Kapiti coast June 20, 2011. The bird's arrival, the second ever recorded according to New Zealand's Department of Conservation, has caught the public's attention as Emperor Penguins usually live in Antarctica, more than 3,000 Km (1,864 miles) away. Picture taken June 20. REUTERS/New Zealand Government-Department of Conservation/Handout

Jeans are seen in Dadun village in Zengcheng near the southern Chinese city of Guangzhou June 20, 2011, one week after militia fired tear gas in this factory town to quell rioting over the abuse of a pregnant street hawker who became a symbol of simmering grassroots discontent. Picture taken June 20, 2011. REUTERS/Bobby Yip

Contestants stand on the stage after the annual race on high heels during Gay Pride celebrations in the quarter of Chueca in Madrid June 30, 2011. The winner of the race receives a prize of 1000 euros. REUTERS/Susana Vera

Residents lie on railway tracks in Rawa Buaya in Indonesia's West Java province July 13, 2011. The residents believe that the electrical energy from the tracks will cure them of various illnesses. REUTERS/Enny Nuraheni

A boy swims in the algae-filled coastline of Qingdao, Shandong province July 15, 2011. Picture taken July 15, 2011. REUTERS/China Daily

A coach holding a broom tries to prevent a boy from holding onto the edge of the pool as he learns swimming during a diving training session at a training centre in Beijing July 27, 2011. Some 15 children, aged 5 to 12 are training at the centre of China's State Physical Training Administration as amateur divers during their summer vacation. REUTERS/Jason Lee

Russian sailors take part in an evacuation drill to celebrate Navy day in the Crimean port of Sevastopol July 31, 2011. Sevastopol is headquater to the Russian Black Sea Fleet. REUTERS/Stringer

A devotee covered in motor oil takes a rest in the celebrations honouring the patron saint of Managua, Santo Domingo de Guzman, in Managua August 1, 2011. REUTERS/Oswaldo Rivas

Boats gather around a sculpture of a mermaid at the 'Alster' lake in Hamburg August 3, 2011. The four-meter-high sculpture made by Oliver Voss will be in place until August 12. REUTERS/Morris Mac Matzen

Zoo owner and artist Aleksandr Pylyshenko sits inside a cage with female African lion Katya at a private zoo situated in his yard in the city of Vasilyevka, southeastern Ukraine August 3, 2011. Pylyshenko decided to spend five weeks in a cage with a pair of African lions, Katya and Samson, to get money for improving the lions' living conditions, according to local media. He is broadcasting it on internet to attract the public's attention to plight of wild animals in private Ukrainian zoos, which do not get enough fundings. REUTERS/Gleb Garanich

A sunflower field is seen in stormy weather near Donzere, southern France, August 5, 2011. REUTERS/Pascal Rossignol

Saimaiti Aishan, a 27-year-old Uighur acrobat of tightrope walking, hangs on a 15-metre-long tightrope connected between two hot air balloons as he fails in an attempt for setting a 100 metre height record in Langshan, Hunan province August 6, 2011. Aishan, the nephew of Adili Wuxor, who is known as Prince of the Tightrope, is the first person to perform tightrope walking between two hot air balloons. He set a national tightrope walking record at 30 metres high on Saturday, but failed in his attempt of 100 metres, local media reported. Picture taken August 6, 2011. REUTERS/China Daily

A dog catches a frisbee during the Russian dog frisbee championship in Moscow August 7, 2011. Dogs and their owners took part in a variety of distance and accuracy competitions during the championship to test their frisbee skills. REUTERS/Sergei Karpukhin

Army servicemen sit on the ground as they watch a woman walk past, while waiting for instructions, during a rally near the parliament headquarters in Bishkek August 15, 2011. April 7 party supporters gathered to protest against the decision of local authorities to transfer former Kyrgyz defence minister Baktybek Kalyev, who is on trial due to April 2010 revolt, from jail to house arrest for medical reasons, according to local media. REUTERS/Vladimir Pirogov

Zoo performer Theerapone Manolai smiles as he puts his head between the jaws of a crocodile during a performance for tourists at the Sriracha Tiger Zoo, about 120 km (74 miles) east of Bangkok August 16, 2011. Kanthida Jantanct and Theerapone, both 28, from the province of Chaiyaphum, who have been crocodile performers at the zoo for almost ten years, earn at least 30,000 Baht (1,000 USD) per month for performing shows for at least 2,000 tourists, three times a day, to support their family. REUTERS/Sukree Sukplang

Anti-riot police officers use coloured water to disperse opposition supporters in the Kireka area on the outskirts of Kampala, August 17, 2011. Ugandan police fired teargas and water cannon to disperse opposition supporters who had gathered in a Kampala suburb on Wednesday to mourn people killed during demonstrations earlier this year, witnesses said. REUTERS/James Akena

An Edmonton Eskimos' cheerleader flies through the air during the first half of their Labour Day classic CFL football game against the Calgary Stampeders in Calgary, Alberta, September 5, 2011. REUTERS/Todd Korol

People watch the Breitling Jet Team perform aerobatics over the Mediterranean Sea from a beach in Tel Aviv October 19, 2011. The team, flying seven L-39 Albatros jets, are the largest civilian aerobatic display team in Europe and are based in Dijon, France. REUTERS/Amir Cohen

Thousands of starlings flock above farmland near Eleftheroupolis in northern Greece January 3, 2011. REUTERS/Yannis Behrakis

Members of the Edo Firemanship Preservation Association perform atop bamboo ladders during a New Year demonstration by the fire brigade in Tokyo January 6, 2011. REUTERS/Yuriko Nakao

A man talks on his cell phone after taking part in the 10th Annual No Pants Subway Ride in New York City January 9, 2011. The event, organised by Improv Everywhere, involves participants who strip down to their underwear as they go about their normal routine. REUTERS/Jessica Rinaldi

Haitian soccer players of the Zaryen team (blue) and the national amputee team (white) greet the crowd before a friendly match in Port-au-Prince January 9, 2011. Haiti will this week mark the first anniversary of the earthquake that killed around 250,000 people and wrecked much of the capital Port-au-Prince on Jan 12, 2010. REUTERS/Kena Betancur

A man flies a kite made of 110 Tukkal or paper lanterns for the Hindu festival of Makar Sankranti, which marks the start of spring, in the western Indian city of Ahmedabad January 13, 2011. REUTERS/Amit Dave

A skier sits in a chairlift as Switzerland's Air Force national flight team Patrouille Suisse fly their Northrop F-5E Tiger aircraft during an air show in front of the Eiger and over the men's Alpine skiing World Cup downhill course at the Lauberhorn in Wengen January 13, 2011. Todays third downhill training was cancelled. REUTERS/Pascal Lauener

A crane eats a fish from a tub of fish at a wholesale market at a fish harbour in Mumbai January 14, 2011. REUTERS/Danish Siddiqui

Father Juan Villa blesses a dog outside Madrid's San Anton church January 17, 2011. Hundreds of pet owners bring their animals to be blessed every year on the day of San Anton, Spain's patron saint of animals. REUTERS/Andrea Comas

Zukhro, an employee of the city zoo, walks with Vadik, an 18-month-old male lion, on the territory of the zoo in the capital Dushanbe, January 20, 2011. Employees take the lion from its cage to have a promenade along the territory two times a week while holding a piece of meat to attract Vadik's attention so it walks nearby. REUTERS/Nozim Kalandarov

An opposition supporter with pieces of bread taped onto his head shouts slogans during an anti-government protest in Sanaa February 3, 2011. Tens of thousands of Yemenis squared off in street protests for and against the government on Thursday during an opposition-led Day of Rage, a day after President Ali Abdullah Saleh offered to step down in 2013. REUTERS/Khaled Abdullah