In Focus

[Count Bobulescu]

2012 was an eventful year, from big events like the London Summer Olympics and the U.S. presidential race, to regional conflicts in the Middle East and Africa, to smaller issues closer to home. Reverberations from last year's transformative Arab Spring still heavily affect Syria and Egypt; and the slow recovery from the recent global economic crisis brought bitter austerity measures to parts of Europe, leading to widespread protests. Collected here is Part 1 of a three-part photo summary of the last year, covering its first four months. Be sure to see Part 2 and Part 3. The series totals 135 images in all. [45 photos]

http://www.theatlantic.com/infocus/2...1-of-3/100418/

[Count Bobulescu]

Part 2.

2012 was an eventful year, from big events like the London Summer Olympics and the U.S. presidential race, to regional conflicts in the Middle East and Africa, to smaller issues closer to home. Reverberations from last year's transformative Arab Spring still heavily affect Syria and Egypt; and the slow recovery from the recent global economic crisis brought bitter austerity measures to parts of Europe, leading to widespread protests. Collected here is Part 2 of a three-part photo summary of the last year, covering May through August. Be sure to see Part 1 and Part 3. The series totals 135 images in all. [45 photos]

http://www.theatlantic.com/infocus/2...2-of-3/100419/

[Count Bobulescu]

Part 3

2012 was an eventful year, from big events like the London Summer Olympics and the U.S. presidential race, to regional conflicts in the Middle East and Africa, to smaller issues closer to home. Reverberations from last year's transformative Arab Spring still heavily affect Syria and Egypt; and the slow recovery from the recent global economic crisis brought bitter austerity measures to parts of Europe, leading to widespread protests. Collected here is Part 3 of a three-part photo summary of the last year, covering its last few months. Be sure to also see Part 1 and Part 2. The series totals 135 images in all. [45 photos]

http://www.theatlantic.com/infocus/2...3-of-3/100420/

[Count Bobulescu]

Last week, the southern Philippines was struck by Typhoon Bopha, the strongest tropical cyclone to ever hit the island of Mindanao. Bopha made landfall as a Category 5 super typhoon with winds of 160 mph (260 km/h), flattening coastal villages, wiping out banana plantations, and causing mudslides and flooding. At the moment, the number of deaths has reached nearly 650, the number of missing is still near 800, and another 400,000 have been displaced by the storm. Collected here are images from the affected islands, as rescue and recovery workers continue to search through debris in fields choked with trees, boulders, and mud. [28 photos]

http://www.theatlantic.com/infocus/2...-bopha/100421/

[Count Bobulescu]

Out of an estimated 1,500 active volcanoes around the world, 50 or so erupt every year, spewing steam, ash, toxic gases, and lava. In 2012, active volcanoes included Guatemala's Volcan de Fuego, New Zealand's Tongariro, Russia's Plosky Tolbachik, Chile's Puyehue, Italy's Etna, and a new island appearing in the Red Sea. In Hawaii, Kilauea continues to send lava flowing toward the sea, and locals living near Mexico's Popocatepetl continued to deal with ashfalls. Collected below are scenes from the wide variety of volcanic activity on Earth over the past year. [39 photos

http://www.theatlantic.com/infocus/2...tivity/100423/