Amazing Events In Pictures

The faces of Australian cricket captain Ricky Ponting and vice-captain Michael Clarke are projected onto the Big Ben clock tower at the Palace of Westminster in London to publicise the upcoming Ashes cricket series in Australia This is the shocking moment a crocodile grabbed the trunk of a baby elephant, hoping to get lunch. The scene was captured by amateur photographer Johan Opperman while taking pictures of a family of African elephants grazing by a water hole in the Kruger National Park, South Africa. Hearing the calf's distress calls, the herd of elephants immediately came to its rescue, scaring the croc off A villager stands in front of Mount Merapi, near a motorcycle covered by ash at Kaliadem village. One of Indonesia's most active volcanoes spewed out clouds of ash and jets of searing gas in an eruption that has killed at least 25 people and injured 14. More than 11,000 villagers living on the slopes of the Mount Merapi volcano are being evacuated after the alert status for an eruption was raised to the highest level A cheeky owl almost stole the show on a couple's wedding day. The bird popped up in one of the official photographer's snaps and became a favourite picture in the wedding album. Libby Higgins and Jim Pearn were having their wedding photos taken at the John J Audubon Centre bird sanctuary in Pennsylvania when the injured owl, named Sam Adams, popped up. Libby, 26, explains: "He was hit by a car right near the Audubon Society and the bones under his eye were severed so badly that his tear ducts no longer work. They need to give him artificial tears. Poor little guy. We loved the little fellow and were only too happy to have our picture taken with him - even if he turned out to be the star." Sam Adams was being shown around accompanied by a handler after the wedding ceremony when the photo op occurred Suren Manvelyan, a physics teacher from Yerevan, Armenia, has captured macro images showing the human eye in all its glorious detail A mushroom farmer from Gongcheng in southern China's Guangxi Province is celebrating after harvesting a bumper crop of giant mushrooms. According to Rong Guiling she has more than 10 fields of white mushrooms of all different species. A fleet of ultrafast taxis hit London to celebrate the launch of Virgin Medias 100Mb broadband, the fastest broadband service in the UK. The public is invited to speed up their travel tomorrow by hailing one for free if they spot an available supercar Trainee teacher by day and firestarter by night - Tom Barnett, 26, from Hampshire plays with fire by swinging lit wire wool around his head, creating sparks This is the Roller Buggy, which at the flick of a switch turns from a regular pram into a scooter capable of reaching speeds of up to 10mph. It is the brainchild of award-winning inventor, Valentin Vodev, from Vienna, Austria, to provide an alternative to the car Inventor Barbara Wilomat presents her safety tray at the iENA invention trade fair in Nuremberg, Germany A student wears luminiscent clothing at the iENA invention trade fair in Nuremberg, Germany Rockette Teneise Ellis poses with a camel outside the Radio City Music Hall in New York. Camels, donkeys and sheep posed with the Rockettes as they arrived for the Radio City Christmas Spectacular running November 5-December 30 Pharmacist Ann Hart gives Santas their flu vaccinations in time for Christmas, at Selfridges on London's Oxford Street, to promote Lloydspharmacy's flu vaccination service A screen grab from the Russian satirical website Kremlingremlin.ru shows a caricature depicting President Dmitry Medvedev as a puppet being controlled by Prime Minister Vladimir Putin. Satirical cartoons have almost disappeared from Russia's newspapers, so people are now turning to online sources to see caricatures of the nation's leading political figures Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and his Bolivian counterpart Evo Morales warm up prior to their friendly soccer match in Tehran. It looks like they're practising Morales' famous knee-to-the-groin move JLS dolls are seen during the annual 'Dream Toys' fair in London. The Toy Retailers Association have announced the toy industry's official prediction of the top 12 selling toys for Christmas Chris Bobryk and Brad Knoth walk out with their surf boards as a wave crashes over Grand Haven's north pier in Michigan, USA Vera Zvonareva of Russia tries to cool down as she takes a break between games during day one of the WTA Championships at the Khalifa Tennis Complex in Doha, Qatar A fisheman is seen on his boat on lake Borolos in the Nile Delta, Egypt. A performer leaps on stage during an election rally for former Côte d'Ivoire president Henri Konan Bedie in the Felix Houphouet Boigny stadium in Abidjan A worker inspects the Quadriga sculpture atop the Brandenburg Gate in Berlin Tony Smith of Slindon Pumpkins checks some of the hundreds of pumpkins which have gone into his picture of a traction engine made from examples of his produce in Slindon, West Sussex Doctor Chris Forging cuts off a rhino's horn in Chipinge National Park in Zimbabwe. WWF and the country's national parks have embarked on a programme of de-horning rhinos to make them less vulnerable to poaching. At its peak, Zimbabwe had 3,000 black and white rhinos but this has gone down to just over 700