Leila Lopes miss universe 2011

Leila Lopes was crowned Miss Universe 2011 in Sao Paulo

A flood displaced woman makes chapattis in Pakistan

 A woman displaced by flooding kneads flour at a camp organised by the Asifa Imran foundation

A woman walks past civic officials guarding manholes on a flooded street

 A woman walks past civic officials guarding manholes on a flooded street

The eruption of Mount Sinabung

An Indonesian woman carrying a child observes the eruption of Mount Sinabung 

Mount Sinabung volcano spews smoke in Suka Nalu village

An aerial view shows Mount Sinabung volcano spewing smoke

A woman stands in front of a fountain at a park to cool off

A woman stands in front of a fountain at a park to cool off in Tokyo

A woman wades with her big bag across the Berounka river

A woman wades with her big bag across the Berounka river 

A woman wearing a niqab stands in front of the Parliament building during a protest

A woman wearing a niqab stands in front of the Parliament building during a protest in Sarajevo
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A woman adjusts her scarf as the sun sets over Kashmir's Dal Lake

A woman adjusts her scarf as the sun sets over Kashmir's Dal Lake

Leah of Brazil throws the ball during the 2010 FIFA Women's World Cup

Leah of Brazil throws the ball during the 2010 FIFA Women's World Cup

A woman plays with her hair

A woman plays with her hair in a swimming pool in the village Velka Mana southern Slovakia 

A young woman carries a bag that she found

Olivier Laban-Mattei / AFP - Getty Images
A young woman carries a bag that she found , on the roof of a building overlooking Port-au-Prince.

A woman raises her arms for products

A woman raises her arms for products as people loot from a destroyed shop after Tuesday's earthquake in Port-au-Prince
Credit: REUTERS/Carlos Barria

A Kashmiri Muslim woman cries behind a fence during the funeral of Inayat Ahmad

A Kashmiri Muslim woman cries behind a fence during the funeral of Inayat Ahmad, a 16-year-old student in Srinagar January 9, 2010. 
Credit: REUTERS/Fayaz Kabli

Afghan widows clad in burqas

Afghan widows clad in burqas line up during a cash for work project by humanitarian organisation CARE International in Kabul January 6, 2010. In this project, 500 Afghan widows, most of whom lost their husbands during the civil wars in Afghanistan, make blankets after receiving the materials from CARE.
Credit: REUTERS/Ahmad Masood

Winner, photo competition organized by the Iraqi Al-Mada Establishment for Media

Winner, photo competition organized by the Iraqi Al-Mada Establishment for Media, Culture and Arts in BaghdadA Palestinian woman embraces the trunk of an olive tree after it was destroyed as an Israeli troop looks on in the West Bank village of Salem, near Nablus November 27, 2005.
Credit: REUTERS/Abed Omar Qusini

Between War and Peace

The rebel groups that started the war in Darfur in 2003, catalyzing a conflict that has claimed hundreds of thousands of lives, almost seem to have gone into hibernation. A woman returns to her home in the camp, closely watched by African Union peacekeepers.
Photo: Jehad Nga for The New York Times