Battle for Aleppo intensifies Syrian conflict

With 200,000 fleeing Aleppo, fighting in Syria intensified in the 16-month long struggle opposing the rule of Bashar al-Assad. While fighting still grips Homs after a brutal siege, the conflict has moved north to finally include commercial hub Aleppo - largely spared until now - a city of over two million. Both the Syrian army and the rebel Free Syrian Army claim advances in the battle for Aleppo, which began in earnest over the weekend. More pockets of conflict rage in other locations within Syria as well. Gathered here are images made available in the last week from Syria, where independent news coverage has been limited and difficult. Some of the images are from third parties and transmitted without confirmation via international wire services as they were received. -- Lane Turner (32 photos total)

A portrait of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad burns during clashes between rebels and Syrian troops in Selehattin, near Aleppo, on July 23, 2012. (Bulent Kilic/AFP/GettyImages) 

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1/29/2013

In flight

                                          SOURCE :    http://www.boston.com

The desire to float on the breeze is a strong one. The illusion of escaping gravity, however briefly, has driven mankind in myriad attempts at flight. The animals that achieve this are the subject of envy, study, and imitation. Flying, falling, or floating, the following images show us joyfully escaping the bounds of gravity, even if just for a moment. [Editors' note: There will be no Big Picture entries for the week of August 27, 2012. We will return with regular posts on Wednesday, September 5, 2012.]-- Lane Turner 

A competitor jumps into the water during a cliff diving competition near the central Bohemian village of Hrimezdice, Czech Republic on August 3, 2012. (David W Cerny/Reuters) 

2

A participant demonstrates his skills using a water jet pack during a competition near Pleshchenitsy, Belarus on August 4, 2012. (Vasily Fedosenko/Reuters) #

3

Roller skate designer and performer Jean-Yves Blondeau leaps into the air as he skates down a road on Tianmen Mountain in Zhangjiajie, China on July 22, 2012. Wearing a multiple-wheel roller suit, Blondeau took less than 20 minutes to skate almost seven miles from the peak to its base. (China Daily/Reuters) #

4

Benny Borash kite boards in heavy seas and wind off Long Beach in Nahant, Mass. on June 4, 2012. (Bill Greene/Globe Staff)#

5

Jessica Marie Palazzolo, suspended from an overhead pulley, is lowered during the "Flight of the Angel," the culmination of the four-day Fisherman's Feast in Boston's North End on August 13, 2012. (Tamir Kalifa for The Boston Globe) #

6

Chris Ashworth, who plays a cosmonaut, heads towards the camera during rehearsal for filming of the movie "Space Warriors" on July 20, 2012 at the US Space & Rocket Center in Huntsville, Ala. (Dave Dieter/The Huntsville Times/Associated Press) #

7

Tourists enjoy zero gravity conditions during a flight in a specially modified plane above the Moscow region on August 15, 2012. (Sergei Remezov/Reuters) #

8

Felix Baumgartner steps out from the capsule during a test flight on July 25, 2012 over Roswell, New Mexico on a mission to the edge of space to an altitude of 37.000 meters to break several records including the speed of sound in freefall. (Jay Nemeth/Red Bull via Getty Images) #

9

Soldiers are deployed from a Washington Army National Guard CH-47 Chinook helicopter during a demonstration on August 5, 2012 in Seattle. (Ted S. Warren/Associated Press) #

10

A Belgian Air Force C-130 cargo plane flies over Belgium on July 19, 2012 during a rehearsal for the country's National Day military parade. (Yves Herman/Reuters) #

11

Russian Su-27 jet fighters perform during a celebration marking the Russian air force's 100th anniversary in Zhukovsky, Russia on August 12, 2012. (Mikhail Metzel/Associated Press) #

12

A firefighting tanker plane drops water above a forest fire near Lacanau, France on August 17, 2012. (Loic Le Loet/Reuters)#