In PHOTOS: Around the world in the last 24 hours

Here are some of the most breathtaking images from across the globe in the last 24 hours.

Amanda Knox cries and gestures to friends while her mother Edda Mellas sits next to her during a news conference at Sea-Tac International Airport, Washington after Knox landed there on a flight from Italy on Monday. Knox returned home to Seattle on Tuesday, one day after an Italian court cleared the 24-year-old college student of murder and freed her from prison.

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A United States soldier from Alpha Co, 2nd Battalion 35th Infantry, Task Force "Cacti", throws away the empty shell of a 120mm mortar after firing successive rounds at Taliban positions in Shalay Valley from Combat Outpost Penich, in Kunar province, near the Afghanistan-Pakistan border on Monday.

An ultra-Orthodox Jewish man carries his daughter in one hand and a chicken in the other during the Kaparot ritual ahead of the holiday of Yom Kippur in Jerusalem's Mea Shearim neighbourhood on Monday. Kaparot is a custom connected to Yom Kippur, where white chickens are slaughtered as a symbolic gesture of atonement. The slaughtered chickens are then donated to the poor.

Anti-Gaddafi fighters cry as they mourn the loss of their friends during clashes in Sirteon Monday. Libyan interim government forces have captured a district in Sirte after fierce battles that further raised concern about the dire humanitarian situation in Gaddafi's besieged hometown.

An ethnic Hazara Shi'ite man cries over the body of his brother killed in a shootout by unidentified gunmen in Quetta on Monday. At least 13 people were shot dead by gunmen in a suspected sectarian attack on a passenger bus in Pakistan's southwestern Baluchistan province on Tuesday, the second such attack in just over two weeks.

A woman runs to extinguish fire at the scene of a suicide attack in Somalia's capital Mogadishu on Monday. A truck bomb killed at least 65 people at government buildings in the heart of Somalia's capital on Tuesday, an ambulance worker said, and al Shabaab insurgents claimed responsibility for the attack. Witnesses said there was a loud blast at a compound housing four government ministries in the Kilometre 4 area of the capital Mogadishu, where students had gathered on Tuesday to take exams.

German designer Karl Lagerfeld appears at the end of his Spring/Summer 2012 women's ready-to-wear fashion show for French fashion house Chanel in Paris on Monday.

Prosecution witness Nicole Alvarez testifies in Dr Conrad Murray's trial in the death of pop star Michael Jackson in Los Angeles on Monday.

Texas Rangers pitcher Alexi Ogando celebrates with teammates in the locker room after their team defeated the Tampa Bay Rays in Game 4 of their MLB American League Divisional Series baseball playoffs in St. Petersburg, Florida, on Monday.

A Malaysian of Chinese descent offers incense during the Chinese Nine Emperor Gods Festival in Kuala Lumpur on Monday. The Nine Emperor Gods Festival welcomes the emperor gods that live in the stars under the reign of "Thien Hou" or the "Queen of Heaven" who brings good fortune, longevity and good health. Some devotees stay at a temple during the nine-day Taoist celebration, beginning on the eve of the ninth lunar month of the Chinese calendar, consume vegetarian meals and recite continuous prayers.

Apple Chief Executive Officer Tim Cook speaks about the iPhone 4S at Apple headquarters in Cupertino, California on Monday.

North Korean soldiers walk on a road along a residential area in Hyesan.

A woman walks at the new solar power plant "Gemasolar" the day of its inauguration in Fuentes de Andalucia, southern Spain on Monday.

United States President Barack Obama holds up a book with a cartoon of himself, inside a child development classroom at Eastfield College in Mesquite, Texas, on Monday.

A media member paddles his boat at a flooded temple at Wat Chaiwatthanaram, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, in Ayutthaya province, nearly 80 km north of Bangkokon Monday. Thai temples in the World Heritage Site have been hit by massive floods which have killed 224 people and caused widespread damage since late July, Thai officials said on Tuesday.

A couple kisses during a march in support of the New York Occupy Wall Street protests outside City Hall in Los Angeles, California on Sunday.

Nobel Prize winner Saul Perlmutter shows off his newly awarded "lifetime" parking pass for Nobel laureates at a news conference at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory in Berkeley, California, on Monday.

Three scientists shared the 2011 Nobel Prize for physics for the stunning discovery that the expansion of the universe is speeding up, meaning it may one day turn to ice, the prize committee said on Tuesday. Half of the 10 million Swedish crown prize money went to American Saul Perlmutter and the rest to two members of a second team which conducted similar work -- U.S.-born Brian Schmidt, who is based in Australia, and American Adam Riess.

Anti-Gaddafi fighters are seen reflected in a motorbike mirror during a graduation ceremony for newly-trained fighters in Tripoli on Monday.

Rescue divers watch the helicopter that crashed into the East River with five people aboard after taking off from the 34th street helipad in New York on Monday. A helicopter with tourists aboard crashed into New York City's East River on Tuesday, killing one person and injuring four others, police said.

Hindu devotees pose as they hold oil lamps before performing prayers during a ritual known as Aarti at the Navratri festival in the western Indian city of Ahmedabad on Monday. The festival, which is held in honour of the Hindu goddess Durga, is celebrated over nine days. In Hindu mythology, Durga symbolises power and the triumph of good over evil.