Operation Moshtarak in Marjah, Afghanistan

Afghan national army and international forces patrol in Qari Saheb, in Helmand, during the third day of a joint operation

Afghan security personnel search a man in Qari Saheb village in Helmand province as British and US troops look on

A US army staff sergeant and flight medic with runs from his helicopter to evacuate two US marine casualties in Marjah

A jet flies overhead as US soldiers with 1/3 Charlie Company battle Taliban militants north-east of Marjah

An Afghan boy carries his pet bird past US troops with 1/3 Marine Charlie company in Trikh Nawar, north-east of Marjah




A US combat medical specialist holds his glasses as a Black Hawk helicopter evacuates a wounded Afghan boy from an outpost in Badula Qulp

A US marine breaks down the door of a house to search for weapons during an operation in Marjah

A US soldier from Bravo Company of the 1st Battalion, 6th Marines defends his position in Marjah. It came under heavy fire from all sides after an Afghan flag was raised to mark progress in Nato's offensive

A US soldier returns fire as others run for cover during a firefight with insurgents in the Badula Qulp area, west of Lashkar Gah

A wounded Taliban fighter captured after a firefight is carried to a helicopter in Marjah




A wounded US soldier is evacuated from Marjah

US Marine 2nd MEB commander Larry Nicholson, centre, visits the newly-built Company Operation Base in Marjah

The bodies of Taliban militants are transported in the back of a police vehicle following an operation in the Enjil district of Herat

Injured Taliban fighters receive treatment aboard an a Black hawk helicopter on a medevac mission

A US 1/3 Marine Weapons Company lieutenant issues orders as his troops come under Taliban sniper fire north-east of Marjah






Afghan security personnel search a man in Qari Saheb village in Helmand province as British and US troops look on

Soldiers from the 1st Battalion the Royal Welsh prepare for early morning boarding as helicopters warm their engines at Camp Bastion in Helmand province

US army Lieutenant Colonel Burton Shields gestures in silhouette at a meeting with village leaders in the Badula Qulp area

US Army flight medic Sgt Bryan Eickelberg with Charlie Company, All American Dustoff, flies on a pickup mission in a Black Hawk helicopter over Marjah

US Marine Gunnery Sergeant Brandon Dickinson holds a toddler in Marjah. The marines were approached by the boy's father, who wanted help for his son's skin condition



Marines and an Afghan soldier prepare to enter a house to search for weapons in Marjah

US soldiers with 1/3 Marine Weapons Company fix their weapons on a man found hiding in an irrigation canal north-east of Marjah. The farmer, suspected of being a Taliban spotter, was searched and released

US soldiers from 3rd Battalion, 6th Marine Regiment take cover as an improvised explosive device is found and detonated on the outskirts of the town of Marjah

US soldiers from 3rd Battalion, 6th Marine Regiment defend themselves against Taliban sniper fire on their position in Marjah

US marines take cover in an open poppy field during a firefight in the town of Marjah





Marines use dogs to search for explosives in Marjah

A column of US troops from 3rd Battalion, 6th Marine Regiment makes it way towards the town of Marjah in Helmand province

US marines and Afghan soldiers walk over a military bridge into an area where the marines have begun setting up a small forward operating base in Marjah

Marines warm themselves around a fire as they burn their ration boxes

US troops with 1/3 Charlie company warm up around a campfire in Marjah

JUST RELAX

propeller-driven bicycle, conceived in 1936:

Something more conventional, or more weird, depending on how you look at it - a propeller-driven bicycle, conceived in 1936:



A similar idea powered Alessandro Anzani's cycle, one of the first of its kind, in 1906:

This thing will kill not only every pedestrian that would happen to pass by, but also every dog that jumps at it.

The idea lives on, however, even if only in the hands of homegrown inventors and tinkerers:

Horror at 90mph: Luger killed after smashing into concrete pillar at Vancouver Olympics

Tragic: Nodar Kumaritashvili during training at the Winter Olympics yesterday before his fatal crash

Horror: The moment he lost control on his final run, flew off the track and hit an unpadded pillar at 90mph

Dangerous: Kumaritashvili's sled left on the track after the accident

The Georgian team wore black armbands and scarves during the opening ceremony last night

IOC president Jacques Rogge (second left) during a minute's silence for the Georgian

The Canadian flag flies at half-mast during a minute of silence for the Georgian luge competitor

Dramatic images of World Trade Centre collapse on 9/11 released for first time

Terror: A tidal wave of dust and debris roars through lower Manhattan as the World Trade Centre collapses on September 11, 2001


We have seen the Twin Towers collapse hundreds of times on TV. The steel and glass skyscrapers exploding like a bag of flour, the dust and smoke pluming out across Manhattan. But never like this, from above.
Nine years after the defining moment of the 21st century, a stunning set of photographs taken by New York Police helicopters forces us to look afresh at a catastrophe we assumed we knew so well.
You know but cannot see the 2,752 men, women and children who died at the World Trade Centre on September 11, 2001. None is visible here.


Deadly: A total of seven World Trade Centre buildings were destroyed that day, killing 2,752 people

At first the police helicopter is far away before it moves through the smoke to show the flames pouring out of the ravaged North Tower



Target: Smoke fills the surrounding area as the South Tower collapses after the terrorist attack

SO WHY ARE WE SEEING THEM NOW?
After 9/11 the U.S.'s National Institute of Standards and Technology collected images from amateur, professional and freelance photographers as part of its investigation into the collapse of the World Trade Centre. It completed its research in 2005. In the summer of last year, ABC saw that NIST was asking the photographers' permission to release the images and filed a request under the Freedom of Information Act to get access to them. The images seen here are ones taken by NYPD helicopters and come from the 2,779 pictures supplied on nine CDs to the news organisation.
All we see is the spectacular moment of collapse, what film directors call the wide shot, showing the towers in their urban setting, before, during and after their fall.
Even for those who were there, like me, running from the cloud and choking in the dust, it is hard to believe. But what is all too evident to everyone is that this event changed the world, with consequences that will haunt us for decades.
With the Twin Towers collapsed the world we thought we knew.
These dramatic images were taken by police photographers in helicopters and it is the first time they have been seen, having been released under a Freedom of Information request made by America's ABC News.
Burning buildings can be seen crumpling in on themselves as plumes of smoke rise up over the New York skyline that terrible September morning.
The images show how the police helicopter first began taking images from afar before moving in to reveal the devastation taking place underneath.
They also reveal the horror faced by those trapped in the burning buildings and then the walls of smoke and debris that enveloped the surrounding area as the towers came crashing down.
Released more than eight years after the deaths of 2,752 people on that day, they are powerful reminders of the attack that led to wars in Afghanistan and Iraq.
The legacy of the New York attack continues today with as British forces joining with Afghan soldiers and Nato to launch the biggest attack on the Taliban - accused of harbouring Al Qaeda who organised the 9/11 attack - since the initial 2001 offensive.
Meanwhile, in New York, work is continuing to build on the rubble of what became known as Ground Zero.
Structural steel for the 1,776ft tower, which will be known as 1 World Trade Centre, has already reached 200ft above street level.
Workers are now installing 16 steel nodes on the 20th-floor of the tower which will serve as joints between the steel framing for the building's podium and the steel for the rest of the tower. The 104-storey skyscraper is due to be completed in 2013 and will be one of the tallest buildings in the U.S.

Collapse: This image captures the sheer size of the debris cloud enveloping buildings and cars as the towers collapse

The cloud spreads out, consuming the surrounding area and moving out over the East River



Left, a plume of smoke rises up from one of the towers as it collapses. Right, eight years on a new tower rises up at 'Ground Zero'