The year of the 'selfie': From pop stars to politicians...Checkout the top selfies of 2013!

Some would call it vanity. Others would say it shows a healthy degree of self-confidence. But whatever the reason, there is no denying that 2013 was the year of the selfie.

• Selfie was named by Oxford Dictionaries as word of the year
• One of the most famous was the Pope posing with teenagers at the Vatican
• Among the most controversial was that Nelson Mandela memorial selfie
• Other famous selfies include Kim Kardashian's bottom and the PM asleep

Strike a pose: U.S. President Barack Obama (right) and British Prime Minister David Cameron pose for a selfie with Denmark's Prime Minister Helle Thorning Schmidt (centre) at Nelson Mandela's memorial



Who's the dummy? Peaches Geldof and son Phaedra pose for a selfie

 

Actor Hugh Jackman (left) posts a picture of himself after he is treated for skin cancer and Joey Essex (right) saying in these social network pictures 'Safe though' and 'SELFIE with my mate Ed'



One of the most famous selfies of the past 12 months was the Pope posing with teenagers at the Vatican. The picture went viral on social media and was widely speculated as being the first ever 'Papal selfie'




Instagram fodder: The Kardashian family are now synonymous with selfies - one of the most famous selfies of the year was Kim Kardashian's post-pregnancy bum shot, gaining nearly a million likes on Instagram




Chillaxing: An eye-brow raising selfie was taken by Samantha Cameron's sister on the morning of her wedding day, revealing David Cameron napping on a four-poster bed in the background



A schoolboy took this selfie with Prince Charles when they Royal visited a church centre earlier this month

One of the most famous selfies of the past 12 months was the Pope posing with teenagers at the Vatican.


The picture went viral on social media and was widely speculated as being the first ever 'Papal selfie'.

Among the most controversial of the year was earlier this month when U.S. President Barack Obama and British Prime Minister David Cameron posed for a selfie at Nelson Mandela's memorial service in Johannesburg.




Kylie Minogue posting a 'belfie' - that's a bottom selfie




Tasteless: A news photographer captured this shot of a tourist gettign a selfie in front of a Brooklyn Bridge jumper (seen top right)



Strange: Florida student Malik Whiter saw that his teacher went into labour during class and pulled out his phone, positioned himself just so in front of the pain-stricken woman and smiled for the camera



Close shave: Reporter Kelly Nash captures the moment a baseball flew narrowly past her head at Fenway Park stadium in Boston

An eye-brow raising selfie was taken by Samantha Cameron’s sister on the morning of her wedding day, revealing David Cameron napping on a four-poster bed in the background.

Not to be outdone Labour leader Ed Miliband later posed for a selfie with popstar Lily Allen which she posted on her Twitter page.



 

Cara Delevingne's lion tattoo (left) and Madonna with a gold teeth brace (right)




Harry Styles wearing a blonde wig and having fun taking a selfie with Sienna Miller




While the world watches: Tom Hanks and Steve Martin take an onstage selfie at the 2013 Governors Awards


 

Mustachioed Fox host Geraldo Rivera, 70, left, tweeted a very revealing nude self-portrait, which he later deleted... but it was too late. Right: Actress and reality star, Helen Flanagan seemed to spent most of 2013 pouting at any given opportunity in her long list of selfies




One small step for man, one big step for selfies: Astronaut Luca Parmitano uses a digital still camera to take a photo in space

 

Video selfie: Juistin Bieber was caught out yet again this year, this time on a grainy video 'selfie' that has been posted online by a girl who had partied with the star. The video shows Bieber sleeping peacefully, wrapped in a brown blanket on a large striped day bed in Brazil

One of the strangest was when Florida student Malik Whiter saw that his teacher went into labor during class and pulled out his phone, positioned himself just so in front of the pain-stricken woman and smiled for the camera.


'Selfie with my teacher while she having contractions,' Whiter tweeted in October.




Supermodel Gisele posts a photo on her Instagram page being pampered as she was breastfeeding



Memento: Sasha, left, and Malia Obama, daughters of US President Barack Obama, take a photo of themselves during the Presidential Inaugural Parade in Washington in January




Brave selfie: Kayleigh Hill taking a selfie mid-tackle. She posted a Vine of herself running on to the field during the College World Series as a dare




She caused outrage at this year’s MTV VMAs so it’s not surprising that Miley Cyrus chose a memorable outfit from the same event for Halloween. The controversial star tweeted a picture of herself dressed up in Lil' Kim’s daring outfit from the 1999 awards show, with just a nipple pastie protecting her modesty





Pop singer by day, unintentional animal activist by night: Thai police arrested two men for selling photo ops with protected-species the slow loris after Rihanna posted a picture of herself with one on Instagram




Rosy cheeks: Cheryl Cole unveils her utterly astonishing tattoo




Mask shot: The Star Wars Instagram account was kicked off with a selfie from Darth Vader, which amassed over 23,000 likes in the past 24 hours



Lilliband: Lily Allen tweets a picture of herself and Labour leader Ed Miliband

One would-be Romeo's unusual attempt to woo a woman he met in Starbucks has spectacularly backfired after his selfie video went viral . It begins with 'StarbucksDrakeHands guy' staring intently into the camera



One to treasure! Beyonce photobombed a fan's selfie midway during her concert in Rod Laver Arena in Melbourne Park in October

The moment Beyonce joined a fan in a selfie






Rihanna poses with two huge roll-ups in Amsterdam. She posted the snap on Istagram with the words: 'I'm just a girl... #Amsterdam'



Bizarre: Victoria Beckham tweets picture of herself as she gets ready for New York Fashion Week



Dog tired: Tulisa shares a picture on her Instagram page of her and her pet






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Facebook data shows London, Lagos and Istanbul among the top places to relocate

• How Facebook reveals human migration: User data shows London, Lagos and Istanbul are among the top places to relocate

• The social network compared users’ hometowns with their current homes

• Data found that Lagos, Nigeria grew 18.6 per cent between 2000 and 2012 with migrants from within Nigeria

• These megacity migrations are coming from within the same countries

• Istanbul was second most popular city with migrants from within Turkey

• London was listed as the 10th most popular region with a growth of 1.4 per cent between 2000 and 2012 - mostly from within the UK

 

 

 

   

 

Over 15 per cent of the Earth’s population use Facebook, with 1.19 billion users logging on each month.

 

The social network knows intimate details about most of these people - whether it be what they eat for lunch or who they spend most of their time with.

 

While the concept is unnerving, the vast quantities of personal data can also provide fascinating insights about the world we live in and how it’s changing.

Facebook data scientists recently compared users’ hometowns with their current residences to uncover the top 10 cities that had ‘coordinated migrations’- or the movement of large numbers of people from one place to another. 

 

 

The top destinations were found throughout the world in countries that are rapidly urbanising. In these areas at least 20 per cent of the population of one city had moved to another city.

 

London was listed as the 10th most popular region for migration, with a growth of 1.4 per cent in ten years. Around 94 per cent of these migrants came from within the UK.

 

In the U.S. coordinated migrations tend to come from other countries, such as from Cuba to Miami and from Mexico to cities such as Chicago, Houston, Dallas, and Los Angeles

 

 

 

 

 

This table shows the major destinations of coordinated migration in ten rapidly urbanising countries

 

 

 

THE KEY FINDINGS

 

Countries such as India, Nigeria, and Turkey are becoming increasingly urban, with many people moving from rural areas into large cities such as Lagos in Nigeria.

 

 

The data found that Lagos, Nigeria grew 18.6 per cent between 2000 and 2012 as a destination city.

 

Istanbul was the second most popular city. A large proportion came from other parts of Turkey, with the rest originating from Eastern Europe.

 

London was listed as the 10th most popular region, with a growth of 1.4 per cent between 2000 and 2012. Around 94 per cent of its migrants came from within the UK. 

 

 

For most of the cities on the top 10 list, the megacity migrations are coming from within the same countries.

 

But there are a few interesting patterns. Kampala in Uganda, for instance, is absorbing a significant number of people from towns in the war-torn Democratic Republic of Congo.

 

In the U.S. coordinated migrations tend to come from other countries, such as from Cuba to Miami and from Mexico to cities such as Chicago, Houston, Dallas, and Los Angeles.

 

The Facebook data, however, excludes China, where the social network is banned but which has undergone the largest migration in human history.

 

 

 

AMAZING PHOTOS! The Miracle Of Birth...Photographer captures the wondrous, miraculous moment of birth - in all its raw and unglamourised glory

• Suste Bonnen was given access to Copenhagen University Hospital
• Respected Danish photographer captures moment baby is given to mother
• Ms Bonnen followed 22 caesarean operations on the maternity ward
• 'Bloody and gory' images are 'testimony to the magical wonder of life'

  A photographer has captured the wondrous, miraculous moment of birth - in all its raw and unglamourised glory.
Taken before a mother has seen her baby for the first time these amazing photographs show the reality of how we all enter this world.
The warts and all pictures are the work of respected Danish photographer Suste Bonnen who was given unprecedented access to mothers while they were in labour.

Intimate: Danish photographer Suste Bonnen captured the moments after a baby was born in a series of extraordinary portraits

Shock: Ms Bonnen said the controversial images are 'testimony to the magical wonder of life'

 

Suste, 65, who has worked as a portrait photographer for 30 years, was given permission to take these remarkable shots at the Copenhagen University Hospital.

 

Compelling: Ms Bonnen said she wanted to show the emotion of birth as a mother set eyes on her child for the first time

Miracle: The thought-provoking series of photographs show birth in excruciating detail

Focus: Respected Danish photographer Suste Bonnen followed 22 caesarian operations in Copenhagen University Hospital

 

 

Illuminating: Photographer Suste Bonnen did not use special lighting only the lamps in the delivery ward to capture these fascinating and captivating portraits of child birth in Copenhagen University Hospital

 

Bracing: After nine months in the warm and comfort of the womb, the shock of the outside world does not seem to be a pleasurable experience for his baby

First breath: Ms Bonnen's photographs show the moment a child will take its first breath

Grasping: This baby shows it was born with a strong grip reflex as it grabs hold of a midwife's sleeve

Access: Respected Danish photographer Suste Bonnen who was given unprecedented access to the moment of birth at Copenhagen University Hospital

 

 

 

 

 

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Women protest for the right to go topless on Brazil's beaches

( Photos:TASSO MARCELO/AFP/Getty Images)



RIO DE JANEIRO (AP) — A much-hyped protest for the right to go topless on Rio de Janeiro's beaches fell flat Saturday when only a handful of women bared their chests for the movement.
More than 100 photojournalists stampeded across the golden sands of Ipanema beach when the first woman took off her bikini top to flout Brazilian law. Just three or four other women joined in.
"A breast isn't dangerous!" said Olga Salon, a 73-year-old Rio native, as she stripped off her black tank top. "It's a false-Puritanism and indicative of our macho culture that we have a law forbidding that a woman can go topless."
Internationally, Brazil has a reputation as a nation of liberal sexual mores, where nudity is not only tolerated but enthusiastically embraced during Carnival parades.
The hundreds of thousands of foreigners who'll descend on Brazil for next year's World Cup and the Olympics two years later will indeed see the famed "dental floss" bikinis that expose the wearer's rear end.
But under Brazil's penal code, which dates back to the 1940s, female toplessness is an "obscene act," punishable by three months to a year in prison, or fines. Even the law's critics admit few are prosecuted.
Women going topless on any of the city's beaches are almost guaranteed to a quick response, both from the patrolling municipal guards and fellow beachgoers.
Saturday's protest is the latest chapter in a debate over just how much skin is too much on Rio's beaches. Protest organizers told media they were responding to a November incident in which actress Cristina Flores was set upon by municipal guards after she removed her shirt during a photo shoot on Ipanema beach.
"They came at me immediately and there were three of them, more than one per breast," the 37-year-old Flores told The Associated Press with a laugh earlier this week. "They were shouting, 'put your shirt on, put your shirt on' as if a bomb were going off if I didn't."



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Georgia woman realizes she has won the $636 million Mega Millions jackpot on her way to work

A Georgia woman has come forward to collect half of the second largest lottery jackpot in U.S. history.
Ira Curry, of Stone Mountain, says she'll take the lump sum payout of $120 million after taxes. Curry bought one of the two winning tickets for the $636 million Mega Millions jackpot. The other ticket was sold in San Jose, Calif.