July 31, 2008: Today in Pictures

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July 31, 2008: Today in Pictures

Today's best photos: around the world in pictures is a daily look at photos from Atlanta, national and world news, entertainment, sports and celebrities through the eyes of photographers from ajc.com and other sources.

A worker puts the finishing touches on a huge swimming poster at an Olympic sponsor outlet inside the Olympic Green in Beijing on Thursday. The 2008 Beijing Olympic Games open on Aug. 8.

Contortionists with the Cirque du Soleil Natasha Patterson, 11, Julie Bergez, 15, and Dasha Sovik, 17, (left to right) demonstrate their twisty specialty in Chicago.

Atlanta Zoo's giant panda Lun Lun looks out through the glass of the day room on Wednesday. She is showing symptoms of being pregnant after being artificially inseminated earlier this year but the zoo won't know for sure until September.

Double Castros. Cuba President Raul Castro is dwarfed by a banner depicting his brother, Fidel, as he speaks this week in Santiago de Cuba at the garrison where he and his brother started the Cuban revolution.

Light streams in as Maria Auxiliadora Sampaio (left) works on a client's nails at the salon she runs out of her home in Fortaleza, Brazil. Microloans have helped people like Sampaio start businesses and feed Brazil's growing economy.

A model displays a Young Creators piece from the Colombian School of Design during the fashion show in Medellin, Colombia, on Wednesday.

On Guard! Camp members practice some lunges and other practice exercises during the Dunwoody Fencing Club's summer camp this week. Coached by Kathy Vail, campers include members of area high school fencing teams as well as younger beginning fencers.

Catholic faithful pray to the Virgin of Los Angeles, know as "La Negrita," at the Basilica of Los Angeles in Cartago, Costa Rica, on Wednesday. As many as two million Catholic faithful will make the religious pilgrimage this week to pay their respects to Costa Rica's patron Saint who is believed to perform miracles.

People are reflected in the glassy facade of the Deutsche Post World Net company headquarters in Bonn, Germany, on Thursday.

A technician for the BMW Sauber Formula One team inspects racing tires in the paddock of the Hungaroring track near Budapest, Hungary, on Thursday. The Hungarian Grand Prix is set for this Sunday.

Red and black replaces mauve and teal inside the Georgia Dome during a sneak peek at the remodeled home of the Atlanta Falcons on Wednesday.

And at the Falcons training camp in Flowery Branch, linebacker Michael Boley (left) and tight end Keith Zinger bend each other backwards at the line of scrimmage during blocking drills on Wednesday.

Kansas City Royals catcher Miguel Olivo tags out Oakland Athletics Carlos Gonzalez in Oakland, Calif. on Wednesday. Gonzalez attempted to score on a hit by Jack Cust.

Jeff Hawkins, a biologist for Copperhead Environmental Consulting, holds a gray bat that had been caught in a harp trap at one of their survey sites near Nicholasville, Ky.

On Wednesday at the company's hub in Atlanta a UPS driver fills up her eco-friendlier truck with Compressed Natural Gas to help combat rising fuel prices.

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A worker puts the finishing touches on a huge swimming poster at an Olympic sponsor outlet inside the Olympic Green in Beijing on Thursday. The 2008 Beijing Olympic Games open on Aug. 8.

Today's Gallery Headlines

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