Tunis

In today's pictures, a security guard tackles an activist in Brussels, fighting breaks out in Taiwan's parliament, a horseman stands atop galloping horses in Germany, and more.

Last month TIME contract photographer Yuri Kozyrev and I went to Rabat and Casablanca to report on a story about the rise of Political Islam in the countries of the Arab Spring. As with Tunisia and Egypt, free elections in Morocco have brought to power an Islamist party, the Justice and Development Party (PJD). But these, as we discovered, are not your father’s Islamists. They defy the Western stereotype of bushy-bearded, wild-eyed religious fanatics: Morocco’s Islamists are not seeking to take their country back to some ancient golden age, they are trying to figure how to bring it to the 21st century without losing its religious moorings. In this, they are similar to Islamists now heading governments in Tunis and Cairo. The pursuit and attainment of political power have forced these parties to abandon radical ideas and distance themselves from their lunatic fringes. Instead, they are moving to the political center.

Morocco has drawn tourists for centuries, and to most visitors cities like Rabat and Casablanca are a pleasant combination of the modern and the ancient. In this set of images, Yuri captures both aspects of the country.

Read more: The Converted: Has Power Tamed Islamists in the Arab Spring States?

Yuri Kozyrev is a contract photographer for TIME and was just named the 2011 Photographer of the Year in the Pictures of the Year International competition.

Rémi Ochlik, an award-winning French photojournalist, was just 29 when he died on Feb. 22, when government forces shelled a building where a growing number of foreign journalists were covering the battle in Homs, Syria. Ochlik died alongside Marie Colvin, an American who was one of Britain’s most honored combat reporters. Two other journalists were reportedly wounded in the barrage.

For Ochlik the horror in Syria came as he was just beginning his career. He was with his friend Lucas Dolego, a French photographer, on the streets of Tunis during the revolution there in January 2011 when Dolego was hit and killed by a police teargas canister. “We had come to work, so I kept on working,” he said in a recent interview, after being honored for his Arab Spring photos. “As a little boy I always wanted to become an archeologist, for the travels, the adventures,” he continued. That changed when his grandfather gave him his first camera.

Lucas Dolega—Polaris

Oct. 23, 2011. French photojournalist Remi Ochlik in Misrata, Libya. Ochlik was killed Feb. 22, 2012, by Syrian shelling of the opposition stronghold Homs.

In 2004, Ochlik traveled to Haiti and photographed the fall of President Jean-Bertrand Aristide, winning the Francois Chalais Award for Young Reporters. He started his own agency, IP3 press, which specialized in combat photography, he covered the conflict in the Democratic Republic of Congo in 2008 and he returned to Haiti for a cholera epidemic in 2010. In 2011, Ochlik covered the Arab Spring in Tunisia, Egypt and Libya; his work in Libya won him first prize in the General News category of the World Press Photo contest. One of the World Press judges said that his submission told a complete story.

“The idea was not to focus on just one part of the story,” Ochlik told the British Journal of Photography. “Because when you look at what happened, this war was divided in several parts—in Benghazi, in Misrata—and in what I’ve covered, I’ve tried to tell a story.”

Ochlik’s own story took him to Syria merely a week before he was killed. His and Colvin’s deaths came the same week that Anthony Shadid, a renowned foreign correspondent, died of an apparent asthma attack while sneaking out of the country where he had been reporting. Despite his young age, Ochlik understood the risks in his chosen profession. In describing his work in Haiti when he was only 20 years old, he said, “I could sense the danger, but it was where I always dreamt to be, in the action.” His being there allowed the world to witness horrifying atrocities, but it ended the life of a gifted storyteller when his own adventure had barely begun.

Any "best of" list must surely be subjective. This one is no different. Choosing the best photographs of the year is an enormously difficult task, with many terrific photographs slipping through the cracks. But with major news events as a guide, and with single images I fell in love with throughout the year forcing their way into the edit, I look at my favorite pictures from the first four months of the year. Two main stories dominated headlines in the first part of the year: the Japan earthquake and tsunami, and the rising of the Arab Spring. The protests in the Middle East would spread to Greece, Spain, and eventually inspire the Occupy movement in Western nations. Other stories included a historic wave of tornados in the U.S., a Royal wedding in London, and the creation of the world's newest nation in South Sudan. Images from the rest of the year will follow in posts later this week. -- Lane Turner (36 photos total)
A wave caused by a tsunami flows into the city of Miyako from the Heigawa estuary in Iwate Prefecture after a magnitude 8.9 earthquake struck Japan March 11, 2011. (Mainichi Shimbun /Reuters)

The best photos of 2011 from around the globe. Warning: All images in this entry are shown in full, not screened out for graphic content. Some images contain dead bodies, graphic content and tragic events. We consider these images an important part of human history.

SIRTE, Libya (AP) — Moammar Gadhafi, Libya’s dictator for 42 years until he was ousted in an uprising-turned-civil war, was killed Thursday as revolutionary fighters overwhelmed his hometown of Sirte and captured the last major bastion of resistance two months after his regime fell. Interim government officials said one of Gadhafi’s sons, his former national [...]

When dictators are overthrown by rebel or military forces, their many elaborate palaces, mansions and bunkers are evacuated, left behind for the new forces to rummage through.

From Saddam Hussein’s palace, Maqar-el-Tharthar, a massive residence at Lake Tharthar, to Moamer Kadhafi’s homes and his families homes scattered throughout Libya, the first peek into their lavish lifestyles come to life as rebels enter each residence.

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American soldiers patrolled inside a palace which belonged to Uday Hussein in Baghdad, Thursday, April 10, 2003. The palace was heavily bomed by coalition airpower. (Tyler Hicks/The New York Times) #

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Soldiers and civilians occupy the office of ousted Romanian Leader Ceaucescu in the Central Committee headquarters 26 December 1989 in Bucharest. Nicolae Ceaucescu and his wife Elena has been executed 25 December 1989. (Photo credit should read PATRICK HERTZOG/AFP/Getty Images) #

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Anti-Communist soldier (L) sticks a bayonet through a portrait of late Romanian Communist leader Nicolae Ceausescu 28 December 1989 in Sibiu as the anti-Communist uprising to end Nicolae Ceausescu's 24 years of dictatorial rule continue. The communist dictator N. Ceausescu and his wife Elena were deposed and executed by a firing squad 25 December 1989. Eight years after the December 1989 revolution which toppled Ceausescu, Romania has begun lifting the veil on the "mysteries" surrounding the uprising and the circumstances which brought former president Ion Iliescu to power. According to general prosecutor Sorin Moisescu, reports put about at the time of "terrorists loyal to Ceausescu" provoking bloody diversions to sow panic in the population, were "fabricated" to justify Iliescu's takeover. "Nothing that happened after 22 December 1989 was due to chance. The deaths of some of the demonstrators were supposed to provide legitimacy to the new regime" Moisecu said 24 December 1998. (Photo credit should read MICHEL GANGNE/AFP/Getty Images) #

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An inside view of the Saddam Hussein's palace, Maqar-el-Tharthar is seen on June 11, 2003 at Lake Tharthar, Iraq. Saddam celebrated his birthday in 1999 by building Maqar-el-Tharthar, the so-called "Green Palace" which is the biggest and most elaborate of President Saddam's palaces. It covers two and a half square miles and consists of a Presidential and VIP residential compounds; it is the second only to the President's Tikrit residence in overall size. The complex was not bombed by Coalition forces but has been completely looted afterwards by Iraqis. (Photo by Marco Di Lauro/Getty Images) #

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An Iraqi woman and her daughter cross a smoke filled intersection with looted tables April 11, 2003 in downtown Baghdad, Iraq. Widespread looting of both government buildings and private businesses is rampant across Baghdad following the collapse of local authority after coalition forces took the city. (Photo by Scott Nelson/Getty Images) #

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A US soldier sits in a seat at the Radwaniyah Palace used during the toppled regime of Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein as a reception palace for guests near Baghdad's international airport 25 June 2003. The international press was taken on a tour of the palaces by the US military, three months after the fall of Baghdad. TIMOTHY A. CLARY/AFP/Getty Images #

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A journalist films inside one of the main reception rooms of toppled leader Saddam Hussein's 'Peace Palace' or 'Qasr al-Salam' in Baghdad 25 June 2003. The international press was taken on a tour of the palaces by the US military, three months after the fall of Baghdad. TIMOTHY A. CLARY/AFP/Getty Images #

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A US soldier sits on the stairs at the entrance of toppled Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein's damaged 'Peace Palace' or 'Qasr al-Salam' in Baghdad 25 June 2003. The international press was taken on a tour of the palaces by the US military, three months after the fall of Baghdad. TIMOTHY A. CLARY/AFP/Getty Images #

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U.S. Army Specialist Ureses Zamora, from Las Vegas, Nevada, of the 4th Infantry Division, usues a laptop in a former palace of Saddam Hussein November 12, 2003 in a former Saddam Hussein palace in Tikrit, Iraq. The soldiers are living in relative comfort as they continue to pursue the enemy in Saddam Hussein's hometown. (Photo by Joe Raedle/Getty Images) #

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CAMP VICTORY, IRAQ - JULY 1: Soldiers stand at attention during a change of command ceremony July 1, 2004 in Camp Victory, Iraq. Gen. Casey took command of the forces from Gen. Sanchez in a change of command ceremony at the elaborate Al-Faw Palace in Camp Victory. (Photo by Chris Hondros/Getty Images) #

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** FILE ** U.S. Army soldiers Spc. Daniel Andrews of Lynchburg, Va., left, and Pvt. Robert Knott of Fort Hood, Tex., both from Alfa Company-588 swim in an indoor pool at one of ousted Iraqi President Saddam Hussein's palaces, now a U.S. Army base, in Tikrit, Iraq, Monday Sept. 1, 2003. U.S. soldiers stationed here in this riverside palace complex that once belonged to Saddam Hussein face constant danger from Iraqi insurgents whenever they leave the base. But once inside, they are getting to kick back inincreasing style. (AP Photo/Murad Sezer) #

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A US Army soldier from the 1-22 Battalion of the 4th Infantry Division (Task Force Ironhorse) shoots the ball during a basketball game inside one of ousted Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein's former palaces along the banks of the Tigris river in Tikrit, 180km (110 miles) north of Baghdad, 23 November 2003. With their marble interiors, domed roofs and intricate arabesque stucco, the headquarters of the 4th ID look more like a vision from a Middle Eastern fairy tale than a military camp. The resort-like series of palaces now called Forward Base Ironhorse used to be a favorite resting place of Saddam before US-led coalition forces ousted him in April. AFP PHOTO/Mauricio LIMA (Photo credit should read MAURICIO LIMA/AFP/Getty Images) #

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TACLOBAN, PHILIPPINES: Visitors view the bedroom of Imelda Marcos at the Santo Nino shrine 13 October 2004 that was sequestered by the government. When the former first lady built the mansion in 1981 in her hometown Tacloban, it was dubbed by many as the Malacanang presidential palace of the south. The mansion named after religious icon of the Child Jesus stands as a monument to the obscene excesses of the Marcos years whenthe late dictator Ferdinand Marcos was deposed by military-backed people power revolt in 1986 after 20 years in power. AFP PHOTO ROMEO GACAD (Photo credit should read ROMEO GACAD/AFP/Getty Images) #

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TACLOBAN, PHILIPPINES: The bathroom with jacuzzi of the former first lady Imelda Marcos at the Santo Nino shrine 13 October 2004 that was sequestered by the government. When Imelda built the mansion in 1981 in her hometown Tacloban, it was dubbed by many as the Malacanang presidential palace of the south. The mansion named after religious icon of the Child Jesus stands as a monument to the obscene excesses of the Marcos years when the late dictator Ferdinand Marcos was deposed in 1986 by a military-backed people power revolt after 20 years in power. AFP PHOTO ROMEO GACAD (Photo credit should read ROMEO GACAD/AFP/Getty Images) #

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BAGHDAD, Iraq: Iraqi soldiers gestures to a giant mural of ousted Iraqi Dictator Saddam Hussein still hanging in of his former palaces in Baghdad's heavily fortified Green Zone in this image taken 19 October 2005. Once a Pan Arab champion, Saddam the feared Iraqi leader will go on trial 28 November 2005 on charges linked to the killing of 148 Shiite villagers. AFP PHOTO/KARIM SAHIB (Photo credit should read KARIM SAHIB/AFP/Getty Images) #

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HILLAH, IRAQ, APRIL 21: A worker makes a bed inside a marbled room where Saddam supposedly once slept, at one of the former dictator 's palace villas, which can be rented for about USD170 a night on April 21, 2009 in the city of Hillah in Babil province about 50 miles south of Baghdad, Iraq. The Palace, which is adjacent to the remains of the ancient city of Babylon, was purged of anything of value by looters as Saddam's regime fell in April 2003 and then occupied by US and coalition forces until late 2006. The palace was opened to public who can visit it for about 85 US cents. Some of its surrounded villas have been converted into hotel rooms. (Photo by Muhannad Fala'ah/Getty Images) #

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A looter carries away a chair inside Saddam Hussein's main palace in Baghdad 12 April, 2003. Looting has plagued Baghdad and other Iraqi cities since US forces won control of the capital 09 April. Hundreds of Iraqis, including police officers, answered 12 April an urgent US appeal to help restore order and services to Baghdad after an orgy of looting followed weeks of heavy coalition bombardment. AFP PHOTO ODD ANDERSEN (Photo credit should read ODD ANDERSEN/AFP/Getty Images) #

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US Army Sergeant Craig Zentkovich from Connecticut belonging to the 1st Brigade Combat Team photographs a pink bedroom at Saddam Hussein's presidential palace 13 April 2003. The palace is located in a vast military compound near the airport southwest of the capital. AFP PHOTO/Romeo GACAD (Photo credit should read ROMEO GACAD/AFP/Getty Images) #

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A US marine walks inside the presidential palace in Port-Au-Prince 09 March 2004. Troops from France, the US and Chile have poured into the country in an effort to stabilize the country after former Haitian president Jean Bertrand Aristide fled the country 29 February 2004. AFP PHOTO/Jaime RAZURI (Photo credit should read JAIME RAZURI/AFP/Getty Images) #

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A soldier of the rebel Alliance of Laurent-Desire Kabila, surrounded by looters, uses his weapon to hit a photograph of ousted Zairean President Mobutu Sese Seko 20 May 1997 in the house the former leader kept at the Tshatshi military camp in Kinshasa. In October 1996, Zairean opposition leader Laurent Desire Kabila, as head of the newly formed Alliance of Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Congo-Zaire, rallied forces consisting mostly of Tutsi from eastern Zaire and launched a full-scale rebellion against Mobutu, forcing him to flee the country, following failed peace talks in May 1997. On 17 May 1997, Kabila installed himself as head of state after his troops took control of Kinshasa and renamed the country the Democratic Republic of Congo. (Photo credit should read PASCAL GUYOT/AFP/Getty Images) #

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Afghan youth play football in front of the ruins of the Darul Aman Palace in Kabul on December 3, 2010. Afghan government officials hit back at "stupid" allegations made in leaked US diplomatic cables about corruption but refused to comment on a damning assessment of President Hamid Karzai. Deputy presidential spokesman Hamed Elmi downplayed documents released by Internet whistleblower WikiLeaks as "not much new," with "nothing substantive to negatively affect our good relations with the international community". AFP PHOTO/Massoud HOSSAINI (Photo credit should read MASSOUD HOSSAINI/AFP/Getty Images) #

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A child stands in a room of the former palace of late dictator Mobutu Sese Seko, in Gbadolite, on November 24, 2010. Mobutu built two private residences and an official presidential palace among other buildings in Gbadolite and Kawele. Mobutu came to power in a 1965 coup, five years after the central African nation gained independence from Belgium. He ruled Zaire for 32 years, plunging the country into a long economic crisis marked by state corruption, the embezzlement of funds and excessive luxuries. AFP PHOTO / GWENN DUBOURTHOUMIEU (Photo credit should read Gwenn Dubourthoumieu/AFP/Getty Images) #

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Tunisian workers remove on January 17, 2011 portraits of ousted President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali from the prime minister's office in Tunis. Tunisian protesters on January 17 called for the abolition of Ben Ali's ruling party amid a chaotic power vacuum as politicians prepared a government of national unity. The Moroccan press welcomed on January 17 the fall of Ben Ali after weeks of street protests, and said it was a lesson for north Africa and the Arab world. AFP PHOTO / FETHI BELAID (Photo credit should read FETHI BELAID/AFP/Getty Images) #

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A Libyan rebel stands inside the front door of a luxurious complex that rebels and local residents claim to be the holiday home of the Kadhafi family in Ain Zara close to Tripoli, on August 31, 2011. Numerous luxury buildings have been discovered by rebels as they get increased access to areas after the ouster of Libyan leader Moamer Kadhafi and his loyalist forces. AFP PHOTO/CARL DE SOUZA (Photo credit should read CARL DE SOUZA/AFP/Getty Images) #

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A general shot shows the gardens of a luxurious complex that rebels and local residents claim to be the holiday home of the Kadhafi family in Ain Zara close to Tripoli, on August 31, 2011. Numerous luxury buildings have been discovered by Libyan rebels as they get increased access to areas after ousted Libyan leader Moamer Kadhafi and his loyalist forces were forced to abandon their residences. AFP PHOTO/Carl de Souza (Photo credit should read CARL DE SOUZA/AFP/Getty Images) #

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A general view shows a luxurious complex that rebels and local residents claim to be the holiday home of the Kadhafi family in Ain Zara close to Tripoli, on August 31, 2011. Numerous luxury buildings have been discovered by rebels as they get increased access to areas after the ouster of Libyan leader Moamer Kadhafi and his loyalist forces. AFP PHOTO/CARL DE SOUZA (Photo credit should read CARL DE SOUZA/AFP/Getty Images) #

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A Libyan rebel walks past a swimming pool outside the mansion of Motassem Kadhafi, a son of Libya's embattled leader, in Tripoli on August 30, 2011. Libya's rebels issued an ultimatum for Moamer Kadhafi's forces to surrender or face a military onslaught, as NATO said the strongman is still able to command his troops despite being on the run. AFP PHOTO/PATRICK BAZ (Photo credit should read PATRICK BAZ/AFP/Getty Images) #

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Libyan rebels inspect the mansion of Motassem Kadhafi, a son of Libya's embattled leader, in Tripoli on August 30, 2011. Libya's rebels issued an ultimatum for Moamer Kadhafi's forces to surrender or face a military onslaught, as NATO said the strongman is still able to command his troops despite being on the run. AFP PHOTO/PATRICK BAZ (Photo credit should read PATRICK BAZ/AFP/Getty Images) #

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Libyan rebels inspect an empty swimming pool at the mansion of Motassem Kadhafi, a son of Libya's embattled leader, in Tripoli on August 30, 2011. Libya's rebels issued an ultimatum for Moamer Kadhafi's forces to surrender or face a military onslaught, as NATO said the strongman is still able to command his troops despite being on the run. AFP PHOTO/PATRICK BAZ (Photo credit should read PATRICK BAZ/AFP/Getty Images) #

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A Libyan rebel poses for a souvenir picture outside the mansion of Motassem Kadhafi, a son of Libya's embattled leader, in Tripoli on August 30, 2011. Libya's rebels issued an ultimatum for Moamer Kadhafi's forces to surrender or face a military onslaught, as NATO said the strongman is still able to command his troops despite being on the run. AFP PHOTO/PATRICK BAZ (Photo credit should read PATRICK BAZ/AFP/Getty Images) #

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Former Abu Slim prisoner, Sami Sadiq Abu Ruwais, stands next to a swimming pool inside a luxurious complex that rebels and local residents claim to be the holiday home of the Kadhafi family in Ain Zara close to Tripoli, on August 31, 2011. Numerous luxury buildings have been discovered by rebels as they get increased access to areas after the ouster of Libyan leader Moamer Kadhafi and his loyalist forces. AFP PHOTO/CARL DE SOUZA (Photo credit should read CARL DE SOUZA/AFP/Getty Images) #

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A Libyan rebel inspects an underground network of bunkers under the mansion of Motassem Kadhafi, a son of Libya's embattled leader, in Tripoli on August 30, 2011. Libya's rebels issued an ultimatum for Moamer Kadhafi's forces to surrender or face a military onslaught, as NATO said the strongman is still able to command his troops despite being on the run. AFP PHOTO/PATRICK BAZ (Photo credit should read PATRICK BAZ/AFP/Getty Images) #

Since the beginning of 2011, eight countries across the Middle East and Northern Africa are in some stage of upheaval. Egypt, Tunisia, Morocco, Libya, Iran, Yemen, Bahrain and Algeria have all experienced some level of revolt in the new year. Never before has instability been so widespread in the region. We take a look at [...]

Hundreds of protesters led a peaceful -- if noisy -- rally Wednesday in central Tunis, demanding that former allies of deposed President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali stop clinging to power.

In today’s pictures, a patron saint is celebrated in Spain, a Hindu takes a ritual bath in milk, a man warms his feet by a fire in Afghanistan and more.