Defining Moments: Capturing our changing world
September 30, 2013 -- Updated 1054 GMT (1854 HKT)
OCTOBER 4 - LAMPEDUSA, ITALY: A child migrant waves from the window of a bus taking him to Sicily. As the closest Italian island to Africa, Lampedusa is a destination for tens of thousands of refugees every year. Many die during perilous attempts to cross the Mediterranean. 300 asylum seekers are feared dead after a boat capsized just half a mile off the coast on Thursday.
OCTOBER 3 - QUEZON, PHILIPPINES: Children take advantage of a burst water pipe, taking a dip on a street in suburban Quezon. The Philippines' economy continues to grow on the back of its remittances program, tourism and investment in construction and technology, the country's finance minister, Cesar Purisima, told CNN.
OCTOBER 2 - CHENNAI, INDIA Children dressed as Mahatma Gandhi perform at an event to mark the anniversary of his birth. The late leader of India's independence movement remains the nation's greatest hero. Gandhi's doctrine of non-violent protest inspired movements for civil rights and freedom across the world.
OCTOBER 1 - NEW YORK, U.S.: People view the Statue of Liberty from the Staten Island Ferry. After weeks of bickering between the House and the Senate, the U.S. government has officially shut down for the first time in 17 years. Many government services are now closed, including all National Parks, such as the Statue of Liberty.
SEPTEMBER 30 - KAFER ROUMA, SYRIA: A displaced girl makes her bed after waking up in ancient ruins near Kafer Rouma, used as a temporary shelter by families who fled from heavy fighting and shelling in Syria's Idlib province. The U.N. says more than 4 million people are displaced inside Syria, while a further 2 million have been forced to leave the country.
SEPTEMBER 27 - MUNICH, GERMANY: People enjoy a ride on a merry-go-round during day six of the Oktoberfest 2013 beer festival at Theresienwiese on September 26. The celebration, which runs from September 21 until October 6 this year, is the world's largest beer festival and draws millions of visitors.
SEPTEMBER 26 - AWARAN, PAKISTAN: A Pakistani girl walks past a collapsed house following a 7.7-magnitude earthquake in Labach in the southwest of the country. Hundreds of people have been killed and two days after the tremor struck, rescuers are still struggling to help survivors.
SEPTEMBER 25 - HONG KONG: A child of African refugee parents looks on during a protest to demand changes to food distribution that they say currently fails to meet their needs. To prevent economic migrants from trying to claim asylum, the government bans refugees from working. Instead, refugees depend on a non-profit organization for welfare.
SEPTEMBER 24 - NAIROBI, KENYA: A passerby runs with her belongings as police clear an area overlooking Westgate Mall after explosions and heavy gunfire. Government forces have taken full control of the shopping center where terrorists killed at least 62 people, Kenyan police tweeted Tuesday. But 65 people remain unaccounted for.
SEPTEMBER 23 - PESHEWAR, PAKISTAN: A man comforts his son, who was injured in a suicide attack on a church in Peshewar. Choir members and children attending Sunday school were among 81 people killed in one of the deadliest attacks ever on the Christian community in Pakistan.
SEPTEMBER 20 - ISLAMABAD, PAKISTAN: Wali Mohammed, 10, who was displaced with his family from Pakistan's tribal region of Mohmand Agency due to fighting between the Taliban and the army, wipes dust out of his eye. The Pakistani Taliban claimed responsibility for a recent roadside bomb attack which killed a top Pakistani general.
SEPTEMBER 19 - JAKARTA, INDONESIA: A contestant in the Muslimah World 2013 contest, Obabiyi Aishah Ajibola of Nigeria (front), checks her reflection while waiting for the grand final of the competition. Beauty pageants have come under the spotlight recently, after the newly crowned Miss America, the first winner of Indian descent, was the subject of racist comments online.
SEPTEMBER 18 - IDLIB, SYRIA: A Syrian opposition fighter rests inside a cave at a rebel camp in the countryside near Idlib, as world powers bicker over how to respond to chemical attack allegations. While Western countries say a U.N. report implicates the Syrian regime in the attacks, Russia has slammed the report as "distorted," claiming rebels may have been involved.
SEPTEMBER 17 - GIGLIO, ITALY: The wreck of the cruise liner Costa Concordia sits upright after the first step of an effort to salvage the ill-fated ship. In a lengthy process involving massive pulleys, cables and steel tanks, a salvage crew managed to roll the 114,00-ton vessel off the rocks where it ran aground 20 months ago, killing 32 passengers, injuring dozens more.
SEPTEMBER 16 - ATLANTIC CITY, U.S.: Nina Davuluri wins the 2014 Miss America pageant, becoming the first Indian-American to claim the title. Her Indian descent sparked a wave of racism online, with some turning to the tired stereotype about Indians and convenience stores, referring to her as "Miss 7-Eleven."
SEPTEMBER 13 - RAMAT GAN, ISRAEL: Ultra-Orthodox Jews pray on the banks of Hayarkon river during a Tashlich ceremony. Tashlich, meaning 'to cast away' in Hebrew, commands Jews to symbolically 'throw away' their sins by tossing a piece of bread into water before Yom Kippur, the most holy Jewish holiday, which starts at sundown Friday.
SEPTEMBER 12 - BARCELONA, SPAIN: An estimated 1.5 million people formed a 400 kilometer human chain to campaign for independence from Spain during Catalonia National Day, or Diada, in front of La Sagrada Familia church on September 11. The chain traversed Catalonia from the north, near the French border, to the south, on its border with Valencia.
SEPTEMBER 11 - GROUND ZERO, NEW YORK: The Tribute in Light rises above buildings of lower Manhattan, commemorating the 2,977 people killed 12 years ago in New York City, Washington, DC and outside of Shanksville, Pennsylvania, in the worst terrorist attack in U.S. history.
SEPTEMBER 10 - NEW DELHI, INDIA: Passengers riding on a public bus look towards a court complex crowded with media personnel awaiting a verdict in the December gang rape case in New Delhi. The Indian court found four men guilty of the crime that shocked the South Asian nation and prompted mass protests.
SEPTEMBER 9 - NEW YORK, U.S.: Serena Williams retains her U.S. Open title with a hard-fought 7-5 6-7 6-1 victory over Victoria Azarenka in a gripping final. The World No.1 regained her supremacy after surprisingly crashing out of the last 16 at Wimbledon earlier this summer. Williams won her 17th grand slam crown in two hours 45 minutes.
SEPTEMBER 6 - GAZA, PALESTINIAN TERRITORIES: Palestinian militants perform Friday prayers on a street in Beit Lahia in northern Gaza, after a protest against peace talks between Israel and the Palestinians. The issue of Israeli settlements derailed the last round of direct talks in 2010.
SEPTEMBER 5 - STOCKHOLM, SWEDEN: U.S. President Barack Obama boards Air Force One en route to St Petersburg to attend the G20 summit. He is expected to urge the world's leaders to join him in upholding global treaties banning the use of chemical weapons and support his push for military action against the Syrian regime.
SEPTEMBER 4 - WUHAN, CHINA: A man clears poisoned dead fish from the Fuhe river in China's Hubei Province. Local officials blamed high levels of ammonia discharged by a chemical plant for the latest Chinese environmental disaster. The legacy of China's powerhouse of cheap, labor-intensive exports is a natural environment tainted by the pollutants of economic growth.
SEPTEMBER 3 - KEY WEST, FLORIDA: Endurance swimmer Diana Nyad, 64, and her trainer hug as Nyad walks ashore after becoming the first person to swim from Cuba to Florida without a protective cage, nearly 53 hours after jumping into the ocean in Havana. This was Nyad's fifth and final attempt to make the 103-mile swim.
SEPTEMBER 2 - TEHERAN, IRAN: Marzieh Afkhami becomes the first female diplomat to be given the title of Iran's foreign ministry spokeswoman, the first woman appointed to such a visible position. During ceremony introducing her, foreign minister Mohammad-Javad Zarif quoted a line by Iranian poet Sohrab Sepehri, "We need to wash our eyes and see differently."
AUGUST 30 - CILVEGOZU, TURKEY: Syrian refugees greet each other at the Turkish Cilvegozu gate border with Syria. The crisis in Syria has escalated this week, with United Nations experts investigating the alleged use of chemical weapons. The U.S. and allies are preparing for the possibility of a punitive strike against President Bashar al-Assad's regime.
AUGUST 29 - WASHINGTON DC, U.S.: Sandy Redman cries as she listens to President Barack Obama during the anniversary of the March on Washington and Martin Luther King Jr.'s "I Have a Dream" speech. Fifty years ago, Redman attended the first march, labeled by King and his followers as "the greatest demonstration for freedom in the history of our nation."
AUGUST 28 - GAZA, PALESTINIAN TERRITORIES: A Palestinian tunnel worker peers inside a smuggling tunnel dug beneath the Gaza-Egypt border in southern Gaza on August 27. An Egyptian court ordered the destruction of the tunnels in February.
AUGUST 27 - JALALABAD, AFGHANISTAN: A health worker administers polio vaccine drops to an Afghan child. Polio, once a worldwide scourge, is endemic in just three countries now -- Nigeria, Afghanistan and Pakistan. But the global goal to eradicate polio by 2015 is threatened by frequent attacks on the health workers giving the vaccination.
AUGUST 26 - CALIFORNIA, UNITED STATES: Smoke rises from smoldering trees as more than 3,400 firefighters battle the Rim Fire near Yosemite National Park on Sunday, August 25. The wildfire has become the 14th largest in state history, devouring nearly 144,000 acres and an area about the size of the city of Chicago.
They made it
Bath time in Quezon
Little Gandhi
Closed for business
Life, ruined
Spirit of Oktoberfest
Pakistan: Thrown off balance
Hong Kong hopes dashed
Shopping mall massacre
He survived, 81 died
Displaced innocence
Upon reflection
Resting, while the world watches
Upright
She is Indian-American. Get over it.
Preparing for Yom Kippur
The strongest link
9/11/13
Guilty as charged
She is back
Militants in arms
On his own?
China's river of death
Swim from Cuba to Florida: Done
Speaking up in Iran
Meet me at the border
Tears in Washington
Tunnel vision
A few drops against polio
Smoldering Yosemite
Editor's note: Each day, CNN brings you an image capturing a moment to remember, defining the present and claiming its place in history. The photographs we select will look ahead to the future and chronicle our changing world.
See more Defining Moments: September 2013, August 2013, July 2013, June 2013, May 2013
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