Pictures: Nat Geo Picks of the Week

Cucumber Toss

Photograph by Robert Ghement, European Pressphoto Agency

In the wake of a deadly E. coli outbreak in Europe, a farmworker empties a case of cucumbers onto a waste pile at an agricultural facility near Bucharest (map), Romania, on Monday.

The outbreak of the bacteria, centered in Germany, has killed at least 29 people and sickened more than 3,000, according to the Associated Press, citing the World Health Organization, which says that 97 people have fallen sick in 12 other European countries, in addition to 3 people in the United States.

The source has been traced to locally grown sprouts in Germany, according to announcements made Friday and reported by the AP.

Why it's a Nat Geo pick: "You get a sense for the vast waste. … It leaves room for you to imagine just how big [the mound] is."—Alexa Keefe, photo editor, National Geographic Digital Media

Published June 10, 2011

Against the Odds

Photograph by Paula Bronstein, Getty Images

UPDATE: Getty Images asked us to remove this picture because of concerns about the welfare of the people depicted.

Nawzia, 23, holds her ten-day-old twins—one girl, one boy—at a hospital in Faizabad (map), Afghanistan, on June 2.

One in eight Afghan mothers dies in pregnancy or childbirth—the worst such rate of any country, according to UNICEF. Among the disadvantages cited by the agency: pregnancy at an early age, extreme poverty, a dearth of midwives, and a culture that discourages women from leaving home without a male, resulting in vitamin D deficiencies, due to lack of sun exposure, and poor access to medical care.

Why it's a Nat Geo pick: "There's an intimacy to it. You get a sense for the frailty of the babies, and also ... you can tell it's not easy."—Alexa Keefe, photo editor, National Geographic Digital Media

(See "Veiled Rebellion": more pictures of Afghan women bucking the odds.)

Published June 10, 2011

Volcanic Storm

Photograph by Ian Salas, European Pressphoto Agency

A man walks on an ash-covered road on Tuesday, three days after the eruption of Chile's nearby Puyehue volcano (map). (Related pictures: "Chile Volcano Plume Explodes With Lightning.")

After an ominous series of earthquakes on the morning of June 4, the volcano erupted that afternoon, convincing authorities to evacuate some 3,500 area residents. Eruptions over the course of the weekend resulted in heavy ashfalls, including in Argentine towns 60 miles (a hundred kilometers) away.

Throughout the week, ash clouds from the volcano grounded flights at airports in neighboring Argentina and Uruguay, according to the Associated Press.

Why it's a Nat Geo pick: "It's very textural. The umbrella 'pops' in a landscape of gray."—Sarah Polger, photo editor, National Geographic Digital Media

Published June 10, 2011

Crossing the Threshold

Photograph by Jan Woitas, European Pressphoto Agency

Stepping out of a portable cage, Heidi the cross-eyed opossum takes a googly gander at her new tropical enclosure at Germany's Zoo Leipzig on Thursday. A Facebook sensation, Heidi follows in the paw prints of the Berlin Zoo's late, lamented star polar bear, Knut, who died at four in March.

Found abandoned in the United States, Heidi is thought to be cross-eyed due either to a poor diet as a youngster or to fat deposits behind her eyes—the marsupial, since slimmed down, was overweight when she arrived in Leipzig about a year ago, according to the Australian Associated Press. (See a picture of a tiny opossum.)

Why it's a Nat Geo pick: "What's not to like about a cross-eyed opossum?"—Alexa Keefe, photo editor, National Geographic Digital Media

Published June 10, 2011