Students at Iowa's Muscatine High School attend a Chinese language class that was inspired by Vice President Xi Jinping's 1985 visit. China's heir apparent will be back in town Wednesday. Robert Ray/AP hide caption

If that Hershey's Kiss is your last, researchers say it's likely to taste better. John Rose/NPR hide caption

An Egyptian soldier on an armored vehicle guards an exchange office in Cairo on Monday. Tensions between the U.S. and Egypt are rising over Cairo's investigation of aid workers, many of them American. An Egyptian Cabinet minister, Faiza Aboul Naga, recently accused the U.S. of directly funding pro-democracy groups in order to create chaos in Egypt. Amr Nabil/AP hide caption

Dr. Dog's sixth studio album is titled Be the Void. Chris Crisman hide caption

Almond trees rely on bees to pollinate during their brief bloom for a few weeks in February. Winfried Rothermel/APN hide caption

The USS Abraham Lincoln sailed from the Persian Gulf through the Strait of Hormuz on Tuesday. This photo was taken from the bridge of the aircraft carrier and shows U.S. aircraft parked on its flight deck. In the background, a U.S. destroyer patrols. Hassan Ammar/AP hide caption

A banner hanging in the auditorium at Cranston High School West. After a federal judge ordered it removed, the school covered the banner with plywood and a school flag. Steven Senne/AP hide caption

Kristin Schleiter, of the New York Botanical Garden, in front blooming red camellias. Margot Adler/NPR hide caption

Aw Muhammad, a resident of a refugee camp in western Kabul, pulls back a shade as one of his six surviving children looks out on the snow. Afghanistan is suffering one of its harshest winters in many years. Quil Lawrence/NPR hide caption

Defense Secretary Leon Panetta (right) and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Martin Dempsey listen to questions during a Senate Armed Services Committee hearing on Capitol Hill Tuesday. Both men spoke about the U.S. military shifting its focus to Asia. Mark Wilson/Getty Images hide caption