Born in 1812, English writer Charles Dickens was born 200 years ago on Feb. 7. Rischgitz/Getty Images hide caption

A vulture picks at a dead steer. Ranchers say many cattle have died because of the drought that has ravaged much of Mexico. Jason Beaubien/NPR hide caption

Venezuelan opposition leader Henrique Capriles (center) waves to supporters on Oct. 12, 2011. Capriles is the front-runner in the opposition primary election to pick a candidate to run against President Hugo Chavez. The primary is scheduled for Feb. 12. Ariana Cubillos/AP hide caption

Iranian-born Menashe Amir (shown here in 2006) hosts a call-in show on Israel Radio's Farsi service, one of the few forums for direct discourse between Iranians and Israelis. Gali Tibbon/Getty Images hide caption

During his pending trip to the United States, Chinese Vice President Xi Jinping hopes to reunite with Iowans he met back in 1985, during an agricultural mission to America. Here, Xi attends a meeting with Vice President Joe Biden last August. AFP/AFP/Getty Images hide caption

A tax proposal on the table in Massachusetts could discourage sugar consumption a bit by making sugary foods more expensive. Umberto Salvagnin/Flickr hide caption

With the Russian presidential election set for next month, the heavily favored candidate, Prime Minister Vladimir Putin, visited the election center last week as it prepared for the polls. Yana Lapikova/AFP/Getty Images hide caption

A student prepares to speak in opposition to proposed tuition increases at a University of California Board of Regents meeting in July 2011. Justin Sullivan/Getty Images hide caption

Kanye West's "All Of The Lights" is one of the five nominees for Song of the Year at the 2012 Grammy Awards. Chris Hyde/Getty Images hide caption

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