Shopper Monica Eaves, with her daughter, Sophia, 2, shops for holiday gifts at The Grove outdoor mall in Los Angeles on Tuesday. A strong start to the holiday season is raising confidence that the consumer is back and that 2011 could be a better year for the economy than expected.
AP Photographer/AP
hide caption
The 46-year-old research submarine, here just before a dive in the Gulf of Mexico in November, has made more than 4,600 ocean trips. Over the next year and a half it will be renovated.
Richard Harris/NPR
hide caption
Barbara Newhall Follett was 13 when Knopf published her first book, The House Without Windows, which she had been working on since she was 8.
Columbia University Archives
hide caption
French-American composer Pierre de Gaillande is a devoted fan of the famous French singer-songwriter Georges Brassens. He has translated the musician's songs into English for a new album, Bad Reputation.
Beowulf Sheehan
hide caption
Mock-up of a high-speed-rail train by Siemens, one of the firms in the running for the Florida contract, with Siemens executives Eric Spiegel (left) and Oliver Hauck in Tampa in October.
Steve Nesius/AP Images for Siemens
hide caption
Operation Gratitude volunteer Joan Mazzarelli models one of the hats and scarves she knits for the care packages. Since March, the 98-year-old has knitted 527 scarfs for the troops.
Courtesy of Maryssa D'Angelo
hide caption
