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Army Sgt. Frank Kiler, a C-23B Sherpa flight engineer with Detachment 1, Company D, 126th Aviation, scans the cargo area to ensure the safety of all of those onboard as the aircraft climbs towards 12,500 ft. July 26, 2011. The Sherpa was working with the U.S. Navy as they performed high-altitude, low-opening para-jumps.

Young people at the launch of the International Year of Youth, celebrated annually on 12 August

Voters put corn kernels into jars with their favorite Republican presidential candidates on the first day of the Iowa State Fair in Des Moines on Thursday.

Displaced people in eastern Libya outside the town of Ajdabiya

Army Spc. Luz Natalia Gonzalez enters a vehicle after conducting security operations outside a police station in Kirkuk, Iraq, July 31, 2011.

Anti-government protesters in Yemen

President Sirleaf election poster

For generations, the United States and its debt — sold in the form of U.S. Treasuries — have been synonymous with safety. Now, though, the nation's sterling credit is tarnished. The ratings agency Standard & Poor's has downgraded the U.S. from AAA to AA-plus, one notch down. The downgrade has raised big questions about what this will mean for investors and for the nation as a whole.

The spread of arms has fuelled the violence