Pierre Kattar

A diverse local crowd dances Michael Jackson's "Thriller" as part of an attempt to best the Guinness world record for the most people dancing to one song simultaneously. Ten countries participated in the Thrill the World event.

Smar Abuagla is 13 years old and a typical American teenager. She also happens to wear a head scarf at school. In her own words, she describes how she arrived at this decision and how her classmates have come to regard her.

Sarah and Will Armstrong are like many middle-class families. They are educated, have three kids and nice house in the suburbs. But at the end of next month, their health insurance will run out.

Rosemary Mild, mother of Lockerbie bombing victim Miriam Wolfe, shares her thoughts on the release of Mr. Megrahi, the convicted bomber. We spoke to Mrs. Mild a day before the announcement. Video by Pierre Kattar, Research by John Johnston/The Washington Post

Todd Costello lost his son, Tyler, in 2002 after forgetting the 9-month-old in the back of his car in his office parking lot. Todd and his wife, Melody, talk about how they have coped with the grief and how their marriage has fared.

Chris Cotillo gave up on competitive weight lifting when his best friend and lifting partner died in a car accident. Ten years later, he's back at the gym with hopes of honoring his friend by breaking regional bench pressing record at the United States Power Lifting meet in Annapolis.

Psychotherapist Barry Spodak loves to act. He creates schizophrenic, bipolar and paranoid characters to help law enforcement agents assess threats on the lives of presidents, supreme court justices and other VIPs. Video by Pierre Kattar/The Washington Post

Ana Fernandez, one of nine victims of a Metro crash in Maryland, was remembered by family and friends at a vigil in Hyattsville, Md.

Firefighter Scott Hudson, one of the first firefighters on the scene of the metro rail crash last Monday, describes the day. Video by Pierre Kattar/The Washington Post

Locals and visitors react to the shooting at the U.S. Holocaust Museum in Washington, D.C. Video by Pierre Kattar/The Washington Post

Twenty years after cries for freedom were silenced by tanks and soldiers at Tiananmen Square, many Chinese are exploring new freedoms.

An occasional series of video stories about the economic downturn's impact on people and places throughout the D.C. area.

A quick tour of snowy downtown D.C. Video by Pierre Kattar

In April of 2008, washingtonpost.com video journalist Pierre Kattar donated his kidney to a complete stranger to save his father's life. He documented the unique experience of participating in an eight-person kidney exchange.Video by Pierre Kattar and Alexandra Garcia/washingtonpost.com

Michael Oliveri, 24, is losing his battle with muscular dystrophy but gaining a greater appreciation for life as he drives from New Jersey to California for warmer weather and specialized medical care.

As a successful financial planner, Larry Ford helps his clients manage their wallets. But as a shaman, he also helps them tap into their spirituality. Video by Pierre Kattar/washingtonpost.com

D.C. residents rejoice after hearing that Senator Barack Obama will be the next president of the United States of America. Video by Pierre Kattar/washingtonpost.com

Some Wisconsin voters fear a possible Obama presidency. Others are concerned people won't vote for him because of his race.Video by Pierre Kattar/washingtonpost.com

The Gettysburg Cyclorama was cutting edge, immersive entertainment when it was new in 1884. In the age of the interactive and fully wired museum, the old panoramic painting has been refurbished to its original splendor. On Friday, it will reopen to public after a 5 year and $15 million renovation. Video by Pierre Kattar/washingtonpost.com

Despite Tropical Storm Hanna's downpour, locals and tourists tried to go about their day in Washington, D.C. The situation was worse in the Huntington area of Fairfax County, where 114 homes were evacuated because of flooding. Video by Pierre Kattar/washingtonpost.com

Robert and Susan Levy's daughter disappeared on May 1, 2001. Her skeletal remains were found a year later. The investigation of her murder is ongoing.

Ever wonder what it's like behind the runway before a fashion show? Take a peek at Miss Sixty's preparations.

Rudy Giuliani opted to stake his candidacy on success in Florida, spending little time in other early primary states. We visited three places where he campaigned to get a sense of what Republican voters think of him.Video by Pierre Kattar/washingtonpost.com

James Esshaki has raised money for political candidates before and plans on doing so again this year. He explains why he's not happy with the Republican party and who he's leaning towards in Michigan's primary. Video by Pierre Kattar/washingtonpost.com

Laurie Tostenson of Lebanon, N.H. speaks about who she'll be voting for in the upcoming primary and why that person isn't Hillary. Video by Pierre Kattar/washingtonpost.comRead the story by Krissah Williams/The Washington Post

A steady decrease in the general population coupled by an increase in Hispanic residents, if ever so slight, has made immigration a top issue for Iowans in Clay County. Video by PIerre Kattar/washingtonpost.com

Students at Drake University in Des Moines, Iowa share their thoughts on which presidential candidates appeal to them during an on-campus worship organized by Walnut Creek Community Church.

Kathleen Cogan left warm sunny Texas for cold snowy Iowa to help give college students a voice in the political process. She's part of the Public Interest Research Group's New Voters Project, a non-partisan voter registration effort focused on 18 to 24 year-olds.

Students ranging in age from 11 to 13 learn to play Superstitious by Stevie Wonder at Bach to Rock, a private music school in Bethesda, Md., for kids of all ages.Video by Pierre Kattar

In commemoration of the 25th anniversary of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial, nearly 2,000 volunteers will read the 58,256 names inscribed on the wall.Video by Pierre Kattar

Washington Post food critic Tom Sietsema shares the magic of Restaurant Eve's Tasting Room, the area's newest four-star dining experience.Video by Pierre Kattar/washingtonpost.com and Tom Sietsema/The Washington Post Special Report: Dining Guide 2007

Meet pets and their owners at the annual 'Blessing of the Animals' celebration at the National Cathedral, in Washington D.C.Video by Pierre Kattar/washingtonpost.com

Insurgent groups in Iraq and Afghanistan are using handheld video cameras to chronicle their operations, including the assembly and emplacement of roadside bombs targeting U.S. forces, to recruit and raise money. Ben Venzke, CEO of the counterterror intelligence group IntelCenter, explains the role of such video in insurgent movements.

A look at life on the campaign trail with Mike Gravel, currently last among Democratic presidential contenders in both funds and polls.

The Washington Post's Dana Milbank sketches the all-night Senate debate on Iraq that was as much theater as substance.Story: To Sleep, Perchance to DreamVideo by Pierre Kattar/washingtonpost.com

Tribute bands rock the Trump Marina's annual outdoor music festival in Atlantic City.
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While in Iraq, Staff Srgt. Felix Herrera worked in a civil affairs unit that provided supplies to schools. He now teaches English as a second language to teenage immigrants, some recently arrived from Iraq, at Wakefield High School in Arlington, Va. Video by Pierre Kattar

Dressed in Elizabethan-era clothes, Post columnist John Kelly sets out to prove how little Americans know about the first permanent English settlement in the Americas.

On April 16th, 2007 Seung Hui Cho killed 32 people at Va. Tech's campus. These stories attempt to illustrate the tragedy's immediate aftermath.
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Sheila Holt-Orsted says her family wasn't properly warned after toxic waste at a nearby landfill polluted their well water. She is now battling cancer, and the officials who refute her allegations of environmental racism. Credit: Pierre Kattar / washingtonpost.com
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Gardening Editor Adrian Higgins tackles a parched landscape.Video by Pierre Kattar/washingtonpost.com and Adrain Higgins/The Washington Post

Donny Willey, a retired Marine turned real-estate agent, discovered an abandoned community graveyard in danger of sinking into the Chesapeake Bay near his hometown of Hoopersville, Md. He says he's spent $30,000 of his own money over three years for an ongoing restoration project to prevent further erosion. He estimates that there are at least 100 graves belonging to both whites, whose tombstones date back to 1805, and African-Americans whose graves are often marked only by shallow depressions in the earth.

Teens share their thoughts on growing up without a father at the Ophelia Egypt Center, an after school program sponsored by Planned Parenthood.

Phil Maymin's family immigrated from communist Russia to America when he was five. They came for Reagan's promises of increased liberties, smaller government and lower taxes. But taxes have gone up and government got bigger. Phil Maymin wanted to change that so he ran for Connecticut's Fourth Congressional District as a Libertarian.

Connecticut's Fourth Congressional District has become a battleground for Republican incumbent Chris Shays. Democratic challenger Diane Farrell barely lost the mid-term election two years and she's back for a rematch. The public's general disapproval with the Bush administration's handling of the war in Iraq could give Democrats a victory in Connecticut.

Arab and Jewish Americans discuss the war between Israel and Hezbollah as part of a dialogue group founded in Washington, D.C., called the Peace Cafe.

The sectarian politics that plague Lebanon echo throughout Dearborn, Mich., home to the largest concentration of Lebanese Americans outside of the Middle East.

Justin Jenifer learned to dribble a basketball when he was 3. He is now 10 and plays point guard for two Maryland traveling teams, one of which placed ninth in the nation last year in the 10-and-under category.

In response to The Washington Post series "Being a Black Man," several gay black men got together over dinner to discuss what it means to be black and gay in America.

Marcelo Rocabado and Jeanette Dove switch effortlessly from Spanish to English multiple times within a single conversation. They are comfortable doing business in D.C. or Miami and they created a bilingual magazine called Two Mundos. What started as a low-budget community rag is now a glossy magazine with fashion shoots, high-end car reviews and club advertisements targeting the international jet set.

Alexandria firefighter Jack Hoffman watches over the old and new Woodrow Wilson bridges at a dedication ceremony for the new bridge.

Signs of spring are beginning to appear throughout the D.C. area. Resident birds are starting to attract mates while a few non-resident migratory birds have begun to arrive. The birds in this video chose to make their home on the grounds of the National Zoo.

A travel blog on the Piemonte region of Italy featuring interactive 360 degree panoramas.

Lebanon is a nation in transition. A new round of elections in 2005 brought in an anti-Syrian majority determined to secure a more democratic system.

At a recent performance in Easton, Md., Preservation Hall Jazz Band pianist Nickie Monie and Bassist Ben Jaffe, also the band's director, talk about surviving Hurricane Katrina's aftermath and keeping the music of New Orleans alive.

Tens of thousands of people marched against the war in Iraq in Washington on Saturday demanding the return of U.S. troops.

For the past 18 years, Mark Francis Nickens has made a living playing cover songs and original compositions in the streets and metro stations of Washington D.C.

Residents of University Park, Md., dedicate a memorial to the victims of Sept. 11.

Virginia's three gubernatorial candidates share handshakes and smiles at the Buena Vista Labor Day parade.

Parents rush to pick their kids up early from school after a car bomb adjacent to the school killed anti-Syrian journalist Samir Kassir in the residential neighborhood of Achrafiyeh in Beirut.

Students from the Future Youth Movement supporting parliamentary candidtate Saad Hariri take a bus ride around Beirut chanting slogans and celebrating a likey victory on the first day of elections in Lebanon. Interviews with Ahmed Salam and Jad Haddad.

A few days before Valentine's Day, a couple dozen men and women gathered for a speed dating event at Las Tapas restaurant in Old Town Alexandria.

Our special report focuses on security, other issues in Sunday's historic the vote.

D.C. resident Jacques Tiziou has a taste for cicadas. Watch him as he collects and prepares the young, tender, winged insects for brunch.

Washington Post gardening editor Adrian Higgins prepares his garden for spring.

A horse-drawn caisson bore the body of former president Ronald Reagan to Capitol Hill

Democrats may have Bruce Springsteen to sing the praises of Senator John Kerry, but Republicans have Redeem the Vote, a national, ge-out-the-vote effort targeting the fans of Christian rock.

Over the years hip-hop has evolved into more than just a musical genre. It's become an attitude, a fashion trend, a lifestyle with its own language. And this year, if get-out-the-vote organizers have their way, hip-hop will become a political voice for young blacks.

Arab American comedians joke about terrorism, racial profiling and the war in Iraq, reflecting a shift in support away from President Bush among Arab Americans.

Washington Post gardening editor, Adrian Higgins, takes us on a tour of his garden.

Full-screen, panoramic photos of some of the Eternal City's most famous sites.