Burma's pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi makes her way through the crowd as she arrives at the National League for Democracy (NLD) office in Rangoon. (Reuters)
Soldiers of the Presidential Regiment take part in the Change of Guard ceremony at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier just outside the Kremlin wall in Moscow. (AFP)
Senegal's newly elected President Macky Sall drives past supporters after his inauguration in Dakar. Sall took his oath as president Monday under the gaze of regional leaders due to hold emergency talks later on the crisis in neighboring Mali. (Reuters)
Argentine President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner throws flowers into the water in Ushuaia to pay homage to fallen soldiers of the Falklands War. April 2 marks the 30th anniversary of the war over the Falkland Islands. (Reuters)
A man passes by a poster at the Palais des Festivals where MIPTV, one of the world's largest broadcasting and audio-visual trade shows, runs until April 4, in Cannes, France. (AFP)
Pakistani police officers in plainclothes take position in a troubled area of Karachi. Violence has hit parts of the metropolis as a local dispute between two main political parties, MQM and National Awami, prompted escalating violence. (AP)
Fire is seen atop an under-construction skyscraper, planned to be Europe's tallest building at 360 meters, in Moscow, Russia. Orange flames were visible in the night sky to much of the city. (AP)
Tibetan monks wait to welcome the Dalai Lama, unseen, before he arrived to inaugurate the Zangdok Palri Phodang monastery at Rewalsar, near Dharmsala, India. (AP)
A German soldier keeps watch during a patrol near Taloqan, the capital of Takhar province, Afghanistan. Germany is the third biggest supplier of troops to the 130,000-strong NATO-led International Security Assistance Force after the U.S. and Britain. (AFP)
Paramilitary policemen gesture to pay respect during a ceremony to commemorate the country's revolutionary martyrs before the Qingming festival at Fushouyuan cemetery in Shanghai, China (Reuters)
People walk during heavy snowfall in central Minsk, Belarus. (Reuters)
Two U.S. Navy Flight Demonstration Squadron jets, better known as the Blue Angels, seen from Liberty State Park in Jersey City, New Jersey, execute a survey flight over the Statue of Liberty. The F/A-18 Hornet Fighter jets flew practice runs to evaluate a potential flight course for the upcoming War of 1812 commemoration to be held during Fleet Week in May. (AP)
British artist Damien Hirst poses for photographers beside the 1991 piece "The Physical Impossibility of Death in the Mind of Someone Living", a tiger shark preserved in formaldehyde in a vitrine, during a media preview at the Tate Modern Gallery in London. (AP)
Tibetan exiles light cedar leaves to purify air as they wait to welcome their spiritual leader Dalai Lama outside a small Buddhist temple near Rewalsar, a small hill town 90 miles from Dharamsala, India. (AP)
Sand dunes and snow in the Gobi Desert, located south of the Mongolian capital city of Ulaanbaatar. (Reuters)
People carry the coffin of Neslisah Sultan, 91, last in line to the dynasty that once ruled the Ottoman empire, in Istanbul, Turkey. Once known as Imperial Princess of the Ottoman Empire and Princess of Egypt, Sultan was the granddaughter of the last Ottoman sultan, Mehmed VI. She was to be buried in a family vault after a religious ceremony on the grounds of the former Yildiz imperial palace. (AFP)
A young girl jumps over small fountains during sunny weather in Duisburg, Germany. (AP)
A rescued pit bull catches drops of water from a volunteer of the Philippine Animal Welfare Society at a coffee farm lot in San Pablo city, Laguna province, south of Manila. Dozens of pit bulls, rescued from a dog-fighting ring will be put down by animal welfare activists who say there are no facilities to rehabilitate them and prevent them from again being used in underground arenas. (AP)
Men dressed as Chinese nationals protest against piracy and the investment demand for the domestic industry, in front of the Planalto palace, before the ceremony announcing the new measures of the "Brazil Maior" plan and the installation of Sector Councils for competitiveness in the industry. (Reuters)
Penitents walk to their church during the Holy Week in Seville, Spain. (AFP)
Two trucks lie on their sides on a bridge at Toyama city, western Japan. A typhoon-like spring storm brought strong gusts and heavy rains to Japan, causing traffic chaos. (AFP)
Aline Pellegrino of Brazil chases the ball during the women's friendly soccer match against the U.S. in Chiba, east of Tokyo, Japan. (Reuters)
Towering Supertrees Grove, which are part of horticultural themed gardens, sit in the Garden by the Bay in Singapore. The 101-hectare Gardens by the Bay will include two greenhouses and 220,000 plants from almost every continent. (AFP)
The bow section of the stricken container ship Rena remains above water about 14 nautical miles (22 km) from Tauranga on the east coast of New Zealand's North Island. The remains of the ship are stuck on a rock reef six months after it ran aground. (Reuters)
Election posters showing 174 candidates for Seoul's constituencies in the April 11 general elections are strung together over the Cheonggye Stream in Seoul, South Korea. (AP)
Several cars are overturned after a tornado passed the area in Lancaster, Texas. (AP)
A policeman controls the crowd gathering at the scene of a landslide in Mathare valley slum after boulders, rocks and mud tumbled down a hillside overlooking the slum, smashing into the houses and burying the occupants in Kenya's capital Nairobi. (Reuters)
Boys ride a motorbike on their way back home after taking a bath in a canal at Chachura village, in the northern Indian state of Uttar Pradesh. (Reuters)
Team Denmark cyclists Rasmus Christian Quaade, Casper Folsach, Lasse Norman Hansen and Christian Ranneries compete in the Men's Team Pursuit qualifying session at the 2012 UCI Track Cycling World Championships in Melbourne, Australia. (Reuters)
Flowers and various offerings near graves at a Chinese cemetery during Qingming Festival in Singapore. Qingming, also known as Grave Sweeping Day, is a day on which Chinese honor the dead by cleaning family graves and burn offerings aimed at appeasing the dead in their afterlife. (AP)
Hippopotamuses cool off on a hot day in a pond at a zoo in New Delhi, India. (Reuters)
An Owl butterfly on a wet leaf at the zoo in Krefeld, western Germany (AP)
Catholic clergy walk holding candles during the Holy Thursday procession of the Washing of the Feet inside the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, traditionally believed to be the burial site of Jesus Christ, in Jerusalem's Old City. (AP)
Members of the Spanish Legion, an elite unit of the Spanish Army, hold up the El Cristo de la Buena Muerte, or Christ of the Good Death, during a ceremony ahead of the procession in Malaga, Southern Spain. Hundreds of processions take place throughout the country during the Easter Holy Week. (AP)
People take pictures of cherry blossoms along the Chidorigafuchi Imperial Palace moat, in Tokyo, Japan. (AP)
A worshiper has his body pierced during a Tamil Hindu festival of Panguni Uthiram in Lubuk Pakam, North Sumatra, Indonesia. The Panguni Uthiram is a significant Tamil festival observed in the month of Panguni (March and April), to celebrate the celestial weddings of important deities in Hindu religion. (AP)
Kremlin guards march near the Tomb of Unknown soldier, beside Moscow's Kremlin, Russia. Moscow was hit by a heavy snow storm and strong wind. (AP)
Actress Brooklyn Decker is greeted by fans during the world premiere of "Battleship" in Seoul, South Korea. (AP)
A Bangladeshi youth rafts piles of bamboo along a waterway in Dhaka. (AFP)
Sunlight peeks through shrapnel holes in a building destroyed by tank shelling in a neighborhood of Damascus, Syria, after a raid by Syrian troops killed several rebels and civilians. (AP)
A snake-like creature with Egyptian leaders of the 20th century in Cairo, April 4, 2012. Egyptian authorities have erected walls to keep protesters away from government buildings in central Cairo. While activists have tried to pull them down, artists are also trying to breach the barriers. (VOA Photo/Elizabeth Arrott)
A man pulls his load of whicker chairs on a cart in a street in Shanghai, China. (AFP)
Models present creations by young Kyrgyz designers during the Fashion Week in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan. (Reuters)
11,541 red chairs along Titova street in Sarajevo as the city marks the 20th anniversary of the start of the Bosnian war. The anniversary finds the Balkan country still deeply divided, power shared between Serbs, Croats and Muslims in a single state ruled by ethnic quotas and united by the weakest of central governments. (Reuters)
Smoke billows near an apartment complex where the F/A-18 Hornet crashed into the apartment building in Virginia Beach, Virginia. The two-member crew ejected safely, officials said. (AP/WVEC-TV)
Tibetan Buddhist monks make ceremonial offerings to the Dalai Lama at the Chime Gatsal Ling monastery in Dharamsala, India. Buddhist devotees prayed for his long life at a special ceremony in the monastery. (AP)
North Korean students perform in front of Kim's statue at Changdok School in Pyongyang during a meeting of school youth and children themed "The dear Generalissimo Kim Il Sung is our eternal sun", one of festivities timed for the 100th birth anniversary of Kim Il-Sung, founder of North Korea (Reuters/KCNA)
Members of the Nazarenos brotherhood take part in a Holy Week procession in Zipaquira, Colombia. (Reuters)
People attend the inauguration of the 3 and the 4 tramway lines of Montpellier, Southern France. The trams, sold by Alstom Transport, was designed by French designer Christian Lacroix. (AFP)
A fire burning at a facility of Taiwan's state-owned oil company CPC Corp in Kaohsiung, southern Taiwan. (Reuters)
Honda MotoGP rider Casey Stoner (L) of Australia watches Ducati MotoGP rider Nicky Hayden of the U.S. during the free practice session of the MotoGP World Championship at the Losail International circuit in Doha, Qatar. (Reuters)
Lighted art installations of Easter eggs, created by the Salaj family in the village of Grabovnica, near Cazma, central Croatia, April 5, 2012. The Salaj family decorated their garden with more then 2700 Easter eggs along with various installations such as rabbits, chickens, roosters and similar ornaments, which are lit in the night. (Reuters)
Zach Johnson checks his ball on the first fairway during the second round the Masters golf tournament in Augusta, Georgia, USA. (AP)
Dubai's Khalifa Al-Mutaiwei and German co-driver Andreas Schulz race past camels in their X-raid Mini All4 on the fifth and final 287.32km leg of the 2012 Abu Dhabi Desert Challenge, UAE. (AFP/2012 FIA World Cup)
A United Airlines jet taking off from Newark Liberty International Airport flies across the moon, as seen from Eagle Rock Reservation in West Orange, New Jersey, USA, April 5, 2012. (AP)
Thai soldiers dressed in ancient traditional uniforms pull the royal chariot carrying the royal urn of Princess Bejaratana Rajasuda Sirisobhabannavadi during the ancient rites of the royal cremation ceremony at Sanam Luang in Bangkok. (AFP)
A picture of torn campaign posters of French Green Party "Europe Ecologie Les Verts" (EELV) candidate Eva Joly (L) and of Front de gauche (FG) leftist candidate Jean-Luc Melenchon (R), taken in Lyon, at the official start of the campaign for the 2012 French presidential election. (AFP)
Firefighters greet each other in the aftermath of a fire in a warehouse on York Street near Kensington Avenue in Philadelphia. (AP)
A boy tries to get out of a flooded street following heavy rains in Sanaa, Yemen. (Reuters)
Young Slovaks dressed in traditional costumes throw a bucket of water at a girl as part of Easter celebrations in the village of Trencianska Tepla, north of Bratislava. (AFP)
Pilgrims hold smiling face banners during Pope Benedict XVI's Regina Coeli prayer in the courtyard of his residence in Castelgandolfo, south of Rome. (AFP)
U.S. President Barack Obama does push-ups while playing basketball during the 2012 White House Easter Egg Roll on the South Lawn in Washington. (Reuters)
Nepalese devotees watch a procession during Bisket Jatra Hindu festival celebrations on the outskirts of Katmandu. (AP)
A Philadelphia Phillies fan looks towards the field before their home opening game against the Miami Marlins in their National League MLB baseball game in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. (Reuters)
A zoo keeper holds three-month-old baby white-handed gibbon "Knuppy" at the zoo in the northern German city of Bremen. (AFP)
Former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum turns to his wife Karen, left, after announcing he is suspending his candidacy for the presidency in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. (AP)
Visitors look at the RMS Titanic survivors list at an exhibition featuring artifacts recovered from the vessel at the ArtScience Museum at the Marina Bay Sands in Singapore. (Reuters)
Members of the NGO organization 'ONE' hold plants in pots with pictures of 2012 French presidential election candidates in front of the Eiffel tower in Paris during an action called 'AAA, Agriculture = Food = Future' to highlight the food crisis and poverty in the world. (Reuters)
A tribal fighter loyal to Sadiq al-Ahmar, the leader of the Hashed tribe, emerges from a bullet-riddled building in Sana'a, Yemen. (Reuters)
Sri Lankan Army soldiers participate in a traditional game during a Sinhala and Tamil New Year celebration in Colombo. (AFP)
The carcass of a well-preserved baby mammoth, named Lyuba, during a media preview in Hong Kong. Lyuba, whose carcass is 40,000 years old, was found by a reindeer herder in Yamal Peninsula in Russia in 2007. She will be exhibited at IFC Mall in Hong Kong on April 12. (Reuters)
Firefighters work to douse flames at a garment factory in Gurgaon, India. (AP)
Rescue workers arrive to help with rescue operation of the nine trapped miners at Cabeza de Negro gold and copper mine in Ica. Workers trapped inside a wildcat mine in southern Peru received oxygen and liquids through a giant hose while a rescue team toiled to get them out, officials said. (Reuters)
The Minister of Maøri Affairs Pita Sharples (R) and Hong Kong Chief Executive Donald Tsang (L) "hongi" - a traditional Maøri greeting - upon arriving at the Orakei Marae in Auckland, New Zealand. (AFP)
Jellyfish glide slowly in an aquarium wall of a hotel at Manila Ocean Park, the largest oceanarium in the country, in Manila, Philippines. (AP)
Ukrainians dressed as cartoon characters roam around, in search of clients to pose with for photos, to earn extra money near an inflatable lotus installed by Korean artist Choi Jeong-Hwain at Independence Square in Kyiv. Kyiv will co-host the Euro 2012 soccer tournament. (AP)
A peacock at the Los Angeles County Arboretum and Botanic Garden in Arcadia, California. (Reuters)
Acehnese people run shortly after a powerful earthquake hit the western coast of Sumatera in Banda Aceh. A massive earthquake struck off Indonesia's Sumatra island, prompting an Indian Ocean-wide tsunami alert. (AFP)
Peru's President Ollanta Humala, center left wearing a white shirt, waves as he stands with nine rescued miners, wearing sunglasses, after they were freed from the Cabeza de Negro gold and copper mine in Yauca del Rosario. (AP)
Yoo Bok-yeob (L), a village schoolmaster who leads a Confucian lifestyle, queues up to cast his ballot at a polling station during parliamentary elections in Nonsan, about 190 km (118 miles) south of Seoul. South Koreans voted in parliamentary elections. (Reuters)
A scavenger collates mahjong tiles on a street in Shanghai, China. (Reuters)
North Korean scientists work as a screen shows the Unha-3 (Milky Way 3) rocket on a launch pad at the West Sea Satellite Launch Site, at the satellite control center of the Korean Committee of Space Technology on the outskirts of Pyongyang. The launch is set to take place between April 12 and April 14 and has prompted neighbors such as the Philippines to re-route their air traffic. (Reuters)
A gust of wind lifts the cardinals' mantles during Pope Benedict XVI's general audience in Saint Peter's Square at the Vatican. (Reuters)
Malians, who fled unrest in the rebel-held northeastern cities of Gao and Timbuktu, arrive by bus in the capital Bamako. (Reuters)
Pashtun women, whose families were displaced by a military operation last year against militants in Bara, line up to get supplies at the United Nations High Commission for Refugees supported Jalozai camp in Pakistan's northwest. (Reuters)
Elephants spray tourists with water during the Songkran water festival in Thailand's Ayutthaya province, about 80 km (50 miles) north of Bangkok. Songkran, the most celebrated festival of the year, marks the start of Thailand's traditional New Year. (Reuters)
Punk guys gather to cerebrate Thingyan, a four-day water festival ushering in Burmese New Year, at Bogyoke market in Rangoon. (AP)
A man, who claims that he was being persecuted by the Egyptian government, ties himself up in protest on a street lamp in Tahrir square, in Cairo. (Reuters)
Emirates Team New Zealand competes with their multihulls during the America's Cup World Series regatta in Naples, Italy. (Reuters)
Firefighters contain a wildfire that started in wood compost at the former Fresh Kills landfill in Staten Island, New York, April 10, 2012. (Reuters)
Cambodians ride atop a vehicle as they leave Phnom Penh to return to their hometowns to celebrate the Khmer New Year. The Khmer New Year is celebrated from April 13 to 15. (Reuters)
Police block a street as opposition activists stage a protest against alleged election fraud outside the Town Hall in the city of Astrakhan in the south of Russia. (AP)
Nepal's Prime Minister Baburam Bhattarai on a screen of a video camera as he addresses the nation from his office in Kathmandu. (Reuters)
A Pakistani boy with his dog cross a dry stream bed on the outskirts of Islamabad. (AP)
Firefighters battle a blaze on a pipeline at the port of Leixoes in northern Portugal. One worker was killed and another seriously injured by an explosion when a gas pipeline at the port was damaged during the dismantling of an old crane. (AP)
Ethiopian Orthodox worshipers attend the Washing of the Feet ceremony at the Ethiopian section of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem's Old City ahead of Orthodox Easter. (Reuters)
Hindu holy men step over children as a ritual to bless them during a religious procession to mark the Gajan festival in Kolkata, India. (Reuters)
Gymnasts perform during the 23rd European Trampoline championships in St. Petersburg, Russia. (AFP)
Baby stars are creating chaos 1,500 light-years away in the cosmic cloud of the Orion Nebula. Four massive stars make up the bright yellow area in the center of this false-color image for NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope. Green indicates hydrogen and sulfur gas in the nebula, which is a cocoon of gas and dust. Red and orange indicate carbon-rich molecules. Infant stars appear as yellow dots embedded in the nebula. (NASA)
Workers march in downtown Rome. Tens of thousands of workers of the three main unions protested against the labor and pension reforms recently approved by the government of premier Mario Monti, backed by the three main political parties. (AP)
North Koreans hold up plastic flowers during an unveiling ceremony of two statues of former leaders Kim Jong-Il and Kim Il-Sung in Pyongyang. North Korea's new leader Kim Jong-Un led a mass rally for his late father and grandfather following the country's failed rocket launch. (AFP)
An Egyptian woman attends Friday prayers before a rally in Tahrir Square in Cairo to denounce presidential candidacies of Mubarak-era officials, including the former spy chief. Supporters of the Muslim Brotherhood, along with ultraconservative Salafis, other Islamists packed the square, the epicenter of the uprising that ousted Mubarak a year ago. (AP)
Indian Hindu devotees take part in a procession after piercing their face with a metal trident to show devotion to Hindu God Shiva during the festival of Shiva Gajan in Bainan, west of Kolkata, the capital of the eastern state of West Bengal. (AP)
A boy rides his bicycle past graffiti in Sanaa, Yemen. (Reuters)
Christian worshippers carry crosses as the Eastern and Orthodox Church's Good Friday procession in the Old City of Jerusalem. Thousands of worshippers retraced the route Jesus took along the Via Dolorosa to his crucifixion in the Church of the Holy Sepulchre. (Reuters)
Women try to dodge water as they celebrate the Songkran water festival, the Thai New Year, in Bangkok. (AP)
Indian laborers work to construct a temporary bridge over the River Ganges for the upcoming Maha Kumbh festival in Allahabad, India. The month-long festival will begin in Allahabad on Jan. 14. (AP)
Ferrari Formula One driver Felipe Massa of Brazil looks out at his rear vision mirror as his team works on his car in a pit lane during practice for the Chinese Grand Prix in Shanghai, China. (AP)
Lightning is seen over Lahore, Pakistan, during a thunderstorm. (AFP)
A bumblebee above a tulip bloom (Tulipa fosteriana Pirand) at the horticultural exhibition 'ega' (Erfurt Garden Construction Exhibition) in Erfurt, Germany. (AP)
Members of the Boston Red Sox line up and salute the flag before the start of the first inning of American League MLB baseball action against the Tampa Bay Rays at Fenway Park in Boston, Massachusetts. (Reuters)
Wesley Korir, left, and Sharon Cherop, both of Kenya, kiss the winner's trophy after winning the men's and women's divisions of the 116th Boston Marathon in Boston, Massachusetts. (AP)
A North Korean choir sings during a concert in Pyongyang to commemorate 100 years since the birth of Kim Il Sung. (AP)
A view of dried and cracked mud which flooded Siring village in Sidoarjo, East Java, Indonesia. The mudflow, which began after a blowout from a natural gas well in 2006, has swamped 720 hectares of land and displaced thousands of people. Thousands of villagers rallied Monday demanding compensation from the government. (Reuters)
Members of the media photograph the space shuttle Discovery attached to a modified NASA 747 aircraft at Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida. Discovery is expected to be flown to its final home at the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center in Chantilly, Virginia on April 17. (Reuters)
An East Timorese woman shows her inked finger at a polling center in Dili during the second round of presidential elections. Opposition figure Francisco "Lu Olo" Guterres faces former armed forces chief Taur Matan Ruak - both heroes of the nation’s long war against Indonesia's occupation - in voting that is seen as a test for the impoverished nation. (AFP)
France's President Nicolas Sarkozy, left, stands before the coffin to pay homage to Raymond Aubrac, a major figure of the French Resistance during World War II, who died at age 97, during a ceremony in Paris, France. (AP)
Protesters shout anti-government slogans as they march in a procession to visit the grave of Ismael Abdulsamad in Salmabad, south of Manama, Bahrain. Abdulsamad died two weeks ago from a single gunshot wound to the thigh fired from a moving car, a Ministry of Interior statement said. (Reuters)
Wind turbines are seen near sheep in the village of Piansano, 90 km north of Rome. The Italian government said last week it will cut financial incentives for solar and other renewable energy, unleashing an outcry from investors who say the changes will slow the industry's growth in Italy. (Reuters)
A man walks past graffiti that reads "Repsol, get out of YPF" in Buenos Aires. Argentina's government says it will expropriate 51 percent of leading energy company YPF, a move that could lead to further economic isolation of the country. YPF, controlled by Spain's Repsol, has seen its share price plunge due to months of speculation about a government takeover. (Reuters)
A worker hangs lanterns to prepare for the celebration of the upcoming birthday of Buddha on May 28 at the Chogye temple in Seoul, South Korea. About one-third of South Korea's 48 million people are Buddhists. (AP)
Helen Yu of San Francisco, takes photos in front of the Maid of the Mist tour boat in front of a rainbow at the Horseshoe Falls during the warm spring weather in Niagara Falls, New York. (AP)
Space shuttle Discovery, mounted atop a NASA 747 Shuttle Carrier Aircraft, flies over the Washington skyline as seen from a NASA T-38 aircraft. Discovery completed 39 missions, spent 365 days in space, orbited the Earth 5,830 times, and traveled 148,221,675 miles. (NASA/Robert Markowitz)
People gather to watch the arrival of the space shuttle Discovery, tethered to the top of a modified 747 jumbo jet, at the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center in Chantilly, Virginia. (AFP)
A Kashmiri vegetable vendor holds a basket of bread at a floating market in the interiors of the Dal Lake in Srinagar, India. (Reuters)
Black smoke rises from oil containers as firefighters try to extinguish a fire that broke out at the Nasr Petroleum Company refinery in the Egyptian port city of Suez. (Reuters)
A parachutist glides past an Orthodox cross during a performance after an Orthodox Easter service in the Kyrgyz capital Bishkek. (Reuters)
Accused Norwegian Anders Behring Breivik gestures in the courtroom, in Oslo, Norway. Breivik, who admitted to killing 77 people in a bombing and shooting massacre, is set to take the stand in his terror trial. (AP)
Supporters of Burma's pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi, wave the National League for Democracy's party flags at a ceremony to mark the country's New Year Day in her constituency of Kawhmu township. (Reuters)
Lories sit on the head and arms of German Chancellor Angela Merkel in a bird park in Marlow, northern Germany. (AFP)
A full-size model of Japan's popular robot animation character Gundam emits white smoke as it stands in front of a new shopping mall in Tokyo's Odaiba waterfront area. (AP)
Finland's President Sauli Niinisto is taken in a cortege together with Sweden's King Carl XVI Gustaf towards the Royal Palace in Stockholm, Sweden. (Reuters)
Palestinian men cross a main road as a sand storm envelops the town of Rafah along the border with Egypt in southern Gaza Strip. (AFP)
An investor reacts in front of an electronic board showing stock information at a brokerage house in Nanjing, Jiangsu province. China shares ended up 2 percent, the biggest one-day percentage rise in more than two months, led by finance and property sectors on expectations the government would ease monetary policy. (Reuters)
A truck and a home sit under flood waters after heavy rains triggered the Chico River to overflow its banks in Cota, Colombia. (AP)
Zimbabwe President Robert Mugabe lights a flame at celebrations to mark 32 years of independence of the country, in Harare. (AP)
Pope Benedict XVI caresses a child during his weekly general audience in St. Peter square at the Vatican. (AP)
East Timorese presidential candidate and former guerrilla fighter Jose Maria Vasconcelos, popularly known as Taur Matan Ruak, hugs his wife Isabel da Costa Ferreira during a press conference declaring his victory in Dili. (AP)
Commuters travel on an overcrowded local train in Mumbai's Central line in Mumbai, India. (AP)
260 Guardsmen from the Grenadier, Coldstream, Scots and Welsh Guards form the number 100, to mark 100 days to go to the London 2012 Olympic Games, on Horse Guards Parade in central London. (Reuters)
A police officer inspects a pickup truck in the Delaware River in Philadelphia. (AP)
Indonesian Greenpeace activists in tiger suits crawl during a protest to call for Sumatran tiger protection at the Forestry Ministry in Jakarta. Dozens of activists staged the protest demanding the government to investigate illegal practices such as cutting down natural forests conducted by pulp and paper companies that will lead to the destruction of Sumatran tiger habitat. (AP)
An 85-ton boat is transported through Hellmonsoedt in Upper Austria province. The transport of the excursion boat from Linz to Czech Republic's Lipno dam lake causes road blocks, dismounted traffic signs and power lines. (Reuters)
Visitors look at pictures of Jews killed in the Holocaust during a visit to the Hall of Names at Yad Vashem's Holocaust History Museum in Jerusalem. Israel marks the annual memorial day commemorating the six million Jews killed by the Nazis in the Holocaust during World War II. (Reuters)
An Afghan boy carries goods over his head as he walks up a hillside path in Kabul. Poverty and an ongoing insurgency by the ousted Taliban still pose a threat to the stability of the country. (AFP)
A woman enters a home in Barbar, Bahrain, where the outer walls are sprayed with graffiti art against the hosting of Sunday's Formula One Bahrain Grand Prix. The Arabic at left reads "Unarmed Nation." Preparations are under way for the race, which has been the target of boycott calls by anti-government protesters. (AP)
A plume of ash and steam rises from Popocatepetl volcano seen from San Andres Cholula, Mexico. Popocatepetl volcano continues to spout gases and hot rock fragments and it is dusting towns on its flanks with volcanic ash. (AP)
Young men, wrapped in Israeli flags, stand in front of a wire fence at the Auschwitz-Birkenau Nazi death camp, as they take part in the annual "March of the Living", in Oswiecim, Poland. The annual March of the Living, which commemorates the six million Jews killed during the Holocaust, draws thousands of people from around the world, including Jewish youths and elderly Holocaust survivors. (AFP)
A group of Taiwanese women paratroopers after a drill held at Taiwan's northern Hsinchu airbase. (AFP)
Workers monitor the lift of the space shuttle Discovery from the the NASA 747 Shuttle Carrier Aircraft at Washington Dulles International Airport in Sterling, Virginia. NASA will transfer Discovery to the National Air and Space Museum to begin its new mission to commemorate past achievements in space and to educate and inspire future generations of explorers. (NASA/Bill Ingalls)
Space Shuttles Enterprise, left, and Discovery meet nose-to-nose at the beginning of a transfer ceremony at the Smithsonian's Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center, in Chantilly, Virginia. (NASA/Smithsonian Institution/Carolyn Russo)
People walk at the Oklahoma City National Memorial and Museum before the start of the 17th annual remembrance ceremony in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, USA. Timothy McVeigh was convicted on federal murder charges for the 1995 deadly bombing and was executed in 2001. (AP)
Matevz Lenarcic gestures in front of his plane after landing in Brnik Airport, Slovania. Biologist and environmentalist Lenarcic set off on January 9 on a journey around the world in an ultra-light aircraft. He aims to break the records for the lightest aircraft and the least amount of fuel used to fly around the world. (Reuters)
Mexico performs during the Teams Technical Routine during a synchronized swimming qualification event at the Aquatic Center at Olympic Park in Stratford, east London. (Reuters)
Thaneshwar Guragai spins a basketball on a toothbrush while holding the toothbrush in his mouth for exactly 22.41 seconds to break the last Guinness record of 13.5 seconds set by Thomas Connors of U.K, in Kathmandu, Nepal. (Reuters)
Riot policemen block "football hooligans" during an exercise at Arena Lviv stadium in western Ukrainian city of Lviv during the preparation for EURO-2012. (AFP)
The art work 'Five Minutes Of Pure Sculpture' by British artist Anthony MacCall at the Hamburger Bahnhof Museum in Berlin, Germany (AP)
An apprentice of beekeeper She Ping uses burning incense to drive off bees from She's face as he assists covering She's body with bees in order to break a world record in Chongqing Municipality, China. She Ping, 32, broke the world record on Wednesday by covering his body with 33.1 kilograms of bees (about 331,000 bees). (Reuters)
Harris O'Riordan plays with an umbrella during a Homecoming Parade for soldiers in Forfar, Scotland. (Reuters)
Mercedes Grand Prix driver Michael Schumacher of Germany steers his car during the first practice session ahead of the Bahrain Formula One Grand Prix at the Bahrain International Circuit in Sakhir, Bahrain. Authorities in Bahrain have stepped up security around the Formula One circuit at the start of the controversial Grand Prix racing weekend. (AP)
A protester runs away from tear gas released by riot police during clashes after the rally by Bahrain's main opposition party Al Wefaq in Budaiya, west of Manama. Pro-democracy protesters clashed with police in Manama as the Grand Prix event got underway. (Reuters)
An Indian Jammu and Kashmir Armed Police (JKAP) soldier stands guard in central Srinagar. (AFP)
A North Korean cameraman carries a ladder past North Koreans gathered on Kim Il Sung Square in central Pyongyang, North Korea, for a rally denouncing South Korean President Lee Myung-bak. (AP)
A man smokes five marijuana joints through a contraption with linked tubes in Amsterdam during a protest against a government plan to stop foreigners from buying marijuana in the Netherlands. (AP)
Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir, left, waves during his speech in Khartoum. (AP)
Nepalese workers stand together at a brick factory in Imadol on the outskirts of Kathmandu. (AP)
An employee works inside a shell of a wind turbine tower outside the assembly workshop in The Shanghai Electric Windpower Equipment Co., Ltd. in Shanghai, China. (Reuters)
Baek Sung-min, 23, one of the first buyers of a new iPad tablet computer outside an Apple's reseller shop in Seoul, South Korea. (AP)
The Comedie Francaise theater temporary hall and the columns by French sculptor Daniel Buren (the "Colonnes de Buren") in the Palais royal gardens in Paris. (Reuters)
The UEFA Champions League trophy before the official handover ceremony between UEFA President Michel Platini and Munich's Mayor Christian Ude in Munich, Germany. The Champions League Final 2012 will take place in Munich's Allianz Arena on May 19. (Reuters)
Members of the "Rescuer", a state regional service, operate a "Khivus-10" air-cushion motor boat as they patrol along the Yenisei river, some 60 km (37 miles) south of Russia's Siberian city of Krasnoyarsk. (Reuters)
A giant puppet of a deep sea diver walks along a street in Liverpool, northern England. The diver is one of two giant models forming part of the Sea Odyssey Giant Spectacular happening over the weekend in Liverpool. (Reuters)
Chadian men and boys use a donkey to pull up water, of a quality only suitable for animals to drink, from a well which took twenty men a week to dig by hand, in a wadi near Tchyllah, a desert village in the Sahel belt of Chad, April 19, 2012. (AP)
Dancers of the Szeged Contemporary Dance Company perform on the stage of the National theater of Szeged, Hungary, April 19, 2012, during their rehearsal of a premiere for two one-act event of Szeged Contemporary Dance Company. (AFP)
The NTV high speed train Italo waits to depart at Rome's Tiburtina railway station, on the occasion of the inaugural trip to Naples, Italy. (AP)
U.S. President Barack Obama (L) and Nobel Laureate and Holocaust survivor Elie Wiesel are reflected in a glass wall during a moment of silence in the Remembrance Hall of the United States Holocaust Museum in Washington, D.C. (Reuters)
A man gestures at a market burnt in an air strike by the Sudanese air force in Rubkona near Bentiu, South Sudan. Sudanese warplanes carried out air strikes Monday, killing three people, residents and military officials said, three days after South Sudan pulled out of a disputed oil field. (Reuters)
A Buddhist monk buys an umbrella depicting pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi at a souvenir shop outside the headquarters of the NLD party in Rangoon, Burma. Suu Kyi's opposition party refused to take its new seats in parliament Monday because of a dispute over one word in the lawmakers' oath, but party officials said the issue would be resolved soon. (AP)
Female U.S. soldiers wear headscarves at a gathering for Afghan women in Kabul. Hundreds of Afghan female figures from across the country participated in a gathering called "Strength in Unity," which was organized by the ISAF Joint Command. (AP)
An anti-government protester looks on from inside his tent at Taghyeer (Change) Square, where protesters have been camping for more than a year, to demand regime change in Sanaa, Yemen. (Reuters)
A handout picture released by Bahrain's main opposition Al-Wefaq group shows protestors engulfed in tear gas fired by police during a demonstration in a Shiite village close to Manama. (AFP/Ho/Al-Wefaq Media Centre)
An activist of the main opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party is reflected on a police officer's helmet as she shouts slogans during a nationwide general strike in Dhaka. Police opened fire on hundreds of stone-throwing opposition supporters who attacked a police station. (AP)
People walk inside Romania's National Library during its official opening ceremony in Bucharest. Opened in a refurbished communist-era building, the National Library has more than 12 million books. (Reuters)
Ryan Godfrey, from Australia (r), and Shannon Falcone, from Antigua, trim the mainsail on board PUMA Ocean Racing powered by BERG during leg 6 of the Volvo Ocean Race 2011-12, from Itajai, Brazil to Miami, Florida. (AP/Volvo Ocean Race)
Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard admires the "Dendrobium Julia Gillard" hybrid Orchid, named in her honor, during her visit to Singapore's National Orchid Garden. The Orchid is Singapore's national flower. (AP)
Didi Senft, a cycling enthusiast better known as 'El Diablo,' poses in front of the National Stadium in Warsaw, Poland. Senft, who is also an avid inventor, has constructed a special bicycle to commemorate the Euro 2012 soccer tournament. (Reuters)
Birds perch on a branch during a spring snowstorm in Pembroke, New York. A spring nor'easter packing soaking rain, high winds churned up the northeast U.S., unleashing a burst of winter and up to a foot of snow in higher elevations inland. (AP)
A boy cools off with water from a hose on a hot day in Manila, Philippines. (Reuters)
The crowd's image is reflected on the mirror at the shopping center in Tokyo, Japan. (AP)
Lebanese of Armenian descent tear and attempt to burn a Turkish flag behind a barbed wire protecting the Turkish Embassy in Rabieh, near Beirut, as they mark the 97th anniversary of the mass killing of Armenians in the Ottoman Empire in 1915. (Reuters)
The commander of an honor guard gives a command during an official welcoming ceremony for South Sudan's President Salva Kiir Mayardit at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, China. (Reuters)
A so called 'Dioskuren head' stands between the other sculptures during the reopening of the collection of Antiques at the Friedrich Schiller University in Jena, central Germany. (AP)
Pakistani Nori Basheer, 25, who was displaced by 2010 floods from a village near Multan, plays with her son Baber, outside her makeshift tent in a slum on the outskirts of Islamabad, Pakistan. (AP)
French police gather at the entrance to the Chaussee d'Antin La Fayette Metro station in Paris after a car accidentally drove into it. (Reuters)
North Korean defectors prepare to launch balloons containing propaganda leaflets and chocolate snacks toward North Korea, near Ganghwa Peace Observatory in Incheon, South Korea. (AP)
Ash and smoke spew from Popocatepetl Volcano as seen from Santiago Xalixintla, in the Mexican central state of Puebla. (AFP)
A Buddhist monk walks near tigers at the Tiger Temple in Kanchanaburi province, west of Bangkok, Thailand. (Reuters)
The latest BMW concept vehicle i8 Spyder on display during the Beijing International Automotive Exhibition in Beijing, China (AP)
Tens of thousands march down Lisbon's main Liberdade Avenue, celebrating the anniversary of the 1974 Carnations revolution that restored democracy in Portugal after nearly half a century of right-wing dictatorship. (AP)
A Tibetan man carries a portrait of Tibetan spiritual leader the Dalai Lama, during a function to mark the 23rd birthday of Panchen Lama Gendun Choekyi Nyima, the second-highest Tibetan religious leader, in Katmandu, Nepal. Nyima was named the reincarnation of the Panchen Lama in 1995 by the Dalai Lama. (AP)
A rose hangs on the wall of names at the Armored Corps memorial for fallen soldiers after a ceremony marking the annual Memorial Day for soldiers and civilians killed in more than a century of conflict between Jews and Arabs, in Latrun, near Jerusalem, Israel. (AP)
A girl cries in her mother's arm while receiving a vaccination from a nurse at a hospital in Huaibei, Anhui province, China. (Reuters)
Air Force Space Command early warning system at Buckley Air Force Base in Colorado, USA (Reuters)
Filipino protesters brace themselves as they are hit by water cannon from anti-riot police who tried to prevent them from entering the gates leading to the Malacanang presidential palace in Manila, Philippines. The group denounced the violence that erupted during a recent demolition of a flea market in Paranaque city. (AP)
Jose Sanchez of France, in a WWI uniform, walks during the wreath-laying ceremonies at the Australian National Memorial in Villers-Bretonneux, northern France, during Anzac Day. The ceremony marks the 94th anniversary of the recapture of the village of Villers-Bretonneux on April 25, 1918. (AP)
An Afghan man walks though a poppy field in Zharay district in Kandahar province, southern Afghanistan. (Reuters)
A man guides donkeys through a mountainous road covered by snow after the Srinagar-Leh highway was opened to traffic in Zojila, 108 km (67 miles) east of Srinagar, India. The 443 km (275 miles) long highway was opened by army authorities for traffic after remaining snowbound at Zojila Pass, 3,530 meters (11,581 feet) above sea level, for the past six months.(Reuters)
A massive fire at 'La Primavera' forest in Guadalajara, Mexico. More than 700 firefighters were sent to the site where the fire has been burning uncontrolled for almost five days, and has consumed over 5,000 hectares so far. (AFP)
Novice Thai nuns stand in line to receive food from people at the Sathira Dammasathan Buddhist meditation center in Bangkok, Thailand. A small but growing group of Thai girls are choosing to spend part of the school holiday as Buddhist nuns. (Reuters)
The Palace of Arts Reina Sofia at the City of Arts and Sciences in Valencia, Spain, by architect Santiago Calatrava. (Reuters)
A goose lies on the meadow in the Olympic park in Munich, Germany. (AP)
A pack of riders cycle during the first stage of the Tour de Romandie cycling race near Cossonay, Switzerland. (Reuters)
Udinese's supporters hold placards written '25' in memory of the late player Piermario Morosini, prior the Italian Serie A football match between Udinese and Inter Milan at Friuli Stadium in Udine. (AFP)
Valentina Lopatyuk, 79, cries at the grave of her son Viktor Lopatyuk, 29, at the Mitino Cemetery Memorial, for those who died after the Chernobyl 1986 nuclear disaster, in Moscow. Russians marked the 26th anniversary of the Chernobyl nuclear disaster, which was the world's worst ever nuclear accident. (AP)
Horsemen wearing traditional Libyan clothes ride their horses at a wedding in Sauq Al-Sibet, about 45 km (28 miles) south of the capital of Tripoli. (Reuters)
Sunflowers forming to the letter 'G' and roses lie on the stairs of the Gutenberg High School during a commemoration ceremony in memory of the victims at the 10th anniversary of the deadly massacre in Erfurt, Germany. The 19-year-old Robert Steinhaeuser fatally shot 12 teachers, a secretary, two students and a police officer before turning the gun against himself on April 26, 2002. (AP)
The Church of Pokrov on Nerli is surrounded by floodwaters near the village of Bogolyubovo, some 190 km (118 miles) east of Moscow, Russia. (Reuters)
People place flowers near the entrance of a courthouse in Oslo where the trial of Norwegian anti-Muslim fanatic Anders Behring Breivik takes place. (Reuters)
A Turkish folkloric group performs traditional music in Tripoli, northern Lebanon during an annual ceremony to commemorate the 723rd anniversary of the liberation of the city from the Crusaders by the Mamluks. (Reuters)
An Afghan woman beggar sleeps next to two children on a road in the city of Jalalabad, the capital of Nangarhar province east of Kabul, Afghanistan. (AP)
India's PSLV C-19 lifts off carrying country's first indigenous radar imaging satellite RISAT-1 at the Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharikota, India. (AP)
A Soyuz space capsule with a three-men crew, two Russians and an American on board, lands outside the town of Arkalyk, Kazakhstan. Capsule carrying Anton Shkaplerov, Anatoly Ivanishin and NASA's Daniel Burbank touched down safely on the sweeping steppes of central Kazakhstan, ending the men's 163-day stay on the International Space Station. (AP)
U.S. astronaut Daniel Burbank, left, and Russian cosmonaut Anton Shkaplerov rest shortly after landing in a Soyuz capsule outside the town of Arkalyk, Kazakhstan. (AP)
Space shuttle Enterprise, mounted atop a NASA 747 Shuttle Carrier Aircraft flies near the Statue of Liberty and the Manhattan skyline, in New York. Enterprise will be placed on a barge that will eventually be moved by tugboat up the Hudson River to the Intrepid Sea, Air & Space Museum in June. (NASA/Robert Markowitz)
Space shuttle Enterprise, mounted atop a NASA 747 Shuttle Carrier Aircraft, takes off for New York from Washington Dulles International Airport, in Sterling, Virginia. Enterprise was the first shuttle orbiter built for NASA performing test flights in the atmosphere but was incapable of spaceflight.(NASA/Smithsonian Institution/Mark Avino)
Afghan youths play atop a destroyed bus in front of the palace of former Afghan King Darul Aman, which was destroyed during the civil war, in Kabul, Afghanistan. (AP)
A Civil Defense member tries to extinguish a fire that broke out at a waste dump in Dawra area in Beirut, Lebanon. (Reuters)
Members of a Chinese navy band walk past a Russian military vessel ahead of their performance to bid farewell to the Russian navy at a port in Qingdao, Shandong province. (Reuters)
Armed police carry equipment outside a building near Tottenham Court Road in central London. Heavily armed, masked police surrounded a site in central London after a woman reported that a mentally unstable man had walked into her office threatening to blow himself up.(AP)
A supporter of opposition leader and former Ukrainian Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko shouts under her portrait during a rally in Kyiv. Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovich, under fire from European politicians over the treatment of his jailed opponent, has ordered prosecutors to investigate her alleged beating by prison guards last week. (Reuters)
A view through the damaged windshield of a bus shows Syrian security personnel inspecting wreckage after a bomb exploded in central Damascus. Seven people were killed and 20 wounded, including members of the security forces, in a suicide bombing in the central Damascus district of Midan, Syria's state news agency SANA said. (Reuters)
President Barack Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama place a flag and a coin on a marker as they visit Warriors Walk at Fort Stewart, Georgia before speaking to troops, veterans and military families at the Third Infantry Division Headquarters. (AP)
A supporter of ruling People's Party jumps over burning tires to condemn Pakistan's judiciary in Peshawar. Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gillani has challenged the opposition to unseat him in a fiery speech a day after he was convicted by the Supreme Court for contempt. (AP)
Al-Arabi's Majdi Seddiq (R) and Abdulaziz Hatem (L) fight for the ball with Al-Gharafa's Yousef Ramadan during their match at the Emir Cup soccer tournament in Doha, Qatar. (Reuters)
Thiago Pereira of Brazil, representing the Corinthians Club, swims to win men's 400 m individual medley at the Maria Lenk Trophy swimming competition to qualify for the 2012 London Olympics in Rio de Janeiro. (Reuters)
Weedy seadragons float at the Aquarium of the Pacific in Long Beach, California, USA. (AFP)
Japanese fan Shoko Kimura, dressed as U.S. pop diva Lady Gaga, waits for Gaga's concert in front of the venue in Seoul, South Korea. (AP)
People wave flags as the naval guided missile frigate Yuncheng (571) arrives at the Ngong Shuen Chau Naval Base in Hong Kong. The frigate is open to the public as part of events celebrating the 15th anniversary of Hong Kong's handover to China. (Reuters)
Ken Livingstone, Britain's Labour candidate for London mayor, stands in front of a poster depicting London Mayor Boris Johnson as an alien, to launch Labour's new Ad Bus in south London. (Reuters)
People walk along the OCBC Skyway linking the Supertrees, that range from 25-50 meters in height and serve as vertical gardens, in an area near Singapore’s busy financial district. The city-state is making efforts to nurture greenery and capture the essence of Singapore as a tropical city. (AP)
A man passes images of jailed opposition leaders on a wall in Barbar, Bahrain, west of Manama. Political leaders pictured from left are: Hassan Mushaima, Sheik Mohammed Habib Moqdad, and Abdulwahab Hussein. (AP)
An Afghan policeman destroys an opium poppy field in Alingar, Laghman province, east of Kabul. A bomb exploded next to the fields during an eradication campaign in Alingar, wounding two police officers. Afghanistan supplies most of the world's opium. (AP)
Women display their palms that are painted in the colors of the Yemeni flag and the Syrian revolutionary flag during a demonstration calling for Yemen's former President Ali Abdullah Saleh to be put on trial in Sanaa. (Reuters)
Queen Beatrix of the Netherlands walks in a ticker tape parade during the annual traditional Queens' Day in Veenendaal. (Reuters)
Pupils attend a class at El Mana islamique at Bori Bana, a slum in Abidjan, Ivory Coast. The school, which teaches French and Arabic, houses about 200 pupils in three classrooms. The school fee for each pupil costs about $50 per year. (Reuters)
Roger Lewis, with the Treme Brass Band, performs at a sunrise concert marking International Jazz Day at Congo Square in New Orleans. Thousands across the globe are expected to participate in celebrations, including events in Belgium, France, Brazil, Algeria and Russia. (AP)
Horses enter and leave the race track in the early morning at Churchill Downs in Louisville, Kentucky. The historic track will host the 138th Kentucky Derby on Saturday. (AP)
Hanae Tsuji poses with artist Leonardo da Vinci's drawing "studies of the fetus in the womb c. 1510-13" at the Queen's Gallery at Buckingham Palace in London. The exhibition "Leonardo da Vinci: Anatomist" opens Friday and runs to October 7, 2012. (Reuters)
A man uses a machine to harvest tulips in a field in the northern German city of Schwaneberg. (AFP)
Laborers have lunch at a construction site in Sidon, southern Lebanon, ahead of May Day. (Reuters)
French shoe designer Christian Louboutin opens his first-ever retrospective exhibition at the Design Museum in London. The exhibit showcases how Louboutin has helped transform the design of the shoe over the past 20 years. (AP)
