News In Pictures

[M.Bison]

About 200 community members gather at the Oakland Asian Cultural Center to denounce a beating that ended with the death of 59-year-old Yu Tian Sheng . Police said Mr Yu and his son Yu Jin Cheng were shopping in downtown Oakland when suspects, Lavonte Drummer and Dominic Davis confronted the son and punched him. When the elder Yu later confronted them, they allegedly punched him, causing him to fall and strike his head on the pavement. -- PHOTO: AP

Sam Granillo, a Columbine survivor, places flowers at the grave site of classmates Rachel Joy Scott and Corey Tyler DePooter at Chapel Hill Memorial Gardens in Colorado at the 11th anniversary of the shooting at Columbine High School. Miss Scott and Mr DePooter were among those who were killed. Mr Granillo was a junior at the time of the shootings. -- PHOTO: AP

Elderly men play traditional instruments during a religious procession in Mayong village in India. The procession is a part of a local festival celebrating the Assamese New Year. -- PHOTO: AP



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[M.Bison]

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An employee of Japanese jeweller Tanaka Kikinzoku stands next to miniature versions of samurai armor made from pure gold and valued at US$32,000 (S$43,887), at the company's showroom in Tokyo. It will be displayed on May 5 to celebrate the Boy's Festival in where according to Japanese tradition, parents decorate samurai dolls wishing their children will grow up to be healthy and robust. -- PHOTO: AFP
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Marijuana saleswoman Marissa Dodd (left) bags up a sale for a customer at Dr. Reefer's marijuana dispensary in Colorado. Colorado, one of 14 states to allow use of medical marijuana, has experienced an explosion in marijuana dispensaries, trade shows and related businesses in the last year as marijuana use becomes more mainstream here. -- PHOTO: AFP
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A man reads a French national newspaper displaying an advertisment for the Catholic Church. The Catholic Church launched a campaign until to attract new candidates for priesthood and to mark World Vocational Day celebrated on April 25. Advertisment reads in French, 'I am a man like others. I accompany people during big events in their lives. I am passionate about Christ and i'm saying it. I love life. I am a priest!.' -- PHOTO: AFP
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[M.Bison]

An ethnic Tibetan cries during a day of mourning for victims in the earthquake-hit Jiegu town of Yushu county. Horns and sirens sounded and crowds bowed their heads in mourning in the western Chinese province where an earthquake a week ago devastated the heavily Tibetan county of Yushu. -- PHOTO: REUTERS

Cracked land caused by a recent dry spell is seen next to a box of tomatoes on Cuban farmer Juan Mendoza's private cooperative land in the village of Campo Florido, 40 kilometres from Havana. Most land and agriculture is under state control in Cuba, but the island has 250,000 small farmers and 1,100 private cooperatives who, together, produce 70 per cent of agricultural output on less than a third of the available land. -- PHOTO: REUTERS

A woman walks on top of approximately 219,000 imitation cigarettes in Central Sydney. In an attempt to highlight the need for smokers to seek professional help, a floor area at Martin Place will be covered with 219,000 imitation cigarettes. -- PHOTO: REUTERS



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[M.Bison]

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Indian relax at dusk in Allahabad on. Temperatures in northern India already hover around 44 degree Celsius. -- PHOTO: AFP

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Baby sand hill cranes and their mothers search for food along a road west of Pembroke Pines, Fla. Local residents report the baby birds are a few weeks old and the four birds live near the local landfill. -- PHOTO: AP​

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A horse walks through falling snow on the Berjanes farm near the town of Hvolsvollur, Iceland. Ash from a volcano that erupted beneath Iceland's Eyjafjallajokull glacier, has contaminated the farm's grazing land making it necessary to evacuate all animals. -- PHOTO: AP


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[M.Bison]

An old Bedouin woman is seen milking a goat in Al- Jafr area, south of Amman, Jordan, where large populations of Bedouins live. -- PHOTO: AP

A Bedouin family is seen eating the traditional meal of Mensaf (meat, rice and yoghurt) inside their tent in Al- Jafr area, south of Amman, Jordan, where large populations of Bedouins live. Bedu, the Arabic word from which the name Bedouin is derived means 'Inhabitant of the desert'. Most of the Bedouin tribes of Jordan are descended from peoples who migrated from the Arabian Peninsula between the 14th and 18th centuries. -- PHOTO: AP

Spanish matador Jose Maria Manzanares celebrates after defeating a bull during a bullfight in the Maestranza bullring in Seville. -- PHOTO: REUTERS



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[M.Bison]

Nubbins arrives at the premiere of 'The Back-up Plan' in Westwood, California, on April 21, 2010. -- PHOTO: AFP

A dancer performs a traditional Sufi (Al-Tannoura Egyptian folk dance) at a theatre in Sharm el-Sheikh. -- PHOTO: REUTERS

A worker prepares to destroy pirated CDs and DVDs during a campaign against piracy in Taiyuan, Shanxi province. Some 210,000 DVDs, CDs and soft wares and books were destroyed during the campaign, according to local media. -- PHOTO: REUTERS



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[Taishi Ci]

Three-year-old Jackson Hazlett of Portland, Ore. caresses the back of his father's head after the two were reunited at The Chiles Center at the University of Portland. Sgt. Ryan Hazlett has been serving in Iraq. Oregon Army National Guard troops with the 41st Infantry Brigade arrived to Portland for their demobilization ceremonies. In all, about 2,700 Oregon Army National Guard soldiers will be returning to home over the next week after 10 months in Iraq. -- PHOTO: AP

An image of she-wolf with Romulus and Remus is projected on the buidings of the Piazza del Popolo in central Rome, during the performance to celebrate the anniversary of the legendary foundation of the city of Rome, on April 21, 753 B.C. -- PHOTO: AFP

African immigrants talk through a barricaded gate at the Hal Far Open Centre outside Valletta. The immigrants barricaded the entrance of the centre in protest at the squalid living conditions and because they were not allowed to install loudspeakers to relay Muslim prayers across the whole camp. -- PHOTO: REUTERS


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[Taishi Ci]

Members of Cuba's Giganteria group carry a giant figure known as La Tarasca during a rally to mark the International Earth Day in Havana. People filled La Tarasca with messages and then burnt it to cleanse themselves of bad things and hate. -- PHOTO: AP

Women wearing traditional Sevillana dresses eat candy floss at a fair in Seville. -- PHOTO: REUTERS

Inmates wearing Mexico's, Brazil's, France's, Russia's and South Africa's national soccer uniform, cheer prior to the start of an indoor soccer championship at the Miguel Castro Castro prison in Lima. -- PHOTO: AP


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[Taishi Ci]

A security worker guards a Chinese-made Karry vans booth as a worker dressed in cartoon mini-van shape costumes stands behind to attract visitors at the Beijing auto show Auto China 2010 in Beijing, China. -- PHOTO: AP

A Kenyan artist mixes paints as he prepares an anti-pirate graffiti on a wooden board at the sprawling Kibera slums in Kenya's capital Nairobi. Pirate attacks around the world fell by over a third in the first quarter versus the same period last year although Somali gangs who accounted for over half the incidents were striking deeper offshore, a watchdog said. -- PHOTO: REUTERS

Music fountain performs at the Wynn Macau. Billionaire Steve Wynn opened his latest hotel and casino in Macau Wednesday and said he aims to start building a massive new resort in the Chinese gambling mecca next year. -- PHOTO: AP



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[Taishi Ci]

Volunteers from the Legg Mason company help plant a tree on Earth Day on Sherman Avenue in northern Manhattan's Washington Heights neighborhood in New York, joining 300 other volunteers in the Root for New York corporate challenge. New York Restoration Project and City Year New York joined to support Milllion Trees NYC, an effort to plant one million new trees across New York City by 2017. -- PHOTO: AP

The coffin of former International Olympic Committee president Juan Antonio Samaranch is being carried to Barcelona's cathedral for a funeral mass. Samaranch, one of the longest-serving presidents of the IOC, passed away from a cardiorespiratory arrest at a Barcelona hospital on April 21, 2010 at the age of 89. Hundreds of people, including top athletes and politicians, paid tribute to Samaranch as he lay in wait in Barcelona. -- PHOTO: AFP

Marking the 40th anniversary of Earth Day and the importance of marine conservation, a coalition of groups demonstrate together to educate the public about the crisis currently facing whales and rally against renewed commercial whaling during an Earth Day event on the National Mall in Washington, DC. -- PHOTO: AFP



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[Taishi Ci]

The Northern Lights are seen above the ash plume of Iceland's Eyjafjallajokull volcano in the evening. -- PHOTO: REUTERS

A person is reflected in a window displaying the model of Volvo Electric C30 car at the Beijing Auto Show in Beijing. China overtook the United States as the world's biggest auto market in terms of number of vehicles sold in 2009, helped by Beijing's incentives. -- PHOTO: REUTERS

A view of a street in Havana. -- PHOTO: REUTERS


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[Taishi Ci]

A turtle stands on a rock at the Botanic Gardens in Medellin. -- PHOTO: REUTERS

Spanish matador Ruben Pinar performs a pass on a bull during a bullfight in The Maestranza bullring in Seville. -- PHOTO: REUTERS

A baby camel lies in its enclosure, at the zoo in Zurich, Switzerland. -- PHOTO: AP


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[Taishi Ci]

A cone-shaped "Sun Valley" is lit up at the 2010 World Expo site in Shanghai . China is the first developing nation to host the World Expo and officials hope the event, held from May 1-Oct 31, will improve Shanghai's position as a global city. -- PHOTO: REUTERS

An activist from environmental action group Greenpeace carry portraits of victims from the 1986 Chernobyl nuclear plant disaster during an anti-nuclear protest outside Indonesia's Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources in Jakarta, marking the 24th anniversary of the world's worst nuclear accident in Ukraine and to denounce Indonesia's plans to use nuclear energy. -- PHOTO: AFP

Members of the Japanese performance group "Medaman-Medaman" wearing large eyeballs watches a sleeping baby on a street in Yokohama, suburban Tokyo. Thousands people enjoyed street performances at the annuanl Noge street performance festival. -- PHOTO: AFP


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[Taishi Ci]

Argentinian activists shout slogans in the San Martin International bridge, which links the city of Gualeguaychu in Argentina and Fray Bentos in Uruguay, 300 km northwest of Montevideo, during a march to protest against the International Court of Justice (ICJ) judgment in the dispute between the neighbouring countries over a paper mill, owned by Finnish firm Botnia. . -- PHOTO: AFP

A woman lights a candle at a memorial dedicated to firefighters who died from the Chernobyl nuclear disaster, during a night service near the Chernobyl plant in the city of Slavutych, some 200 km north of Kiev. Ukraine on Monday marked the 24th anniversary of the world's worst nuclear tragedy when Chernobyl's reactor No. 4 exploded, sending radioactive clouds in the air, poisoning vast areas in Ukraine, Belarus and Russia, and contaminating much of Europe. -- PHOTO: REUTERS

Protesters hold up signs during a rally in New York City. The protestors are protesting against the Obama Administration's treatment of Israel, according to organisers. -- PHOTO: REUTERS


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[Taishi Ci]

Susan Shamel, left, dressed as a coal plant, Roger Shamel, both of Lexington, Mass., and Geneva Boyer, 18, of Newton, Mass., dressed as a polar bear, attend The Climate Rally, an Earth Day concert, on the National Mall in Washington. -- PHOTO: AP

Kosovo Albanians watch from the tree as they attend a ceremony in the village of Vermnice of a multi-million euro highway as the biggest ever infrastructure project of the newly declared state. -- PHOTO: AFP

A pack of riders climb a hill during the Liege-Bastogne-Liege Classic cycling race in Ans, eastern Belgium. Alexandre Vinokourov of Kazakhstan won the race ahead of second-placed Alexandr Kolobnev of Russia and third-placed Alejandro Valverde of Spain. -- PHOTO: REUTERS


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[Taishi Ci]

Palestinian sheep herders walk their sheep up a sand dune in an area formerly known as the Jewish settlement bloc of Gush Katif in Khan Younis, southern Gaza Strip. -- PHOTO: AP

Three day old pinto stallion named Einstein born Friday at Tiz a miniature Horse Farm sits with St. Bernard, Hannah in Barnstead, N.H. The diminutive horse born in New Hampshire could lay claim to the world record for lightweight foal. The pinto stallion named Einstein weighed just 6 pounds and measured 14 inches in height when he was born Friday in Barnstead, N.H. -- PHOTO: AP

An Emirati man looks at a painting by Lebanese artist Zena al-Khalil, exhibited by Christie's in Dubai. Christie's will host its seventh auction of international modern and contemporary art in the Gulf emirate. -- PHOTO: AFP


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[Taishi Ci]

An American flag is refracted in rain drops on a car window in Kingdom City, Mo. Rain continued across much of the central United States as a slow moving storm moved through the area. -- PHOTO: AP

US Secret Service agents secure the airport as US President Barack Obama arrives in Backley, West Virginia to attend a memorial service for the 29 men, killed April 5 in the worst US mining disaster in decades. -- PHOTO: AFP

Flynn and Elizabeth Kennick, dressed as Avatar characters, take part in the Earth Day celebration on the National Mall in Washington. -- PHOTO: AP


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[Taishi Ci]

Performers undertake a rehearsal for the upcoming Shanghai World Expo in Beijing. Along with daily parades, fireworks and other festivities, the Shanghai World Expo's 192 participating countries are contributing to a six-month calendar of music, dance and stage shows. -- PHOTO: AFP

A 28-member Sri Lankan troupe from "Chandana Wickramasinghe and the Dancers Guild" present a dance show entitled "Sri Lak Rangana", a fusion between contemporary and traditional choreography, in Kuwait City on the opening night of the Sri Lanka Cultural Week in the Gulf emirate. -- PHOTO: AFP

French grain farmers drive their tractors towards Paris during a nation-wide day of protest against deteriorating economic conditions due to the fall of economic prices. Thousands of French grain farmers, many on tractors, converged on Paris early on Tuesday demanding urgent government action to boost prices to counter sharp falls in income in the past two years. -- PHOTO: REUTERS



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[Taishi Ci]

A Myanmar Buddhist nun lights candles at Mallamu Pagoda in Yangon,Myanmar. Annually, Buddhists in Myanmar celebrate Buddha's birthday at pagoda sand temples across the country on the full moon day in April or May. During the celebration, Buddhists pour water on Bodhi Trees, the same specie of Banyan tree under which Gotama Buddha gained enlightenment over 2500 years ago in India and recite religious verses at temples or pagodas. -- PHOTO: AP

Tornado damage along Alabama 75 in Albertville, Ala. The National Weather Service said the tornado touched down near Marshall County's Hyatt community and sliced through Albertville, Geraldine and Mentone. -- PHOTO: AP

Young Belarusian protesters take part in a rally to commemorate Chernobyl nuclear disaster in Minsk. Several hundred people gathered on Monday in Minsk to mark the 24th anniversary of the Chernobyl nuclear disaster, in what has become an annual gathering of opposition activists. -- PHOTO: AFP


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[Taishi Ci]

Members of the municipal police take part in the funeral of municipal policewoman Agustina Nevarez Soto, 22, in Ciudad Juarez, Mexico. Nevarez died on April 23 along with another municipal officer, four federal police officers and a civilian, in a shootout in Mexico's most violent city, Ciudad Juarez, on the border with the United States. -- PHOTO: AFP

A girl runs along empty spectator seats during a Russian Cup soccer match between Dinamo Stavropol and Krasnodar 2000 at Dinamo stadium in Stavropol. -- PHOTO: REUTERS

A couple walks along a dyke with spring flowers at the North Sea coastal village of Norddeich. -- PHOTO: REUTERS



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