Closeup: Best Pictures of the Week, April 29 – May 6

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This week: The killing of Osama bin Laden and reactions to it from around the world; NATO bombs Muammar Gaddafi’s compound in Tripoli, killing his son; the U.S. after tornadoes and flooding; remembering the Holocaust; the beatification of Pope John Paul II; Obama visits the World Trade Center Memorial.

See last week’s Pictures of the Week.

May 01, 2011. The remains of Pope John Paul II were exhumed for his beatification, the most important step toward sainthood. A million people showed up in St. Peter’s Square for the rites. But the most passionate pilgrim was his successor, Benedict XVI, kneeling before John Paul’s coffin, heir to and prisoner of the charismatic Pontiff’s historic and controversial legacies. —Stephan FarisAndrew Medichini—Pool/UPPA/Zuma Press
May 1, 2011. Berkutchis, or eagle hunters, launch their highly trained birds at the annual Salburun hunting festival in Tyup, Kyrgyzstan. These hunters have traditionally fed their families with these birds of prey, and the festival celebrates their archery skills as well as their ability to train birds and hounds for the hunt. Igor Kovalenko—EPA
May 2, 2011. Protesters in Taiz, Yemen, put on a motorcycle show for fellow demonstrators, calling for democratic reforms and the removal of President Ali Abdullah Saleh. They have trod carefully, however, since the news of the death of Osama bin Laden, urging activists not to celebrate his demise, out of fear of harsh government reprisals. Khaled Abdullah—Reuters
May 2, 2011. The day after al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden was shot dead by U.S. forces in Pakistan, members of the Islamic political party Jamiat Ulma-e-Islam Nazaryati take to the streets in Quetta, Pakistan. Marching en masse and in vehicles, the group shouted Islamic slogans and protested against the military operation that killed bin Laden. Musa Farma—EPA
May 3, 2011. A Palestinian worker in Jerusalem uses his break to catch up on news of Osama bin Laden’s death in Pakistan in a U.S. raid. While Israel’s leaders called the killing a triumph against terrorism, many Hamas members in the Gaza Strip condemned the American military action.Abir Sultan—EPA
May 2, 2011. Afghan men watch television coverage announcing the killing of Al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden at a local restaurant in Kabul, Afghanistan Monday. Musadeq Sadeq—AP
May 1, 2011. Burning wooden chairs are all that remain of a mob’s protest against the brutal killing of a legislator in Karachi, Pakistan. Liaquat Qureshi, a former assemblyman, was gunned down in his car by unidentified men on a motorcycle; he is among 463 people killed in the country this year in a violent wave of targeted assassinations. Rehan Khan—EPA
May 2, 2011. Frustrated commuters in Buenos Aires, Argentina, threw rocks and eventually set fire to eight trains in three stations after a derailment led to long delays in service. Police have arrested three suspects who exploited the fracas to loot ticket boxes at one station. DPA/Newscom
May 1, 2011. Israeli soldiers stand guard at the Holocaust memorial in Jerusalem during Remembrance Day. Israeli leaders, Holocaust survivors, their children and families memorialize the 6 million who died by lighting six torches. The next morning, the entire country stops to remember those lost as a siren sounds for two minutes. Oliver Weiken—EPA
May 1, 2011. Churchgoers comfort one another during a service at what had been the site of the Phil Campbell Church of God in Phil Campbell, Ala., until tornadoes leveled the building as well as much of the town. In one day, more than 220 twisters whipped through seven Southern states, killing upwards of 230 people. Lee Celano—Reuters
April 30, 2011. President Barack Obama keeps his best game face at the annual White House Correspondents’ Association dinner with the political media in Washington as he and First Lady Michelle listen to the national anthem. Just over 24 hours later, he was watching the U.S. raid he green-lighted that killed Osama bin Laden. Jason Reed—Reuters
May 1, 2011, Washington, District of Columbia, USA: United States President Barack Obama listens during one in a series of meetings discussing the mission against Osama bin Laden, in the Situation Room of the White House. Osama bin Laden was killed May 2, 2011 when a US Special Forces team stormed his compound in Abbottabad, Pakistan. Polaris
May 5, 2011. President Barack Obama, lower center, shakes hands with first responders as he arrives for a wreath laying ceremony at the September 11 Memorial at the World Trade Center site in New York.Mark Lennihan—AP
May 4, 2011. A resident tries to look into the compound where al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden was reported to have been killed in Abbottabad. Bin Laden was unarmed when U.S. special forces shot and killed him, the White House said, as it tried to establish whether its ally Pakistan had helped the al Qaeda leader elude a worldwide manhunt. Faisal Mahmood—Reuters
May 5, 2011. A young boy plays with a tennis ball in front of the compound where U.S. Navy SEAL commandos reportedly killed al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden in Abbottabad, Pakistan. In apparent reference to old rival India, officials said on Thursday any country that tried to raid its territory in the way U.S. forces did to kill Osama bin Laden would face consequences from its military. Akhtar Soomro—Reuters
01 May 2011. Supporters of Leader Muammar Gaddafi stand near his damaged house, one day after it was hit by an airstrike, in Tripoli, Libya. Gaddafi's son Saif al-Arab Gaddafi, 29, was killed in the NATO airstrike. Three of Gaddafi's grandchildren were also reported to have been killed. Muammar Gaddafi and his wife survived the attack, despite being in the same house on the Bab al-Aziziya compound, which was struck by at least three missiles. EPA
May 2, 2011. A rebel welder works to mount a 57 mm air to surface rocket pod to the back of a pickup truck at a workshop in Misratah, Libya, When fighting began in Misratah, the rebels had almost no firearms, but now workers with the skills to weld and modify weapons have helped increase their firepower. Bryan Denton—The New York Times
May 4, 2011. Libyan rebel fighters and their supporters hoist a former Libyan monarchy flag, which has been adopted by the Libyan revolution, at the city square in Libya's eastern city Benghazi. Muammar Gaddafi's government was mulling extending the deadline for rebels in Libya's third city Misrata to lay down their arms after the deputy foreign minister said scores had surrendered. Saeed Khan—AFP/Getty Images
May 4, 2011. Cars are seen in floods in the town of Cairo, Illinois, the United States. Intense storms and record-breaking rains brought about heavy flooding in southern Illinois and neighboring states, forcing the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to explode the water levee on the Mississippi River to ease the intense flooding in the town of Cairo.Armand B. Frasco—Xinhua/Landov
May 3, 2011. A devotee prepares to take a holy dip at Matathirtha to observe Mother's Day in Kathmandu, Nepal. Families whose mothers have passed away take a holy wash at Matathirtha to commemorate the departed. Navesh Chitrakar—Reuters

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