Closeup: Best Pictures of the Week, April 29 – May 6
Closeup: Best Pictures of the Week, April 29 – May 6
1 minute read
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
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.
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 PressMay 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—EPAMay 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—ReutersMay 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—EPAMay 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—EPAMay 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—APMay 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—EPAMay 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—EPAMay 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—ReutersApril 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. PolarisMay 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—APMay 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—ReutersMay 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—Reuters01 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. EPAMay 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 TimesMay 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 ImagesMay 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/LandovMay 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
