Closeup: Best Pictures of the Week, May 13 – May 20
Closeup: Best Pictures of the Week, May 13 – May 20
1 minute read
May 15, 2011. Rebels continued to make gains in their struggle to end Muammar Gaddafi’s 42-year rule, with fighting intensifying in the mountains of western Libya. Here, civilian volunteers in the rebel army work an obstacle course in Benghazi, the country’s second largest city and the rebels’ main stronghold.Mohammed Salem—Reuters
This Week: Violence along Israel’s borders; Mississippi floods; Libyan rebels in training; IMF chief Dominique Strauss-Khan in court; Haitian President Michel Martelly’s inauguration; an Israeli illusionist stands tall; “Spiderman” climbs Turkey’s tallest building; a Chinese bride’s wedding day suicide jump thwarted; and a citizen journalist captures a photo of space shuttle Endeavor as it lifts off for the last time.
May 15, 2011. Rebels continued to make gains in their struggle to end Muammar Gaddafi’s 42-year rule, with fighting intensifying in the mountains of western Libya. Here, civilian volunteers in the rebel army work an obstacle course in Benghazi, the country’s second largest city and the rebels’ main stronghold.Mohammed Salem—ReutersMay 10, 2011. Soldiers from the Libyan army are held by opposition forces at a detention facility in Misratah. The rebel facility houses more than a hundred such prisoners, who describe the hardships they suffered on the battlefield and the deceptions and betrayals they suffered at the hands of the officers who led them.
Bryan Denton—New York TimesMay 14, 2011. Women observe an anti Moammar Gadhafi demonstration from a burnt building in central Benghazi, Libya.Rodrigo Abd—APMay 13, 2011. An Afghan boy carries his kite on a hill in Kabul. An Afghan policeman shot dead two soldiers from the US-led NATO coalition, the latest incident of a gunman in uniform targeting foreign personnel, NATO officials said.Manan Vatsyayana—Getty ImagesMay 13, 2011. A man injured in a suicide-bomb attack on a paramilitary academy in northwestern Pakistan awaits treatment at a hospital in Peshawar. The attack, which killed at least 69 people, was allegedly in retaliation for the raid that killed Osama bin Laden.
K. Parvez—ReutersMay 15, 2011. Palestinian protesters carry a boy who was injured when Israeli soldiers opened fire at a rally in Maroun al-Ras, Lebanon. The soldiers fired when protesters approached the Israeli border; four people were killed. The rally marked the anniversary of Israel’s founding, when many Palestinians were displaced.
Mohammed Zaatari—APMay 13, 2011. A Palestinian refugee shouts anti-Israel slogans during a demonstration to mark the 63rd anniversary of "Nakba", Arabic for "Catastrophe", on in Shouneh west of Amman, Jordan. Thousands of Jordanians gathered near the Israeli border in the Jordan Valley calling for an end to the Palestinian occupation. Palestinians began marking the 'Nakba' or 'catastrophe' which befell them following Israel's establishment in 1948. Salah Malkawi—Getty ImagesMay 15, 2011. A member of the National Guard mans a levee as floodwaters approach Butte La Rose, La. On the previous day, Army engineers opened a key spillway to allow water from the swollen Mississippi to flood thousands of homes and acres of crops. Better that than flooding more populous New Orleans and Baton Rouge.Eric Thayer—ReutersMay 17, 2011. Farmers work as floodwaters from the Mississippi river creep across their fields in Natchez, Miss.The Coast Guard said it closed the Mississippi River at the port in Natchez, Miss., on Tuesday because barge traffic could increase pressure on the levees. Heavy flooding from Mississippi tributaries has displaced more than 4,000 in the state, about half of them upstream from Natchez in the Vicksburg area. Dave Martin—APMay 19, 2011. A boy cools off on a hot summer day in the waters of Dal Lake in Srinagar, Kashmir. Many parts of northern India are facing severe hot weather conditions with temperatures hitting 44 degrees Celsius (111 degrees Fahrenheit) in many places. Fayaz Kabli—ReutersMay 19, 2011. A man suspected to have links with a suicide bomber who blew himself up walks at a police office in Cirebon, Indonesia. The suicide bomber attacked the Indonesian police compound and wounded 26 people during Friday prayers at a mosque beside the compound in the town of Cirebon, about 200 km (124 miles) southeast of Jakarta last month. Widodo Yusuf—ReutersMay 19, 2011. Laborers work at the construction site of a commercial complex in the eastern Indian city of Bhubaneswar. The infrastructure sector accounts for just over a quarter of India's industrial output. ReutersMay 13, 2011. A woman stands next a contestant who is reflected in a mirror as he prepares for a national bodybuilding competition in the southern Israeli city of Ashdod. Some 43 male and females bodybuilders and fitness professionals competed in 11 categories of the competition which was held in an aim to discover local talent to represent Israel in international contests. Amir Cohen—ReutersMay 16, 2011. IMF director general Dominique Strauss-Kahn seen through the a video camera stands before judge Melissa Jackson in Manhattan Criminal Court as he is arraigned on charges of attempted rape and criminal sexual contact in New York City. Strauss-Kahn was taken into custody by the New York City Police Department on May 14, 2011 after he boarded a plane for Paris, France, at John F. Kennedy International airport on charges stemming from an alleged attack on a maid at the Sofitel Hotel near Times Square. Andrew Gombert_Pool/AFP/Getty ImagesMay 14, 2011. A Haitian in Port-au-Prince applauds the inauguration of his country’s new leader, Michel Martelly, who is flanked by two other Presidents in a poster. Martelly, a former musician also known as Sweet Micky, won in a runoff election in April.
Allison Shelley—Getty ImagesMay 16, 2011. In Mitchells Plain, near Cape Town, rioters built burning barricades to protest inadequate housing. The clashes have gone on for several days. Housing is a major issue facing South Africa’s ruling party, the African National Congress, in the upcoming elections.
Nic Bothma—EPAMay 15, 2011. Would-be migrants swathed in blankets wait in line at the Spanish port of Motril. 65 immigrants from Africa were picked up in a fishing boat off the southern coast of Spain.
Jon Nazca—ReutersMay 19, 2011. Israeli illusionist and endurance artist Hezi Dean stands atop of a tower where he intends to remain for 35 hours, at Rabin square in Tel Aviv, Israel. Dean started his most recent stunt Wednesday in an attempt to break the record of American illusionist and endurance artist David Blaine. Dean was raised on the 27-meters high tower Wednesday morning and aims to remain there with no food until Thursday evening, for a total of 35-hours. Ariel Schalit—APMay 17, 2011. A man pulls a woman dressed in her wedding gown to safety after she attempted suicide when her husband-to-be refused to go ahead with their wedding plans in Changchun, northeast China's Jilin province on China's suicide rate has fallen over the years, thanks to a decline in rural women taking their own lives, attributed to mass migration to urban areas, which has pulled many rural women out of subordinate roles in their families. AFP/Getty ImagesMay 17, 2011. French climber Alain Robert, also known as "Spiderman", scales the 261-metres-high (856.3 feet) Sapphire Tower in Istanbul. Sapphire Tower is Turkey's highest building.Osman Orsal —ReutersMay 17, 2011. A Pakistani child, with his face covered with flies, sits inside a wooden cart in an alley of a slum on the outskirts of Islamabad, Pakistan.Muhammed Muheisen—APMay 19, 2011. Pakistani Khalid Akeel, 13, organizes mosquito nets to attract customers outside the shop where he works, in the Pakistani town of Taxila.Muhammed Muheisen—APMay 13, 2011. A woman passes behind more than four thousand flags, meant to represent the amount of pink slips issued to area teachers, during a rally for teachers in San Diego. Thousands of California teachers rallied in cities throughout the state Friday to demonstrate against the threat of deep education cuts and to appeal to Republican lawmakers to raise tax revenue for public schools. Gregory Bull—APMay 19, 2011. South Korean Army tanks move during a live fire drill against possible attacks from North Korea at Seungjin fire range in Pocheon, about 46 km (28 miles) northeast of Seoul and about 15 km (9 miles) south of the demilitarized zone separating the two Koreas. Lim Byeong-Shik—Yonhap/ReutersMay 15, 2011. As they fly over Helmand province, a volatile area in southern Afghanistan, a U.S. Navy combat nurse tends to an Afghan soldier. They were on a medevac helicopter from the U.S. Army’s Task Force Lift “Dust Off.” The soldier was suffering from stab wounds.
Kevin Frayer—APMay 16, 2011. This citizen journalism photo taken with a cell phone by Stefanie Gordon aboard a passenger flight from New York to Palm Beach, Fla. shows the space shuttle Endeavor as it streaks toward orbit shortly after liftoff. Gordon says she had just awakened from a nap on the flight when the pilot announced the shuttle might come into view. Stefanie Gordon—APMay 17, 2011. On Vesak Day, an annual celebration of Buddha’s birth, enlightenment and death, Buddhists carrying candles encircle the Dhammakaya temple on the outskirts of Bangkok.Damir Sagolj—Reuters
