Memories Of 2010 - Days In History - MAY 2010 Part 1

CONTINUE TO MAY 2010

In New York City Sunday, children played with cherry blossoms, would-be elevator operators looked for a way up, a film festival was underway and a dead body was found under a bridge. 

A man and a dog stood along the waterfront in the DUMBO neighborhood of Brooklyn.

Lillian Rodriguez Lopez, president of the Hispanic Federation, spoke at a press conference in lower Manhattan to protest of a new Arizona law cracking down on illegal immigration. At center is the Rev. Al Sharpton.

Peter Foltmer of Elmont and Edwin Henry of Queens waited in line on 35th Street in Long Island City where the Local 3 elevator mechanics’ union was dispensing applications for apprenticeships.

Police officers covered a dead body that was found under the Greenpoint Avenue Bridge in Brooklyn.

People stopped Sunday to pay their respects at a shrine to James Williams, killed on West 118th Street in Manhattan Saturday.

Children played with the last of the cherry blossoms at the Brooklyn Botanic Garden.

Pedestrians on Main Street in Flushing, Queens, shielded themselves from the rain.

The red carpet was empty before a screening of “Meet Monica Velour” as part of the Tribeca Film Festival at SVA Theater.

A woman walked past the “Spirit of Harlem” mosaic at Eighth Avenue and West 125th Street in the Harlem neighborhood of Manhattan.

COLORFUL KITE: Thomas Schroeder adjusted his turbine-kite in the North Sea coastal village of Norddeich, Germany, Monday.

HEAD IN A HOLE: A man put his head into a hole to see Denmark’s iconic Little Mermaid statue at the opening Sunday of the Denmark Pavilion at the World Expo in Shanghai. The famed statue made its first trip abroad in its 96-year history.

LOOKING UP: World Trade Organization Director General Pascal Lamy (center, back row) looked up during a group photo at an International Monetary Fund/World Bank spring meeting in Washington Sunday.

NEWS CONFERENCE: Massey Energy CEO Don Blankenship (second from right) and other company officials announced Monday in Charleston, W.Va., that air samples did not show high levels of explosive gases before a blast killed 29 miners earlier this month.

BLOWN AWAY: Tommy Backstrom and his wife, Debbie, stood in front of what used to be their home in Yazoo City, Miss., Sunday. A massive tornado damaged structures and killed at least 10 people in rural Mississippi and two in Alabama.

24 YEARS LATER: A woman placed a framed photograph of her husband, who died during the cleanup after the Chernobyl explosion, at a memorial site in Kiev Monday. The 1986 explosion spread radiation over much of Europe.

PRAYING FOR STRENGTH: Antigovernment protesters prayed during a ceremony Monday in Bangkok to remember the Red Shirt protesters who have died in the conflict. Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva has rejected a compromise offer to end weeks of protests if he dissolves parliament and holds elections.

SHOUTING OUT: A pro-government supporter shouted slogans at a member of the Ladies in White, a group of women with relatives who are political prisoners, during a rally in Havana Sunday.

HUG IT OUT: Combatants hugged after competing in an authentic reproduction of a 14th-century tournament held by the Academy of European Medieval Martial Arts in Toronto Sunday.

HELD BACK: The San Antonio Spurs’ Manu Ginobili was grabbed from behind by the Dallas Mavericks’ Eduardo Najera during their NBA playoff game Sunday in San Antonio. Mr. Najera was called for a flagrant foul and ejected from the game; the Spurs won 92-89.

GREEN MEANS GO: Rene Perez, of the Puerto Rican band Calle 13, performed during the “Vive Latino” music festival in Mexico City Sunday. Mr. Perez’s back reads, “Green light to invade Arizona,” in reference to a new state law that criminalizes illegal immigration.

READY TO SWIM: Swimmers rode on a boat to the starting point of the “Swim Across the Orinoco and the Caroni Rivers Race” in San Felix, Venezuela, Sunday. Hundreds of swimmers participated.

COLLAPSED: A hillside collapsed onto a major highway in Keelung, Taiwan, Sunday, burying three cars. Authorities, who blamed several days of rain for the collapse, have been unable to locate the motorists.

KICKING THROUGH: Protesters trying to force their way to the presidential palace in Manila clashed with riot police during an antigovernment rally Monday. They demanded that President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo promptly step down when her term ends June 30.

MEETING IN THE MIDDLE: Napoli midfielder Marek Hamsik (left) fought for the ball with Cagliari goalkeeper Federico Marchetti during their match in Naples, Italy, Sunday.

SHANTY FIRE: A resident carried a karaoke machine to safety as fire gutted shanties in Quezon, Philippines, Sunday. At least one resident was killed, 600 homes were destroyed and more than 10,000 people were left homeless.

VIEW FROM THE TOP: A man held a boy up to watch firefighters tackle a rooftop blaze at a London apartment building Wednesday. The building was extensively damaged, but no one was injured.

GETTING EGGED: Eggs thrown by students protesting against proposed restrictions on part-time work hit riot police officers’ shields in front of Parliament in Ljubljana, Slovenia, Wednesday. The government also plans to reduce state scholarships and lower spending for students’ meals as part of a plan to reduce a budget deficit.

A LITTLE LAMB: Agriculture workers held up a lamb while shouting antigovernment slogans during a protest Wednesday in Bucharest against spending cuts to meet International Monetary Fund loan commitments.

GOING UP: Workers stacked sacks of maize in a warehouse in Mogadishu, Somalia, Wednesday. The World Food Program provisions are intended for distribution to the needy and internally displaced persons.

UNDER THE GUN: A protester lay dead in Bangkok Wednesday as the army stormed the Red Shirts’ encampment. Protest leaders surrendered earlier in the day, but clashes that left at least six people dead continued. A curfew was put into effect.

SHARING A SPACE: A stray dog fed her puppies as street children slept on a sidewalk in Katmandu, Nepal, Wednesday.

DEMANDING JUSTICE: Activists from India’s opposition Bharatiya Janata Party demanded the execution of Afzal Guru, who was involved in a 2001 militant attack on the Indian Parliament, during protests in New Delhi Wednesday.

FLEXING HER MUSCLE: First lady Michelle Obama flexed her muscles as she met with students during their physical activities class at a Silver Spring, Md., elementary school. The school was awarded the USDA’s HealthierUS School Challenge silver award in 2009.

DISCONNECTED: An activist from the Jamaat-e-Islami Party during protests Wednesday in Karachi, Pakistan, urged users to log off in protest of caricatures of the Prophet Mohammed published on Facebook. Pakistan temporarily blocked access to the site after a competition encouraged users to post the images.

LISTENING IN: Media members held audio recorders up to a speaker to hear a news conference with President Barack Obama and Mexican President Felipe Calderon at the White House Wednesday. The pair are working to address immigration.

FRIENDLY SKIES: A new Lufthansa Airbus A380 aircraft was welcomed at Frankfurt’s airport Wednesday.

SLEEPING OUT: A Palestinian man slept on the rubble of his house in Rafah, Gaza Strip, Wednesday. The Islamist Hamas rulers demolished more than 20 homes, claiming they were built without permits, according to a human-rights group.

MAKING TRACKS: French soccer players walked in the snow near their training camp in the French Alps resort of Tignes Wednesday.

WAIST DEEP: A man pushed his motorized two-wheeler through a flooded street in Chennai, India, Wednesday. Heavy rains and strong winds battered the area as forecasters warned that a cyclone would soon make landfall.

CHECKING IN: A man called his family from a hospital after getting hurt in a suicide attack on a NATO convoy in Kabul, Afghanistan, Tuesday. At least 18 people, including U.S. and Canadian troops, were killed.

CARRIED AWAY: Riot police carried off a medical professional who blocked train tracks Tuesday in Paris in protest of hospital working conditions. Some 2,500 nurse-anesthesiologists blocked the high-speed train, disrupting travel for thousands of passengers.

AWAITING WORD: Miners awaited word about 30 colleagues trapped in a methane-gas explosion at the Karadon coal mine in Zonguldak, Turkey, Monday. Rescue workers struggled to reach them Tuesday, dimming hopes that the miners would be found alive.

IN THE SHADOWS: Protesters hid after setting tires on fire in Bangkok Tuesday. The government rejected the Red Shirts’ proposal for peace talks, saying protesters must disperse first.

SPECTATOR SCUFFLE: Actor David Arquette, in purple, was somehow pulled into a skirmish involving security and a man while watching the Los Angeles Lakers and Phoenix Suns Western Conference finals game in Los Angeles Monday. The Lakers won 128-107.

ROWING ALONG: A man navigated floodwaters in Chelm Maly, Poland, Tuesday. Flooding in southern Poland has killed at least five people, while heavy rainfall is also causing flooding in parts of Hungary, Slovakia and the Czech Republic.

PICTURE PERFECT: A visitor took a picture of Mount Saint Helens in Washington state Tuesday, the 30th anniversary of the volcano’s 1980 eruption. The top 1,300 feet blew off the mountain, killing 57 people and knocking down 230 square miles of forest.

CASTING HIS BALLOT: Sen. Arlen Specter (D., Pa.) cast his vote Tuesday in Philadelphia during the Democratic primary. Mr. Specter, who switched from the Republican party, is facing questions about whether he is sufficiently loyal to party priorities.

COVERED UP: Men employed to clean up debris after a suicide attack Tuesday in Kabul, Afghanistan, took cover under wheelbarrows from sudden rainfall.

SEEKING COMFORT: Grieving relatives comforted each other Tuesday in Salang Pass, Afghanistan, where a plane carrying 44 people is believed to have crashed in the mountainous terrain Monday.

MORTGAGE OUTRAGE: Carmen Edwards waved her mortgage papers during a demonstration outside J.P. Morgan Chase’s annual shareholder meeting in Manhattan Tuesday. Demonstrators protested against the bank’s mortgage practices.

ALL ABOARD: People boarded a crowded train in New Delhi Tuesday.

SEAT’S TAKEN: Joints Chiefs of Staff Chairman Adm. Michael Mullen’s hat was stowed beneath his seat before his testimony to the Senate Foreign Relations Committee Tuesday in Washington about the Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty with Russia.

LITTLE MINHS: Gold-colored busts of Communist revolutionary figure Ho Chi Minh were displayed for sale near his mausoleum in Hanoi Tuesday.

Artist Tony Walker, in red pants, an operating room nurse at Johns Hopkins Hospital, prepared his sculpture, Chessie, right, at the start of the Kinetic Sculpture Race May 1. It was the tenth race for Fifi, center, a giant pink poodle entered by the American Visionary Art Museum, the race’s organizer.

The race entrants, known as “kinetinauts,” have their own pit crews. At left, Ivy Smith, a member of the pit crew for a team the called itself PLATYPUS (“Personal Long-range All-Terrain Yacht Proven Un-Safe”), waited for the race to begin.

“Some people think it’s trash on wheels,” says Theresa Segreti of the American Visionary Art Museum. “But it’s art.” The Going to Hell entry, left, featured a red devil’s head on its front.

The competition was inspired by a 1969 kinetic sculpture race in California started by the late sculptor Hobart Brown. The Baltimore race is the largest on the East Coast. Spectators lined the route for the 2010 race, at left watching from the top of Federal Hill Park.

Sarah Templin, left, and Theresa Segreti, pilots for the Fifi the pink poodle, dressed appropriately for the race.

Bumpo the Circus Elephant got a push along Warren Avenue at the start of the race.

The Moderately Famished Caterpillar, driven by six bicyclists, wound around Key Highway. It was one of two caterpillars in the race.

Frank Conlan and Shari Edelson rode Los Baltimuertos, a tribute to Baltimore’s endangered cart vendors, in the next-to-final leg of the race.

Spectators wore their own creative gear.

One of the entries, a life-size gingerbread house, had a surprise waiting for the water-bound portion of the race: lollipop paddles. For finishing in the middle of the pack, the Candy Haus team won the event’s most coveted prize, the “mediocre award.” 

Mr. Walker’s Chessie emerged from the Baltimore harbor as it neared the end of the water portion of the race.

Fifi also successfully completed the water portion of the race.

Members of the Platypus team struggled in the giant mud pit, where three large hills and valleys of knee-deep mud forced the crew to dismount and push.

Sarah Jennings lay exhausted on the pavement after her team’s sculpture, Circus Rat, emerged from Baltimore’s harbor. In all, the race lasted from 10 a.m. to 5:30 p.m., with teams assembling hours ahead of time, and it was people-powered from start to finish.

GRUESOME MAKEUP: Makeup artists demonstrated techniques for applying makeup, whether for film or beauty, at the Beautyworld Japan event in Tokyo Monday. Nearly 600 exhibitors from 23 countries and regions attend the annual show.

TIRES AND FIRE: Firemen worked at a cement warehouse in Manila Monday. No injuries or deaths were reported in the fire, which is under investigation.

CLEANSED SPIRIT: Supporters of Maj. Gen. Khattiya Sawasdipol poured water on a picture of him at his funeral in Bangkok Monday. He was shot Thursday during a clash. Protesters and the military clashed again Monday.

TOUCHING A KAFFIYEH: Palestinian children held up a large kaffiyeh, a traditional Arab headdress, during Nakba celebrations in Ramallah, in the West Bank, Monday. Nakba commemorates the uprooting of Palestinians who lost their homes in the Arab-Israeli War.

WATER TWISTER: A water spout formed in the water off of Bondi Beach in Sydney Monday. The rare site lasted about five minutes.

UNDERCOVER: A man sat under a table in his car-parts store as he waited for customers in Dhaka, Bangladesh, Monday.

LEGS LEFT: Prosthetic legs lay on a bed in a hospital that was evacuated Monday in Szikszo, Hungary, due to flash floods caused by heavy rainfall.

AT ATTENTION: Chinese soldiers prepared to perform a welcoming ceremony at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing Monday.

SORTING THEIR CATCH: Shrimpers separated their catch at a processing plant in Buras, La., Monday. BP said it was capturing about one-fifth of the estimated oil gushing from its ruptured undersea Gulf of Mexico well and hoped to increase that amount before trying to fully stop the flow later in the week.

SEEKING SHELTER: Army soldiers took cover from rain as they waited for rehearsals Monday in Colombo, Sri Lanka, for a Victory Day parade that’s scheduled for Thursday. The parade will mark Sri Lanka’s victory over Tamil forces.

ARRESTED: Two men were arrested while protesting Monday in New York over the issue of immigration reform.

A CLOSER LOOK: A villager looked through binoculars at the mountains where a Pamir Airways plane is believed to have crashed in the Salang Pass, near Kabul, Afghanistan, Monday. Dense fog hindered rescuers who tried to search for the 44 passengers onboard.

CLEAN CUT: U.S. Army Spc. Jay Villa of Long Beach, Calif., shaved his head outside his tent in Arghandab Valley, Afghanistan, Monday.

READY TO BOX: A young woman paused while hitting a punching bag during a boxing training session at a stadium in Kabul, Afghanistan, Monday. Women were banned from the sport under Taliban rule.

HAULED IN: A family member moved a blood-stained sofa back into a Detroit home Monday, a day after police searching for a homicide suspect burst in and an officer’s gun went off, fatally striking Aiyana Jones, 7, in the neck. State police will take over the investigation.

BOYS AT PLAY: Boys played Nintendo DS games in front of the official Pokemon store in Tokyo Sunday. Nintendo recently announced that the device is the best selling hand-held game of all time, with more than 125 million units sold since its launch in late 2004. Nintendo now plans to sell a portable 3-D gaming device.

FOLDING THE FLAG: An Army color guard folded a flag from Sgt. Nathan Kennedy’s casket during his funeral in Claysville, Pa., Sunday. Sgt. Kennedy, 24, was killed in action in Afghanistan on April 27.

RESCUE MISSION: On Monday, rescuers looked for 24 men missing in a deadly mine explosion in Kemerovo, Russia. Russian officials said Friday the search won’t resume for a week because of fears of another explosion at the site.

A CAREFUL REVIEW: A senior citizen prepared to cast her vote for president Monday in San Juan, Philippines. Apparent president-elect Sen. Benigno Aquino III, who leads the vote count, refused Friday to take the oath of office before a new chief justice, alleging impropriety in the appointment by outgoing President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo.

THE RABBIT HOLE: U.S. Army Specialist William Lembo of Brooklyn, N.Y., participated in a security operation in Kandahar province, Afghanistan, Monday. Meanwhile, Taliban militants announced a new offensive that will target foreign troops.

CAREFREE: Morgan Edmonds, 3, played on Alabama’s Dauphin Island Monday as a crew combed the beach for signs of oil from a well leaking offshore. So far, BP’s attempts to stop oil from a deadly April 20 explosion have failed.

TWIN TREATMENT: Schoolgirls received treatment in a hospital after falling ill in a suspected poisonous-gas attack at a school in Kabul, Afghanistan, Tuesday. Also Tuesday, four teachers and nine students were hospitalized after a bomb detonated under a stairwell at a boys’ school in Khost province.

DOUBLE DUTY: Crude oil and natural-gas options traders worked the floor of the New York Mercantile Exchange Tuesday. On Thursday, crude-oil futures tumbled to a three-month low.

PATCH JOB: Kevin Reynolds, a crew member of the Joe Griffin supply vessel, duct taped absorbent pads to hoses being used to transfer fuel to a vessel that drilled a relief well at the site of the Deepwater Horizon oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico Tuesday.

PLANE WRECKAGE: A policeman walked amid the debris of an Afriqiyah Airways plane that crashed during a landing at an airport in Tripoli, Libya, Wednesday; 103 people were killed. The plane may have been attempting a go-around in poor visibility, officials said.

FACING A CROWD: A Palestinian woman whose house has been occupied by Jewish settlers argued with Israelis who came to celebrate Jerusalem Day in the mainly Arab neighborhood of Sheikh Jarrah, East Jerusalem, Wednesday.

SEEING EYE TO EYE: New British Prime Minister David Cameron, left, talked with Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg on the steps of 10 Downing St. in London Wednesday. Mr. Cameron’s Conservative Party and Mr. Clegg’s Liberal Democrats have agreed to form Britain’s first coalition government since 1945.

SOLE SURVIVOR: Ruben Van Assouw, a 9-year-old Dutch boy, slept at a hospital in Tripoli, Libya, Thursday. He is the only known survivor of an Afriqiyah Airways flight carrying 104 people that crashed Wednesday. His father, mother and 11-year-old brother are believed to be among the dead. No one has told the boy yet, but his aunt and uncle rushed from the Netherlands to visit him.

GENERAL SHOT: Maj. Gen. Khattiya Sawasdipol was carried to an ambulance after being shot in the head at a fortified camp occupied by protesters in Bangkok Thursday. The chief military adviser to the antigovernment “Red Shirt” protesters underwent brain surgery and is in critical condition.

SPLISH SPLASH: A boy leapt into the River Ganges Friday in Kolkata to cool off. The temperature has reached as high as 113 degrees Fahrenheit in recent days.

PICTURES WITH THE POPE: Pope Benedict XVI arrived Friday in Porto, Portugal, to lead Mass. The pontiff wrapped up his four-day trip with an appeal to spread the faith.

FLYING HIGH: A girl held a balloon during a ceremony Friday in Rome to commemorate the 158th anniversary of the Italian State Police.

CRYING OUT: Women mourned a relative near Dhaka, Bangladesh, Friday. They say Chobir Ali, 50, was killed by a royal Bengal tiger.

WOMEN WORK: Employees of Luen Thai, an apparel and fashion-service provider, worked at a factory in Dongguan, Guangdong province, China, Friday.

PILED IN: Children sat in a car trunk in Aden, Yemen, Friday.

GENERAL SHOT: Maj. Gen. Khattiya Sawasdipol was carried to an ambulance after being shot in the head at a fortified camp occupied by protesters in Bangkok Thursday. The chief military adviser to the antigovernment “Red Shirt” protesters was seriously wounded.

UNSTABLE FOUNDATION: A home in Avalon, Penn., photographed Wednesday, shifted off its foundation on a hillside. Plans are under way to demolish the home.

BLACK SKY: Smoke billowed from a fire at a plastic factory in Qingdao, Shangdong province, China, Wednesday.

REFLECTING ON STOCKS: Pedestrians were reflected on an electronic stock board outside a securities firm in Tokyo Thursday. Japan’s benchmark Nikkei 225 stock average rose 2.2% with improving corporate earnings as European debt worries waned.

PASSING BY: As traffic zoomed by, men slept on a street median in Karachi, Pakistan, Thursday.

TRASH OR TREASURE: A boy scavenged through garbage at a landfill in Rio Hato, Panama, Wednesday. Human-rights organizations say extreme poverty remains an unresolved issue in the country.

SITTING PRETTY: Former Philippine first lady Imelda Marcos spoke to a reporter from a hotel in Laoag City, Philippines, Thursday. Ms. Marcos, who won a seat in the lower house of Congress, said she is confident she’ll win back much of her family’s seized wealth. Her husband was ousted in 1986 for allegedly amassing more than $10 billion while in office.

POPE IN PORTUGAL: A child was held up to Pope Benedict XVI before Mass in Fatima, Portugal, Thursday. About 400,000 people flooded the farming town, where three shepherd children reported having visions of the Virgin Mary in 1917.

FEELING FAINT: A pilgrim was carried on a stretcher during the pope’s Mass in Fatima Thursday. Many pilgrims spent the night outdoors to attend the event.

WHISTLE BLOWER: A trade-union member blew a whistle during a protest in front of the government headquarters in Bucharest Thursday. Romanian unions threatened a wave of strikes that could cripple hospitals, schools and public transit in protest of wage and pension cuts. The austerity measures are meant to keep International Monetary Fund aid.

BOMB AFTERMATH: The back half of a burnt out automobile sat in Dagestan, Russia, after a bomb exploded there Thursday, killing at least five people in the restive North Caucasus region.

SMOKE BREAK: Rescuers rested outside the Raspadskaya mine in Kemerovo, Russia, Thursday. Officials halted their search for 24 men missing in a mine disaster that killed at least 66 people last week because of fears of new underground blasts.

A DIFFERENT VIEW: Driver Jenson Button practiced on a Monaco racetrack Thursday as women relaxed on a terrace at a spa. The Monaco Formula One Grand Prix is May 16.

CRIME SCENE: Forensic personnel inspected the body of a man near the Santa Catarina River in Guadalupe, Mexico, Thursday. Three men were found dead in different parts of the city, two of them with their hands taped behind their backs, according to local media.

DO NOT CROSS: Police tape surrounded a home in Watertown, Mass., after FBI and Immigration and Customs Enforcement raided the home Thursday in connection with the failed Times Square bombing. Raids were also carried out in other states in the Northeast; several people were arrested.

PLANE WRECKAGE: A policeman walked amid the debris of an Afriqiyah Airways plane that crashed during a landing at an airport in Tripoli, Libya, Wednesday. A 10-year-old Dutch boy is the only known survivor on the flight of 104 from Johannesburg.

DELIVERY AT DOWNING: A deliveryman brought flowers and a balloon Wednesday to 10 Downing St. in London, new Prime Minister David Cameron’s residence. The flowers were to congratulate Mr. Cameron, now Britain’s youngest prime minister in 200 years.

MOVING DAY: Former British Prime Minister Gordon Brown’s items were removed from 10 Downing St. Wednesday, a day after Mr. Brown resigned.

EYE WIDE OPEN: Tanishka, 15 months old, had her eyes examined at an event for World Retinoblastoma Awareness Week in Hyderabad, India, Wednesday.

EVACUATED: Evacuated residents of Mereseburg, Germany were taken care of outside the city center Wednesday. The city was closed off while a World War II-era bomb was disposed of.

SLINGSHOT: An antigovernment protester pretended to use a slingshot in Bangkok’s shopping district Wednesday. Thai authorities prepared to cut water, electricity and food supplies to protesters after a compromise offer failed to end demonstrations.

CASUALTY: A gunman walked toward the body of a man killed during clashes between insurgents and government troops in Mogadishu, Somalia, Wednesday.

MOURNING: A Muslim woman cried on a flag-draped coffin during a mass funeral in Bratunac, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Wednesday. The bodies of dozens of Bosnian Muslims killed by Serb forces during 1992-1995 were given a proper burial.

FACE-OFF: An Israeli settler and a Palestinian man argued in front of a disputed house in Sheikh Jarrah, East Jerusalem, Wednesday.

EARTHQUAKE MEMORIAL: People attended a government mourning service in Sichuan province, China, Wednesday, two years after an earthquake there killed more than 68,000 people. About 18,000 people are still listed as missing.

WHEEL WELDING: A man welded wheels used on pushcarts in Karachi, Pakistan, Wednesday.

RAISING HIS VOICE: An 84-year-old retired army colonel protested outside a government building in Bucharest Wednesday. Romania announced last week it will cut pensions by 15% and government salaries by 25% to meet an International Monetary Fund deficit target.

BLAST VICTIM: Medical staff treated a victim at a hospital after a bomb blast in Peshawar, Pakistan, Wednesday. A bomb killed two students of a madrassa and wounded three others, police said.

SOLITARY PRAYERS: An ultra-Orthodox Jewish boy prayed in Nabi Samuel, West Bank, Wednesday, during celebrations for the prophet Samuel.

READY TO GRADUATE: Brian Asby adjusted Todd Hanlon’s gown in a subway station before Mr. Hanlon went to his New York University graduation ceremony at Yankee Stadium Wednesday.

A DIRECT HIT: Warren Waltz examined tornado damage at a truck stop east of Oklahoma City Tuesday. Tornadoes ripped through the Southern Plains Monday, killing at least five people as cars blew off highways and homes were toppled.

PACKED IN: Men struggled to board a packed commuter train at a station in Jakarta, Indonesia, Tuesday.

SUSPENDED: A worker left a mine Tuesday in Lanzhou, Gansu province, China, where a gas leak left at least nine people dead earlier in the day.

MINER MOURNED: Relatives mourned a victim of two coal-mine explosions in Mezhdurechensk, Russia, Tuesday. The death toll from the two explosions that hit the mine Saturday rose to 52 and hopes of finding survivors dimmed.

TWIN TREATMENT: Schoolgirls received treatment in a hospital after falling ill in a suspected poisonous-gas attack at a school in Kabul, Afghanistan, Tuesday. Also Tuesday, four teachers and nine students were hospitalized after a bomb detonated under a stairwell at a boys’ school in Khost province.

ELECTION AFTERMATH: A worker began to clear campaign posters from a large heap in Manila Tuesday, a day after voters cast their ballots for Filipino president. Sen. Benigno Aquino III is leading the count and will likely be the next president.

A PLASTIC PLAYGROUND: A boy walked amid plastic bottles at a junkyard in the village of Togga, India, Tuesday.

SEEPING THROUGH: Oil booms surrounded one of the Chandeleur Islands Monday to protect it from oil. BP, Halliburton and Transocean officials traded blame for the April 20 oil-rig explosion Tuesday during testimony before the Senate.

RESTLESS PASSENGER: A passenger sat on the ground at the airport in Seville, Spain, Tuesday. Ash from a volcano in Iceland reached North Africa, Turkey and Spain, causing flight delays and airport closures.

BREATHING EASIER: A worker wore a face mask to keep his airway clear of cement dust while working in Sunda Kelapa, Indonesia, Tuesday.

SCHOOL DRILL: Students ducked under a desk during an earthquake drill Tuesday in Yinchuan, Ningxia Hui, China.

IN THE MIDDLE: Protesters stood on a security fence under the watchful eyes of riot police during a demonstration in Cairo, Egypt, Tuesday against the government’s proposed extension of the state emergency already in place for decades.

BILLOWING: Firefighters battled a blaze at the National Paint factory in Sharjah, United Arab Emirates, Tuesday.

TEARS OF OIL: Protesters wore black “oil” teardrops during a Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee hearing about the deadly explosion last month in the Gulf of Mexico.

MILITARY DRESS: World War II veterans attended a military parade Sunday in Kiev, Ukraine, to celebrate the victory over Nazi troops.

POLES RALLY: Protesters gathered Sunday in Warsaw to sign a petition demanding an international investigation into a plane crash last month in Russia that killed President Lech Kaczynski, his wife and 94 other Poles. Russian officials have the black boxes and are leading the probe.

A CAREFUL REVIEW: A senior citizen prepared to cast her vote for president Monday in San Juan, Philippines. Sen. Benigno Aquino III led the field of candidates with 41% of the votes. His closest rival is former President Joseph Estrada.

GROUNDED: Passengers waiting for a flight to Helsinki rested on cots at Lisbon Portela Airport Monday. The airport reopened Monday morning after a drifting cloud of ash from a volcano in Iceland disrupted flights again.

KAGAN FOR THE COURT: Vice President Joe Biden and President Barack Obama escorted Solicitor General Elena Kagan away from a news conference at which Mr. Obama named her his nominee for the Supreme Court Monday. If confirmed, the former Harvard Law School dean would be the first justice without judicial experience since William Rehnquist in 1972.

SPEAKING ON FAITH: Auxiliary Bishop Josef Gruenwald stressed the need for the Catholic church to regain the trust of the faithful during his first appearance Monday as diocese administrator in Augsburg, Germany.

BITING: Horses got in on the action as horsemen competed to grab a goat carcass in the traditional Ulak Tartysh race in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan, Sunday.

LIGHTING THE WAY: Workers prepared to place a light Monday inside a building in Mezhdurechensk, Russia, that was destroyed by an underground mine explosion. At least 32 people were killed in the disaster; 58 miners remain trapped.

CAREFREE: Morgan Edmonds, 3, played on Alabama’s Dauphin Island Monday as a crew combed the beach for signs of oil from a well leaking offshore. BP plans to deploy a smaller oil-containment dome and is using chemical dispersants to control oil spilling since last month’s explosion in the Gulf of Mexico.

PAST MEETS PRESENT: Wearing their traditional attire, indigenous Igorot tribal elder Nicholas Cawed, right, and his daughter, Mia Nichole Cawed, cast their ballots for president in Baguio City, Philippines, Monday.

BOMB SCENE: Residents inspected the wreckage of a vehicle used in a bombing in Basra, Iraq, Monday. A series of blasts and shootings across the country killed at least 99 in Iraq’s deadliest day so far this year.

BEHIND BARS: Pakistani Faiz Mohammad was arrested Sunday at an airport in Karachi, Pakistan, after electrical circuits and batteries were found in the soles of his sneakers. An initial probe found the devices were used to massage his feet, but authorities said they could also be used to construct bombs. Mr. Mohammad, an engineer, was headed to Oman.

A LITTLE TLC: Leonie, left, and a medical student “operated” on a stuffed animal at the “Teddy Bear Hospital” of the Virchow Clinical Centre in Berlin Monday. The “hospital” is meant to alleviate children’s fears of doctors and medical facilities.

WATCH OUT: A law enforcement officer chased down a fan who ran onto the field before the eighth inning of a baseball game between the Philadelphia Phillies and the St. Louis Cardinals in Philadelphia on Monday. Police Commissioner Charles Ramsey reviewed video of the arrest and felt the officer acted within department guidelines, which allows officers to use tasers to arrest fleeing suspects, said a spokesman.

A WOLF OPENING: The Upright Citizens Brigade, and their wolf, helped open up the lawn in New York City’s Bryant Park for the summer.