Jump to May 2009 archive page: 1 2 3
  • Rafa Salafranca/AFP - Getty Images

    Female soldiers take part in a training on May 14, 2009 in Tolemaida military base, Colombia. The first sixty-two women to become cadets ever in Colombia are taking combat training, after which they will be in a position to command troops.

    Female soldiers in the U.S. are prohibited from combat roles like infantry, artillery, etc. Anyone know if these Colombian women will actually allowed to fight? Do you think women belong in combat?

  • Stefano Rellandini/Reuters

    Motorcyclist Fabio Saccani drives his BMW as photographer Roberto Bettini takes pictures of Astana rider Lance Armstrong during the seventh Giro d'Italia stage. Saccani died in a crash on Tuesday, May 19, 2009, while heading toward the start of the 10th stage of the Giro. The 69-year-old Fabio Saccani was riding in his 32nd Giro. He also worked the Tour de France 11 times.

    I've photographed a pro bike race from the back of a motorcycle, and I can tell you it isn't for the faint of heart. The guys who pilot these bikes really know what they are doing, and to be doing it at 69 is pretty amazing. Arrivederci, Fabio.

  • Fayaz Kabli/Reuters

    Bashir Ahmad Mir, an unemployed Kashmiri electrohomeopathy doctor, is seen in flames after he tried self-immolation to demand for jobs in Srinagar May 19, 2009. Mir suffered burn injuries on his back and his condition is stable, according to police. Electrohomeopathy is a form of alternative medicine but the doctors' degrees are not recognized by the Indian Medical Council in Srinagar.

    Very disturbing. The flames were quickly extinguished by bystanders.

  • Dan Kitwood/Getty Images

    Isabella Blake-Thomas, 6, walks through television presenter James May's Paradise in Plasticine garden at the Chelsea flower show on May 19, 2009 in London. The internationally renowned horticultural show runs from May 19-23, showcasing the latest gardening trends including several 'Credit Crunch' gardens.

    What is English tradition coming to when a plastic garden wins a gold award in the prestigious Chelsea garden show? What's next, robotic dogs winning "Best in Show" at the Crufts dog show?

  • Charles Dharapak/AP

    White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel, right, Defense Secretary Robert Gates, center, and Deputy National Security Adviser Denis McDonough, left, look on as President Barack Obama meets with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in the Oval Office, May 18, 2009.

    Talk about body language. While most of the pack is shooting a smiling President Obama and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Charles Dharapak pointed his camera in the other direction to get an entirely different mood.

  • Melynne Stone/AP

    Jamison Stone, 11, poses with a wild pig he killed near Delta, Alabama, May 3, 2007. Stone's father says the hog weighed a staggering 1,051 pounds and measured 9-feet-4 from the tip of its snout to the base of its tail. If claims of the animal's size are true, it would be larger than ``Hogzilla,'' the huge hog killed in Georgia in 2004.

    I came across this picture while researching swing flu pictures. I didn't even know pigs came in this size. Unbelievable.

  • /AP

    Low-level winds rushing over the Cape Verde Islands off the coast of northwestern Africa created vortices in clouds. Visible at lower right is the top of the Hubble Space Telescope, locked down in the cargo bay of the space shuttle orbiter Atlantis.

    From the ground you'd see the clouds, but I'm not sure you could see patterns that are so clear from space.

  • Andy Rain/EPA

    Corporal Daniel Evans sits with Beatrice during horse drills in Hyde Park in London, May 14, 2009. The Household Cavalry practiced their horse drills prior to Trooping of the Color, the Queen's Birthday celebrations, June 14.

    At first glance, this picture reminded me a bit of the famous horse head scene in "The Godfather" film. It's amazing that they can get these magnificent animals to lie down this way.

  • Emilio Morenatti/AP

    A Pakistani displaced girl from Swat Valley holds bread during food distribution, at Chota Lahore Refugee Camp in Swabi, Pakistan, on May 18. Hundreds of thousands of Pakistanis have fled fighting between the army and Taliban militants in a northwestern valley.

    Great color seeing by Emilio Morenatti.

  • STR/EPA

    A worker walks past motorbikes waiting to be disassembled and destroyed at a vehicle scrap yard in Wuhan, central China's Hubei province on May 17. Local authorities destroyed illegal and scrapped vehicles to increase the road safety and to drub illegal traffic.

    As someone who rides a motorcycle almost every day, I cant accurately express how sad this picture makes me feel.

  • Greg Baker/AP

    A young boy walks along a path at a refugee camp in Mardan, in northwest Pakistan, on May 13, 2009. Troops secured footholds Wednesday in a Pakistani valley overrun by the Taliban, killing 11 militants and reportedly discovering five headless corpses near the region's main town, the army said.

    This image didn't make the final cut for The Week in Pictures, but it reminded me of W. Eugene Smith's picture "The Walk to Paradise Garden." The circumstances of the subjects are very different, but I like that quietness, and the photographer's use of light and composition.

  • Aaron Favila/AP

    Roasted pigs dressed to portray the fight between Filipino boxing hero Manny Pacquiao and British Ricky Hatton are paraded during a town fiesta in La Loma, suburban Manila, Philippines on Sunday May 17, 2009. Roasted pigs, a native Filipino delicacy, were displayed in different costumes and themes during a motorcade to celebrate the feast day of Nuestra Senora de Salvacion.

    This is an interesting custom.

  • NASA/Getty Images

    Astronaut John Grunsfeld performs work while participating in the first of five scheduled spacewalks while servicing the Hubble Space Telescope May 14. The space shuttle Atlantis' mission is to overhaul the Hubble Space Telescope in order to extend its working life.

    Pictures within pictures

  • /Reuters

    A woman waits for customers as she sells headscarves in Medan, North Sumatra province May 15, 2009. Indonesia's economy grew at its slowest annual pace in five years in the first quarter, reinforcing expectations the central bank will cut interest rates again to support domestic demand.

    Do you ever get the feeling that you are being watched? There's something about this image that reminds me of a low-budget horror movie.

  • Frank Polich/Reuters

    A worker walks through the service area at Balzekas Chrysler dealership in Chicago, Ill. on May 14. Chrysler announced that it intends to terminate the franchise of the dealership Thursday as it notified all of its U.S. dealers of plans to eliminate 25 percent of its retail showrooms and is seeking permission from a U.S. bankruptcy court to terminate franchise agreements with 789 of 3,181 dealerships as of June 9.

    It's a difficult thing to photograph, but Frank Polich worked with the way light plays across the surface of automobiles and captured an interesting mood. Including the flag in the frame was a great idea. Sometimes I wonder how we could have avoided all this. Who do we blame; the automakers, foreign competition, ourselves?

  • Yasser al-Zayyat/AFP - Getty Images

    A woman and a child sit on a beach as a heavy sandstorm engulfs Kuwait City on May 14, 2009.

    Here in the U.S., a "day at the beach" usually means something pleasureable. In Kuwait, a day at the beach during a sandstorm is no "day at the beach."

  • Alex Hofford/EPA

    A visitor to the Asia Funeral Expo tries out a casket in Hong Kong, May 13, 2009. The trade fair is Asia's largest bereavement industry gathering. Over 2,000 funeral home, cemetery and crematorium operators, as well as traders, suppliers, and buyers from the industry are gathered for the expo.

    I hear you, Photobloggers. It's probably time for something a little lighter. There's something kind of crass about how trade shows reduce serious things like funerals to the commerce engine it is. I wonder why it matters if the inside of the coffin is comfortable.

  • Peter Parks/AFP - Getty Images

    Huang Li (L) prepares to exercise with 19-year-old double amputee Dai Guohong in the Hong Kong-funded Stand Tall earthquake rehabilitation centre in the Sichuan Provincial People's Hospital in Chengdu in China's Sichuan province on May 11, 2009. Huang, now 36, has become a multiple amputee with only her right arm left after she was buried alive under the rubble of her own home in last year's Sichuan earthquake but has one crucial message to other victims in China's disaster zone: Look ahead, and never give up.

    Peter Parks shipped several images from this center in China, where numerous people who lost their limbs in last year's earthquake are rehabilitated. It reminds me of the phrase "signature injury," used to describe the brain trauma suffered by US troops in Iraq.

  • Peter Parks/AFP - Getty Images

    Twenty-year-old Gong Guilin rides his bicycle at the Sichuan People's Hospital in Chengdu in China's earthquake ravaged Sichuan province on May 7, 2009. Gong, who lost his legs in the 2008 Sichuan earthquake, is one of several young quake victims at the hospital who couldn't help but showing off his shiny metallic legs that have literally given him a new lease on life after the May 12, 2008 8.0-magnitude quake which left nearly 87,000 people dead or unaccounted for.

    A second image from Peter Parks.

  • John Brecher/msnbc.com

    A lone pedestrian walks along the Benham Avenue underpass in central Elkhart in late March.

    Some readers think that msnbc.com's ongoing coverage of the economic crisis in Elkhart, Indiana is too negative. One complaint is that pictures show too little activity, as in this frame. See more of the project, and tell us what you think of the coverage, at http://ElkhartProject.msnbc.com

  • Bo Bor/Reuters

    This combination photograph of Sichuan earthquake survivor Xu Linghong shows a soldier carrying wounded Xu (L) out of a collapsed building at the earthquake-hit Beichuan, Sichuan province May 13, 2008, and Xu (R) walking outside her classroom at a primary school in Mianyang, Sichuan province March 30, 2009. Xu, 7, was rescued from a collapsed building but lost her right arm and her mother died in the earthquake.

    After a major disaster like the Sichuan earthquake, some individuals become iconic, the faces of that event since images of them are transmitted around the world. In journalism, we don't always have the time or resources to follow up on how life turned out for these individuals. So I appreciated seeing photographer Bo Bor's "before and after" story come over the wire -- three more images from the essay follow this one.

  • Bo Bor/Reuters

    This combination photograph of Sichuan earthquake survivor Liu Mingcui, 40, shows her (top) crying on the rubbles of Beichuan Number One Middle School where her daughter Huang Yalan, 15, remained trapped inside as rescuers search for survivors in Beichuan, Sichuan province May 17, 2008, and Liu (bottom) holding a picture of her daughter Huang who died during the earthquake, as she talks to reporters in her house in Beichuan, Sichuan province April 12, 2009.

    A second image from Bo Bor's before and after earthquake essay.

  • Bo Bor/Reuters

    This combination photograph shows Sichuan earthquake survivor (up) Xu Maojun (R), 31, tries to hold up wounded Wang Jinyou, 37, for treatment by a soldier at the earthquake-hit Beichuan, Sichuan province May 13, 2008, and fully-recovered Wang (bottom) stands besides Xu, a tractor driver, for photography at Qushan village of Beichuan, Sichuan province April 28, 2009.

    Another image from Bo Bor's before and after earthquake essay.

  • Bo Bor/Reuters

    This combination photograph of Sichuan earthquake survivor Liu Ling shows soldiers carrying wounded Liu (top) out from a collapsed building at the earthquake-hit Beichuan, Sichuan province May 13, 2008, and Liu (bottom) holding flowers as she mourns her daughter who died during the earthquake at the ruins of Beichuan, Sichuan province April 4, 2009. Liu, 32, was freed out from a collapsed building after 6 hours of rescue work during the May earthquake in Beichuan. Her right leg has been amputated when she was saved in hospital.

    A final image from Bo Bor's before and after earthquake essay.

  • David Guttenfelder/AP

    Soldiers from the U.S. Army First Battalion, 26th Infantry take defensive positions at firebase Restrepo after receiving fire from Taliban positions in the Korengal Valley of Afghanistan's Kunar Province on Monday May 11, 2009. Spc. Zachery Boyd of Fort Worth, TX, far left was wearing 'I love NY' boxer shorts after rushing from his sleeping quarters to join his fellow platoon members. From far right is Spc. Cecil Montgomery of Many, LA and Jordan Custer of Spokane, WA, center.

    I got my first look at Mr. Boyd's "I Love NY" boxers on the front page of the New York Times this morning. The newspaper was sitting on the counter of my Brooklyn neighborhood deli. It jarred me into thinking about a little firebase on another continent, and NBC News correspondent Richard Engel's reporting from Restrepo last October.

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