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  • Steve Vaughn / AP

    Rainbows and lightning over Ohio


    A double rainbow appears in the sky over Hamilton, Ohio as lightning strikes during a thunderstorm. Severe weather caused multiple lightning strikes, some causing damage in the area. The photo was captured on May 1, but made available to msnbc.com today.

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  • Place your bets: Kentucky Derby horses get ready to race at Churchill Downs

    Charlie Riedel / AP

    Hot walker Cesar Zarco helps give Kentucky Derby entrant Union Rags a bath at Churchill Downs on May 2, in Louisville, Ky.

    Charlie Riedel / AP

    Kentucky Derby entrant Daddy Nose Best grazes after a morning workout at Churchill Downs Wednesday, May 2, in Louisville, Ky.

    Morry Gash / AP

    Exercise rider Zeke Castro takes Kentucky Derby entrant Went the Day Well for a workout at Churchill Downs on May 1.

    John Sommers Ii / Reuters

    Horses and exercise riders walk to the track during early morning workouts as preparations are in full swing for the 138th running of the Kentucky Derby at Churchill Downs in Louisville, Kentucky, on May 1.

     For the latest updates on the upcoming race on May 6 click here for coverage on NBC Sports.

  • Refugees flee violence in Mali

    Abdelhak Senna / AFP - Getty Images

    A young Malian refugee shelters in M'bere camp near Bassiknouin south-east Mauritania on May 2.

    Abdelhak Senna / AFP - Getty Images

    Malian refugee children play in the M'bere refugee camp near Bassiknou in the Nema region of Southwestern Mauritania on May 2.

    Abdelhak Senna / AFP - Getty Images

    A youmg girl poses in the M'bere refugee camp near Bassiknou in the Nema region of Southwestern Mauritania on May 2. More than 320,000 people have fled their homes in Mali since mid-January, with more than half seeking refuge in neighbouring countries, UN officials said.

    Abdelhak Senna / AFP - Getty Images

    Malian army soldiers patrol in the M'bere refugee camp near Bassiknou in the Nema region of Southwestern Mauritania on May 2.

    Abdelhak Senna / AFP - Getty Images

    A Malian refugee holds her children in the M'bere refugee camp near Bassiknou in the Nema region of Southwestern Mauritania on May 2.

     From Reuters: BAMAKO  - Gunfire erupted in Mali's capital Bamako on Wednesday in the third day of clashes between the military junta and soldiers loyal to the ousted president, forcing residents to flee for cover, witnesses said.

    A Malian security source told Reuters the junta's troops were asking people to leave their buildings as they searched for remaining loyalist fighters, including suspected foreign mercenaries, who had mounted a counter-coup attempt.

    "The evacuation is meant to help the work of the soldiers who are in the process of sweeping the city in search of mercenaries that have infiltrated the population," the source said, asking not to be named. For the latest on this violence in Mali click here.

  • Several dead in Cairo as protesters are attacked

    Khaled Desouki / AFP - Getty Images

    Egyptian anti-military protesters evacuate a demonstrator after he was wounded by rubber bullets during clashes in the Abbassiya district of Cairo on May 2. They wereattacked at an anti-military protest near the defence ministry in Cairo and several people were killed, officials said, in the politically tense run-up to the first post-uprising presidential election.

    AP

    Protesters clash with Egyptian military outside the Defense Ministry in Cairo, Egypt, Wednesday, May 2. Suspected supporters of Egypt's military rulers attacked predominantly Islamist anti-government protesters outside the Defense Ministry in Cairo Wednesday, setting off clashes that left more than ten people dead as political tensions rise three weeks before crucial presidential elections.

    Asmaa Waguih / Reuters

    Islamist protesters and their supporters run during clashes with armed "thugs" after an attack on protesters late Tuesday night, in Cairo May 2. Eleven people were confirmed dead after thugs attacked the protesters demanding an end to military rule after their candidate was barred from this month's presidential election.

    Asmaa Waguih / Reuters

    Islamist protesters and their supporters clash with armed "thugs", after an attack on protesters late Tuesday night, in Cairo May 2. Eleven people were confirmed dead after thugs attacked the protesters demanding an end to military rule after their candidate was barred from this month's presidential election.

    Khaled Desouki / AFP - Getty Images

    An Egyptian man and an armed private security guard, right, clash with anti-military protesters in the Abbassiya district of Cairo on May 2. Thugs attacked an anti-military protest near the defence ministry in Cairo and at least 12 people were killed, officials said, in the politically tense run-up to the first post-uprising presidential election.

    AFP - Getty Images

    Egyptian protesters beat a man as he tries to escape on the back of a motorcycle after he was accused of attacking demonstrators in the Abbassiya district in Cairo on May 2. At least 12 people were killed when attackers stormed an anti-military protest near the defence ministry in Cairo, medics and a security official said. The fate of the man is unknown.

     From Reuters:   Eleven people were killed and more than 160 wounded near Egypt's Defence Ministry on Wednesday after armed men assaulted protesters demanding an end to army rule, prompting two Islamist candidates to suspend their presidential election campaigns.

    Unidentified "thugs" armed with guns or batons attacked demonstrators who included hundreds of ultraconservative Salafi Islamists protesting at the exclusion of their candidate from this month's vote, state news agency MENA reported.

    The violence casts a deep shadow over the presidential election due on May 23 and 24, with a run-off in June, and highlights the fragility of Egypt's transition to democracy, which has been punctuated by violence and political bickering. Click here for the latest on the violence in Cairo

     

  • Nepal's 'magic' eye surgeon brings light back to poor

    Navesh Chitrakar / Reuters

    A patient lies on a hospital bed upon receiving anesthesia during cataract surgery at the Tilganga Eye Center in Kathmandu, Nepal on April 25, 2012. About 150,000 of Nepal's 26.6 million people are estimated to be blind in both eyes, most of them with cataracts.

    Navesh Chitrakar / Reuters

    A man smiles as he receives a routine eye check-up after his cataracts were removed.

     

    Navesh Chitrakar / Reuters

    A simple eye operation pioneered by Doctor Sanduk Ruit, pictured, has benefited tens of thousands.

    Reuters reports — Dressed in his hospital scrubs, Sanduk Ruit looks into the eyes of a patient through a microscope hanging over an operating table.

    He makes two tiny holes in one eye, takes out a jelly-like mass of natural lens and replaces it with an artificial one that fits snugly into the patient's eye, all in about five minutes, deftly moving his fingers clad in thin white gloves.

    The patient is then moved away swiftly, without any stitches, and Ruit repeats the process to remove cataracts - a leading cause of blindness in Nepal - from the eyes of another person.

    "We are trying to set up a model of how you can conduct a very high quality prevention of blindness program at low cost and make it sustainable," said Ruit, who pioneered the simple operation. "If you can do it in Nepal it can be done anywhere in the world."

    "Like a magician, he has given back my sight," said Krishna Kant Paudel, 81. It was the first time in four years that he could see. Read the full story.

    Navesh Chitrakar / Reuters

    Ethiopian doctor Fikru Melka checks a patient's eyes at the Tilganga Eye Centre on April 26, 2012.

    Navesh Chitrakar / Reuters

    A low-cost acrylic lens, also called an intraocular lens, is pictured on the monitor at the Tilganga Eye Centre's laboratory in Kathmandu on April 26, 2012. The lenses are produced at the center's laboratory by workers wearing bio-safe masks, helping bring the cost down to $4 per lens from more than $100 a piece.

    Navesh Chitrakar / Reuters

    Patients wait to receive anesthesia before undergoing cataract surgery.

    Navesh Chitrakar / Reuters

    Low-cost acrylic lenses are produced at the Tilganga Eye Center's laboratory. The center produces about 350,000 lenses annually and sells them to other nations.

     

  • First picture of escaped Chinese activist Chen Guangcheng at Beijing hospital

    Jordan Pouille / AFP - Getty Images

    Chinese activist Chen Guangcheng is seen in a wheelchair pushed by a nurse at the Chaoyang hospital in Beijing on May 2, 2012.

    Diego Azubel / EPA

    A man holds a sign that reads 'Free Chen Guangcheng, Democracy, China', outside an entrance to Chaoyang Hospital on May 2, 2012.

    Ng Han Guan / AP

    Human rights activist Jiang Tianyong speaks to journalists outside Chaoyang Hospital after his failed attempt to see Chen Guangcheng on May 2, 2012.

    NBC News, msnbc.com staff and news services reportA blind Chinese legal activist at the center of a diplomatic tussle between Washington and Beijing left the U.S. Embassy Wednesday to receive medical care in Beijing and be reunited with his family.

    China demanded an apology from Washington over Chen Guangcheng's stay at the U.S. Embassy,according to the government's news service Xinhua.

    An unnamed U.S. official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, told reporters that Chen had not asked for asylum in the U.S. and would be staying in China. Read the full story.

    U.S. relations with China are being put to the test over the fate of Chen Guangcheng, a blind Chinese dissident who escaped from house arrest in China and is believed to be in the U.S. embassy or another safe site. NBC's Ian Williams reports.

  • Soe Zeya Tun / Reuters

    Pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi steps forward to take an oath at the lower house of parliament in Naypyitaw, Myanmar on May 2, 2012.

    Aung San Suu Kyi swears parliamentary oath under the eyes of Myanmar military

    Msnbc.com news services report — Opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi took a historic oath on Wednesday to join a parliamentary system crafted by the generals who locked her away for much of her long struggle against dictatorship, ushering in a dramatic new political era for Myanmar.

    See more pictures of Aung San Suu Kyi on PhotoBlog

    The 1991 Nobel Peace Prize winner's debut in a parliament stacked with uniformed soldiers could accelerate reforms that have already included the most sweeping changes in the former British colony since a 1962 military coup, including the release of political prisoners and a loosening of strict media controls. Read the full story.


  • Suicide blast in Afghan capital after Obama leaves

    Johannes Eisele / AFP - Getty Images

    Afghan police personnel gesture as they evacuate onlookers from the site of a suicide bomb attack in Kabul on Wednesday, May 2.

    Omar Sobhani / Reuters

    Afghan security forces members inspect the site of a car bomb attack in Kabul on Wednesday.

    NBC News and msnbc.com news services reports: A suicide bomber rammed a car full of explosives into a blast wall in the Afghan capital on Wednesday, an interior ministry spokesman said. Sediq Sediqqi said that there was only one attacker, dismissing reports that more than one insurgent was involved in the assault against a housing compound for westerners.

    Police chief Ayub Salangi told Reuters the car bomb exploded on Jalalabad road, the main road out of the capital heading east, where several U.S. military bases and compounds housing Westerners are located. A guard and five civilians were killed. Salangi told NBC News that one of the civilians is a school child.

    At least six people were killed in an early morning suicide attack in the Afghan capital, hours after a surprise visit to the country by President Obama. Msnbc.com's Dara Brown reports.

    Rahmat Gul / AP

    More than ten years after the beginning of the war, Afghanistan faces external pressure to reform as well as ongoing internal conflicts.

    Sign up for the msnbc.com Photos Newsletter

     

  • Spot the specks of Saturn's moons

    NASA / JPL-Caltech / SSI

    Two of Saturn's more than 60 moons join the ringed planet in this scene, captured by the Cassini orbiter on Jan. 19 and released on April 30. Tethys appears as a small white dot above the rings on the far left of the image. Enceladus appears as a smaller bright speck beside the planet. The rings cast wide shadows on the planet's southern latitudes.




    Two of Saturn's moons are dwarfed by the giant planet and its rings in this family portrait from the Cassini spacecraft, which will mark its eighth year in Saturnian orbit in July. This image was put out by the Cassini imaging team on Monday, just a little too late to make our Top 20 roundup for the Month in Space Pictures — but it's worth passing along as a bonus prize.

    You can see 660-mile-wide Tethys as a white dot toward the left edge of the image, and 313-mile-wide Enceladus as a smaller bright speck beside the planet. Tethys is thought to be composed mostly of water ice with a bit of rock mixed in, while Enceladus is a very special case: Cassini has repeatedly documented geysers of water ice spewing from fissures in that moon's surface — suggesting that liquid water and perhaps even living things may lie beneath. It'll be up to a future probe to plumb the mysteries of Enceladus more deeply.


    Saturn's rings are seen nearly edge-on, and in this picture they're casting wide, curved shadows on Saturn's southern hemisphere. Bad Astronomy's Phil Plait says he can't help noticing the thin white ribbon of clouds stretching across the planet's northern hemisphere. Those may be the remnants of a monster storm that wrapped itself around the globe for months, starting in late 2010. "Our gas giants don't screw around," he writes. "When they do something, they do it big."

    And when we do the Month in Space Pictures slideshow, we do it big as well. Click on the image below to see some of the best out-of-this-world views from the month of April. You'll find shots from the final flights of the shuttles Discovery and Enterprise, photos of weird phenomena on Mars and Uranus, and even a UFO (Galaxy, that is). If you want to find out more about the stories behind the pictures, leave a comment and I'll try to point you in the right direction.

    NASA/SDO/AIA

    Click through a solar eruption, the final odyssey of the shuttle Discovery and other outer-space highlights from April 2012.


    Alan Boyle is msnbc.com's science editor. Connect with the Cosmic Log community by "liking" the log's Facebook page, following @b0yle on Twitter or adding Cosmic Log's Google+ page to your circle. You can also check out "The Case for Pluto," my book about the controversial dwarf planet and the search for other worlds.

  • Lighter, quieter May Day protest moments

    Emmanuel Dunand / AFP - Getty Images

    An elderly woman waves as she finds herself caught ahead of an Occupy Wall Street May Day march down Fifth Ave. in New York on May 1.

    Kimihiro Hoshino / AFP - Getty Images

    Workers and activists rally on May Day.

    The Occupy movement that began in the United States last year, spawning similar protests worldwide, announced widespread May Day demonstrations and strikes against social inequality Tuesday.

    Even though arrests, pepper spray, and civil disobedience grabbed headlines and air waves around the world, photographers did manage to capture moments of humor, fun and quiet amid the sometimes violent protests.

    Sign up for the msnbc.com Photos Newsletter

    Dan Kitwood / Getty Images

    An Anti-capitalist protester from the 'Occupy' movement lays in front of a police officer in Paternoster Square in London on May 1.

    Mike Segar / Reuters

    Occupy Wall Street protesters celebrate in Union Square park as they demonstrate in New York City on May 1.

    Emmanuel Dunand / AFP - Getty Images

    Occupy Wall Street partcipants gather to stage a May Day march at Bryant Park in New York on May 1.

    Emmanuel Dunand / AFP - Getty Images

    Some protesters chose to demonstrate more quietly during May Day celebrations in New York.

    Mario Tama / Getty Images

    Protesters affiliated with Occupy Wall Street march down Broadway in Manhattan towards Wall Street as a man dressed as Captain America stands in a window on May 1.

    Eric Thayer / Getty Images

    A protester holds a rose with a bubble on it in front of police at a rally for International Worker's Day on May 1 in Oakland, Calif.

    In Oakland and Seattle the Occupy protests turned violent on May 1, the day that typically celebrates workers' rights. NBC's Brian Williams reports.

  • President Obama greets U.S. troops at Bagram in Afghanistan

    Mandel Nganmandel / AFP - Getty Images

    President Barack Obama greets troops during a visit to Afghanistan's Bagram Air Field on May 1. Obama signed a US-Afghanistan strategic partnership agreement during his unannounced visit to the country.

    President Barack Obama and Hamid Karzai signed an agreement that provides a framework for a lasting U.S. commitment to Afghanistan at the presidential palace in Kabul shortly after the U.S. president arrived in Afghanistan on Tuesday on an unannounced visit.

    The president then traveled from Kabul back to the Bagram Air Field to spend time with the troops.

    Related Links:

    During an unannounced trip to Afghanistan, President Barack Obama said the U.S. and Afghanistan are now committed to replacing war with peace. The new agreement will establish a framework for U.S. involvement in Afghanistan from 2014 to 2024, and pledge economic and security resources from the U.S. NBC's Chuck Todd reports.

    Cliff Owen / AP

    The president's fourth year at the White House in pictures — follow along as it happens.

    Rahmat Gul / AP

    More than ten years after the beginning of the war, Afghanistan faces external pressure to reform as well as ongoing internal conflicts.

  • May Day protests turn violent in Seattle

    Jim Seida / msnbc.com

    Police tape off a Wells Fargo Bank in Seattle Tuesday, May 1, after protesters broke the bank's windows during a May Day march.

    Update 3:48 ET, Seattle: Windows were broken and police arrested a handful of protesters as about 100 marched in downtown, NBC station KING reported. Many were dressed in dark clothes, wearing face makeup and carrying sticks, live TV video showed.

    Jim Seida / msnbc.com

    Shattered window glass from a Wells Fargo Bank in Seattle Tuesday, May 1, 2012, after protesters broke the bank's windows during a May Day march after some in the crowd turned violent.

    Earlier: As news of May Day protests and gatherings were reported around the world and on the East Coast, msnbc.com's Jim Seida encountered the start of one of the west coast protests around noon PT at Westlake Center in downtown Seattle.

    Jim Seida / msnbc.com

    As you might expect in Seattle, for some it started with caffeine. Above, Rain City Superheroes Midnight Jack, left, El Caballero, center, and Phoenix Jones relax at a Starbucks at the intersection of Pine and 4th Ave., Tuesday, May 1. Each "superhero" carries a digital camera to record the events they witness.  "We're here to document if the police get out of control and to stop the people if they get out of control," Jones says.

    Jim Seida / msnbc.com

    First Lieutenant Gonzo, above, a member of the Clandestine Insurgent Rebel Clown Army, or CIRCA, says he prefers to mock police rather than yell at them.  Gonzo, from Seattle, photographed at Westlake Park, Seattle, Tuesday.  "It's really kind of hard to pin down just one reason why I'm here today," says Gonzo, "Basically I'm just here to support free thought, free creativity, and just to bring a little humor to the situation."

    Jim Seida / msnbc.com

    Hundreds of people gather in Seattle's Westlake Park to celebrate and protest on Tuesday, May 1.

    Lefteris Pitarakis / AP

    Workers and activists rally on May Day around the world.

    'Battle for the soul of Occupy': Activists fear being 'pulled to the right,' becoming Democratic 'pet'

    Video: Participant Harrison Schultz talks about the protests planned by the “Occupy” movement in New York City

     

  • Painting without hands at Singapore convention for artists with disabilities

    Edgar Su / Reuters

    Ng Ah Kwai, 50, of Penang, Malaysia, who was born with deformed arms, paints with his foot during the Mouth and Foot Painting Convention in Singapore May 1, 2012. Over 70 handicapped artists are showcasing 200 artworks at the exhibition which takes place from May 1 to May 6.

    Stephen Morrison / EPA

    People watch Aw Kwai Ng (L) from Malaysia give a demonstration on foot painting techniques.

    Stephen Morrison / EPA

    A delegate views artwork on dispay at an exhibition during the Mouth and Foot Painting Artists (MFPA) Convention.

    Stephen Morrison / EPA

    Tan Kok Leong from Singapore gives a demonstration of mouth painting techniques.

    See more images of art in PhotoBlog.

    Sign up for the msnbc.com Photos Newsletter

  • Jim Lo Scalzo / EPA

    Barbara Knowles of Philadelphia, reads the Bible outside the US Capitol during the International Bible Reading Association's 23rd annual US Capitol Bible Reading Marathon in Washington, DC.

    Bible reading marathon in Washington DC

    Today marks the end of 90 hours of Bible reading outside the US Capitol. See more PhotoBlog images related to Christianity specifically, and religion in general.

  • Occupy protesters rally in London and New York on May Day

    Lefteris Pitarakis / AP

    An 'Occupy London'' protester hands out flowers to commuters in a central London train station to mark May Day, May 1.

    Justin Lane / EPA

    People march on a sidewalk during a May Day protest in New York on May 1. People around the world are gathering for May Day protests against austerity measures and calling for higher wages. In the United States, the Occupy Wall Street movement is trying to use May Day to rejuvenate.

    Evan Vucci / AP

    Workers clean the vandalized windows of a Bank of America branch in Washington, Tuesday, May 1. In the US, May Day demonstrations, strikes and acts of civil disobedience were planned, including what could be the country's most high-profile Occupy rallies since the anti-Wall Street encampments came down in the fall.

    Mike Segar / Reuters

    A protester affiliated with the Occupy Wall Street movement is stopped by the police as he stands in the middle of Sixth Avenue during a protest march to the Bank of America headquarters in New York City May 1. Occupy Wall Street joins labor groups for a day of protests on Tuesday to mark International Workers Day and to try to breathe fresh life into the movement that sparked a wave of nationwide protests against economic injustice eight months ago.

    Robert Galbraith / Reuters

    California Highway Patrol officers take positions at the Golden Gate Bridge in anticipation of May Day demonstrations in San Francisco, California May 1. Authorities anticipated demonstrators would shut down the bridge, but agreement was reached to prevent that action.

    Justin Lane / EPA

    People march past a bank during a May Day protest in New York. People around the world are gathering for May Day protests against austerity measures and calling for higher wages. In the United States, the Occupy Wall Street movement is trying to use May Day to rejuvenate.

    Monika Graff / Getty Images

    Occupy Wall Street demonstrators dance as hundreds of protesters gather during a May Day labor rally in Bryant Park on May 1, in New York City. Demonstrators have called for nation-wide May Day strikes to protest economic inequality and political corruption.

     

  • Budapest velodrome revived with antique car rally

    Peter Kohalmi / AFP - Getty Images

    Visitors looks at the vehicles at an oval track of a velodrome during an old timer car and motorcycle show in Budapest on May 1.

    Peter Kohalmi / AFP - Getty Images

    Men ride bicycles on an oval track of a velodrome during an old timer car and motorcycle show in Budapest on May 1. The event brought life again into the 412 meter long Millennial Velodrome of Budapest, which was built in 1896 and is one of the oldest arenas for track cycling in Europe.

    Peter Kohalmi / AFP - Getty Images

    An elderly man rides his motobike on an oval track of a velodrome during an old timer car and motorcycle show in Budapest on May 1. The event brought life again into the 412 meter long Millennial Velodrome of Budapest, which was built in 1896 and is one of the oldest arenas for track cycling in Europe.

    Peter Kohalmi / AFP - Getty Images

    Drivers drive their vehicle on an oval track of a velodrome during an old timer car and motorcycle show in Budapest on May 1. The event brought life again into the 412 meter long Millennial Velodrome of Budapest, which was built in 1896 and is one of the oldest arenas for track cycling in Europe.

    Peter Kohalmi / AFP - Getty Images

    A woman driver waits besides her car near the oval track of a velodrome during an old timer car and motorcycle show in Budapest on May 1. The event brought life again into the 412 meter long Millennial Velodrome of Budapest, which was built in 1896 and is one of the oldest arenas for track cycling in Europe.

     

  • Abandoned ships litter Nigeria coastline

    Sunday Alamba / AP

    The rusting hulk of an abandoned ship is beached on the coastline in Lagos, Nigeria. All photos taken March 15, 2012 and made available May 1, 2012.

    The Associated Press reports — The powerful waves of the Atlantic Ocean crash against rusting hulks beached along the coastline just outside of Nigeria's largest city, as lines of cargo ships waiting to come to port stretch across the western horizon.

    Government officials say they don't know how many abandoned ships choke Nigeria's waterways, but they cause tremendous environmental and navigational hazards. And as more wash ashore daily, the massive vessels cause fast-moving erosion along Nigeria's beaches that can tear away a kilometer of shoreline in a matter of days, experts say.

    Some of the ships have been there for decades, others only days. Many, abandoned after the lucrative theft of crude oil, serve as hulking metaphors for the lawlessness that plagues Nigeria. Read the full story.

    Previously on PhotoBlog: Extremes of wealth and poverty in the Nigerian oil industry

    Sunday Alamba / AP

    Last August, Nigeria's Transport Minister Yusuf Suleiman promised to remove the wrecks within weeks, but nothing was done.

    Sunday Alamba / AP

    A man climbs out of the wreckage of an abandoned ship. Groups of salvagers move along the coast, removing whatever electronics and communication gear remains inside.

     

  • 100 still missing after India ferry disaster

    EPA

    Villagers along with Border Security Force (BSF) personnel engaged in a rescue operation for a capsized ferry at the Brahmaputra River in Bura-Buri village in Goalpara district in Assam, India, on May 1, 2012.

    The Associated Press reports — Army divers and rescue workers pulled 103 bodies out of a river after a packed ferry capsized in heavy winds and rain in remote northeast India, an official said Tuesday.

    At least 100 people were still missing Tuesday after the ferry carrying about 350 people broke into two pieces late Monday, said Pritam Saikia, the district magistrate of Goalpara district.

    Deep sea divers and disaster rescue soldiers worked through the night to pull bodies from the Brahmaputra River in Assam state. Rescue operations were centered around the tiny village of Buraburi near the India-Bangladesh border. Read the full story.

    EPA

    Divers and rescue workers stepped up the search for survivors on Tuesday, May 1, 2012. The double-decked ferry was carrying approximately 300 passengers when it capsized during a storm in the western district of Dhubri on Monday evening. Some 100 people swam to safety or were rescued.

    EPA

    A villager watches the rescue operation from the top of a banana tree on the bank of the Brahmaputra River.

    Biju Boro / AFP - Getty Images

    Relatives mourn alongside the bodies of victims of the ferry disaster on May 1, 2012. Indian authorities said that some bodies might have been washed downstream into Bangladesh.

     

  • May Day is marked around the world with demands for stronger labor rights

    Dita Alangkara / AP

    Indonesian workers shout slogans during a rally to mark May Day in Jakarta on May 1, 2012. Thousands of Indonesian workers staged the rally demanding the government raise the minimum wage and reject outsourcing.

    The Associated Press reports — May Day moved beyond its roots as an international workers' holiday to a day of international protest Tuesday, with rallies throughout Asia demanding wage increases and marches planned across Europe over government-imposed austerity measures.

    Thousands of workers protested in the Philippines, Indonesia and Taiwan and other Asian nations, with the demand for wage hikes amid soaring oil prices a common theme. They said their take-home pay could not keep up with rising consumer prices, while also calling for lower school fees and expressing a variety of other gripes. Read the full story.

    Andrey Smirnov / AFP - Getty Images

    A man carries a poster reading "Putin is our President!" during the May Labor Day rally of the Russian Trade Unions and United Russia party in Moscow on May 1, 2012. Russia's president-elect Vladimir Putin and outgoing head of state Dmitry Medvedev on Tuesday joined over 100,000 people in a Soviet-style mass march through Moscow.

    Bullit Marquez / AP

    Protesters dance around the burnt effigy of Philippine President Benigno Aquino III during a May Day rally near the Presidential Palace in Manila on May 1, 2012. Thousands of workers marched under a brutal sun in Manila to demand a wage increase amid an onslaught of oil price increases, but the Philippine President rejected a $3 daily pay hike which the workers have been demanding since 1999 and warned may worsen inflation, spark layoffs and turn away foreign investors.

    AFP - Getty Images

    Bahraini Shiites attend a demonstration celebrating Labor Day in the village of Muqsha'a on April 30, 2012. Many Shiite employees were either dismissed or indefinitely suspended from their jobs in the wake of a brutal crackdown by the Bahrain government.

    Dibyangshu Sarkar / AFP - Getty Images

    Indian sex workers hold candles and posters as they march in a May Day rally asking for their rights and the recognition of their profession in Kolkata, late on April 30, 2012.

    Vincent Thian / AP

    Visitors takes picture in front of Tiananmen gate in Beijing, China, on May 1, 2012. Tens of thousands of visitors flock to the area around Tiananmen Square to enjoy a public holiday to mark May Day.

    Alexey Druzhinin / AFP - Getty Images

    Russian President Dmitry Medvedev (2nd L), Prime Minister Vladimir Putin (2nd R), Independent Trade Unions' Chairman Mikhail Shmakov (L) and State Duma deputy Viktor Pinsky (R) toast in a bar after attending a rally in Moscow on May 1, 2012.

    Abir Abdullah / EPA

    Garment workers attend a rally to mark May Day at Paltan in Dhaka, Bangladesh, on May 1, 2012. Different workers organizations have arranged programmes inluding a rally, seminars and cultural events as they demand the establishment of workers' rights.

    Farooq Khan / EPA

    Laborers drilling a mountain to extract rocks inside a stone quarry on May 1, 2012 in Srinagar, Kashmir. Local labor leaders told media their colleagues at many construction sites were denied a May Day public holiday by their employers.

  • An Abbottabad shepherd tends to his flock

    Muhammed Muheisen / AP

    A shepherd leading his livestock along a road in Abbottabad, Pakistan on April 29, 2012.

    Farooq Naeem / AFP - Getty Images

    U.S. forces found and killed the al-Qaida leader in the affluent Pakistani town of Abbottabad, where he had been living in a large compound.

    One year since U.S. commandos flew into this army town and killed Osama bin Laden, Pakistan has tried to close one of the most notorious chapters in its history, The Associated Press reports from Abbottabad. The compound that housed him for six years was razed to the ground, and the wives and children who shared the hideaway were flown to Saudi Arabia just last week.

    Related content:

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