Ziggy Stardust in Berlin, an art opening and a case closing in Switzerland | May 16
Some of David Bowie’s famous costumes are on display in today’s photo brief, along with a Swiss tax dodge, a Mediterranean hunger strike and other news scenes from around the world.
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Thai anti-government protesters wave national flags as they rally at Parliament in Bangkok on May 16. The chief of Thailand’s coup-prone army warned on May 16 his troops “may use force” to quell political violence, after three people were killed in a grenade and gun attack on protesters in Bangkok.
|| CREDIT: PORNCHAI KITTIWONGSAKUL – AFP/GETTY IMAGES
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Ukrainian troops stand guard at a checkpoint on the road near the eastern city of Izum, Donetsk region on May 15. Just 10 days before a key presidential election, Ukraine’s interim leaders were battling today to keep the country together despite a European peace push, facing a bloody insurrection in the east and a tense standoff with Russia.
|| CREDIT: GENYA SAVILOV – AFP/GETTY IMAGES
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People stand on a terrace of their flooded house as they wait to be evacuated in the town of Obrenovac, east from Belgrade, on May 16. The heaviest rains and floods in 120 years have hit Bosnia and Serbia, killing five people, forcing hundreds out of their homes and cutting off entire towns.
|| PHOTO CREDIT: MARKO DJURICA – REUTERS
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Rescue workers stand on the partially salvaged M.V. Miraj-4 ferry after it capsized on the Meghna river at Rasulpur in Munshiganj district May 16. A Bangladeshi official said on Friday there was no chance of finding further survivors of a ferry that sank in a storm with about 200 people on board, the latest in a series of fatal ferry accidents to hit the poverty-stricken country.
|| PHOTO CREDIT: ANDREW BIRAJ – REUTERS
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German artist Gerhard Richter (R) takes a picture of his glass and steel sculpture ‘7 Panes (House of Cards)’ from 2013 during a media preview of the exhibition ‘Gerhard Richter’ at the Fondation Beyeler in Riehen near Basel on May 16. The exhibition will be open to the public from May 18 to September 7.
|| PHOTO CREDIT: ARND WIEGMANN – REUTERS
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The logo of Swiss bank Credit Suisse is seen below the Swiss national flag at a building in the Federal Square in Bern May 15. Credit Suisse Group AG is expected to plead guilty and pay more than $2.5 billion to U.S. authorities to resolve charges that the Swiss bank helped Americans evade U.S. taxes, people familiar with the discussions said on Thursday.
|| PHOTO CREDIT: RUBEN SPRICH – REUTERS
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Assistant cashier Gregory Francois of Monaco poses in the Salle des Ameriques, also known as Salle de Jeux Garnier, at the Casino de Monte Carlo in Monaco April 4. The luxurious Casino de Monte Carlo welcomes thousands of visitors every year to try their luck in its grand Belle Epoque gaming rooms. The casino was inaugurated in 1863 and its late nineteenth century architecture inspired novelist Ian Fleming’s casino in his first James Bond spy novel, “Casino Royale”. The casino and Monte Carlo were featured in the James Bond movies “Never Say Never Again” and “GoldenEye”. Perched above the Mediterranean and bounded by the French and Italian coastlines on either side, Monaco is recognized by many countries as the world’s smallest independent state after the Vatican City. Picture taken April 4, 2014.
|| PHOTO CREDIT: ERIC GAILLARD – REUTERS
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Kids play soccer during a training session at Sao Carlos slum in Rio de Janeiro May 15. The World Cup will be held in 12 cities in Brazil from June 12 till July 13. Protests ahead of the tournament have focused on the need for better public services in Brazil.
|| PHOTO CREDIT: PILAR OLIVARES – REUTERS
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A supporter of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) dances during celebrations after learning of initial poll results outside the party headquarters in New Delhi May 16. Opposition candidate Narendra Modi will be the next prime minister of India, with early election results on Friday showing the pro-business Hindu nationalist and his party headed for the biggest victory the country has seen in 30 years.
|| PHOTO CREDIT: ANINDITO MUKHERJEE – REUTERS
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A Palestinian protester runs from tear gas fired by Israeli troops during clashes near Israel’s Ofer Prison, near the West Bank city of Ramallah May 16. Some 120 Palestinians jailed without trial in Israel have been on an open-ended hunger strike, eating only salt and drinking water, for the past 23 days to demand an end to so-called “administrative detention”.
|| PHOTO CREDIT: MOHAMAD TOROKMAN – REUTERS
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The Ziggy Stardust jumpsuit designed by Freddie Burretti (1972) is reflected in the mirrors of an installation at the upcoming David Bowie exhibition in Berlin, May 14. David Bowie’s intensely productive Berlin period – when he made the iconic albums “Heroes” and “Low”, launched Iggy Pop’s solo career and kicked a drug habit – is the theme of a new show adapted from last year’s sold-out exhibition in London. The exhibition runs from May 20 till August 10 in the German capital. Picture taken May 14, 2014.
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|| PHOTO CREDIT: TOBIAS SCHWARZ – REUTERS
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Keiko Chavers tastes a chocolate cupcake made of mealworms and topped with a locust at the Cooking school at the University of Wageningen on April 4.
|| PHOTO CREDIT: MICHAEL KOOREN – REUTERS
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A student who escaped when Boko Haram rebels stormed a school and abducted schoolgirls, identifies her schoolmates from a video released by the Islamist rebel group at the Government House in Maiduguri, Borno State May 15. Rebels stormed the school in the northeastern village of Chibok a month ago and seized 276 girls who were taking exams. Some have escaped, but about 200 remain missing. On Monday, Boko Haram leader Abubakar Shekau released the video showing some of the girls in captivity and offered a swap of the girls in exchange for imprisoned militants. Picture taken May 15, 2014.
|| PHOTO CREDIT: STRINGER – REUTERS
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A Bouygues Telecom company logo is seen on the facade of the Sequana tower, the company’s headquarters, in Issy-Les-Moulineaux as the Paris Sacre Coeur Basilica on Montmartre appears in the background, May 16. French telecoms market leader Orange is in talks about a tie-up with smaller Bouygues Telecom, France’s economy minister confirmed on Friday, after two sources said the discussions could lead to Orange acquiring the business.
|| PHOTO CREDIT: CHARLES PLATIAU – REUTERS
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A girl covers her ears as her teammates yell slogans during a training session at the Colo Colo school of women’s soccer in Santiago May 11. Long on the soccer sidelines, more and more South American women are striking back by lacing up their boots and embracing the region’s most cherished sport. The surge is part of a global boom, with an estimated 29 million women and girls playing worldwide. But it is especially salient for South America, a region revered for its ball game and infamous for its machismo.
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|| PHOTO CREDIT: IVAN ALVARADO – REUTERS
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A man cleans bloodstains off a wall of a shop at a site hit by what activists said were barrel bombs dropped by forces loyal to Syria’s President Bashar al-Assad in Kfar Zeita village in the central province of Hama on May 15.
|| PHOTO CREDIT: AHMAD RIF – REUTERS
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Fire crew put out smouldering embers from the Cocos Fire in San Marcos, California on May 15. A towering wall of flames charged a hillside California community on Thursday as firefighters battled fierce wildfires that have forced 125,000 people to flee homes in the San Diego area and may have killed at least one person.
|| PHOTO CREDIT: SAM HODGSON – REUTERS
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Artist Kara Walker’s installation ‘A Subtlety’ is sugar-coated with an estimated 40 tons of sugar at the Domino Sugar factory in the Williamsburg section of the borough of Brooklyn on May 16, 2014. The sugar-coated sphinx-like figure measures 75.5 feet long, 35.5 feet high and 26 feet wide .
|| PHOTO CREDIT: SHANNON STAPLETON – REUTERS