French President Francois Hollande embraces German Chancellor Angela Merkel as he welcomes her upon her arrival at the Elysee Presidential Palace in Paris
Greetings at the Elysee Palace
Marseille strike
Employes, workers and students demonstrate in Marseille, southern France. France’s transport unions and youth organisations hold strikes, amid anger over proposed labour law changes
Waiting for Draghi
An empty chair stands in the news conference room before the arrival of Mario Draghi, president of the European Central Bank, to announce the bank’s interest rate decision at the ECB headquarters in Frankfurt, Germany
Putrajaya International Hot Air Balloon Fiesta
Remembering
Preparing Soyuz for lift-off
Russian Soyuz TMA-20M rocket booster is moved for installation at the launch pad at Baikonur cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. The crew is set to take off from Kazakhstan’s Baikonur cosmodrome to the International Space Station on Saturday
Dogs in a pram
Pink Rickshaw
Pakistan’s first women only rickshaw service was meant to provide its staff with a new way of gaining financial independence and its passengers with the chance of a ride without being groped and harassed by male drivers. But, after just a year in business, the “Pink Rickshaw” in the Punjabi city of Lahore, is struggling
Keeping dry
War damage in Jobar
A rebel fighter plays football in a damaged street in the neighbourhood of Jobar, on the eastern outskirts of the Syrian capital Damascus
Celebrating Chrism Mass
Pope Francis celebrates a Chrism Mass in St. Peter’s Basilica at the Vatican. During the Mass the Pontiff blesses a token amount of oil that will be used to administer the sacraments for the year
Melted by the fire
Peshmerga graduation ceremony
Ivory
A worker carries a tusk as he works with others to move the ivory stockpiles out of a strongroom to the container outside at a Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS) headquarters in Nairobi, Kenya. KWS moved the ivory stockpiles ahead of the ivory burning event on April 30 where 105 tonnes of ivory is set to be burned.
Zverev in action
Thingyan celebrations
Harvesting Opium
Afghan farmers harvest raw opium at a poppy field in Zhari district of southern Kandahar province, Afghanistan. A recent uptick in violence across the south will worsen once the poppy crop is harvested in coming weeks and the extremists deploy gunmen to protect their vast smuggling empire, officials, analysts and diplomats are predicting.
Prayers
Military inspections
German Chancellor Angela Merkel and Indonesian President Joko Widodo inspect a military honor guard before talks at the Chancellery in Berlin
Rescue workers in Ecuador
Colombian rescuers work amid the rubble in Pedernales, Ecuador. The death toll from the powerful earthquake that struck Ecuador over the weekend has risen to at least 413, government officials reported on Monday