April 22, 2015

Israeli female soldiers hold wreaths next to the wall of names of fallen soldiers at the Armored Corps memorial, before a ceremony marking the annual Memorial Day for soldiers and civilians killed in more than a century of conflict between Jews and Arabs, in Latrun near Jerusalem.

Amnesty International volunteers place hundreds of "SOS Europe" paper boats on the beach of San Sebastian in Barcelona, Spain. The protest calls on the EU to highlight the immigration crisis in the Mediterranean, with hundreds of migrants having drowned trying to reach Europe in recent days.

Pope Francis, center, exchanges his skull cap with one donated to him by a pilgrim as he arrives for his weekly general audience, in St. Peter's Square at the Vatican.

Pro-democracy lawmaker Ronny Tong sits with placards of yellow crosses placed after lawmakers walked out of the legislative chamber to protest against Chief Secretary Carrie Lam who unveiled a Beijing-backed election reform package’s details, in Hong Kong.

A Togolose gendarme casts his vote for the presidential election at a polling station in Lome, as law enforcement oficers vote 72 hours ahead of the rest of the population. Togo elects a new president Saturday, with the main opposition leader Jean-Pierre Fabre seeking to end nearly 50 years of rule by the Gnassingbe family.

Smoke and lava spew from the Villarrica volcano, as seen from Pucon town, in the south of Santiago, Chile. Authorities have restricted access to the area within 5 kilometers (3 miles) of the crater and have put the area under an orange alert due to the volcano's heightened unrest and increased likelihood of eruption.

Schoolgirls from St. Theresa College Primary School hold flowers during a memorial service for migrant victims in Msida, outside Valletta, Malta. Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi said on Wednesday it was fundamental the EU take a collective stand to tackle migrant trafficking at its source in African countries, days after hundreds died in the latest Mediterranean disaster.

Ukrainian coal miners protest outside the government building in Kyiv, demanding the government protect their jobs as the eastern separatist conflict threatens to force pits to close. Banging their helmets, the miners yelled "Shame" on the pro-western government, demanding it raise their pay and restore subsidies to the mines that help power the Ukrainian industry.
 

An Indian Muslim devotee prays at the shrine of Khwaja Moinuddin Chishti during Urs festival in Ajmer, Rajasthan, India. Thousands of Sufi devotees from different parts of India travel to the shrine for the annual festival, marking the death anniversary of the saint.

Commuters crowd a bridge as they wait to board public buses on the "Day Without Cars and Motorcycle" in Bogota, Colombia. Many residents in the capital walked, biked, or took public transportation to their destinations to promote alternative transportation as a way to reduce smog.

Children play cricket as rain clouds loom over the Brahmaputra River in Guwahati, capital of northeastern Assam state, India.

Russian soldiers march during a rehearsal of the Victory Day Parade in Alabino, outside Moscow. The parade will take place on Moscow's Red Square on May 9 to commemorate the 1945 defeat of Nazi Germany.

A surfer waits for a break in crashing waves before diving in for a surf off Sydney's Collaroy Beach. A cyclonic storm lashed Australia's east coast for a third day on Wednesday, causing millions of dollars of damage to property and infrastructure in Sydney and other cities.

A devotee climbs the chariot of Rato Machhindranath to fix ropes during the chariot festival at Bungamati in Lalitpur, Nepal. Rato Machhindranath is known as the god of rain and both Hindus and Buddhists worship Machhindranath for good rain to prevent drought during the rice harvest season.

The skyline of central Bangkok and the Chao Phraya river are seen during sunrise in Bangkok, Thailand.