Fortnight in pictures (May 9 - May 25)

Published: May 29, 2015

US Secretary of State John Kerry arrives for a news conference with Russian Foreign Secretary Sergey

Image by : Joshua Roberts / Reuters

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US Secretary of State John Kerry arrives for a news conference with Russian Foreign Secretary Sergey Lavrov at the presidential residence of Bocharov Ruchey in Sochi, Russia, on May 12, 2015

Burundi's President Pierre Nkurunziza kicks the ball during a soccer game with his friends in Bu

Image by : Goran Tomasevic / Reuters

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Burundi's President Pierre Nkurunziza kicks the ball during a soccer game with his friends in Bujumbura, Burundi, on May 20, 2015. Nkurunziza on Wednesday urged more than 110,000 people who have fled political violence in the last month to return home, saying "99.9 percent" of the impoverished East African nation was peaceful and safe. Conflict has been brewing in Burundi after President Nkurunziza decided to run for a third term in office, which protesters say is unconstitutional

Honda Motor Co Chairman and Japan Automobile Manufacturers Association (JAMA) head Fumihiko Ike (cen

Image by : Issei Kato / Reuters

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Honda Motor Co Chairman and Japan Automobile Manufacturers Association (JAMA) head Fumihiko Ike (centre) is surrounded by reporters as he leaves a news conference in Tokyo on May 21, 2015. Ike said he hopes for an interim report on the cause of Takata Corp's air bag problems by the end of the year from any one of the teams investigating the issue

Auctioneer Jussi Pylkkanen calls for final bids before dropping the gavel as he sells Pablo Picasso&

Image by : Carlo Allegri / Reuters

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Auctioneer Jussi Pylkkanen calls for final bids before dropping the gavel as he sells Pablo Picasso's "Les femmes d'Alger (Version 'O')" (Women of Algiers) at Christie's Auction House in the Manhattan borough of New York on May 11, 2015. The auction house had estimated the 1955 cubist oil, "Les femmes d'Alger (Version "O")", would sell for about $140 million, but several bidders competing via telephone drove the winning bid to $160 million, for a final price of $179,365,000, including Christie's commission of just over 12 percent

A student of the Krasnoyarsk choreographic college prepares backstage before a dress rehearsal of a

Image by : Ilya Naymushin / Reuters

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A student of the Krasnoyarsk choreographic college prepares backstage before a dress rehearsal of a performance by graduates of the college at the State Theatre of Opera and Ballet in Russia's Siberian city of Krasnoyarsk, Russia, on May 12, 2015. The annual performance showcases the work of students from across Russia who study or have studied at the well-known school

Brazil's Corinthians fans cheer their team during Copa Libertadores soccer match against Paragua

Image by : Paulo Whitaker / Reuters

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Brazil's Corinthians fans cheer their team during Copa Libertadores soccer match against Paraguay's Guaraní in Sao Paulo on May 13, 2015

An Iraqi Sunni displaced woman, who fled from the violence in the city of Ramadi, carries her child

Image by : Reuters

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An Iraqi Sunni displaced woman, who fled from the violence in the city of Ramadi, carries her child on the outskirts of Baghdad, Iraq, on May 19, 2015. Iraqi security forces on Tuesday deployed tanks and artillery around Ramadi to confront Islamic State fighters, who have captured the city in a major defeat for the Baghdad government and its Western backers

A large banner supporting a ‘Yes’ vote to legalise same sex marriage hangs from a buildi

Image by : Cathal McNaughton / Reuters

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A large banner supporting a ‘Yes’ vote to legalise same sex marriage hangs from a building in the Quays area of Dublin in Ireland on May 19, 2015. The poll result on May 23 indicated that 62 percent voters said ‘yes’ to the move. Irish voters backed the introduction of gay marriage by a margin of as much as two-to-one and became the first country to approve the policy in a national plebiscite.

Alexei Samokhin (centre), a 90-year-old World War II veteran and companion of the Order of Glory, wa

Image by : Ilya Naymushin / Reuters

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Alexei Samokhin (centre), a 90-year-old World War II veteran and companion of the Order of Glory, watches an honour guard from the youth's patriotic organisation marching at a memorial for victims of the 1941-1945 Great Patriotic War, in the Siberian town of Divnogorsk, Russia on May 7, 2015. The Order of Glory is the Soviet Army's highest acknowledgement for bravery in the face of the enemy. Samokhin, who served as a signaller and a scout, took part in many battles of the Red Army, including Operation Bagration in Belarus and Western Ukraine, battles for Warsaw and for Berlin. The end of World War II found him in Germany on the river Elbe, where he met with US Army soldiers

A man feeds pigeons near the debris of a collapsed temple on May 14, 2015, after a massive earthquak

Image by : Navesh Chitrakar / Reuters

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A man feeds pigeons near the debris of a collapsed temple on May 14, 2015, after a massive earthquake in Kathmandu which killed over 8,500 people. Three-hundred people are reported to be missing after the tragedy

Emergency workers look through the remains of a derailed Amtrak train in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania,

Image by : Lucas Jackson / Reuters

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Emergency workers look through the remains of a derailed Amtrak train in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, on May 13, 2015. The accident killed eight people and injured scores of others. The train was reportedly going twice as fast as the mandated speed over that particular bend, eventually leading to its derailment. The incident has sparked a debate on the lack of safety measures and factors like insufficient spectrum allocation for wireless communication which is required to run protective systems

A Buddhist monk shaves the head of a novice monk during an inauguration ceremony at Jogye temple in

Image by : Thomas Peter / Reuters

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A Buddhist monk shaves the head of a novice monk during an inauguration ceremony at Jogye temple in Seoul on May 11, 2015. Ten children were given the opportunity that day to experience life as Buddhist monks by staying at the temple until Buddha's birthday which was celebrated on May 25

Zarli Hartu, 46, cries for her son Marmot Ismai, who she says was kidnapped into a human trafficking

Image by : Soe Zeya Tun / Reuters

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Zarli Hartu, 46, cries for her son Marmot Ismai, who she says was kidnapped into a human trafficking camp, at a refugee camp outside Sittwe, Myanmar, on May 21, 2015. Sittwe’s coast has been used by traffickers to lure hundreds of Rohingya Muslims into their boats with the promise of jobs in Thailand

A demonstrator holds up a banner that reads, "I don’t want to eat transgenics" durin

Image by : Rayen Luna / Reuters

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A demonstrator holds up a banner that reads, "I don’t want to eat transgenics" during a protest march against Monsanto Co, the world's largest seed company, in Santiago City, Philippines on May 23, 2015. Similar demonstrations took place on the same day around the world to raise awareness about what the activists claim are dangers surrounding Monsanto's glyphosate-containing herbicide, ‘Roundup'

A bird covered in oil flies over an oil slick along the coast of Refugio State Beach in Goleta, Cali

Image by : Lucy Nicholson / Reuters

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A bird covered in oil flies over an oil slick along the coast of Refugio State Beach in Goleta, California, United States, on May 20, 2015. “A pipeline ruptured along the scenic California coastline on Tuesday (May 19), spilling some 21,000 gallons (79,000 litres) of oil into the ocean and on beaches before it could be secured,” a US Coast Guard spokeswoman said

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