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Image: Leland Shelton

News

The Week in Pictures: May 16 - 23

Children take refuge after a destructive tornado, Beckham retires from the game, 25,000 guest show up at a wedding, Puffins make it home, and more.

/ 17 PHOTOS
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Hold on

A mother carries her child through a field near the collapsed Plaza Towers Elementary School in Moore, Okla., on May 20, 2013. A mile-wide tornado with winds up to 200 mph roared through the Oklahoma City suburbs Monday, flattening entire neighborhoods, setting buildings on fire and landing a direct blow on the elementary school.

Sue Ogrocki / AP
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Path of destruction

An aerial view shows homes damaged by Monday's tornado as others appear untouched in Moore, Okla. At least 24 people, including 10 children, were killed in the massive tornado.

Tony Gutierrez / AP
Image: A child is pulled from the rubble of the Plaza Towers Elementary

In safe hands

A child is pulled from the rubble of the Plaza Towers Elementary School in Moore, Okla., and passed along to rescuers on May 20.

Sue Ogrocki / AP
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Arms of refuge

Children are carried away from Briarwood Elementary school after a tornado destroyed the building on May 20.

Paul Hellstern
Image: A member of the Somali Police Force leads a group of blindfolded men to a holding area during an operation aimed at improving the security situation in Mogadishu

Security measures

A member of the Somali Police Force leads a group of blindfolded men to a holding area during an operation aimed at improving the security situation in Mogadishu, on May 21. The African Union Mission in Somalia and Somali Police Force conducted an overnight operation in the Wardhiigley district of Mogadishu, in an attempt to weed out members of the Al-Shabaab extremist group. Men who were temporarily detained were screened to determine if they had any links to the group.

Handout / X80001
Image: Wedding of the grandson of Beltz

Sacred ceremony

Bride Hannah Batya Penet married Shalom Rokeach, the eldest grandson of the Chief Rabbi of Belz, Yissachar Dov Rokeach. The Belz Hasidic dynasty is one of the largest Hasidic movements in the world. Some 25,000 ultra-Orthodox Jews participated in one of the community's biggest weddings in years.

Abir Sultan / EPA
Image: A child watches jellyfish swim in a large tank at the Vancouver Aquarium in Vancouver

Jelly-filled

A child watches jellyfish swim in a large tank at the Vancouver Aquarium in Vancouver, B.C., on May 16. The tank contains around 2,000 spotted jellyfish and is part of a major display of 15 species from around the world.

Andy Clark / X00056
Image: FBL-FRA-LIGUE1-PSG-BREST

Bye-bye Beckham

Paris Saint-Germain's English midfielder David Beckham is thrown in the air by teammates after a French L1 football match between Paris St Germain and Brest on May 18, at Parc des Princes stadium in Paris. It was likely his last soccer match ever.

Fred Dufour / AFP
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Barbershop snooze

Jose Luis, 7, in his school uniform, falls asleep in a barber's chair while waiting for his father's shift to end in Old Havana, Cuba, on May 21.


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Ramon Espinosa / AP
Image: Pilgrims run next to the shrine of El Rocio in Almonte, southern Spain

Spring pilgrimage

Pilgrims run next to the shrine of El Rocio in Almonte, southern Spain, on May 18. Every spring, hundreds of thousands of devotees converge at a shrine to pay homage to the Virgin del Rocio during an annual pilgrimage which combines religious fervour and festive color.

Marcelo Del Pozo / X90017
Image: U.S. first lady Obama reacts with school children from Willow Springs Elementary School in Fairfax, Virginia

Emancipation celebration

First lady Michelle Obama joins children from Fairfax, Va.'s Willow Springs Elementary School in a play about the emancipation of slaves during Abraham Lincoln's presidency, at historic Decatur House in Washington, on May 22. Obama visited the site where some of the last slaves in Washington lived, and where a $1 million dollar grant was announced on Wednesday to help preserve the building.

Jason Reed / X00458
Image: Palestinians al-Masri, Abu Karsh, and Redwan rest after taking part in a swimming lesson inside al-Sadaka Club in Gaza City

Poolside relief

Palestinians Sadi al-Masri, 27, Moutasem Abu Karsh, 16, and Asad Redwan, 31, rest after taking part in swimming lesson inside al-Sadaka Club in Gaza City, on May 16. Al-Masri's leg was amputated after clashes between Palestinians and Israeli soldiers during the first Intifada in 1987, while Abu Karsh lost his leg in an explosion, and Redwan's leg was amputated after he was hit in an Israeli air strike in 2009, they said. The swimming sessions are organized by the Merciful Hands Society for wounded Palestinians in an attempt to help them get rid of trauma and frustration.

Suhaib Salem / X90014
Image: Leland Shelton

Great promise

Graduate Leland Shelton, center, is congratulated as he is acknowledged by President Barack Obama during the 129th commencement ceremony address at Morehouse College, on May 19, in Atlanta. After a difficult childhood Shelton graduated Phi Beta Kappa and is on his way to Harvard Law School.

Carolyn Kaster / AP
Image: Herndon Monument Climb Challenges \"Plebes\" At US Naval Academy

Hats (and shirts) off

Freshmen climb the Herndon Monument at the U.S. Naval Academy on May 20, in Annapolis, Md. Each year, the freshman class, known as "Plebes," climb the lard-covered monument to retrieve the Plebe "dixie cup" hat and replace it with an upperclassmen's hat. The annual tradition is one step in marking the end of wearing freshman headgear and moving up to headgear more like a U.S. Naval officer. They replaced the hat in 1:32:43.

Patrick Smith / Getty Images North America
Image: Farne Island Rangers Carry Out 'Puffin Census'

Come here often?

Puffins return to their summer breeding grounds as National Trust rangers carry out a Puffin census on May 16 in the Farne Islands, England. A census is carried out every five years, with the last one in 2008 recording 36,500 pairs of puffins. The Farne Islands offer good protection for the birds to nest, providing excellent food sources and few predators.


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Jeff J Mitchell / Getty Images Europe
Image: U.S. President Obama checks the need for and umbrella held by a U.S. Marine during a joint news conference with Turkish Prime Minister Erdogan in Washington

Raindrops keep fallin'?

U.S. President Barack Obama checks to see if he still needs the umbrella held by a U.S. Marine during a joint news conference with Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan in the Rose Garden of the White House in Washington, May 16.

Jason Reed / X00458
Image: Two Soldiers Killed In Afghanistan Buried At Arlington Nat'l Cemetery

Father's flag

Four-year-old Sophia Phillips carries an American flag presented to her during a burial service for her father, Staff Sergeant Francis G. Phillips, at Arlington National Cemetery on May 20. Phillips, from Meridian, N.Y., was killed in combat in the Maiwand district of Afghanistan when the vehicle he was riding in was struck by an improvised explosive device.

Win Mcnamee / Getty Images North America
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