Refugees covered their ears on Thursday as Greek fighter jets conducted exercises over a makeshift camp outside the village of Idomeni, close to Greece’s border with Macedonia.: photo by Daniel Mihailescu/AFP, 14 April 2016

William Blake: A Divine Image

Cruelty has a Human Heart

And Jealousy a Human Face

Terror the Human Form Divine

And Secrecy, the Human Dress

The Human Dress, is forged Iron

The Human Form, a fiery Forge.

The Human Face, a Furnace seal'd

The Human Heart, its hungry Gorge.

William Blake (1757-1827): A Divine Image, from Songs of Innocence and of Experience, 1789

Statement from Greek National Defence General Staff re military jets over #Idomeni: image via Piers Schofield @inglesi, 14 April 2016

Fighter jets making circles above #Idomeni camp. People look shocked, children crying. Who thought warplanes above this place was good idea?: tweet via Marcel van der Steen @marcelvdsteen, 14 April 2016

Military planes flying over #Idomeni. Seriously who's the genius who had the brilliant idea to fly warplanes above #refugeesGR fleeing war?: tweet via Marianna Karakoulaki @Faloulah, 14 April 2016

Heartbreaking scenes today with some of the 60,000 people who are waiting to cross the #Syria / #Jordan border: image via Emma Beals @ejbeals, 14 April 2016

Russian jets make 'simulated attack' passes near a U.S. destroyer: image via Reuters Top News @Reuters, 13 April 2016

US ‘very concerned’ about #Syrian regime offensive near #Aleppo: image via Al Arabiya English @AlArabiya_Eng, 14 April 2016

Syria peace talks resume as violence surges in Aleppo province: image via AFP news agency @AFP, 14 April 2016

SYRIA - A Syrian man walks along an alley in the old part of the capital Damascus. By @JOSEPHEID1 #AFP: image via Frédérique Geffard @fgeffardAFP, 14 April 2016

Authorities have whitewashed graffiti off walls of Moria refugee detention centre on Lesbos ahead of Pope visit: image via Piers Schofield @inglesi, 14 April 2016

They haven't managed the other side yet #Lesbos #Moria #refugeesGR: image via Piers Schofield @inglesi, 14 April 2016

@amnesty on the Pope's visit to #Lesbos: image via Piers Schofield @inglesi, 14 April 2016

A lot of closed doors and a lot of questions left unanswered... #Greece #RefugeeCrisis: image via Louis Dowse @DwseL, 14 April 2016

Powerful photo from Greek-Macedonia border on today's @WSJ cover. Credit: Amel Emric/AP #RefugeeCrisis: image via Alyssa Eisenstein @alyssaeisen, 14 April 2016

GREECE - Men use a pole to bring down the border fence between Greece & Macedonia near Idomeni. By @bubulator2 #AFP: image via Frédérique Geffard @fgeffardAFP, 14 April 2016

Again FYMOR forces use teargas at Idomeni border at #refugeesGr.camp. One injured reported. Greek police engaged.: image via Michael Räber @iwatnew, 14 April 2016

#Idomeni Macedonia police tear gas migrants on Greek border. Photo by Daniel Mihailescu #AFP: image via AFP Photo Department @AFPphoto, 13 April 2016

Macedonian police fire tear gas at migrants on Greek border: image via Reuters World @ReutersWorld, 13 April 2016

"To resist is to exist" #refugeesGr #Idomeni, April 13, 2016 pic v @nenovstoyan: image via Κάποιος Ταδόπουλος @ DOC_PROVOCATEUR, 14 April 2016

Someone fainted, the air is irritating. Greek police is now trying to push people away from the fence.#Idomeni: image via julia druelle @julia druelle, 13 April 2016

Tear gas was shot in #Idomeni. This man also shows rubber bullets. The Greek police is moving along the fence.: image via julia druelle @julia druelle, 13 April 2016

World in focus – best photos for April 13, 2016

A policeman stands behind his shield covered with egg during a protest in front of the headquarters of Macedonia’s ruling VMRO party in Skopje: photo by Ognen Teofilovski / Reuters, 13 April 2016

#refugeesGr screaming, kids crying as police beats them off the highway #Katsikas: image via Moving Europe @MovingEurope, 14 April 2016

Women, children joining the blockade in #Katsikas against bad conditions. This is why people are not leaving #Idomeni: image via Moving Europe @MovingEurope, 13 April 2016

#refugeesGr in #Katsikas are blocking the highway to protest the dire conditions and ask for relocation to better place!: image via Moving Europe @MovingEurope, 13 April 2016

#Katsikas greece's mainland. People sleep over stones, floods, snakes, no waterproof tents: image via Daniel Rivas @drivaspacheco, 13 April 2016

Dead snake in #Katsikas. Refugees told to us that the camp has plenty of them and they are scared #refugeesGr: image via Daniel Rivas @drivaspacheco, 13 April 2016

6 buses stopped near #Katsikas. The refugees don't want to go inside the camp, they came yesterday night #refugeesGr: image via Daniel Rivas @drivaspacheco, 13 April 2016

A refugee child swings inside barn at makeshift camp at Greek-Macedonian border near Idomeni. By @bubulator2 #AFP: image via AFP Photo Department @AFPphoto, 14 April 2016

Refugee children sit on bunk bed at makeshift camp at the Greek-Macedonian border near Idomeni. By @bubulator2 #AFP: image via AFP Photo Department @AFPphoto, 14 April 2016

#Idomeni Refugee children in the makeshift camp at the Greek-Macedonian border. By Daniel Mihailescu. By Daniel Mihailescu #AFP: image via Stephanie Beauge @sbeaugeAFP, 13 April 2016

Syrian refugee father breaks down as he is incapable of providing food to his son as the son comforts him #migrants: image via ZED @ZedTrafficker, 14 April 2016

Powerful Message #RefugeeCrisis: image via Maheen Taseer @MaheenTaseer, 13 April 2016

World in focus – best photos for April 15, 2016

A Malaysian homeless child eats food on a street in Kuala Lumpur: photo by Mohd Rasfan/AFP, 15 April 2016

I

Living is no laughing matter:
...you must live with great seriousness
......like a squirrel, for example --
   I mean without looking for something beyond and above living,
......I mean living must be your whole occupation.

Living is no laughing matter:
.....you must take it seriously,
.....so much so and to such a degree
   that, for example, your hands tied behind your back,
                                            your back to the wall,
 or else in a laboratory
.....in your white coat and safety glasses,
.....you can die for people --
   even for people whose faces you’ve never seen,
   even though you know living
.....is the most real, the most beautiful thing.

I mean, you must take living so seriously
   that even at seventy, for example, you’ll plant olive trees --
   and not for your children, either,
   but because although you fear death you don’t believe it,
   because living, I mean, weighs heavier.

III

This earth will grow cold,
a star among stars
               and one of the smallest,
a gilded mote on blue velvet --
   I mean this, our great earth.
This earth will grow cold one day,
not like a block of ice
or a dead cloud even 
but like an empty walnut it will roll along
   in pitch-black space . . . 
You must grieve for this right now
-- you have to feel this sorrow now --
for the world must be loved this much
                               if you’re going to say “I lived”. . .

Nazim Hikmet (1902-1963): from Living (February 1948), translated by Randy Blasing and Mutlu Konuk, 1993

This NASA image obtained April 15, 2016 ...This NASA image obtained April 15, 2016 shows The spider part of The Spider and the Fly" nebulae, IC 417 in star formation, as seen in this infrared image from NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope and the Two Micron All Sky Survey (2MASS). Located in the constellation Auriga, IC 417 lies about 10,000 light-years away. It is in the outer part of the Milky Way, almost exactly in the opposite direction from the galactic center. A cluster of young stars called "Stock 8" can be seen (centerR). The light from this cluster carves out a bowl in the nearby dust clouds, seen here as green fluff. Along the sinuous tail in the center and to the left, groupings of red point sources are also young stars. In this image, infrared wavelengths, which are invisible to the unaided eye, have been assigned visible colors. Light with a wavelength of 1.2 microns, detected by 2MASS, is shown in blue. The Spitzer wavelengths of 3.6 and 4.5 microns are green and red, respectively. / AFP PHOTO / NASA/JPL-CALTECH/2MASS / Handout / XGTY/RESTRICTED TO EDITORIAL USE-MANDATORY CREDIT"AFP PHOTO/NASA/JPL-CALTECH/2MASS"- NO MARKETING NO ADVERTISING CAMPAIGNS-DISTRBUTED AS A SERVICE TO CLIENTSHANDOUT/AFP/Getty Images

The spider part of The Spider and the Fly nebulae, IC 417 in star formation, as seen in this infrared image. Located in the constellation Auriga, IC 417 lies about 10,000 light-years away. It is in the outer part of the Milky Way, almost exactly in the opposite direction from the galactic centre.: photo by NASA/AFP, 15 April 2016

Precarious truce starts in Yemen, fighting reported in Taiz: image via Reuters Top News @Reuters, 11 April 2016

World in focus – best photos for April 10, 2016

Young Yemeni fighters loyal to exiled President Abedrabbo Mansour Hadi stand next to a burnt tank in the Sirwah area, in Marib province. Loyalist forces clashed with Houthi fighters in Marib province for a second consecutive day, according to military sources: photo by Nabil Hassan / AFP, 10 April 2016

GREECE - A child stands inside the Moria detention centre in Mytilene. By @ArisMessinis #AFP: image via Frédérique Geffard @fgeffardAFP, 15 April 2016

GREECE - Migrants protest in Moria detention centre in Mytilene on the eve of Pope Francis' visit. By @ArisMessinis: image via Frédérique Geffard @fgeffardAFP, 15 April 2016

GREECE - A man walks with his son in the Moria detention centre in Mytilene. By @ArisMessinis: image via Frédérique Geffard @fgeffardAFP, 15 April 2016

SYRIA - Syrians pass anti-election graffiti on a dust bin in the rebel-held city of Douma. By Amer Almohibany #AFP: image via Frédérique Geffard @fgeffardAFP, 13 April 2016

US - A commuter walks through the shadows in Midtown Manhattan in New York. By Timothy A. Clary #AFP: image via Frédérique Geffard @fgeffardAFP, 13 April 2016

#Syria Young Syrians present their ID cards as they arrive to vote in a parliamentary election #Aleppo #Syria #AFP: image via AFP Photo Department @AFPphoto, 13 April 2016

GREECE - A man throws tear gas shell back to police as refugees try to break down border, Idomeni. By @bubulator2 #AFP: image via Frédérique Geffard @fgeffardAFP, 13 April 2016

GREECE - A man runs away from tear gas fired during a protest to reopen the border near Idomeni. By @bubulator2 #AFP: image via Frédérique Geffard @fgeffardAFP, 13 April 2016

GREECE - A man looks at Macedonia police through a fence at Greek-Macedonian border in Idomeni. By @bubulator2 #AFP: image via Frédérique Geffard @fgeffardAFP, 13 April 2016

MACEDONIA - Macedonian police deploy their forces at Greek-Macedonian border near Gevgelija. By @RAtanasovski bubulator2 #AFP: image via Frédérique Geffard @fgeffardAFP, 13 April 2016

SYRIA - Stray cats eat raw meat thrown by a butcher in the old part of the capital Damascus. By @JOSEPHEID1 #AFP: image via Frédérique Geffard @fgeffardAFP, 13 April 2016

SYRIA - A Syrian man sits at the entrance of his shop in the old part of the capital Damascus. By @JOSEPHEID1 #AFP: image via Frédérique Geffard @fgeffardAFP, 13 April 2016

SYRIA - A Syrian man walks along a street in the old part of the capital Damascus. By @JOSEPHEID1 #AFP: image via Frédérique Geffard @fgeffardAFP, 13 April 2016

GREECE - Refugees keep warm as they sit near a fire in the makeshift camp near Idomeni. By @bubulator2 #AFP: image via Frédérique Geffard @fgeffardAFP, 13 April 2016

SYRIA - The destroyed minaret of the al-Iman mosque, which was hit by air strikes, in al-Nashabiyah. By @AbdDoumany: image via Frédérique Geffard @fgeffardAFP, 14 April 2016

INDONESIA - A trader sells packets of tissues along a street in Jakarta. By @gohphoto #AFP: image via Frédérique Geffard @fgeffardAFP, 14 April 2016

GREECE - A refugee woman cooks at the makeshift camp at Greek-Macedonian border near Idomeni. By @bubulator2 #AFP: image via Frédérique Geffard @fgeffardAFP, 14 April 2016

GREECE - Refugee children watch cartoon at makeshift camp on Greek-Macedonian border near Idomeni.. By @bubulator2 #AFP: image via AFP Photo Department @AFPphoto, 15 April 2016

Nepalese devotees hold sacrificial chickens as they wait in a queue to enter the ‘Balkumari’ temple during Sindoor Jatra festival in Bhaktapur, Nepal: photo by Niranjan Shrestha/AP, 14 April 2016

MALAYSIA - A woman sits inside a bus during sunset in Kuala Lumpur. By @rasfan #AFP: image via Frédérique Geffard @fgeffardAFP, 15 April 2016

Ethnic Malaysian Sikhs perform prayers t...Ethnic Malaysian Sikhs perform prayers to celebrate the Vaisakhi Festival, or the Sikh New Year Festival, at Gurdwara Sahib temple in Kuala Lumpur on April 14, 2016. The Vaisakhi Festival is the most important event in the Sikh calendar and celebrates the birth of Khalsa. / AFP PHOTO / MOHD RASFANMOHD RASFAN/AFP/Getty Images

Ethnic Malaysian Sikhs perform prayers to celebrate the Vaisakhi Festival, or the Sikh New Year Festival, at Gurdwara Sahib temple in Kuala Lumpur: photo by Mohd Rasfan/AFP, 15 April 2016

An Indian ascetic Muslim puts sharp object into his eye during the Urs festival in Ajme. By Shaukat Ahmed #AFP: image via AFP Photo Department@AFP, 14 April 2016

INDIA - A child sleeps as his father sells household items at a roadside stall in Siliguri. By @DIPTENDUTTA: image via Frédérique Geffard @fgeffardAFP, 14 April 2016

INDIA - An Hindu devotee is suspended by metal hooks takes part in 'Chadak' worship in Siliguri. By. By @DIPTENDUTTA: image via Frédérique Geffard @fgeffardAFP, 13 April 2016

Palestinian man reads a local newspaper outside his home in Gaza City: photo by Mohammed Abed/AFP, 14 April 2016

GAZA CITY - A Palestinian man reads a local newspaper outside his home. By @m55baba #AFP: image via AFP Photo Department @AFPphoto, 14 April 2016

Yemenis stand on a car at a flooded street following heavy rain, in Sana’a. Torrential rain hit Sanaa and most parts of Yemen as summer temperatures soar: photo by Yahya Arhab/EPA, 13 April 2016

Vladimir Putin...Russian President Vladimir Putin gestures after speaking to the media after his marathon call-in TV show in Moscow, Russia, on Thursday, April 14, 2016. Russian President Vladimir Putin says the United States must abandon its "imperial ambitions" and treat Russia as an equal partner. (AP Photo/Alexander Zemlianichenko)

Russian President Vladimir Putin gestures after speaking to the media after his marathon call-in TV show in Moscow, Russia: photo by Alexander Zemlianichenko/AP, 14 April 2016

An Indian man dressed as Hindu Goddess Kali puts fire in his mouth during a procession to celebrate the Ram Navami festival in Allahabad, India: photo by Rajesh Kumar Singh/AP 15 April 2016

Hillary Clinton...A Secret Service Agent stands guard as Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton speaks at the Corsi senior center, Friday, April 15, 2016, in New York. (AP Photo/Mary Altaffer)

A Secret Service Agent stands guard as Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton speaks at the Corsi senior center, in New York: photo by Mary Altaffer/AP, 15 April 2016

INDIA - An artist dressed as goddess Kali participates at Ram Navami festival in Allahabad. By @sanjaykanojia07 #AFP: image via Frédérique Geffard @fgeffardAFP, 15 April 2016

In this picture taken Thursday, April 14, 2016, the Palmyra citadel is seen in the background as Syrian families load their belongings onto a bus in the town of Palmyra in the central Homs province, Syria. Thousands of residents of this ancient town who fled Islamic State rule are returning briefly to check on their homes and salvage what they can _ some carpets, blankets, a fridge or a few family mementos. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar)

The Palmyra citadel is seen in the background as Syrian families load their belongings onto a bus in the town of Palmyra in the central Homs province, Syria. Thousands of residents of this ancient town who fled Islamic State rule are returning briefly to check on their homes and salvage what they can some carpets, blankets, a fridge or a few family mementos: photo by Hassan Ammar/AP, 15 April 2016

As Refugee Flow Ebbs Germany Concentrates On Integration...BERLIN, GERMANY - APRIL 14: Children play as residents look from their window at the container settlement shelter for refugees and migrants in Zehlendorf district on April 14, 2016 in Berlin, Germany. Locals, many of them retirees, come to the shelter regularly to help the refugees and migrants, who are from countries including Syria, Iraq, Afghanistan, Kosovo and Serbia. The coalition partners of the German government yesterday announced a new package of legislation that includes measures to foster the integration of refugees who have received asylum status in Germany. (Photo by Sean Gallup/Getty Images)

Children play as residents look from their window at the container settlement shelter for refugees and migrants in Zehlendorf district in Berlin, Germany. Locals, many of them retirees, come to the shelter regularly to help the refugees and migrants.: photo by Hassan Ammar/AP, 15 April 2016

Young girls yet to attain puberty are dressed up as living goddesses before being worshipped as ‘kumari’ or virgin during the Bengali Hindu festival of Basanti Durga puja in Kolkata, India: photo by Bikas Das/AP, 15 April 2016

A Hindu girl dressed as a Kumari sits as she is worshipped during rituals to commemorate Navratri festival inside Adyapith temple on the outskirts of Kolkata, India: photo by Rupak De Chowdhuri/Reuters, 15 April 2016

Migrants protest demanding reopening of border crossing near their makeshift camp in Idomeni. By @Kilicbil #AFP: image via AFP Photo Department @AFPphoto, 11 April 2016

Prime Minister David Cameron helps to campaign for a ‘Remain’ vote in the forthcoming EU referendum at a phone centre in London today along with fellow pro EU campaigners, Lord Ashdown, Lord Kinnock and Tessa Jowell: photo by Stefan Rousseau/PA,14 April 2016

YEMEN - A boy walks in a muddy road following heavy rain fall in the city of Amran. By Mohammed Huwais #AFP: image via Frédérique Geffard @fgeffardAFP, 15 April 2016

SYRIA - A man rides his motorbike in Daraa. By By @AbazidMohamad #AFP: image via Frédérique Geffard @fgeffardAFP, 15 April 2016

YEMEN - A man sits on a rock in a flooded street following heavy rain fall in Amran.By Mohammed Huwais #AFP: image via Frédérique Geffard @fgeffardAFP, 15 April 2016

Battles around Syria's Aleppo cast shadow over peace talks: image via AFP news agency @AFP, 15 April 2016

GREECE - A migrant looks on as he stands inside Moria detention center in Mytilene. By @ArisMessinis #AFP: image via Frédérique Geffard @fgeffardAFP, 15 April 2016

GREECE - Migrants sit at a makeshift camp staged near the port of Mytilene on island of Lesbos. By @lgouliam #AFP: image via AFP Photo Department @AFPphoto, 15 April 2016

Untitled | by JelleS

[Untitled] (Skiermuontseach): photo by JelleS, 15 April 2016

Untitled | by JelleS

[Untitled] (Skiermuontseach): photo by JelleS, 15 April 2016

A cradle left behind by Syrian Kurdish refugees lies at the border near Suruc. Turkish president Tayyip Erdogan said that Turkish troops could be used to help establish a secure zone in Syria, if there was an international agreement to set up such a haven for refugees fleeing Islamic State fighters: photo by Murad Sezer/Reuters, 4 October 2014

ca_20150914_006 | by Costică Acsinte Archive

[3 imagini: militari, Romania]: photo by Costică Acsinte (1897-1984), sometime after 1920 (Costică Acsinte Archive)

ca_20150719_007 | by Costică Acsinte Archive

[2 imagini: militari, Romania]: photo by Costică Acsinte (1897-1984), sometime after 1920 (Costică Acsinte Archive)

ca_20150914_014 | by Costică Acsinte Archive

[Militar, Romania]: photo by Costică Acsinte (1897-1984), sometime after 1920 (Costică Acsinte Archive)

AnnaWickham: The Fired Pot

In our town, people live in rows.
The only irregular thing in a street is the steeple;
And where that points to, God only knows,
And not the poor disciplined people!

And I have watched the women growing old,
Passionate about pins, and pence, and soap,
Till the heart within my wedded breast grew cold,
And I lost hope.

But a young soldier came to our town,
He spoke his mind most candidly.
He asked me quickly to lie down,
And that was very good for me.

For though I gave him no embrace --
Remembering my duty --
He altered the expression of my face,
And gave me back my beauty.

AnnaWickham (1884-1947): The Fired Pot, from The Man with a Hammer, 1916

ca_20150917_004 | by Costică Acsinte Archive

[Cuplu, Romania]: photo by Costică Acsinte (1897-1984), sometime after 1920 (Costică Acsinte Archive)

ca_20150917_002 | by Costică Acsinte Archive

[Familie, Romania]: photo by Costică Acsinte (1897-1984), sometime after 1920 (Costică Acsinte Archive)

ca_20150917_010 | by Costică Acsinte Archive

[Cuplu, Romania]: photo by Costică Acsinte (1897-1984), sometime after 1920 (Costică Acsinte Archive)

ca_20150915_007 | by Costică Acsinte Archive

[Cuplu, Romania]: photo by Costică Acsinte (1897-1984), sometime after 1920 (Costică Acsinte Archive)

ca_20150915_008 | by Costică Acsinte Archive

[Cuplu, Romania]: photo by Costică Acsinte (1897-1984), sometime after 1920 (Costică Acsinte Archive)

ca_20150915_009 | by Costică Acsinte Archive

[Cuplu, Romania]: photo by Costică Acsinte (1897-1984), sometime after 1920 (Costică Acsinte Archive)

ca_20150730_005 | by Costică Acsinte Archive

[Cuplu, Romania]: photo by Costică Acsinte (1897-1984), sometime after 1920 (Costică Acsinte Archive)

ca_20150915_011 | by Costică Acsinte Archive

[3 imagini: portrete, planfilm, Romania]: photo by Costică Acsinte (1897-1984), sometime after 1920 (Costică Acsinte Archive)

Entrance. Iasi, Romania: photo by valentin dontov, 2 February 2012

Depreche Mode? Iasi, Romania: photo by Peter, 16 March 2011

"Lake surrounded by mountains in an unknown location" (is lakes of Killarney) | by National Library of Ireland on The Commons

"Lake surrounded by mountains in an unknown location" [Upper Lake of Killarney, Gallavally, County Kerry]: photo by Fergus O'Connor, c. 1900-1920 (Fergus O'Connor Collection, National Library of Ireland)

Distillery, Bushmills, Co. Antrim | by National Library of Ireland on The Commons

Distillery, Bushmills, County Antrim: photo by Robert French, between 1865 and 1914 (Lawrence Photographic Collection, National Library of Ireland)

Elkhorn (San Miguel, California): photo by efo, 3 April 2016

Pants (Chinatown, San Francisco): photo by efo, 9 April 2016

Water dishes (San Luis Obispo, California): photo by efo, 2 April 2016

[Untitled] (Feanwalden): photo by JelleS, 1 March 2016

[Untitled]: photo by JelleS, 13 December 2015

Dam Nation. Page, Arizona.: photo by Jim Rohan, 13 April 2016

Monument Valley #5. Arizona/Utah border.: photo by Jim Rohan, 9 April 2016

Jesus Saves [Los Angeles]: photo by Thomas Hawk, 31 December 1999

Jesus Saves, Plate 2: photo by Thomas Hawk, 31 December 1999

From the 9th floor of the 1927 United Artists Theatre building, now Los Angeles' own Ace Hotel: photo by achangeinscenery, 1 February 2014

Girls in Peacetime Want to Dance | by achangeinscenery

Girls in Peacetime Want to Dance. Belle & Sebastian billboard in front of the United Artists Theatre / Ace Hotel: photo by achangeinscenery, 23 December 2014

Resentful? Oceanside, Caliornia.: photo by michaelj1998, 8 April 2016

Cheap dates. Los Angeles, California.: photo by michaelj1998, 24 March 2016

Jesus, Orlando: photo by Austin Granger, 21 March 2016

Portland: photo by Austin Granger, 15 April 2016

Portland: photo by Austin Granger, 25 March 2016

Brentwood Street, Portland | by austin granger

Brentwood Street, Portland: photo by Austin Granger, 25 March 2016

[Untitled] (Skiermuontseach): photo by JelleS, 15 April 2016

A rescued hedgehog sleeps in shredded newspaper at the West Hatch RSPCA wildlife centre in Somerset. Numbers of rescued hedgehogs have increased as milder weather is causing litters of babies to be born early, that then may not survive the winter: photo by Ben Birchall/PA, 28 November 2014

Philip Larkin: The Mower

The mower stalled, twice; kneeling, I found
A hedgehog jammed up against the blades,
Killed. It had been in the long grass.

I had seen it before, and even fed it, once.
Now I had mauled its unobtrusive world
Unmendably. Burial was no help:

Next morning I got up and it did not.
The first day after a death, the new absence
Is always the same; we should be careful

Of each other, we should be kind
While there is still time.

Philip Larkin (1922-1985): The Mower, 12 June 1979, from Humberside (Hull Club Literary Magazine), Autumn 1979, in Selected Poems, 1983

West European Hedgehog (Erinaceus europaeus), Emmendennen Wood, Emmen, Netherlands: photo by Hrald, 2009

European Hedgehog (Erinaceus europaeus): photo by Gaudete, 21 July 2007

A woman holds a hedgehog at the Harry hedgehog cafe in Tokyo, Japan. In a new animal-themed cafe, 20 to 30 hedgehogs of different breeds scrabble and snooze in glass tanks in Tokyo's Roppongi entertainment district. Customers have been queuing to play with the prickly mammals, which have long been sold in Japan as pets. The cafe's name Harry alludes to the Japanese word for hedgehog, harinezumi.: photo by Thomas Peter / Reuters, 5 April 2016

Kind

A man swims with a calf in the port city of Sidon in southern Lebanon: photo by Ali Hashisho / Reuters, 8 April 2015

A woman pulls a calf away from its mother, so she can milk the adult, in Uchuraccay, Peru: photo by Rodrigo Abd / AP, 9 April 2016

A newborn Asian elephant is helped by his mother Farina (R) to stand up at Pairi Daiza wildlife park, a zoo and botanical garden, in Brugelette, Belgium: photo by Francois Lenoir/Reuters, 25 May 2016

Dairy cows nuzzle a barn cat as they wait to be milked at a farm in Granby, Quebec: photo by Christinne Muschi/Reuters, 26 July 2015

Giant panda cubs are seen inside baskets at a giant panda breeding centre in Ya’an, Sichuan province, China: photo by Reuters, 21 August 2015

A cow stands in the middle of a busy road as auto-rickshaws pass by in Bengaluru, India: photo by Abhishek N. Chinnappa/Reuters, 2 June 2015

Buffalos escape a fire, which is spreading on a patch of land by the Yamuna river, on a hot summer day in New Delhi, India: photo by Anindito Mukherjee/Reuters, 9 June 2015

Sika deer run after being released from a nature reserve on Strizhament Mountain, south of Stavropol, Russia: photo by Eduard Korniyenko / Reuters, 7 April 2016

The Cotopaxi volcano spews ash and vapor, as seen from El Pedregal, Ecuador. Cotopaxi began showing renewed activity in April and its last major eruption was in 1877: photo by Dolores Ochoa/Associated Press, 3 September 2015

A lioness pays her respects to Cecil. During this time, the animal had twenty or more lions in his family.: photo by Brent Stapelkamp/Anastasia Photo, 21 October 2012

Cecil was a dominant male over a large area for most of his adult life. He is pictured here with his queen: photo by Brent Stapelkamp/Anastasia Photo, 21 October 2015

Two young males stand in the mist looking over a herd of buffalo: photo by Brent Stapelkamp/Anastasia Photo, 19 April 2015

Elephants play in the park: photo by Brent Stapelkamp/Anastasia Photo, 5 November 2014

A young cub, not content to sleep like the rest of the pride, yawns: photo by Brent Stapelkamp/Anastasia Photo, 23 October 2013

Jericho and Cecil are pictured on the last morning photographer Brent Stapelkamp would see Cecil. Although unrelated, these two lions maintained a strong alliance.: photo by Brent Stapelkamp/Anastasia Photo, 27 May 2015

A lioness rests beside the railway that separates the park from a hunting area. The animals seem to know where they are safe and where they are not. Cecil crossed this exact track in July 2015 and never returned. Hwange National Park has lost about a dozen lions to this train over the years.: photo by Brent Stapelkamp/Anastasia Photo, 10 June 2015

Cats crowd the harbor on Aoshima Island in the Ehime prefecture in southern Japan. An army of cats rules the remote island in southern Japan, curling up in abandoned houses or strutting about in a fishing village that is overrun with felines outnumbering humans six to one: photo by Thomas Peter/Reuters, 25 February 2015

Owls are spotted sitting in hollow nest in Patan, Nepal: photo by Narendra Shrestha/EPA, 18 November 2015

Lemurs eat at Qingdao Forest Wildlife World in Qingdao, Shandong province, China: photo by China Daily/Reuters, 27 January 2015

A gosling peers out from its mother’s wings in Santa Clara, California: photo by Marcio Jose Sanchez/Associated Press, 15 April 2015

A Gentoo penguin feeds its baby at Station Bernardo O’Higgins in the Antarctic: photo by Natacha Pisarenko/Associated Press, 22 January 2015

One stork stands on the back of another as they communicate with each other on a nest on a structure in Biebesheim am Rhein, Germany. A nesting colony of the migratory birds has been present for two years here. The birds return every year for rearing their young.: photo by Boris Roessler/EPA, 9 March 2015

"The message of Islam is forgiveness"

Cal student removed from @SouthwestAir plane after passengers hear him speaking Arabic: image via SFGate @SFGate, 16 April 2016

Iraqi seeks apology after being removed from Oakland-bound plane: Steve Rubenstein and Kimberly Veklerov, San Francisco Chronicle, 16 April 2016

A UC Berkeley student who was removed from a Southwest Airlines plane after a fellow passenger heard him speaking in Arabic on his mobile phone is still waiting for an explanation and an apology from somebody.

Khairuldeen Makhzoomi, a 26-year-old Iraqi refugee and the son of a slain Iraqi diplomat, had just boarded his Oakland-bound flight at Los Angeles International Airport on April 6 when he called and spoke with an uncle on his mobile phone.

After the call ended, Makhzoomi said a female passenger looked at him, got up and left her seat. A short time later, an airport employee told Makhzoomi to get off the plane.

A male chimpanzee, Chacha, screams after he was darted following an escape from nearby Yagiyama Zoological Park, in a residential area in Sendai, northern Japan. The chimp was eventually caught after being shot with a tranquilizer gun and falling from the power lines, Kyodo news reported.: photo by Kyodo / Reuters, 14 April 2016

Makhzoomi said his phone conversation had been with an uncle in Baghdad. They had discussed a meeting of the Los Angeles World Affairs Council that Makhzoomi had attended.

After he was led from his seat, Makhzoomi said he was questioned in the aircraft jet way by a series of security and police officers. At one point, he told them he was a victim of discrimination.

“I told them, ‘This is what Islamophobia looks like,’” he said. “And that’s when they said I could not get on the plane, and they called the FBI.”

Workers set up a natural gas pipeline during a dust storm at Iraq's border with Iran in Basra, southeast of Baghdad: photo by Essam Al Sudani / Reuters, 12April 2016

Makhzoomi, who is studying political science and near Eastern languages and literature at Berkeley, said he was interrogated at length, sniffed by police dogs and subjected to an intimate body search in front of passersby. FBI agents arrived and questioned him some more.

Southwest, in a statement, said it removed the student from the plane because of what it called “potentially threatening comments made aboard our aircraft” and “further discussion.”: photo by Kurt Rogers /San Francisco Chronicle, 16 April 2016

“I had an emotional breakdown and cried a little bit,” Makhzoomi said. “I was so afraid. I was so scared.”

Hours later, he was allowed to leave the terminal and his Southwest ticket was refunded. He bought a ticket from another airline in Los Angeles and arrived in Oakland nine hours late.

“We were asked to respond, and we determined no further action was necessary,” said Ari DeKofsky, a spokeswoman for the FBI’s Los Angeles office. She declined to elaborate on what actions agents took when they responded.

A Kisin, a Mayan death god, 600-900 AD, is displayed at the exhibition ‘The Maya—Language of Beauty’ at the Martin-Gropius-Bau museum in Berlin: photo by Markus Schreiber / AP, 11 April 2016

Southwest, in a statement, confirmed it had removed Makhzoomi from the plane because of what it called “potentially threatening comments made aboard our aircraft” and “further discussion.” The airline said it would not have acted “without a collaborative decision rooted in established procedure.” It declined to elaborate.

#Greece urged to stop locking up child #migrants: image via Al Arabiya English Verified account @AlArabiya_Eng, 16 April 2016

Southwest said it would not identify the person who complained or specify what the person reported to have heard. The airline issued a statement that said it “regrets any less than positive experience on board our aircraft.”

Iraqi Security forces and allied Popular Mobilization forces fire towards positions in the ISIS-held town of Besher, during a military operation to regain control of the small town, outside the oil-rich city of Kirkuk, Iraq: photo by Anmar Khalil / AP, 10 April 2016

Islamic leaders said they were disappointed to learn of what happened to Makhzoomi and worried that racial profiling was involved in his being removed from the plane.

Refugees and migrants clash with Macedonian soldiers during a protest calling for the reopening of the border near their makeshift camp in the northern Greek border village of Idomeni, on April 10, 2016. Dozens of people were hurt when police fired tear gas on a group of migrants as they tried to break through a fence on the Greece-Macedonia border. Toothpaste is smeared on the face to protect against tear gas.: photo by Bulent Kilic / AFP, 10 April 2016

“We’re concerned that this is part of a trend of Muslims being profiled and their right to travel being impacted,” said Zahra Billoo, executive director of the San Francisco chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations.

File photo of executive director Zahra Billoo of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (left) and attorney Nasrina Bargzie (right). Billoo said the airline owed Makhzoomi and the public a clear explanation of the incident and a promise to review its procedures for handling similar incidents Photo: Liz Hafalia, The Chronicle

Executive director Zahra Billoo of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (left) and attorney Nasrina Bargzie (right). Billoo said the airline owed Makhzoomi and the public a clear explanation of the incident and a promise to review its procedures for handling similar incidents.: file photo by Liz Hafalia via San Francisco Chronicle, 16 April 2016

Billoo said the airline owed Makhzoomi and the public a clear explanation of the incident and a promise to review its procedures for handling similar incidents.

“For whatever reason, he was not allowed to fly on the airplane and yet he was cleared by law enforcement,” Billoo added. “We worry that they’re being overzealous.”

A boy with differently colored eyes waits in the doorway of his family's house during a house-to-house anti-polio vaccination campaign in Yemen's capital of Sanaa: photo by Khaled Abdullah / Reuters, 12 April 2016

The incident in Los Angeles was followed by a similar removal of a Southwest passenger from a flight in Baltimore on Wednesday. That passenger, a woman wearing an Islamic scarf, was asked to leave the plane after she attempted to change seats during an intermediate stop on a flight from Washington, D.C., to Chicago. No other details about that incident were immediately known.

The Afghan puppeteer Mansoora Shirzad, right, records a segment with Sesame Street's new character, a 6-year-old Afghan girl called Zari, during a recording session for her first appearance on the local production of the show in Kabul, Afghanistan: photo by Rahmat Gul / AP, 6 April 2016

Makhzoomi, who said he has taken two dozen flights on Southwest in the past year or so and is a member of its frequent flier plan, said he was seeking nothing more from the airline than an apology.

“I don’t want money,” he said. “I don’t care about that. The message of Islam is forgiveness. That’s all I want.”

File photo on May 16, 2013 of Southwest Airlines Boeing 737 aircraft. A UC Berkeley student who was removed from a Southwest Airlines plane after a fellow passenger heard him speaking in Arabic on his mobile phone Photo: Robert Alexander, Getty Images / 2013 Robert Alexander

Southwest Airlines Boeing 737 aircraft. A UC Berkeley student was removed from an Oakland-bound Southwest Airlines plane at Los Angeles International Airport after a fellow passenger heard him speaking in Arabic on his mobile phone: file photo by Robert Alexander, 16 May 2013 via San Francisco Chronicle, 16 April 2016

Iraqis from the town of Heet in Iraq's Anbar province, are evacuated by government forces to a safe area far from the battlefields where Iraqi troops are trying to retake the western town from the Islamic State: photo by adh Al-Dulaimi/AFP, 6 April 2016

Iraqis from the town of Heet in Iraq's Anbar province, are evacuated by government forces to a safe area far from the battlefields where Iraqi troops are trying to retake the western town from the Islamic State: photo by adh Al-Dulaimi/AFP, 6 April 2016

"Make America Hate Again" #DumpTrump Rally in NYC: image via Chuck Modi @ChuckModi1, 19 March 2016

Trees and high-water marks on previously-submerged land behind Guri dam in Bolivar state, Venezuela. Drought has turned parts of the reservoir behind Venezuela's Guri dam, one of the world's biggest, into desert, but the government is optimistic that rain will come within weeks to drive the vast installation that provides the bulk of the nation's power.: photo by Carlos Garcia Rawlins / Reuters, 11 April 2016

Free tax prep. Los Angeles, California.: photo by michaelj1998, 31 March 2016

This is how it ends: image via Jana Kaspervic @kasperka, 14 April 2016

I know so much
about things, I accept
so much, it's like
vomiting. And I am
nourished by the
shabbiness of my
knowing so much
about others and what
they do, and accepting
so much that I hate
as if I didn't know
what it is, to me.
And what it is to
them I know, and hate.

Frank O'Hara (1926-1966): Spleen, April 1954, from The Collected Poems, 1971

A motorcyclist performs a stunt on a highway in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Crowds of small motorbikes ridden by racers—or Mat Rempit as they are known in Malaysian slang—face off in impromptu races in the Malaysian capital after dark. The decades-old culture is widely frowned upon by largely conservative Malaysians, who fear its potential to encourage gambling, drug abuse, snatch thefts, and sexual promiscuity.: photo by Olivia Harris / Reuters, 7 April 2016

A building is reflected on office windows in the banking area of Panama City, Panama: photo by Carlos Jasso / Reuters, 5 April 2016

The New Shepard rocket and capsule blasts off from a launch site in West Texas in this handout photo provided by Blue Origin, Jeff Bezos’s space transportation company. Blue Origin successfully launched and landed for the third time a suborbital rocket capable of whisking six passengers off their home planet, taking another step on the company's quest to develop reusable boosters, the company said on Saturday.: photo by Reuters, 2 April 2016

A mountain lion known as P-35 eating a kill in the Santa Susana Mountains in Southern California in this December 4, 2015 handout photo released to Reuters April 6, 2016.: photo by Jeff Sikich / National Parks Service / Reuters, 4 December 2015

Seville Celebrates The Feria de Abril...SEVILLE, SPAIN - APRIL 13: Bullfighter Manuel Escribano performs with a Vitorino Martin ranch fighting bull during a bullfight at La Maestranza bullring on the second day of the Feria de Abril (April's Fair) on April 13, 2016 in Seville, Spain. The Feria de Abril, which has a history dating back to 1857, takes place a fortnight after Easter each year. The origin of the fair was a cattle market but the event quickly turned its goal from commerce to having fun. More than one million local and international participants are expected to attend to Feria de Abril. (Photo by David Ramos/Getty Images)

Bullfighter Manuel Escribano performs with a Vitorino Martin ranch fighting bull during a bullfight at La Maestranza bullring at the Feria de Abril (April’s Fair) in Seville, Spain: photo by David Ramos via FT Photo Diary, 14 April 2016

The Wider Image: The matador...Spanish matador Jose Maria Manzanares holds his bullfighter's "muleta" during a bullfight at the Real Maestranza bullring in the Andalusian capital of Seville, southern Spain April 9, 2016. At the Real Maestranza arena the crowd enjoys a tradition that dates back over a thousand years. Wearing an embroidered gold and white outfit and wielding a long thin sword, the matador taunts the 600-kilo bull with his cape, dodging its horns again and again. Despite the full stands at the bullring, which hosted its first fight in 1761, the sport attracts an increasingly slim audience, as new generations shun what they see as a cruel and unfair fight. Matadors say those who oppose bullfighting don't understand the bullring's intimacy or the artistry of the fight. To finish off the bout, matadors deliver the "estocada," a deft strike through the bull's shoulder blades to pierce its heart. REUTERS/Marcelo del Pozo SEARCH "EL MATADOR" FOR THIS STORY. SEARCH "THE WIDER IMAGE" FOR ALL STORIES

Spanish matador Jose Maria Manzanares holds his bullfighter’s “muleta” during a bullfight at the Real Maestranza bullring in the Andalusian capital of Seville, southern Spain: photo by Marcelo del Pozo/Reuters, 18 April 2016

World in focus – best photos for April 9, 2016

Spanish matador Miguel Angel Perera drives a sword into a bull to kill it during a bullfight at The Maestranza bullring in the Andalusian capital of Seville, Spain: photo by Marcelo del Pozo / Reuters, 14 April 2016

Two saltwater crocodiles fight in a vicious duel to the death in the Lakefield National Park on the Cape York Peninsula in Australia’s tropical north. Saltwater crocodiles, which can grow up to seven metres (23 feet) long and weigh more than a tonne, have become increasingly common in Australia’s north since they were declared a protected species in 1971.: photo by Sandra Bell/AFP, 26 October 2015

A hyena eyes a herd of zebra at Lake Nakuru National Park, Kenya: photo by Joe Penney/Reuters, 19 August 2015

The electrical machine builder Oleg Glebov works at the stator windings of a generator in the Erfurt Generator Plant of the German Siemens AG in Erfurt, Germany: photo by Jens Meyer / AP, 12 April 2016

Shanghai's financial district of Pudong, amid heavy smog: photo by Aly Song / Reuters, 14 April 2016

An Air Force Test Pilot School T-38C jet passes in front of the sun at supersonic speed, creating shockwaves that are caught photographically for research, in this photo provided by NASA on April 12, 2016. NASA is using a modern version of a 150-year-old German photography technique -- schlieren imagery -- to visualize supersonic flow phenomena with full-scale aircraft in flight. The results will help engineers to design a quiet supersonic transport, according to NASA.: photo by NASA / Reuters, 12 April 2016

The reusable main-stage booster from the SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket makes a successful landing on a platform in the Atlantic Ocean about 185 miles (300 kilometers) off the coast of Florida: photo by SpaceX / Reuters, 8 April 2016

A firefighter helps to fight a fire in the commune of Pétionville, Port-au-Prince, Haiti. The fire destroyed a hotel, a house, and several small shops.: photo by Hector Retamal / AFP, 4 April 2016

Newcastle v Sunderland: photo by thorburn, 20 March 2016

America: photo by thorburn, 17 August 2012

America: photo by thorburn, 18 August 2012

Rehearsal of the Pasdeloup Orchestra at the Cirque d'Hiver: John Singer Sargent, 1879-80, oil on canvas, 57 x 46 cm (Museum of Fine Arts, Boston)

The slow orchestra of the world comes to life

in the dark dawn

beginning with the birds

The room fan purrs back and forth

pushing away heavy air

Somewhere my soul in all this

sits up and takes notice

Which is more elusive and

runs away faster

the matter world or the spirit world?

My face stops some of the air as it

blasts against my body

Now a bird outside salts the dark

with liquid sweets

I shall die in this position

listening to everything
7/27

Daniel Abdal-Hayy Moore (b. Oakland, California, 30 July 1940 -- d. Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, 18 April 2016): The Slow Orchestra of the World (27 July 2007), from The Sound of Geese Over the House (The Ecstatic Exchange, 2015)

Daniel Abdal-Hayy Moore: photo via The American Muslim, 29 November 2012

Renowned poet Daniel Abdul Hayy Moore reading at his home

Poets Daniel Abdal-Hayy Moore and Ni'mah Nawwab reading after dinner at Abdal-Hayy's home in Philadelphia, 19 May 2012: photo via Ni'mah Ismail Nawwab, 24 March 2014

Spring weather Apr 19th 2016...A ship sits out in the North Sea near Tynemouth beach, North Tyneside, just before sunrise. PRESS ASSOCIATION Photo. Picture date: Tuesday April 19, 2016. Photo credit should read: Owen Humphreys/PA Wire

A ship sits out in the North Sea near Tynemouth beach, North Tyneside, just before sunrise: photo by Owen Humphreys/PA. 19 April 2016

The Wider Image: In search of Don Quixote...The arid central Spanish region of La Mancha is the setting for ‚ÄúDon Quixote‚Äù, the seventeenth-century novel by Miguel de Cervantes. Four hundred years after his death, references to the characters of Don Quixote, his loyal squire Sancho Panza and his beautiful lady Dulcinea abound in the surrounding villages from sweet treats to theatre productions involving livestock. Cervantes did not give away the name of the birthplace of Don Quixote, a middle-aged gentleman who becomes obsessed with chivalrous ideals. But many identify the village of Argamasilla de Alba as his hometown. The anniversary of Cervantes‚Äô death is marked on the 23 April. REUTERS/Susana Vera SEARCH "QUIXOTE VERA" FOR THIS STORY. SEARCH "THE WIDER IMAGE" FOR ALL STORIES TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY Matching text SPAIN-QUIXOTE/

Windmills at dusk in Campo de Criptana, where Spanish writer Miguel de Cervantes might have drawn inspiration from to narrate the battle between Don Quixote and the windmills he mistook for giants: photo by Susana Vera/Reuters, 19 April 2016

Sad day for us here, bringing news of the passing on the other end of the continent of a beautiful poet friend and local son, first met here on this same coastal hillside nearly a half century ago, and always palpably alive in spirit for us over these past years, an abiding, uplifting, luminous presence. Friends of this blog will remember Abdal-Hayy for his many charming, joyous, playful contributions (links to some of which may be found in the comments section below). The brightness, thoughtfulness and extreme generosity that characterized the man remained active till the end, and his final messages. He is and will be much missed.

Dear Tom and Angelica:

First, how are you doing?... As for me, well, new test shows that the cancer is in my bones. A lump on my scalp that grew in size, though hardish (too many ‘ishes in this note I fear) and finally needed a CT scan. I’ve been sore and weirdly overcome with weakness and dis-agility. (What word exists for agility lost?)

But spirits high... so things are all OK by us.

Though the message may be dire,

where’s there’s smoke

there’s always fire.

More later my brother and beloved Angelica.

22 February 2016
__

Dearest tom and Angelica

I seem to be dying after all. Cancer in my bones. Now in home hospice care. Body dwindling, spirit blooming.

I continue my prayers for you, until I can't. All love

Abdalhayy

10 March 2016

_

Still here, now bedridden, spirits high and longing for my meeting with my lord. My prayers for you and Tom continue unabated. All love

Abdalhayy

23 March 2016

Rehearsal of the Pasdeloup Orchestra at the Cirque d'Hiver: John Singer Sargent, 1879-80, oil on canvas, 57 x 46 cm (Museum of Fine Arts, Boston)

Migrants ask for help as they are approached by the SOS Mediterranee's ship Aquarius, background, off the coast of the Italian island of Lampedusa.

Migrants ask for help as they are approached by the SOS Mediterranee’s ship Aquarius, off the coast of the Italian island of Lampedusa: photo by Patrick Bar/SOS Mediterranee/AP, 18 April 2016

Up to 500 migrants may have drowned in Mediterranean tragedy: UNHCR: image via Reuters Top News @Reuters, 20 April 2016

As many souls
as there are
stars

at sea

in the sky

Expedition 46 On International Space Station...IN SPACE - APRIl 17: (EDITORIAL USE ONLY) (NO SALES) This handout image supplied by the European Space Agency (ESA), shows the Aurora Australis, southern lights, in an image taken by ESA astronaut Tim Peake from the International Space Station on April 17, 2016. ESA astronaut Tim Peake is performing more than 30 scientific experiments and taking part in numerous others from ESA's international partners during his six-month mission, named Principia, after Isaac Newtons ground-breaking Naturalis Principia Mathematica, which describes the principal laws of motion and gravity. (Photo by Tim Peake / ESA/NASA via Getty Images)

This handout image supplied by the European Space Agency (ESA), shows the Aurora Australis, southern lights, in an image taken by ESA astronaut Tim Peake from the International Space Station: photo by Tim Peake/ESA/NASA, 19 April 2016

New York Stock Exchange...epa05268814 Traders work on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) at the start of the trading day in New York, New York, USA, 20 April 2016. EPA/JUSTIN LANE

Traders work on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) at the start of the trading day in New York: photo by Justin Lane/EPA, 20 April 2016

A member of the National Gendarmerie Intervention Group (GIGN) deactivates a bomb from a supposed terrorist during a training exercise in the event of a terrorist attack in collaboration with Recherche Assistance Intervention Dissuasion (RAID) and Research and Intervention Brigades (BRI) in presence of the French Interior minister Bernard Cazeneuve at la Gare Montparnasse, center Paris: photo by Miguel Medina/AFP, 20 April 2016

TOPSHOT - A Syrian child receives treatm...TOPSHOT - A Syrian child receives treatment at a makeshift hospital following an air strike on a vegetable market in Maaret al-Numan, in Syria's northern province of Idlib, on April 19, 2016. Suspected government air strikes killed at least 44 civilians at two markets in a part of northwestern Syria controlled by the war-torn country's Al-Qaeda affiliate, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said. / AFP PHOTO / Mohamed al-BakourMOHAMED AL-BAKOUR/AFP/Getty Images

A Syrian child receives treatment at a makeshift hospital following an airstrike on a vegetable market in Maaret al-Numan, in Syria's northern province of Idlib: photo by Mohamed al-Bakour/AFP, 20 April 2016

A boy stands on stacks of used car batteries in Yemen's capital Sanaa: photo by Mohamed Al-Sayaghi / Reuters, 7 April 2016

A man controls a First Person View (FPV) multicoptermodel with video glasses during a photo preview for the ‘Intermodellbau’ trade fair in Dortmund, Germany: photo by Patrik Stollarz/AFP, 19 April 2016

Britain’s Prince William is hugged by Chewbacca as British actor John Boyega smiles during a tour of the Star Wars sets at Pinewood studios in Iver Heath, west of London. Prince William and Prince Harry are touring Pinewood to visit the production workshops and meet the creative teams working behind the scenes on the Star Wars films.: photo by Adrian Dennis/Reuters 19 April 2016

A press officer poses with Pepper the humanoid robot at the ‘World of Me: Store of the Near Future’ installation in London. The robot is the first humanoid robot capable of recognizing principal human emotions and adapting his behavior accordingly.: photo by Hannah Mckay / Reuters, 13 April 2016

Sumo wrestlers compete during the annual 'Honozumo' ceremonial sumo tournament dedicated to the Yasukuni Shrine in Tokyo, Japan

Sumo wrestlers compete during the annual ‘Honozumo’ ceremonial sumo tournament dedicated to the Yasukuni Shrine in Tokyo: photo by Yuya Shino/Reuters, 19 April 2016

Sumo wrestlers compete during the annual ‘Honozumo’ ceremonial sumo tournament dedicated to the Yasukuni Shrine in Tokyo: photo by Yuya Shino/Reuters, 19 April 2016

World in focus — best photos for April 19, 2016

World in focus — best photos for April 19, 2016

Sumo wrestlers compete during the annual ‘Honozumo’ tournament dedicated to the Yasukuni Shrine in Tokyo, Japan: photo by Yuya Shino / Reuters, 19 April 2016

Tokyo stocks close over three percent on weaker yen...epa05266456 Pedestrians stand before a stock market indicator board in Tokyo, Japan, 19 April 2016. Pushed by the depreciation of the Japanese yen against the US dollar, the Nikkei Stock Average gained 598.49 points, or 3.68 percent, to close at 16,874.44. EPA/FRANCK ROBICHON

Pedestrians stand before a stock market indicator board in Tokyo, Japan. Pushed by the depreciation of the Japanese yen against the US dollar, the Nikkei Stock Average gained 598.49 points, or 3.68 percent, to close at 16,874.44.: photo by Franck Robichon/EPA, 19 April 2016

World in focus — best photos for April 20, 2016

Mitsubishi Motors Corp’s President Tetsuro Aikawa bows at the start of a press conference regarding irregular fuel efficiency tests by the carmaker at the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism in Tokyo, Japan. Aikawa admitted the allegations and said that 625,000 vehicles are affected.: photo by Franck Robichon / EPA, 20 April 2016

Sumo wrestlers line up as they pray before the start of the annual ‘Honozumo’ ceremonial sumo tournament dedicated to the Yasukuni Shrine in Tokyo, Japan: photo by Yuya Shino/Reuters 19 April 2016

Colombian rescuers work amid the rubble ...Colombian rescuers work amid the rubble in Pedernales, Ecuador on April 18, 2016. The death toll from the powerful earthquake that struck Ecuador over the weekend has risen to at least 413, government officials reported Monday. / AFP PHOTO / RODRIGO BUENDIARODRIGO BUENDIA/AFP/Getty Images

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.: photo by Rodrigo Buendia/AFP, 19 April 2016

Earthquake - Collapsed buildings in Portoviejo, #Ecuador. By Juan Cevallos #AFP: image via AFP Photo Department @AFPphoto, 20 April 2016

A Palestinian youth inspects the damage at the apartment of Hussein Abu Ghosh, a Palestinian assailant who stabbed a woman in January, after it was partially destroyed by Israeli forces at the Qalandia refugee camp in the Israeli occupied West Bank: photo by Abbas Momani / AFP, 20 April 2016

Democratic US presidential candidate Bernie Sanders sits in his seat on a plane as he waits to leave in Teterboro, New Jersey: photo by Lucas Jackson / Reuters, 20 April 2016

Trump and Clinton cast themselves as inevitable in Contest of Worst v Worst #Election2016: image via Reuters Politics @Reuters Politics, 20 April 2016

The ultimate horror that looms before us: Hildebeest Rampant!: image via Reuters Top News, 20 April 2016

South Sudanese wrestlers take part in a wrestling match for peace in Juba. The last wrestling match for peace was held in Juba the day before civil war broke out in December 2013.: photo by Carl De Souza / AFP, 20 April 2016

GREECE - A woman awaits the arrival of Pope Francis at Moria refugee camp on Lesbos island. By @f_montefiore #AFP: image via AFP Photo Department @AFPphoto, 16 April 2016

GREECE - Pope Francis greets migrants and refugees at the Moria refugee camp on the island of Lesbos. By @f_montefiore #AFP: image via AFP Photo Department @AFPphoto, 16 April 2016

GREECE - #Refugees and migrants. A child wants to say something to Pope during his visit at Moria detention center. #Lesbos: image via ArisMessinis @Aris Messinis, 16 April 2016

GREECE - Francis escorted by Patriarch Bartholomew kisses a baby at Moria detention center in Lesbos. By @ArisMessinis image via AFP Photo Department @AFPphoto, 16 April 2016

Pope Francis greets migrants and refugees at Moria refugee camp on Greek island of Lesbos. By @f_montefiore #AFP: image via AFP Photo Department @AFPphoto, 16 April 2016

#Refugees and #migrants. Pope Francis visits the Moria detention center in #Lesbos: image via Aris Messinis @ArisMessinis, 16 April 2016

Young #migrants stand at fence of Moria detention center during Pope Francis' visit on Lesbos. By @ArisMessinis #AFP: image via AFP Photo Department @AFPphoto, 16 April 2016

Migrants try to break down border fence between Greece-Macedonia at makeshift camp near Idomeni. By @AFPphoto #AFP: image via AFP Photo Department @AFPphoto, 16 April 2016

GREECE - A man carries a child at the migrant and refugee makeshift camp near Idomeni. By @bubulator2 #AFP: image via AFP Photo Department @AFPphoto, 16 April 2016

Migrants waiting at railroad station in makeshift camp at Greek-Macedonian border. By Daniel Mihailescu#AFP: image via AFP Photo Department @AFPphoto, 19 April 2016

People go about their daily life at migrants makeshift camp of Greek-Macedonian border. @AFPphoto #AFP: image via AFP Photo Department @AFPphoto, 17 April 2016

Losing their minds. Wrenching images, testimony from @Kilicbil. #RefugeeCrisis @AFPblogs: image via AFP Correspondent @AFPblogs, 18 April 2016

GREECE- A man sits among bed frames burned by fire which tore through a refugee camp in Diavata. By @SakisMitrolidis: image via AFP Photo Department @AFPphoto, 20 April 2016

GREECE - A boy sits outside old airport in Athens, which is being used as a camp for refugees. By @atzortzinis #AFP: image via AFP Photo Department @AFPphoto, 18 April 2016

Myanmar girl Sable Moe, meaning Jasmine flower and rain, looks on from a river bank in Yangon. By Romeo Gacad #AFP: image via AFP Photo Department @AFPphoto, 17 April 2016

Cheerleading candidates strut their stuff on stage during auditions for the Los Angeles Rams squad: image via AFP news agency @AFP, 18 April 2016

AFGHANISTAN - A wounded Afghan man gets his leg X-rayed following a bomb attack at the NDC in Kabul. By @kohsar #AFP: image via AFP Photo Department @AFPphoto, 19 April 2016

@AFG: powerful car bomb attack at the gate of a government office in #Kabul #AFP: image via shahmarai @shahmarai, 19 April 2016

SYRIA - Syrian men ride a motorcycle past destroyed buildings in Teir Maalah. By Mahmoud Taha #AFP: image via AFP Photo Department @AFPphoto, 20 April 2016

SYRIA - A rebel-fighter monitors sky holding a FN-6 man-portable air-defence system in Teir Maalah. By Mahmoud Taha: image via AFP Photo Department @AFPphoto, 20 April 2016

A view of the old part of Tbilisi on a bank of the Kura River: photo by Shakh Aivazov / AP, 7 April 2016

Starlings swirl in the sky in a phenomenon known as murmuration in the Negev Desert at dusk near the Bedouin city of Rahat, southern Israel: photo by Ariel Schalit/Associated Press, 5 February 2015

TOPSHOT - A flock of birds fly on the sk...TOPSHOT - A flock of birds fly on the sky of Tbilisi on April 18, 2016. / AFP PHOTO / Vano ShlamovVANO SHLAMOV/AFP/Getty Images

A flock of birds flies in the sky over Tbilisi, Georgia: photo by Vano Shlamov/AFP, 18 April 2016

A flock of pigeons take off as a Sri Lankan man makes his way through a street in Colombo, Sri Lanka, Wednesday, April 20, 2016. Some believe feeding pigeons earn them good deeds. (AP Photo/Eranga Jayawardena)

A flock of pigeons takes off as a Sri Lankan man makes his way through a street in Colombo, Sri Lanka. Some believe feeding pigeons earns them good deeds: photo by Eranga Jayawardena/AP, 20 April 2016

A boy covers himself with a net during heavy winds at a makeshift camp for migrants and refugees at the Greek-Macedonian border near the village of Idomeni, Greece: photo by Stoyan Nenov/ Reuters, 20 April 2016

Windmills, The Netherlands: photo by Eirik Holmøyvik, 9 March 2016

The Milky Way over the frozen mountains in Vik, Norway: photo by Eirik Holmøyvik, 14 February 2016

At Refvik beach, strong winds blow up the waves, Norway: photo by Eirik Holmøyvik, 23 December 2015

NGC 7653,The Bubble Nebula, an emission nebula located 11 000 light-years away. This stunning new image was observed by the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope to celebrate its 26th year in space: photo by ESA/NASA/Hubble Heritage Team/The New Scientist, 21 April 2016

ANTONIO: Some men have wish'd to die
At the hearing of sad tidings; I am glad
That I shall do't in sadness: I would not now
Wish my wounds balm'd nor heal'd, for I have no use
To put my life to. In all our quest of greatness,
Like wanton boys, whose pastime is their care,
We follow after bubbles blown in th' air.
Pleasure of life, what is't? Only the good hours
Of an ague; merely a preparative to rest
To endure vexation.

John Webster (1575? 1578? 1580? -1634? 1638?), from The Duchess of Malfi, 1612-1613, Act V, Scene 4

Embargoed until April 21, 2016 - 15:00 G...Embargoed until April 21, 2016 - 15:00 GMT / A handout photo released by the European Space Agency shows the Bubble Nebula, also known as NGC 7653, which is an emission nebula located 11 000 light-years away. This stunning new image was observed by the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope to celebrate its 26th year in space. / AFP PHOTO / ESA/Hubble / STR / RESTRICTED TO EDITORIAL USE - MANDATORY CREDIT "AFP PHOTO / ESA/NASA/Hubble Heritage Team" - NO MARKETING NO ADVERTISING CAMPAIGNS - DISTRIBUTED AS A SERVICE TO CLIENTS / EMBARGOED UNTIL April 21, 2016, 17:00 CESTSTR/AFP/Getty Images

This photo released by the European Space Agency shows the Bubble Nebula, also known as NGC 7653, which is an emission nebula located 11 000 light-years away. This stunning new image was observed by the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope to celebrate its 26th year in space: photo by ESA/NASA/Hubble Heritage Team/AFP, 21 April 2016

Bubble Nebula NGC 7635 Hubble color scheme | by Astrocatou

Bubble Nebula NGC 7635 Hubble color scheme: photo by dave halliday, 18 September 2011

Bubble reimaged (Hubble colors) | by Astrocatou

Bubble reimaged (Hubble colors): photo by dave halliday, 20 September 2011

19x15minutes Bubble (Drizzle) finis | by Astrocatou

19 x 15 minutes Bubble (Drizzle) finis: photo by dave halliday, 20 September 2011

17x12 minutes Ha (f/5 unbinned) | by Astrocatou

[Bubble Nebula NGC 7635] 17 x 12 minutes Ha: photo by dave halliday, 1 September 2011

Bubble Nebula Ha crop: photo by dave halliday, 18 September 2011

Ha Bubble (16 x 15): photo by dave halliday, 20 September 2011

Bubble crop: photo by dave halliday, 23 September 2011

A bird flies near a torn Syrian national flag in the city of Qamishli, Syria April 21,

A bird flies near a torn Syrian national flag in the city of Qamishli, Syria: photo by Rodi Said/Reuters, 21 April 2016

Hillary Clinton...Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton arrives at a campaign stop, Wednesday, April 20, 2016, in Philadelphia. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke)

Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton arrives at a campaign stop in Philadelphia: photo by Matt Rourke/AP, 21 April 2016

Brock Holt...Boston Red Sox left fielder Brock Holt (12) plays a double by Tampa Bay Rays designated hitter Corey Dickerson off the wall during fourth inning of a baseball game in Boston, Wednesday, April 20, 2016. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa)

Boston Red Sox left fielder Brock Holt plays a double by Tampa Bay Rays designated hitter Corey Dickerson off the wall during fourth inning of a baseball game in Boston: photo by Charles Krupa/AP, 21 April 2016

Students perform Wu Qin Xi, a type of qigong, during a competition in Bozhou...Students perform Wu Qin Xi, a type of qigong, during a competition in Bozhou, Anhui Province, China, April 20, 2016. REUTERS/Stringer ATTENTION EDITORS - THIS PICTURE WAS PROVIDED BY A THIRD PARTY. THIS PICTURE IS DISTRIBUTED EXACTLY AS RECEIVED BY REUTERS, AS A SERVICE TO CLIENTS. CHINA OUT. NO COMMERCIAL OR EDITORIAL SALES IN CHINA.

Students perform Wu Qin Xi, a type of qigong, during a competition in Bozhou, China: photo by Reuters, 21 April 2016

A dress hangs from twisted metal as residents comb through a post-earthquake debris field, salvaging recyclable material, in Manta, Ecuador, Wednesday, April 20, 2016. Ecuadoreans began burying loved ones felled by the country's deadliest earthquake in decades, while hopes faded that more survivors will be found. (AP Photo/Rodrigo Abd)

A dress hangs from twisted metal as residents comb through a post-earthquake debris field, salvaging recyclable material, in Manta, Ecuador: photo by Rodrigo Abd/AP, 21 April 2016

A soldier stands in front of buildings that collapsed during a magnitude 7.8 earthquake in Manta, Ecuador: photo by Rodrigo Abd / AP, 19 April 2016

World in focus — best photos for April 21, 2016

A man stares at the rubble in Portoviejo, Ecuador following this week’s earthquake: photo by Juan Cevallos / AFP, 21 April 2016

Rescuers work to search for earthquake survivors in Manta, Ecuador: photo by Luis Acosta / AFP, 19 April 2016

Birds on Farne Islands...Puffins join Shags and Guillemot birds on the Farne Islands just off the Northumberland coast for the start of the breading season. PRESS ASSOCIATION Photo. Picture date: Wednesday April 20, 2016. Rangers on one of Britain's most important seabird colonies are hoping for a more successful summer after flooding wreaked havoc last year. See PA story NATURE Puffins. Photo credit should read: Owen Humphreys/PA Wire

Puffins join Shags and Guillemot birds on the Farne Islands just off the Northumberland coast for the start of the breading season. Rangers on one of Britain’s most important seabird colonies are hoping for a more successful summer after flooding wreaked havoc last year.: photo by Owen Humphreys/PA, 21 April 2016

Children play football at a makeshift camp for migrants and refugees at the Greek-Macedonian border near the village of Idomeni: photo by Joe Klamar via FT Photo Diary, 21 April 2016

Children play football at a makeshift camp for refugees at the Greek-Macedonian border near the village of Idomeni: photo by Joe Klamar / AFP, 21 April 2016

US President Barack Obama (R) speaks wit...US President Barack Obama (R) speaks with Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed al-Nahyan (L), Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi, during the US-Gulf Cooperation Council Summit in Riyadh, on April 21, 2016. Obama met Gulf leaders in Saudi Arabia to push for an intensified campaign against the Islamic State group, despite strains in Gulf ties with Washington. / AFP PHOTO / Jim WatsonJIM WATSON/AFP/Getty Images

US President Barack Obamaspeaks with Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed al-Nahyan Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi, during the US-Gulf Cooperation Council Summit in Riyadh: photo by Jim Watson/AFP, 21 April 2016

Oakland Athletics centerfielder Billy Burns watches a fan drop the home run ball of Seattle Mariners’ Dae-Ho Lee during the fifth inning of a baseball game in Seattle: photo by Elaine Thompson/AP, 8 April 2016

Laurent Koscielny of Arsenal is tackled by Andy Carroll of West Ham United during the Barclays Premier League match between West Ham United and Arsenal at the Boleyn Ground in London: photo by Clive Rose via The National, 9 April 2016

Los Angeles Clippers’ Paul Pierce, left, shoots as the Memphis Grizzlies forward Jarell Martin falls over: photo by Mark J Terrill / AP, 13 April 2016

Toronto Blue Jays centerfielder Kevin Pillar makes a diving catch on a fly ball hit by the Boston Red Sox’s Jackie Bradley Jr.: photo by Mary Schwalm / AP, 19 April 2016

A general view of the batting helmets of the Los Angeles Dodgers prior to a baseball game Arizona Diamondbacks in Los Angeles, Wednesday, April 13, 2016. (AP Photo/Kelvin Kuo)

A general view of the batting helmets of the Los Angeles Dodgers prior to a baseball game against the Arizona Diamondbacks in Los Angeles: photo by Kelvin Kuo/AP, 14 April 2016

A general view of the batting helmets of the Los Angeles Dodgers prior to a baseball game against the Arizona Diamondbacks in Los Angeles: photo by Kelvin Kuo/AP, 14 April 2016

Athletic Bilbao midfielder Raul Garcia gives the thumbs up sign during his club’s La Liga match against Atletico de Madrid: photo by Ander Gillenea / AFP, 21 April 2016

A woman rides her bicycle in Beijing: photo by Fred Dufour / AFP, 21 April 2016

Got splatted in the face with mud taking this | by lovemaus

Got splatted in the face with mud taking this: photo by lovemaus, 31 January 2016

Over Inverary, Loch Fyne: photo by lovemaus, 28 September 2015

Painted staircase (detail): Giovanni Domenico Tiepolo, 1757, fresco (Villa Valmarana ai Nani, Vicenza)

Government forces bombed the city of Aleppo now: image via baraa al halabi @baraaalhalabi, 22 April 2016

Fouad Mohammed Fouad: Aleppo Diary

1.

Writing is pain.

And the blood that drips down the screen pollutes the atmospherestaining the couch with what looks like dried coffee, which we touch with trembling fingers
so we don't get infected.

We manage with broken backs as if going to hell seeing dark red -- no, brown as well -- which deposits a residue like rust in the soul.

We stroke their old heads then turn aside to lick away the tears.

Those who crawl from street to screen leave green traces on the asphalt that spring into bushes of basil; they toss us a flower and die in haste to spare our shame.

Now you've entered the sacred valley, take off your shoes and walk on broken glass.

2.

The comrades in reading have fallen asleep.
You wander alone through the book stacks
with no sign of an exit.
From the third shelf on the right comes a groan --
a whole chapter expelled from a novel.
Laughter the tragic title
for a book of philosophy.
Politics flows like phlegm from one shelf to another.
There is no time for epic
for The Book of Delight and Intimacy
as Machado eases open the book covers
gently, so as not to disturb the ornaments.

We are the proofs of books
full of paragraphs in need of revision.

3.

I sit on the balcony. Aleppo spread before me black and deserted. The clatter of crockery in the dark means life goes on. No sound save sporadic gunfire from somewhere, then a single shell preceded by a peculiar whistle. Someone is leaving this planet with a dry throat. Aleppo before me black and still. These huge shadows might be trees or childhood goblins or black vapours exhaled by women waiting for children who are already numbers in a news report.

Aleppo. No oud plucked. No 'Swaying Silhouette'. No drinks in The Nightingale. No drinkers. No song.

One by one
they awaken
the beasts of darkness.

Aftermath of regime airstrikes on #Aleppotoday #Syria - @arabthomness: image via Conflict News @Conflicts, 22 April 2016

(1)

الكتابة ألم.
والدم الذي ينقط على الشاشة يلوث المشهد ويترك على الكنبة مايشبه بقع القهوة الجافة نلمسها بأصابع مرتجفة كي لا تنتقل الينا العدوى
نستند بظهور مكسورة كأننا ذاهبون الى الجحيم بعيون مغبشة بالاحمر الداكن.. لكنه بنيٌّ أيضاً ويترك على الروح مايشبه الصدأ
نمسح على الرؤوس الهرمة ونهرب من لفظها ثم نلعق الملح الذي يسيل من العيون.
الذين يزحفون من طرف الشارع الى طرف الشاشة يتركون على الاسفلت أثراً أخضراً سرعان ما يكبر مثل سياج من الحبق، يرموننا بوردة ويموتون على عجل كي لانخجل منا

... اخلعْ نعليك الآن وامشِ على قطع الزجاج.. إنك في الوادي المقدس.

(2)

"رفاق القراءة نائمون.

تتجول وحيداً بين رفوف المكتبة
دون إشارات تدل على المخرج.
الأنين على اليمين من الرف الثالث
فصل كامل مطرود من الرواية،
والضحك عنوان مأساوي
لكتاب في الفلسفة.
تسيل السياسة كالمخاط من رف لآخر
لا وقت للملاحم
لكتاب الإمتاع والمؤانسة
حيث ماتشادو يدفع الغلاف المقوى برفق
كي لاتسقط الصحون
..
نحن أشبه ما نكون بمسودات الكتب
مليئين بالمقاطع التي تحتاج الى تنقيح"

(3)

على شرفة البيت أجلس، حلب أمامي سوداء وموحشة، قرقعة صحون في العتمة تعني ان ثمة حياة تحدث على طاولة. لا نأمة سوى رشقات رصاص متقطعة من مكان ما وقذيفة واحدة يسبقها صفير غريب... ثمة من يترك الان هذا الكوكب بحلق جاف.
حلب أمامي سوداء وساكنة، الظلال العملاقة هذه ربما لأشجار ربما لغيلان قادمة من حكايات بعيدة في الطفولة ربما هو بخار اسود تنفثنه الآن نساء ينتظرن اولاداً صاروا أرقاماً في نشرة الاخبار
حلب.. لا نقرة عود.. لا قدٌ يميس.. لا كأس في "العندليب"* .. لا ندامى .. ولاغناء
..
..
واحداً فواحداً
يستيقظون،

Fouad Mohammed Fouad (b. 1961): Aleppo Diary (2016), translated by Samuel Wilder with The Poetry Translation Workshop, 2016

A Syrian man evacuates an area following a reported air strike in the rebel-held neighbourhood of Hayy Aqyul in Syria's second city Aleppo: photo by Ameer Alhalbi/AFP, 22 April 2016

Civilians killed as air strikes pound Syria's Aleppo: image via AJENews @AJENews, 22 April 2016

Aftermath of the Assad barrel bomb attack on Anadan in north rural #Aleppo, #Syria today: image via Sami @Paradoxy13, 22 April 2016

Aftermath of regime airstrikes on #Aleppotoday #Syria - @arabthomness: image via Conflict News @Conflicts, 22 April 2016

Whole story Jamal Hassan al-Ashqar, killed by Assad's planes, while he was picking berries in Marjah district #Aleppo: image via Luna Watfa @luna_alabdalla, 22 April 2016

#Syria: At least 5 civilians killed, tens wounded in today's heavy regime airstrikes on rebel-held parts of #Aleppo: image via Sakir Khader @sakirkhader, 22 April 2016

Migrant flow from #Turkey to #Greece picking up again: image via Al Arabiya English @AlArabiya_Eng, 22 April 2016

Ultra-Orthodox Jews burn leaven in the Mea Shearim neighbourhood of Jerusalem, ahead of the Jewish holiday of Passover...Ultra-Orthodox Jews burn leaven in the Mea Shearim neighbourhood of Jerusalem, ahead of the Jewish holiday of Passover, April 22, 2016. REUTERS/Ammar Awad

Ultra-Orthodox Jews burn leaven in the Mea Shearim neighbourhood of Jerusalem, ahead of the Jewish holiday of Passover: photo by Ammar Awad/Reuters, 21 April 2016

German Chancellor Angela Merkel attends the 500th anniversary ceremony of the German Beer Purity Law (Reinheitsgebot) in Ingolstadt, Germany, April 22, 2016. REUTERS/Michaela Rehle

German Chancellor Angela Merkel attends the 500th anniversary ceremony of the German Beer Purity Law (Reinheitsgebot) in Ingolstadt, Germany: photo by Michaela Rehle/Reuters, 22 April 2016

A partial view of the Nyaragongo volcano taken from Goma, Democratic Republic of Congo: photo by Pablo Porciuncula/AFP, 22 April 2016

A Buddhist monk sleeps in a chair while monks and novices gather to receive alms at Wat Phra Dhammakaya temple outside Bangkok: photo by Jorge Silva/Reuters, 22 April 2016

Over 100,000 Buddhist monks and novices gather to receive alms at Wat Phra Dhammakaya temple in Pathum Thani, outside Bangkok: photo by Jorge Silva / Reuters, 22 April 2016

Republican U.S. presidential candidate Donald Trump’s hand is seen as he reacts during a campaign event in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania: photo by Carlos Barria/Reuters, 22 April 2016

President Obama Meets With David Cameron At Downing Street...LONDON, ENGLAND - APRIL 22: President Barack Obama arrives at Downing Street to meet with British Prime Minister David Cameron on April 22, 2016 in London, England. The President and his wife are currently on a brief visit to the UK where they will have lunch with HM Queen Elizabeth II at Windsor Castle and dinner with Prince William and his wife Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge at Kensington Palace. Mr Obama will visit 10 Downing Street on Friday afternoon where he is to hold a joint press conference with British Prime Minister David Cameron and is expected to make his case for the UK to remain inside the European Union. (Photo by Dan Kitwood/Getty Images)

President Barack Obama arrives at Downing Street to meet with British Prime Minister David Cameron in London, England: photo by Dan Kitwood Via FT Photo Diary, 22 April 2016

Photographers in the press pen as Prime Minster David Cameron welcomes US President Barack Obama to Downing Street

Photographers in the press pen as Prime Minister David Cameron welcomes US President Barack Obama to Downing Street: photo by Lauren Hurley/PA, 22 April 2016

Britain's Prince Philip, Duke of Edinbur...Britain's Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh (L) drives US President Barack Obama (2L), US First Lady Michelle Obama (2R) and Britain's Queen Elizabeth II (R) from the helicopter into Windsor Castle after the Obama's arrived for a private lunch in Windsor, southern England, on April, 22, 2016. / AFP PHOTO / POOL / GEOFF PUGHGEOFF PUGH/AFP/Getty Images

Britain’s Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh drives US President Barack Obama, US First Lady Michelle Obama and Britain’s Queen Elizabeth II from the helicopter into Windsor Castle after the Obama’s arrived for a private lunch in Windsor, southern England: photo by Geoff Pugh/AFP, 22 April 2016

The crescent moon rises behind a statue on the Saint-Germain l'Auxerrois church in central Paris, France: photo by Christian Hartmann / Reuters, 18 April 2016

Greenpeace activists scale Nelson's colomn in protest over pollution levels.

An activist from the environmental organisation Greenpeace attaches a replica gas mask to the face of the statue of Nelson on Nelson’s column during a protest in Trafalgar Square, London. Greenpeace activists scaled numerous statues across the capital to highlight dangerous levels of pollution.: photo by Andy Rain/EPA, 18 April 2016

A South Korean worker cleans a statue of South Korean Admiral Yi Sun-sin ahead of the coming of spring at Gwanghwamun Plaza in Seoul, South Korea. Admiral Yi was a Korean hero who defeated the Japanese invaders in the 16th century.: photo by Ahn Young-joon / AP, 18 April 2016

World in focus — best photos for April 22, 2016

Dancers perform during the Moors and Christians d’Alcoi parade held every year during fiestas in Alcoy, Spain: photo by Morell / EPA, 22 April 2016

The Battle of Alexander: Albrecht Altdorfer, 1529, oil tempera on wood, 158 x 120 cm (Alte Pinakothek, Munich)

A woman poses for a photographer as a man sits next to her in downtown Catania, Italy: photo by Tony Gentile / Reuters, 20 April 2016

Gulls fly into a gale-force north-westerly wind in Cape Town, South Africa: photo by Nic Bothma / EPA, 22 April 2016

A woman walks her dogs on Kommetjie beach strewn with kelp as a storm approaches Cape Town, South Africa: photo by Nic Bothma / EPA, 22 April 2016

Hillary Clinton attends a campaign rally at Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania: photo by Nathaniel F, 6 April 2016

It's that sudden weird abrupt lost-thought-track

out-of-nowhere middle-of-the-night I don't know

where I am I don't know what I'm doing here

but nobody seems to be noticing and maybe

I'm going to be able to pull this off after

all moment -- that insane look
that races across her face like a fleeting cloud
and then as quickly as it came is gone again
that scares me more than all the endless

beaming screaming fake euphoric selfies
when I think about dying in her Murica

April 16, 2016 - Los Angeles, California | by Hillary Clinton

April 16, 2016 -- Los Angeles, California: photo by Adam Schultz for Hillary for America, 16 April 2016

April 18, 2016 - New York, New York | by Hillary Clinton

April 18, 2016 -- New York, New York: photo by Barbara Kinney for Hillary for America, 18 April 2016

April 17, 2016 - New York, New York | by Hillary Clinton

April 17, 2016 -- New York, New York: photo by Barbara Kinney for Hillary for America, 17 April 2016

April 18, 2016 -- New York, New York: photo by Barbara Kinney for Hillary for America, 18 April 2016

Crowd Shot post Speech, I'm on the far right edge, about halfway up! I got to see it -- Hillary Clinton's Victory Speech in NY last night.: image via Nat Welch, 20 April 2016

hillary gun shadow, scott richard | by torbakhopper

hillary gunshadow, scott richard: photo by torbakhopper, 20 April 2016

Hillary Clinton: image via Leigh Blackall, 23 April 2016

Democratic presidential candidate Clinton looks through teleprompter before discussing the Iran nuclear agreement in Washington

Election pantomime: President Killary. Would the World Survive President Clinton?: image via Global Research, 13 April 2016

#Clinton's vow to tackle 'systemic racism' is a sick joke' (Op-Edge): image via RT Verified account @RT_com, 15 April 2016

#Sanders accuses #Clinton of campaign finance violations: image via RT Verified account @RT_com, 18 April 2016

How Unsafe Was Hillary Clinton's Secret Staff Email System?: image via Gawker, 5 March 2016

#Clinton's favorability rating among Democrats has dropped to half of what it was last fall: image via Truthdig @Truthdig, 23 April 2016

In a year of insurgents, Clinton, an establishment grande dame, looks best-placed to win: image via The Economist @TheEconomist, 23 April 2016

Clinton may be unloved, but she appears to be unstoppable: image via The Economist @TheEconomist, 22 April 2016

Rather than thrilling to the promise of a first woman president, Democrats seem joyless: image via the Economist @TheEconomist, 23 April 2016

[Fame]

The Queen whom sense of Honor could not move

No longer made a Secret of her Love,

But call’d it Marriage, by that specious Name,

To veil the Crime and sanctifie the Shame.

The loud Report thro’ Lybian Cities goes;

Fame, the great Ill, from small beginnings grows.

Swift from the first; and ev'ry Moment brings

New Vigour to her flights, new Pinions to her wings.

Soon grows the Pygmee to Gygantic size;

Her Feet on Earth, her Forehead in the Skies:

Inrag’d against the Gods, revengful Earth

Produc’d her last of the Titanian birth.

Swift is her walk, more swift her winged hast:

A monstrous Fantom, horrible and vast;

As many Plumes as raise her lofty flight,

So many piercing Eyes inlarge her sight:

Millions of opening Mouths to Fame belong;

And ev’ry Mouth is furnish’d with a Tongue:

And round with listning Ears the flying Plague is hung.

She fills the peaceful Universe with Cries;

No Slumbers ever close her wakeful Eyes;

By Day from lofty Tow’rs her Head she shews;

And spreads thro’ trembling Crowds disastrous News.

With Court Informers haunts, and Royal Spies,

Things done relates, not done she feigns; and mingles Truth with Lyes.

Talk is her business, and her chief delight

To tell of Prodigies, and cause affright.

She fills the Peoples Ears with Dido’s Name;

Who, lost to Honour, and the sense of Shame,

Admits into her Throne and Nuptial Bed

A wandring Guest, who from his Country fled:

Whole days with him she passes in delights,

And wasts in Luxury long Winter Nights.

Forgetful of her Fame, and Royal Trust,

Dissolv’d in Ease, abandon’d to her Lust.

Virgil (Publius Vergilius Maro) (70-19 BC): from The Fourth Book of the Aeneis, translated by John Dryden, 1697

Hillary Clinton Holds Get Out The Caucus Event In Iowa...ADEL, IA - JANUARY 27: Democratic presidential candidate former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton greets supporters during a "get out the caucus" event at the Adel Family Fun Center on January 27, 2016 in Adel, Iowa. With less than a week to go before the Iowa caucuses, Hillary Clinton is campaigning throughout Iowa. (Photo by Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)

Democratic presidential candidate former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton greets supporters during a “get out the caucus” event at the Adel Family Fun Center in Adel, Iowa. With less than a week to go before the Iowa caucuses, Hillary Clinton is campaigning throughout Iowa: photo by Justin Sullivan via FT Photo Diary, 28 January 2016

Hillary Clinton in Des Moines last month. A study shows that relative wealth makes a difference in how some Democrats think on policies. Can Hillary Clinton represent the interests of working people when she and her husband have taken so much money from Wall Street?: photo by Doug Mills/The New York Times, 1 February 2016

Former congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords looks on as Hillary Clinton addresses supporters at Iowa State University in Ames: photo by Craig Lassig / Associated Press, 31 January 2016

Presidential Candidate Hillary Clinton Holds Iowa Get Out The Caucus Rallies...A supporter waves signs supporting Hillary Clinton, former Secretary of State and 2016 Democratic presidential candidate, outside a campaign event at Abraham Lincoln High School in Des Moines, Iowa, U.S., on Sunday, Jan. 31, 2016. Hillary Clinton is holding onto a slim lead over Bernie Sanders in Iowa as Democrats prepare for Monday's caucuses, though an outpouring of young voters and those who say the system is rigged could enable Sanders to pull off an upset, according to a new poll. Photographer: Daniel Acker/Bloomberg

A supporter waves signs supporting Hillary Clinton, former Secretary of State and 2016 Democratic presidential candidate, outside a campaign event at Abraham Lincoln High School in Des Moines, Iowa: photo by Daniel Acker / Bloomberg, 1 February 2016

"cunt on" sounds like a cool catchphrase for an 80s all-women punk band: image via Julia Carrie Wong @juliacarriew, 1 February 2016

Hillary Clinton in Nashua, N.H., on Tuesday.

Hillary Clinton in Nashua, New Hampshire, on Tuesday: photo by Richard Perry/The New York Times, 2 February 2016

LIVE: Hillary Clinton addresses supporters in New Hampshire. image via Reuters Opinion @ReutersOpinion, 2 February 2016

Can Hillary Clinton close the deal? #Election2016: image via Reuters Top News @Reuters, 2 February 2016

‘The results suggest that Clinton has failed to overcome reservations … She has a lot of work to do between now and the nomination.’: photo by Adrees Latif/Reuters via the Guardian, 3 January 2016

Democratic Presidential Candidates Hillary Clinton And Bernie Sanders Debate In Durham, New Hampshire...DURHAM, NH - FEBRUARY 04: Democratic presidential candidates former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton walks on stage during a break as she debates with U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) during their MSNBC Democratic Candidates Debate at the University of New Hampshire on February 4, 2016 in Durham, New Hampshire. This is the final debate for the Democratic candidates before the New Hampshire primaries. (Photo by Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)

Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton walks on stage during a break as she debates with U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) during their MSNBC Democratic Candidates Debate at the University of New Hampshire in Durham, New Hampshire. This is the final debate for the Democratic candidates before the New Hampshire primaries: photo by Justin Sullivan via FT Photo Diary, 8 February 2016

FBI confirms Hillary Clinton email investigation: image via Yahoo News @YahooNews 9 February 2016

The room is remaining fairly buoyant despite the big loss. Illdebeest Clinton is expected to rear up here shortly #FITN: image via lauren gambino @LGamGam, 9 February 2016

@HillaryClinton tells volunteers she's taken so many selfies she could "write a guide". Selfish, the primary edition?: image via lauren gambino @LGamGam, 9 February 2016

Mother-daughter team working for every last vote on primary day. #FITN: image via lauren gambino @LGamGam, 9 February 2016

Hillary Clinton spoke with patrons at the Chez-Vachon restaurant in Manchester, N.H., on Monday: photo by Richard Perryr/The New York Times, 9 February 2016

Hillary Clinton took a selfie with an employee as she visited workers at the Paris Hotel in Las Vegas on Thursday: photo by Ruth Fremson/The New York Times, 18 February 2016

Clinton won't release transcripts of paid speeches until other candidates do: image via Reuters Top News @Reuters, 20 February 2016

BREAKING: Hillary Clinton projected winner in Nevada caucus: Fox News #NVDemsCaucus: image via Reuters Politics @ReutersPolitics, 20 February 2016

VIDEO: "Thank you, Nevada" -- Clinton: image via Reuters Top News @Reuters, 20 February 2016

Hillary Clinton at a rally in Las Vegas on Friday: photo by Ruth Fremson/The New York Times, 20 February 2016

Hillary Clinton...Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton gestures during a commercial break at a CNN town hall style televised event at the University of South Carolina School of Law, in Columbia, S.C., Tuesday, Feb. 23, 2016. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)

Democrat presidential candidate Hillary Clinton gestures during a commercial break at a CNN town hall televised event at the University of South Carolina School of Law, in Columbia: photo by Gerald Herbert/AP, 24 February 2016

A Hillary Clinton supporter cheered at a rally at the Old South Meeting House in Boston: photo by Doug Mills/The New York Times, 29 February 2016

Hillary Clinton...Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton acknowledges the crowd as she arrives to speak at a "Get Out The Vote" campaign rally in Norfolk, S.C., Monday, Feb. 29, 2016. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)

Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton acknowledges the crowd as she arrives to speak at a “Get Out The Vote” campaign rally in Norfolk, Virginia: photo by Gerald Herbert/AP, 1 March 2016

"#HillaryClinton must answer for her role in Honduran coup which led to murder of #BertaCaceres.": image via Kathryn Johnson @KatJohnsonDC, 4 March 2016

Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton speaks to an overflow crowd during a campaign event in Vernon Hills, Illinois.

Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton speaks to an capacity audience during a campaign event in Vernon Hills, Illinois: photo by Justin Sullivan via FT Photo Diary, 11 March 2016

At AIPAC 2016 Mrs. Clinton took aim at Donald J. Trump for declaring recently that he would be “neutral” when it came to negotiating a peace accord between the Israelis and Palestinians.: photo by Doug Mills/The New York Times, 21 March 2016

Hillary Clinton promises AIPAC 2016 she would stand unwaveringly with Israel: photo by Zach Gibson/The New York Times, 20 March 2016

@HillaryClinton promises to fight #BDS, comes very close to explicitly equating it with Anti-Semitism. #AIPAC2016: image via Jamil Dakwar, 21 March 2016

Anti-Zionism does not equal anti-Semitism: Someone please tell Hillary Clinton and the University of California

Hillary Clinton speaks at the 2016 American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) Policy Conference: photo by Andrew Hamik/AP, 21 March 2016

@Hillary Clinton email: #Assad must be toppled to protect #Israel: image via Sputnik Verified account @Sputnikint, 23 March 2016

LIVE: Hillary Clinton discusses counter-terrorism at Stanford University in Palo Alto: image via Reuters Live @ReutersLive, 23 March 2016

VERBATIM: Clinton slams Trump on Brussels attacks: image via Reuters TV @ReutersTV, 23 March 2016

I'm The Greenpeace Activist Who Asked HRC 2 Pledge 2 Reject Fossil Fuel Contributions...: image via relombardo @relombardo3, 1 April 2016

#ImtheGreenpeaceActivist who asked Hillary Clinton to reject fossil fuel money: image via Greenpeace USA @greenpeaceusa, 1 April 2016

#ElectrodeImplants can help change your facial expression from Severe to Superbright in less than .02 seconds#Hildebeest16: image via LiarsforPresident @Liars4Prez, 1 April 2016

Hillary - These allegations are false. | by DonkeyHotey

Hillary -- these allegations are false: image via DonkeyHotey, 10 April 2016

Hillary Clinton - Caricature | by DonkeyHotey

Hillary Clinton -- caricature: image via DonkeyHotey, 14 August 2013

Hillary Clinton: image via Aslan Media, 4 February 2012

Dido Building Carthage or the Rise of the Carthaginian Empire: Joseph Mallord William Turner, 1815, oil on canvas, 156 x 230 cm(National Gallery, London)

Indians gather around a water tanker...epa05271987 People collect water from a water tanker, in Bhiwandi, some 60 kilometer on the outskirts of Mumbai, India, 22 April 2016. According to reports, 21 districts in Maharashtra are drought-affected. The drought, which has been ongoing for the past five months, prompted 11 states to declare a drought in 2015 and has now choked the growth of kharif (monsoon) crops, including sesame, millet and rice, for the second monsoon season in a row. EPA/DIVYAKANT SOLANKI

People collect water from a water tanker, in Bhiwandi, some 60 kilometer on the outskirts of Mumbai. According to reports, 21 districts in Maharashtra are drought-affected. The drought, which has been ongoing for the past five months: photo by Divyakant Solanki/EPA, 22 April 2016

Away, melancholy,
Away with it, let it go.

Are not the trees green,
The earth as green?
Does not the wind blow,
Fire leap and the rivers flow?
Away melancholy.

The ant is busy
He carrieth his meat,
All things hurry
To be eaten or eat.
Away, melancholy.

Man, too, hurries,
Eats, couples, buries,
He is an animal also
With a hey ho melancholy,
Away with it, let it go.

Man of all creatures
Is superlative
(Away melancholy)
He of all creatures alone
Raiseth a stone
(Away melancholy)
Into the stone, the god
Pours what he knows of good
Calling, good, God.
Away melancholy, let it go.

Speak not to me of tears,
Tyranny, pox, wars,
Saying, Can God
Stone of man's thoughts, be good?
Say rather it is enough
That the stuffed
Stone of man's good, growing,
By man's called God.
Away, melancholy, let it go.

Man aspires
To good,
To love
Sighs;

Beaten, corrupted, dying
In his own blood lying
Yet heaves up an eye above
Cries, Love, love.
It is his virtue needs explaining,
Not his failing.

Away, melancholy,
Away with it, let it go

Florence Margaret ("Stevie") Smith (1902-1971): Away, Melancholy, from Not Waving But Drowning, 1957

Soldiers salute Mexico's Defense Secretary General Salvador Cienfuegos Zepeda at the Number 1 military camp in Mexico City: photo by Marco Ugarte / AP, 16 April 2016

Tens of thousands of vehicles that were seized by police forces due to traffic violations at a makeshift impound in the Wadi Laban suburb, west of Riyadh, Saudi Arabia: photo by Fayez Nureldine / AFP, 15 April 2016

Teresita Gapayao, 51, a scavenger for 12 years, wades through garbage using a makeshift raft made from styrofoam on the Estero de Vitas tiver in Tondo, Manila, on April 21, 2016. Gapayao collects plastic bottles and anything that can be sold to junkshops as a living earning an average of $3 a day.: photo by Noel Celis / AFP

Afghan farmers harvest opium sap from a poppy field in the Chaparhar district of Nangarhar province on April 19, 2016. Opium poppy cultivation in Afghanistan dropped 19 percent in 2015 compared to the previous year, according to figures from the Afghan Ministry of Counter Narcotics and United Nations Oiffce on Drugs and Crime: photo by Noorullah Shirzada / AFP, 19 April 2016

An Israeli woman takes a selfie in a buttercup field near Kibbutz Nir Yitzhak in southern Israel, just outside the Gaza Strip: photo by Jorge Silva / Reuters, 18 April 2016

A farmer plants potatoes in his field in Tilloy lez Cambrai, France: photo by Pascal Rossignol / Reuters, 18 April 2016

Men look at a destroyed building in the town of Portoviejo, Ecuador, almost a week after a powerful quake hit the country: photo by Juan Cevallos / AFP, 21 April 2016

The shadow of 34-year-old Renante Nodalo is reflected on a door as he takes care of a rooster to be used for cockfighting in Manila, Philippines: photo by Aaron Favila / AP, 20 April 2016

Two eaglets watch a bald eagle fly from their nest over the Raccoon River, at Gray's Lake Park in Des Moines, Iowa: photo by Charlie Neibergall / AP, 18 April 2016

Wild bluebells, which bloom around mid-April, turning the forest completely blue, form a carpet in the Hallerbos, also known as the “Blue Forest,” near the Belgian city of Halle, Belgium: photo by Yves Herman / Reuters. 17 April 2016

Villarrica Volcano and Trancura river are seen at night in Chile: photo by Cristobal Saavedra / Reuters, 17 April 2016

Picture of the so-called ‘Wall of Shame’ in the outskirts of Lima, Peru. The place began to be populated 20 years ago, with migration of Andean people displaced by poverty and violence of the guerrillas from the countryside to the city. The 10-kilometer-long wall separates dusty huts without electricity or water from mansions with swimming pools and green areas.: photo by Ernesto Benavides / AFP, 8 April 2016

An Iraqi soldier inspects a tunnel as he holds a position on the frontline in the town of Kharbardan, during military operations to recapture the northern Nineveh province from ISIS jihadists: photo by Safin Hamed / AFP, 9 April 2016

Firemen rescue a boy whose head is stuck between protective bars outside a window in Wuhan, Hubei Province, China: photo by Reuters, 11 April 2016

Suad Keserovic cleans a stone ball in Podubravlje village near Zavidovici, Bosnia, and Herzegovina. Keserovic claims that the stone sphere is 3.3 meters in diameter and estimates its weight to be about 35 tons. Hundreds of tourists from around the world have visited this stone.: photo by Dado Ruvic / Reuters, 11 April 2016

The journalist Hassan Hanafi, convicted of murdering colleagues for the Al-Qaeda-linked Shebab jihadist group, is tied to a wooden post before being executed by firing squad at a police academy square in Mogadishu. Hassan Hanafi, was sentenced to death last month after military judges said he had confessed to his role in the killing of five journalists after being arrested in August of 2014 in Kenya and extradited to Somalia.: photo by Mohamed Abdiwahab / AFP, 11 April 2016

Tourists view Buddhist sculptures at Longmen Grottoes, in the outskirts of Luoyang of Henan Province, China. Longmen Grottoes comprises more than 2,300 caves and niches carved into the steep limestone cliffs over a 1-kilometer-long stretch, containing the largest collection of Chinese art of the late Northern Wei and Tang Dynasties (316-907).: photo by Lintao Zhang, 10 April 2016

Baby is carried away by rescue workers after being rescued from her collapsed home caused by an earthquake in Mashiki town, Kumamoto prefecture, Japan...An eight-month-old baby is carried away by rescue workers after being rescued from her collapsed home caused by an earthquake in Mashiki town, Kumamoto prefecture, southern Japan, in this photo taken by Mainichi Shimbun April 15, 2016 early morning. Mandatory credit REUTERS/Daisuke Wada/Mainichi Shimbun via Reuters ATTENTION EDITORS - THIS IMAGE WAS PROVIDED BY A THIRD PARTY. IT IS DISTRIBUTED EXACTLY AS RECEIVED BY REUTERS, AS A SERVICE TO CLIENTS. FOR EDITORIAL USE ONLY. NOT FOR SALE FOR MARKETING OR ADVERTISING CAMPAIGNS. MANDATORY CREDIT. NO RESALES. NO ARCHIVE. JAPAN OUT. NO COMMERCIAL OR EDITORIAL SALES IN JAPAN. TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY

An eight-month-old baby is carried away by rescue workers after being rescued from her collapsed home caused by an earthquake in Mashiki town, Kumamoto prefecture, southern Japan: photo by Daisuke Wada/Mainichi Shimbun/Reuters, 15 April 2016

A child sits in an area affected by drought in the southern outskirts of Tegucigalpa: photo by Orlando Sierra/AFP, 22 April 2016

A man who lives in the surroundings of La Cangreja River uses an improvised raft in northeastern San Jose, Costa Rica. Although Costa Rica maintains 25% of its protected territory, the country is losing its biological resources, mainly due to climate change, pollution and lack of awareness of the population on the handling of recyclable waste.: photo by Jeffrey Arguedas/EPA, 21 April 2016

A Kashmiri fisherman rows his Shikara, or traditional boat, during sunset at the Dal Lake in Srinagar, Indian controlled Kashmir. Nestled in the Himalayan mountains and known for its beautiful lakes and saucer-shaped valleys, the Indian portion of Kashmir, is also one of the most militarized places on earth.: photo by Dar Yasin/Associated Press, 22 April 2016)

A closed limestone mine on Bel-ko Mountain near Belapatfalva, 158 kms northeast of Budapest, Hungary. Abandoned open-pit mines and quarries account for nearly ten thousand spots of landscape damage present in Hungary, according to reports based on topographic surveys. The environmental impacts of mining processes include contamination of soil, groundwater and surface water, as well as soil erosion, habitat loss and loss of biodiversity.: photo by Zsolt Czegled/EPA, 12 April 2016

Residents carry belongings they collected from their damaged homes as they walk during a return visit to the city of Palmyra, Syria: photo by Omar Sanadiki/Reuters, 14 April 2016

A Syrian man carries a carpet as he walks through a devastated part of the town of Palmyra as families load their belongings onto a bus in central Homs province, Syria: photo by Hassan Ammar/Associated Press, 14 April 2016

A general view shows Syrian families returning to the town of Palmyra: photo by Hassan Ammar/Associated Press, 14 April 2016

Women react to damage as they return to collect belongings in the city of Palmyra, Syria: photo by Omar Sanadiki/Reuters, 14 April 2016

A Syrian boy waits his for family to load their belongings onto a bus in the town of Palmyra in central Homs province, Syria: photo by Hassan Ammar/Associated Press, 14 April 2016

Syrians inspect their homes upon their return to the modern town of Palmyra, adjacent to the ancient Syrian city: photo by Louai Beshara/AFP, 14 April 2016

Syrians look through a window after they loaded their belongings onto a bus in the town of Palmyra, Syria. Thousands of residents of this ancient town who fled Islamic State rule are returning briefly to check on their homes.: photo by Hassan Ammar/Associated Press, 14 April 2016

A Syrian migrant family attempts to cross the border fence from Serbia into Hungary, near the village of Roszke: photo by Bernadett Szabo/Reuters, 28 August 2015

A Syrian migrant family attempts to cross the border fence from Serbia into Hungary, near the village of Roszke: photo by Bernadett Szabo/Reuters, 28 August 2015

Away, melancholy,
Away with it, let it go

A flamingo and flamingo chicks are seen in a corral before being fitted with identity rings at dawn at a lagoon in the Fuente de Piedra natural reserve, in Fuente de Piedra, near Malaga, southern Spain: photo by Jon Nazca/Reuters, 8 August 2015

A green vine snake feeds on an Indian Forest Skink inside the Silent Valley national park in Kerala, India: photo by Abhishek N. Chinnappa/Reuters, 28 November 2015

A pot over a bonfire was placed on the tracks of a railway station turned into a makeshift camp, crowded by migrants and refugees at the northern Greek border point of Idomeni, Greece today. Many thousands of migrants remain at the Greek border with Macedonia, hoping that the border crossing will reopen, allowing them to move north into central Europe.: photo by Gregorio Borgia/AP, 25 April 2016

GREECE - A refugee man eats his dinner in a tent at a makeshift camp near Idomeni. By Joe Klamar #AFP: image via Frédérique Geffard @fgeffardAFP, 24 April 2016

Two children chat under a plastic cover that keeps their temporary home somehow waterproof, #Idomeni #RefugeeCrisis: image via Daphne Tolis @daphnetoli, 24 April 2016

A refugee girl rests next to a tent at makeshift camp at Greek-Macedonian border near Idomeni. By Joe Klamar @AFP: image via Sophie Chauveau, 21 April 2016

A refugee woman hangs out the washing at makeshift camp at Greek-Macedonian border near Idomeni. By Joe Klamar @AFP: image via Sophie Chauveau, 21 April 2016

341 Syrian (211 children) #refugees given shelter at an abandoned beach resort in southern Greece: image via Aris Messinis @ArisMessinis, 25 April 2016

SYRIA - Smoke is seen rising in the Salihin neighbourhood of Aleppo following an air strike. By Karam Al-Masri #AFP: image via Frédérique Geffard @fgeffardAFP, 24 April 2016

SYRIA - Rebel and regime bombardment killed civilians on 3rd day of renewed violence in Aleppo. By Ameer Alhalbi @AFP: image via Frédérique Geffard @fgeffardAFP, 25 April 2016

Aleppo city shortly before the shelling from government forces: image via baraa al halabi @baraaalhalabi, 23 April 2016

Aleppo burns shelled by government forces and the international community''s silence: image via baraa al halabi @baraaalhalabi, 23 April 2016

Residents and civil defence members inspect a damaged building after an airstrike on the rebel-held Tariq al-Bab neighbourhood of Aleppo, Syria: photo by Abdalrhman Ismail /Reuters, 23 April 2016

At least 60 killed in Aleppo violence in past three days, monitor says: Reuters, 25 April 2016

At least 60 people have been killed in three days of fighting in Syria's northern city of Aleppo, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said, as violence continues to escalate. Seven children and 10 women were among those killed in a series of air strikes by the government side and shelling attacks by insurgents since Friday, the monitoring group said.

Fighting has intensified in Syria in recent weeks, all but destroying a partial ceasefire that took effect at the end of February. Last week, the main opposition walked out of formal talks in Geneva.

Beginning early on Friday, government warplanes bombed a number of rebel-held parts of Aleppo, control of which is split between the warring sides.

The government air raids killed 45 people, the monitoring group said.

Insurgent bombardments, including the use of home-made rockets and gas canisters fired as shells, meanwhile killed 15 people on the government-held western side.

The city was calmer on Monday but shells were still being fired onto government-held areas, said the British-based Observatory, which tracks the war using sources on the ground.

Syria's foreign ministry said it sent a letter to the U.N. Security Council to protest what it called terrorist attacks on populated areas in Aleppo and Damascus on Saturday, the state news agency SANA reported.

It said the shellings violated the cessation of hostilities agreement brokered by the United States and Russia, which took effect in western parts of the country in February.

The United Nations is anxious to salvage the Geneva negotiations, which are the most serious attempt to end the five-year-old civil war.

The U.N. special envoy for Syria, Staffan de Mistura, has vowed to continue the fragile peace talks despite the walkout by the opposition and signs that both sides are gearing up to escalate the war, which has killed more than 250,000 people.

"#Syria is better". Refugees stranded in #Macedonia yearning for reopening of Balkan route: image via China Xinhua News Verified account @XHNews, 25 April 2016

WEST BANK - Israelis picnic near Al-Auja in the Jordan Valley during the Jewish Passover holiday. By @menahemkahana: image via Frédérique Geffard @fgeffardAFP, 24 April 2016

YEMEN - Yemenis visiting Dar al-Hajar which is perched atop a rock pinnacle at Wadi Dhahr valley. By Mohammed Huwais: image via Frédérique Geffard @fgeffardAFP, 24 April 2016

YEMEN - The Dar al-Hajar (Rock Palace) perched atop a rock pinnacle at the Wadi Dhahr valley. By MOHAMMED HUWAIS: image via Frédérique Geffard @fgeffardAFP, 24 April 2016

GREECE - A refugee child carries blankets outside the old international airport in Athens. By @atzortzinis #AFP: image via Frédérique Geffard @fgeffardAFP, 24 April 2016

TURKEY - Merkel, EU officials arrive for Turkey visit on migrant deal. By @yasinnakgul #AFP: image via Frédérique Geffard @fgeffardAFP, 24 April 2016

TURKEY - Refugees wait for the German Chancellor during her visit at a refugee camp in Gaziantep. By @AFPphoto: image via Frédérique Geffard @fgeffardAFP, 24 April 2016

MACEDONIA - A group of Syrians rests after illegally crossing Greek-Macedonian border near Gevgelija. By Joe Klamar: image via Frédérique Geffard @fgeffardAFP, 24 April 2016

GREECE - A girl stands at entrance of "the Idomeni Cultural Center" at makeshift camp for migrants. By Joe Klamar: image via Frédérique Geffard @fgeffardAFP, 24 April 2016

GREECE - A child refugee plays with a tortoise at makeshift camp for migrants and refugees near Idomeni. By Joe Klamar: image via Frédérique Geffard @fgeffardAFP, 24 April 2016

GREECE - Refugee men attend a silent protest at the Greek-Macedonian border near Idomeni. By @Joe Klamar #AFP: image via Frédérique Geffard @fgeffardAFP, 24 April 2016

GREECE - A refugee pushes a stroller with her baby at makeshift camp at the Greek-Macedonian border near Idomeni. By Joe Klamar #AFP: image via Frédérique Geffard @fgeffardAFP, 22 April 2016

GREECE - A refugee man sells eggs at makeshift camp at the Greek-Macedonian border near Idomeni. By Joe Klamar #AFP: image via Frédérique Geffard @fgeffardAFP, 22 April 2016

SYRIA - A member of Kurdish internal security forces inspects the Alaya prison in Qamishli. By @Delilsouleman #AFP: image via Frédérique Geffard @fgeffardAFP, 22 April 2016

Clashes following a demo against the expropriation of Palestinian land by Israel in Kfar Qaddum. By Jaafar Ashtiyeh: image via Frédérique Geffard @fgeffardAFP, 22 April 2016

GREECE - A refugee girl wears her father's shoes as she plays with a ball at makeshift camp near Idomeni. By Joe Klamar #AFP: image via Frédérique Geffard @fgeffardAFP, 22 April 2016

Empress of Darkness

Hillary Clinton is up 62.7% to 37.8% against Bernie Sanders with 2 percent of precincts counted.: image via Reuters Live @ReutersLive, 19 April 2016

LIVE: New Yorkers head to the polls. Follow the action: #Election2016: image via Reuters Live @ReutersLive, 19 April 2016

Friedrich Hölderlin:Griechenland: "Toward wooded Avignon" (Wanderings of the European Mind)

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/f7/Wassen_Gotthardpost_1845.jpg

Gotthardpostat Wassen: aquatintby Weberafterdrawing byStraub, 1845; image by Adrian Michel, July 2007, from Artur Wyss-Niederer: Sankt Gotthard

...........................Ways of the wanderer!

For......................Shadows of the trees

And hills, under sun, where

The path leads

To the church,

.......................Rain

And trees, drowsing

Beneath the heavy tread of the sun,

For even so, even as it burns higher,

Over the steaming cities

Hang curtains of rain

For like ivy it dangles

Down without branches. Beautiful but

Now the ways yield

Fresher blossoms

To the wanderer

.....all outdoors sways.....as a field of grain.

Toward wooded Avignon over the Gotthard

Toils the steed. Laurels

Whisper above Vergil, so that

The sun does not

Unmanfully search out his grave.

Moss roses

Wax upon the Alps. Flowers start up

At the city gates, on the level untended paths

Like crystal growth in fallow wastes of the sea floor.

Gardens bloom round Windsor. On high

Arrives from London

The carriage of the King. Lovely gardens

Relieve the season.

By the canal. Deep below however lies

The even sea, glowing.

Friedrich Hölderlin (1770-1843): Griechenland (Greece), Hymnal Draft, first version, 1803, translation by TC

Schifflände Flüelen: colored aquatint by Hürlimann after a drawing by Gabriel Lory, 1820: image by Adrian Michel, June 2007, from Artur Wyss-Niederer: Sankt-Gotthard


                                 Wege des Wanderers!
Denn                        Schatten der Bäume
Und Hügel, sonnig, wo
Der Weg geht
Zur Kirche,
                      Reegen, wie Pfeilenregen
Und Bäume stehen, schlummernd, doch
Eintreffen Schritte der Sonne,
Denn eben so, wie sie heißer
Brennt über der Städte Dampf
So gehet über des Reegens
Behangene Mauren die Sonne

Wie Epheu nemlich hänget
Astlos der Reegen herunter. Schöner aber
Blühn Reisenden die Wege
      im Freien            wechselt wie Korn.
Avignon waldig über den Gotthardt
Tastet das Roß, Lorbeern
Rauschen um Virgilius und daß
Die Sonne nicht
Unmänlich suchet, das Grab. Moosrosen
Wachsen
Auf den Alpen. Blumen fangen
Vor Thoren der Stadt an, auf geebneten Wegen unbegünstiget
Gleich Krystallen in der Wüste wachsend des Meers.
Gärten wachsen um Windsor. Hoch
Ziehet, aus London,
Der Wagen des Königs.
Schöne Gärten sparen die Jahrzeit.
Am Canal. Tief aber liegt
Das ebene Weltmeer, glühend.

Friedrich Hölderlin: Hymnische Entwürfe: Griechenland, Erste Fassung, 1803

The Hölderlinian correspondences, those sudden connections between ancient and modern scenes and figures, stand in the most profound relationship to the paratactic method. Beissner too noted Hölderlin's tendency to mix eras together, to connect things that are remote and unconnected; the principle of such associations, which is the opposite of the discursive principle, is reminiscent of the serial ordering of grammatical parts. Poetry wrested both from the zone of madness, where the flight of ideas thrives, as does the readiness of many schizophrenics to see anything real as a sign of something hidden, to encumber it with meaning.

-- Theodor Adorno: Parataxis: On Hölderlin's Late Poetry, a talk given at the annual conference of the Hölderlin-Gesellschaft, Berlin, 7 June 1963; revised version first published in Die Neue Rundschau, 1964; translated by Shierry Weber Nicholsen in Theodor Adorno: Notes to Literature, Volume Two, 1992

Landscape of the Alps: Pieter Bruegel the Elder, c. 1552-1554, pen and sepia ink (Musée du Louvre, Paris)

The Fall of Rome

Members of the Gruppo Storico Romano (Roman Historical Group) dressed as gladiator stands at Circus Maximus as they mark the 2769th anniversary of the founding of Rome...A member of the Gruppo Storico Romano (Roman Historical Group) dressed as a gladiator stands at Circus Maximus as they mark the 2769th anniversary of the founding of Rome, Italy, April 24, 2016. REUTERS/Alessandro Bianchi TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY

A member of the Gruppo Storico Romano (Roman Historical Group) dressed as a gladiator stands at Circus Maximus as they mark the 2769th anniversary of the founding of Rome, Italy: photo by Alessandro Bianchi/Reuters 25 April 2016

Benitachel, Eastern Spain: photo by Sebastian Vaida, 2008

W.H. Auden: The Fall of Rome

(For Cyril Connolly)

The piers are pummelled by the waves;
In a lonely field the rain
Lashes an abandoned train;
Outlaws fill the mountain caves.

Fantastic grow the evening gowns;
Agents of the Fisc pursue
Absconding tax-defaulters through
The sewers of provincial towns.

Private rites of magic send
The temple prostitutes to sleep;
All the literati keep
An imaginary friend.

Cerebrotonic Cato may
Extoll the Ancient Disciplines,
But the muscle-bound Marines
Mutiny for food and pay.

Caesar's double-bed is warm
As an unimportant clerk
Writes I DO NOT LIKE MY WORK
On a pink official form.

Unendowed with wealth or pity,
Little birds with scarlet legs,
Sitting on their speckled eggs,
Eye each flu-infected city.

Altogether elsewhere, vast
Herds of reindeer move across
Miles and miles of golden moss,
Silently and very fast.

W.H. Auden (1907-1973): The Fall of Rome, from Nones (1961)

Caribou (Rangifer tarandus), Suomi, near Ihari, Finland: photo by Lukas Riebling, 2005

Kyrgyz military personnel show their skills during an exercises at a military base, 10 km outside Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan

Kyrgyz military personnel show their skills during an exercises at a military base, near Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan: photo by Igor Kovalenko/EPA, 25 April 2016

Chionji Temple Recreates The Moment Of Buddhist Patriarch Death...KYOTO, JAPAN - APRIL 25: People dressed as 25 Buddhist saints march at the Chionji temple on April 23, 2016 in Kyoto, Japan. This tri-annual ceremony which is split into three parts, a procession, a passing along of the largest prayer beads in Japan and a ritual to the cemetery to pay respects to the dead, is to commemorate the death of Honen, a patriarch of Pure Land Buddhism, recreating the moment when Honen was escorted by Amida-nyorai, the principal Buddha and 25 saints to the Pure Land at the time of his death. (Photo by Carl Court/Getty Images)

People dressed as 25 Buddhist saints march at the Chionji temple in Kyoto, Japan.This tri-annual ceremony which is split into three parts, a procession, a passing along of the largest prayer beads in Japan and a ritual to the cemetery to pay respects to the dead: photo by Carl Court / FT Photo Diary, 25 April 2016

Product Placement, or Business Along the Great Trade Route (In Mondo Novo)

Virtual reality: President Barack Obama and Chancellor Angela Merkel sample the latest tech in Hanover: image via AFP news agency @AFP, 25 April 2016

US President Barack Obama visits Germany...epa05276425 German†Chancellor Angela Merkel (R) tests a Virtual Reality (VR) goggle next to US†President Barack Obama (L) as they visit the booth of ifm electronic (automation engineering) at the Hannover Messe industrial technology trade fair in Hanover,†Germany, 25 April 2016. The USA is this year's partner country at the trade fair. The US President is on a two-day visit to Germany. EPA/CHRITSTIAN†CHARISIUS

German Chancellor Angela Merkel tests a Virtual Reality (VR) goggle next to US President Barack Obama as they visit the booth of ifm electronic (automation engineering) at the Hannover Messe industrial technology trade fair in Hanover, Germany: photo by Christian Charisius/EPA, 25 April 2016

Mondo Novo: Giovanni Domenico Tiepolo, 1791, detached fresco, 205 x 525 cm (Museo del Settecento Veneziano, Ca' Rezzonico, Venice)

Dewdrops on plant...epa05277673 Dewdrops are seen on a leaf in Mihalygerge, 130 kms northeast from Budapest, Hungary, 26 April 2016. EPA/Peter Komka HUNGARY OUT

Dew drops are seen on a leaf in Mihalygerge, Hungary: photo by Peter Komka/EPA, 26 April 2016

Andrew Marvell: On a Drop of Dew

See how the Orient Dew,

Shed from the Bosom of the Morn

Into the blowing Roses,

Yet careless of its Mansion new;

For the clear Region where ’twas born

Round in its self incloses:

And in its little Globes Extent,

Frames as it can its native Element.

How it the purple flow’r does slight,

Scarce touching where it lies,

But gazing back upon the Skies,

Shines with a mournful Light;

Like its own Tear,

Because so long divided from the Sphear.

Restless it roules and unsecure,

Trembling lest it grow impure:

Till the warm Sun pitty it's pain,

And to the Skies exhale it back again.

So the Soul, that Drop, that Ray

Of the clear Fountain of Eternal Day,

Could it within the humane flow’r be seen,

Remembring still its former height,

Shuns the sweat leaves and blossoms green;

And, recollecting its own Light,

Does, in its pure and circling thoughts, express

The greater Heaven in an Heaven less.

In how coy a Figure wound,

Every way it turns away:

So the World excluding round,

Yet receiving in the Day,

Dark beneath, but bright above:

Here disdaining, there in Love.

How loose and easie hence to go:

How girt and ready to ascend.

Moving but on a point below,

It all about does upwards bend.

Such did the Manna’s sacred Dew destil;

White, and intire, though congeal'd and chill.

Congeal'd on Earth: but does, dissolving, run

Into the Glories of th’ Almighty Sun.

Andrew Marvell (1621-1678): On a Drop of Dew, from Poems, 1681

A boy stands inside a building used as sleeping quarters at camp for refugees and migrants in Schisto, near Athens...A boy stands inside a building used as sleeping quarters at camp for refugees and migrants in Schisto, near Athens, Greece, April 26, 2016. REUTERS/Alkis Konstantinidis GREECE OUT. NO COMMERCIAL OR EDITORIAL SALES IN GREECE

A boy stands inside a building used as sleeping quarters at camp for refugees and migrants in Schisto, near Athens, Greece: photo by Alkis Konstantinidis/Reuters, 26 April 2016

Water is sprayed on a tiger to keep it cool by at the Nehru Zoological park in Hyderabad, India, Tuesday, April 26, 2016. Weeks of sweltering temperatures have caused scores of deaths across India and the met department has warned that any relief from monsoon rains was still likely weeks away. (AP Photo /Mahesh Kumar A.)

Water is sprayed on a tiger to keep it cool by at the Nehru Zoological park in Hyderabad, India.: photo by Mahesh Kumar A./AP, 26 April 2016

Syrians help a wounded youth following a...Syrians help a wounded youth following an air strike on the Fardous rebel held neighbourhood of the northern Syrian city of Aleppo on April 26, 2016. / AFP PHOTO / AMEER ALHALBIAMEER ALHALBI/AFP/Getty Images

Syrians help a wounded youth following an air strike on the Fardous rebel held neighbourhood of the northern Syrian city of Aleppo: photo by Ameer Alhal/AFP, 26 April 2016

#Syria #Aleppo Following an air strike today #AFP photo by Ameer Alhalbi: image via Aurelia BAILLY @AureliaBAILLY, 26 April 2016

World in focus — best photos for April 26, 2016

Syrians help a wounded youth following an air raid on the Fardous rebel held neighbourhood of Aleppo: photo by Ameer AlHalbi / AFP, 26 March 2016

Spring weather Apr 26th 2016...Rough sea at Seaham Harbour in County Durham, as snow and high winds sweep across the North East. PRESS ASSOCIATION Photo. Picture date: Tuesday April 26, 2016. Despite the approach of May, forecasters say that summer will feel a long way off. Photo credit should read: Owen Humphreys/PA Wire

Rough sea at Seaham Harbour in County Durham, as snow and high winds sweep across the North East of England: photo by Owen Humphreys/PA, 26 April 2016

The heroes of #SyriaCivilDef struggle to rescue civilians targeted by #Assad forces airstrikes in #Aleppo#SyriaTalks #COH #Syria: image via Syrian Coalition @SyrCoalition, 23 April 2016

Syrian civil defence carry a wounded woman following an airstrike on the opposition-held eastern Bab al-Nayrab neighbourhood of Aleppo: photo by Ameer Alhalbi/AFP, 26 April 2016

Many killed in Aleppo as fierce fighting shatters Syria's fragile truce: Opposition-held area of city at risk of siege as violence erupts days after halt in peace talks and deployment of Russian artillery: Kareem Shaheen and Daniel Boffey in Gaziantep for The Guardian, 26 April 2016

Large-scale fighting has erupted in the Syrian city of Aleppo and the surrounding countryside, upending a fragile truce that was meant to pave the way for peace talks and threatening a siege of the opposition-held part of the city and a humanitarian catastrophe.

Air raids and rocket attacks by Syrian government forces near Aleppo kill 5 rescue workers: image via AJE News @AJENews, 26 April 2016

Government warplanes on Tuesday killed five civil defence workers in airstrikes on the emergency teams’ facilities, highlighting the growing ferocity of the conflict after the halt of the UN-mediated negotiations.

Dozens killed in #Assad Regime's Bombings in #Aleppo #Syria #Geneva #SyriaTalks #COH #SyriaTalks #COH: image via Syrian Coalition @SyrCoalition, 23 April 2016

“The shells are everywhere, there are dead people on the ground, and they’re washing the blood from the streets,” said one resident in the government-controlled part of Aleppo.

Devastation after government bombardment in Aleppo: image via Fouadhalak89, 23 April 2016

The latest fighting comes days after a halt in peace talks in Geneva that were brokered by Washington and Moscow, and the deployment of Russian artillery last week in support of an offensive that Syrian government officials have long pledged to pursue.

[A Syria Civil Defence rescue in Aleppo] @majdkhalifa19931 @RaedAlSaleh3 @Syria CIvilDef #syria #Aleppo #hero: image via Rady Saad @EadySaad3, 23 April 2016

Forces loyal to Bashar al-Assad are buoyed by recent battlefield advances, largely the result of massive Russian aerial bombardment of rebels fighting to overthrow the Syrian dictator. But progress in recent weeks has been slow with the partial withdrawal of Russian forces ordered by the Kremlin.

World in focus — best photos for April 25, 2016

A picture of Syria’s President Bashar Al Assad is seen inside a checkpoint at the site of a car bomb on the outskirts of the Sayeda Zeinab district south of Damascus, Syria.: photo by Omar Sanadiki / Reuters, 25 April 2016

Government forces hope to encircle east Aleppo, which is held by the opposition, and are also fighting in the countryside to cut supply lines in the north from Turkey.

Over a dozen civilians killed in Assad airstrikes targeting many areas in #Aleppo, #Syria again today: image via Sami @Paradoxy13, 23 April 2016

Activists in the city said at least 12 people had died on Tuesday in rebel-held areas, the continuation of an aerial campaign that began on Friday and has killed more than 20.

Over a dozen civilians killed in Assad airstrikes targeting many areas in #Aleppo, #Syria again today: image via Sami @Paradoxy13, 23 April 2016

Sixteen people died in retaliatory shelling by the rebels on government-controlled territory and more than 80 were injured, state media said, blaming the attacks on Jabhat al-Nusra, al-Qaida’s wing in Syria.

42 Civilians Killed by #Assad's Forces on Sunday #Geneva #COH #Syria #Aleppo #SyriaTalks: image via Syrian Coalition @SyrCoalition, 26 April 2016

Brita Haji Hasan, the head of Aleppo city’s opposition council, said 25 people a day have been massacred in the city since the Assad regime and their Russian allies broke the ceasefire just under a week ago. He told the Guardian the city had endured five to six days of bombing and machine-gun strafing.

Meslet Calls on Putin to Force #Assad Stop Violations of #UNSC Res. #Syria #SyriaTalks: image via Syrian Coalition @SyrCoalition, 26 April 2016

Seven people were killed when a barrel bomb landed in the popular Alsakhour market on Sunday. Thirty people, including women and children, were killed that day in what appeared to be an intensification of the barrage, Hasan said.

Over a dozen civilians killed in Assad airstrikes targeting many areas in #Aleppo, #Syria again today: image via Sami @Paradoxy13, 23 April 2016

He added that the city was under partial siege with the only road out of Aleppo under constant attack.

“The situation is very bad but we are trying to live on,” Hasan said. “If we are besieged it will be a complete disaster.”

At least 35 people including children and rescue workers killed in Aleppo and its outskirts: image via AJE News @AJENews, 26 April 2016

The attacks led civil defence volunteers in opposition-run Aleppo to ask citizens to avoid gathering in crowds and stay away from schools, markets and public squares to avoid airstrikes. Schools in Aleppo were closed.

Devastation after government bombardment in Aleppo: image via Fouadhalak89, 23 April 2016

The civil defence itself was targeted by two airstrikes and a missile launch on Tuesday in Atareb, a town west of Aleppo, killing five emergency responders.

#Targeted #Russia-n Airstrikes Kill 5 Rescue Workers in Al-Atareb in Rural @Aleppo #Syria: image via Syrian Coalition @SyrCoalition, 26 April 2016

“In all other countries around the world, search and rescue teams are immune from bombing under the Geneva conventions, yet this is not the case in Syria,” said Raed Fares, the head of the White Helmets, the name of the civil defence organisation operating in opposition-held areas in Syria. “In Syria, our volunteers are forced to pick up the body parts of their teammates.”

@SyriaCivilDef heroes, who made sacrifices to save #Syrian innocent lives, were killed after an airstrike #Syria: image via Muslim Brotherhood Sy @IkhwanSyriaEn, 26 April 2016

Humanitarian officials fear the latest Aleppo campaign could lead to a full-blown siege of its eastern neighbourhoods, which already lack fuel, water and electricity, and cause a major humanitarian disaster in a city that is already in ruins after four years of fierce combat.

#Syria-n Coalition Defends #HNC’s Decision to Suspend #Geneva Negotiations #SyriaTalks #COH: image via Syrian Coalition @SyrCoalition, 26 April 2016

“In the east people are living in the rubble, burning trash to get a bit of heat or make morning tea. I don’t know how they can cope if the fighting really hits Aleppo harder,” said Pawel Krzysiek, the International Committee of the Red Cross’s spokesman in Syria.

#Aleppo violence kills 30 people in past 24 hours: image via Al Arabiya English @AlArabiyaEng, 26 May 2016

“Unimpeded and regular access is what we expected from the truce and that didn’t happen. We will not help people if we go only once there. This is not a solution.”

A story of the children of #Daraya #Break_Daraya_Siege #Daraya #Syria: image via Daraya Council, 24 April 2016

Humanitarian officials say the regular aid deliveries promised in the ceasefire deal have not materialised, with one-off missions into besieged territory occasionally going through.

#Assad's Forces Target Aid Convoy near #Al-Rastan #Syria #SyriaCeasefire #coh #homs: image via Syrian Coalition @SyrCoalition, 26 April 2016

The UN estimates that hundreds of thousands of people are living under siege in Syria, mostly enforced by the Assad regime and its allies, while other organisations believe the number is over a million.

#Assad's forces commit a massacre in #Douma #Damascus leaving 10 dead and more than 20 wounded#SyriaTalks #COH#Syria: image via Syrian Coalition @SyrCoalition, 23 April 2016

A Kurdish gunman looks at Shiite militiamen positions during clashes in Tuz Khurmato, Iraq.: photo by Goran Tomasevic / Reuters, 25 April 2016

13 years on: Iraqis reflect on how the US invasion has changed their lives forever: image via Al Jazeera English @AJEnglish 26 April 2016

EU Center for Kurdish Studies: #PYD Human Rights Violations in #Syria Reach ‘New Heights': image via Syrian Coalition @SyrCoalition, 26 April 2016

Moria, Lesbos. #refugees: image via Santi Palacios, 15 April 2016

@Afghan labourer Sakhidad 24, works in a chalk factory in #Mazar-i-Sharif. Amazing image by @Farshadusyan: image via shahmarai @shahmarai, 26 April 2016

#greece Refugees and #migrants queue for food in @Idomeni @AFP Photo by Joe Klamar: image via Aurelia BAILLY @AureliaBAILLY, 26 April 2016

A grey egret preens itself near Pusztaszer, southeast of Budapest, Hungary: photo by Attila Kovacs/EPA, 27 April 2016

Thassyrians king in peas with fowle desyre
And filthye lustes that staynd his regall harte
In warr that should sett pryncelye hertes afyre
vaynquyshd dyd yelde for want of marcyall arte
The dent of swordes from kysses semed straunge
And harder than hys ladyes syde his targe
from glotton feastes to sowldyers fare a chaunge
his helmet far above a garlandes charge
who scace the name of manhode dyd retayne
Drenched in slouthe and womanishe delight
Feble of sprete unpacyent of payne
when he hadd lost his honor and hys right
Prowde tyme of welthe, in stormes appawld with drede
murdred hym self to shew some manfull dede

Henry Howard, Earl of Surrey (1517-1547): Thassyrians king in peas with fowle desyre: text from British Library MS Additional 36529, f. 56v

German Chancellor Angela Merkel wears a ‘smart’ jacket next to a group of students during a Girls’ Day event held at the Federal Chancellery in Berlin, Germany. The jacket displays the temperature and reacts to pickpocketing.: photo by Kaya Nietfeld/EPA, 27 April 2016

BREAKING: Hillary Clinton projected winner of Pennsylvania primary - networks: image via Reuters Live @ReutersLive, 27 April 2016

In the battle for Hollywood endorsements - and cash - Clinton rules: image via Reuters Showbiz @ReutersShowbiz, 27 April 2016

A man carries an injured child in Douma, Syria, after what activists said was shelling by forces loyal to President Bashar al-Assad: photo by Bassam Khabieh/Reuters, 30 December 2015

The Death of Sardanapalus: Eugène Delacroix, 1827, oil on canvas, 392 x 496 cm (Musée du Louvre, Paris)

Aleppo, Syria. Girls who survived what activists said was a ground-to-ground missile attack by forces of Syria’s president, Bashar al-Assad: photo by Reuters, 7 April 2015

Syria's Assad promises jobs to relatives of killed soldiers #Syria: image via Middle East Eye @MidleEastEye, 1 January 2015

Russia wants more details about U.S. special forces deployment in Syria: image via Reuters Live @ReutersLive, 27 April 2016

#BREAKING NEWS A PRECISION AIR STRIKE HIT THE AL-QUDS #HOSPITAL IN #ALEPPO SHORTLY AFTER 9 PM. AT LEAST 15 KILLED.: image via Julian Röpcke, 27 April 2016

[Aftermath of regime attack, Aleppo] 23-4-2016: image via hozaifadahmaan, 23 April 2016

[Aftermath of hospital attack, Aleppo] #bombing_hospital_war_crime: image via hozaifadahmaan, 27 April 2016

I think, I don't need to say who is the main suspect of a "night time precision air strike" on a hospital in Syria: image via Julian Röpcke, 27 April 2016

#Graphic Baby, alive but with open skull, saved from rubble after #Assad air strike #Aleppo: image via Julian Röpcke, 27 April 2016

The war on doctors. "In Aleppo, #Syria largest city in the country, only 13 surgeons remain": image via Nadim Houry @nadimhoury, 20 November 2014

Girl #UnderAttack by #Assad A picture worth more than 1000 useless UN resolutions.: image via Julian Röpcke, 27 April 2016

Same picture as every day. #Assad and his allies ignore the #SyriaCeasefire, bomb #Aleppo. image via Julian Röpcke, 27 April 2016

Cessation of hostilities: Assad uses SS-21 tactical ballistic missiles to kill first aiders from @SyriaCivilDef.: image via Björn Stritzel @bjoernstritzel, 26 April 2016

Aftermath of #precise #double #nighttime air strikes (screams "Russian"!) on @SyriaCivilDef.: image via Julian Röpcke, 26 April 2016

The "#SyriaCeasefire" in #Aleppo #AssadGenocide: image via Julian Röpcke, 26 April 2016

#Footage #Assad regime(?!) Cluster Bomb attacks on rebel positions in #Latakia province: image via Julian Röpcke, 26 April 2016

#Footage #Assad forces shelled Eastern #Aleppo with missiles today. #Syria: image via Julian Röpcke, 25 April 2016

#Kurdistan: the city of #Sirnak, after months of Turkish army operations which included heavy shelling: image via Thomas van Linge @arabthomness, 25 April 2016

What you graffiti when you graffiti in an informal refugee camp. #Idomeni #Greece: image via Jina Moore Verified account @itsjina, 27 April 2016

Refugees queue for food at a makeshift camp for migrants and refugees near #Idomeni I By Joe Klamar #AFP: image via AFP Photo Department @AFPphoto, 27 April 2016

#Greece: A man rests by the window of a train station at a makeshift camp for migrants and refugees near #Idomeni: image via Talar Kalajian @TalarKala, 27 April 2016

Families walk through fields towards the Greece-Macedonia border in Idomeni, Greece: photo by Dan Kitwood, 2 March 2016

A view of the barbed wire fence along the Greece-Macedonia border: photo by Dan Kitwood, 2 March 2016

A man holds the hand of a young girl as they walk through fields as refugees continue to arrive at the Greek-Macedonian border: photo by Dan Kitwood, 1 March 2016

Stranded refugees and migrants try to break through the border fence as Macedonian policemen push them back, near Gevgelija: photo byBoris Grdanoski / AP, 29 February 2016

Stranded refugees and migrants break the border fence and throw stones from the Greek side as Macedonian policemen use tear gas: photo byBoris Grdanoski / AP, 29 February 2016

A woman carries a child on the Greek side of the border as they run away after Macedonian police fired tear gas: photo byPetros Giannakouris / AP, 29 February 2016

Fattoum Hassan. Syrian, 64, half-blind. Refugee on trial for rioting on Hungarian border.: image via Jonathan Rugman @jrug, 27 April 2016

Faisal Hamad uses a wheelchair after a Syrian air strike. Refugee detained in Hungary for 7 months for rioting. Uh?: image via Jonathan Rugman @jrug, 27 April 2016

The Moon shining above a mountainous landscape under a cloudy sky near Salgotarjan, some 100km northeast of Budapest, Hungary

The Moon shining above a mountainous landscape under a cloudy sky near Salgotarjan, some 100km northeast of Budapest: photo by Peter Komka/EPA, 22 October 2015

People inspect the damage at a site hit by airstrikes, in the rebel-held area of Aleppo’s Bustan al-Qasr, Syria on Thursday: photo by Abdalrhman Ismail/Reuters, 28 April 2016

#SaveAleppo #Syria #Aleppo: image via Hozaifa Dahmaan @hozaifadahmaan, 28 April 2016

In the uncertain hour before the morning
Near the ending of interminable night
At the recurrent end of the unending
After the dark dove with the flickering tongue
Had passed below the horizon of his homing
While the dead leaves still rattled on like tin
Over the asphalt where no other sound was
Between three districts whence the smoke arose
I met one walking, loitering and hurried
As if blown towards me like the metal leaves
Before the urban dawn wind unresisting.
And as I fixed upon the down-turned face
That pointed scrutiny with which we challenge
The first-met stranger in the waning dusk
I caught the sudden look of some dead master
Whom I had known, forgotten, half recalled
Both one and many; in the brown baked features
The eyes of a familiar compound ghost
Both intimate and unidentifiable.
So I assumed a double part, and cried
And heard another's voice cry: 'What! are you here?'
Although we were not. I was still the same,
Knowing myself yet being someone other --
And he a face still forming; yet the words sufficed
To compel the recognition they preceded.
And so, compliant to the common wind,
Too strange to each other for misunderstanding,
In concord at this intersection time
Of meeting nowhere, no before and after,
We trod the pavement in a dead patrol.

T.S. Eliot (1888-1965): from Little Gidding (1942)

[Aleppo, today] #SaveAleppo: image via Hozaifa Dahmaan @hozaifadahmaan, 28 April 2016

#AleppoIsBurning #SaveSyria #SaveAleppo #Syria #Aleppo 28_4_16: image via Hozaifa Dahmaan @hozaifadahmaan, 28 April 2016

[Aleppo, today] #SaveAleppo: image via Hozaifa Dahmaan @hozaifadahmaan, 28 April 2016

#AleppoIsBurning #SaveSyria #SaveAleppo #Syria #Aleppo 28_4_16: image via Hozaifa Dahmaan @hozaifadahmaan, 28 April 2016

#AleppoIsBurning: "It's like an apocalypse"

Government forces bombed the city of Aleppo:image via baraa al halabi @baraaalhalabi, 28 April 2016

World in focus — best photos for April 28, 2016

People walk amid the rubble of destroyed buildings following a reported air strike on the rebel-held neighbourhood of Al Kalasa in the northern Syrian city of Aleppo. The death toll from an upsurge of fighting in Syria’s second city rose despite a plea by the UN envoy for the warring sides to respect a February ceasefire.: photo by Ameer Alhalbi / AFP, 28 April 2016

Syria's truce is over as airstrikes destroy Aleppo hospital: With at least 27 patients and staff reported dead, UN says urgent aid is needed amid multiple breaches of ceasefire: Kareem Shaheen i Beirut and Ian Black in London for the Guardian, 28 April 2016

Syria’s eight-week truce was dead in all but name on Thursday after airstrikes destroyed an Aleppo hospital backed by Médecins Sans Frontières and the International Committee of the Red Cross, killing patients and doctors.

After today's attacks in #Syria, @hcoster on why warring factors target hospitals: image via Reuters Opinion @ReutersOpinion, 28 April 2016

Staffan de Mistura, the UN envoy for Syria, declared the cessation of hostilities agreement brokered by the US and Russia “barely alive”. Jan Egeland, the UN’s humanitarian coordinator, warned of a “catastrophic deterioration” in Aleppo in the past 24 to 48 hours.

#Aleppo #Syria #SaveAleppo: image via Hozaifa Dahmaan @hozaifadahmaan, 28 April 2016

No date has been agreed to resume suspended peace talks in Geneva, but De Mistura urged Barack Obama and Vladimir Putin to work to restore the truce and permit urgent humanitarian deliveries. In the past 48 hours there has been an average of one Syrian civilian killed every 25 minutes, and one wounded every 13 minutes.

#Syria People leaving after a reported airstrike in #Aleppo #AFP photo by @baraaalhalabi Aleppo #AFP: image via Aurelia BAILLY @AureliaBAILLY 28 April 2016

MSF said 14 patients and staff members including two doctors were killed in al-Quds hospital. One doctor was the last paediatrician in the rebel-held part of Aleppo. The opposition Higher Negotiations Committee said the attack killed at least 27 in total, including three children.

"There's no truce here" - for battered Aleppo residents, the Syria ceasefire is already dead: image via AFP news agency @AFP, 28 April 2016

It fit a pattern of systematic targeting of hospitals by the government of Bashar al-Assad, as the situation in Syria’s divided commercial capital grows more desperate. Schools, markets and a search and rescue centre have also been hit in the past week.

UPDATE: "dozens dead" in Aleppo clashes: image via AFP news agency @AFP, 28 April 2016

The French news agency AFP reported an anonymous Syrian official as saying the army was preparing to launch a massive offensive to retake the entire city in the coming days.

"There's no truce here" - for battered Aleppo residents, the Syria ceasefire is already dead: image via AFP news agency @AFP, 28 April 2016

Syrian rebels blamed Assad and his ally Russia for multiple breaches of the truce. Philip Hammond, the UK foreign secretary, said: “Now is the time for those with influence to apply real pressure to end this spiral of violence. Russia has set itself up as protector of the Assad regime, so it has a duty to bring its full influence to bear.”

#bombing_hospital_war_crime #SaveAleppo: image via Hozaifa Dahmaan @hozaifadahmaan, 27 April 2016

Muskilda Zancada, the group’s head of mission, said: “MSF categorically condemns this outrageous targeting of yet another medical facility in Syria. This devastating attack has destroyed a vital hospital in Aleppo, and the main referral centre for paediatric care in the area. Where is the outrage among those with the power and obligation to stop this carnage?”

#Bombing_hospitals_war_crime #SaveAleppo: image via Hozaifa Dahmaan @hozaifadahmaan, 27 April 2016

A US state department official said it appeared that the bombing was conducted solely by the Syrian regime, after Russia’s defence ministry denied that its planes were involved, saying it had carried out no airstrikes there in recent days. Both air forces have carried out almost all the aerial strikes on the opposition-controlled east of the city.

#Bombing_hospitals_war_crime #SaveAleppo: image via Hozaifa Dahmaan @hozaifadahmaan, 27 April 2016

Further airstrikes on Thursday on the rebel-held part of the city killed 20 people and brought down at least one residential building, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said. The UK-based monitor said shelling by insurgents of government-held areas killed at least 14.

#Aleppo #Syria #SaveAleppo: image via Hozaifa Dahmaan @hozaifadahmaan, 28 April 2016

“It’s like an apocalypse,” said Bara Abu Saleh, a councillor in a rebel-held area, speaking on Skype as explosions were heard. “Today around 25 people have been killed in different areas. Just now a rocket landed close but it didn’t explode.”

#FuckTheHumanity #SaveAleppo: image via Hozaifa Dahmaan @hozaifadahmaan, 28 April 2016

Staff described how the first missiles struck the hospital. “That’s when the massacre happened,” said Saeed Hallaq, a nurse. “It was an awful, frightening scene. The bombing was at night and there were planes in the air so the civil defence workers couldn’t do anything. They cut the electricity and work began to bring the martyrs and the wounded out of the ground. It was difficult and took hours. Some of them, we only found the pieces.”

#SaveAleppo: image via Hozaifa Dahmaan @hozaifadahmaan, 28 April 2016

One of the dead was Mohammad Wassim Muadh, a paediatrician. “He was the definition of humanity and kindness,” said Hallaq. “Wherever he went he left a good memory and he was also the most polite and kind person I ever met in my life.”

[Aleppo is burning] Aftermath of government attacks #SaveAleppo: image via Hozaifa Dahmaan @hozaifadahmaan, 28 April 2016

Muadh barely had a funeral, Hallaq said, because people feared government planes would target any gathering. “Our one and only call is to keep neutral the hospitals and centres that are helping civilians.”

[Aleppo, today] #SaveAleppo: image via Hozaifa Dahmaan @hozaifadahmaan, 28 April 2016

Large-scale fighting erupted in and around Aleppo over the weekend, with more than 100 dead in the surrounding province, further weakening the truce agreed between non-jihadi rebels and government forces on 27 February.

[Aleppo, today]: image via @Fouadhallak89, 28 April 2016

Egeland told reporters in Geneva that the catastrophic deterioration in Aleppo over the last 24-48 hours had jeopardised the aid lifeline that delivers supplies to millions of Syrians. “I could not in any way express how high the stakes are for the next hours and days.”

#AleppoIsBurning #SaveSyria #SaveAleppo #Syria #Aleppo 28_4_16: image via Hozaifa Dahmaan @hozaifadahmaan, 28 April 2016

Abu Saleh described food shortages with truckers struggling to deliver 4,000 tonnes of wheat because Kurdish forces were firing on vehicles on the only road linking the city to other rebel-held areas. Civilians are growing vegetables on rooftops and in gardens but a lack of fuel makes it hard to supply them with water.

#AleppoIsBurning #SaveSyria #SaveAleppo #Syria #Aleppo 28_4_16: image via Hozaifa Dahmaan @hozaifadahmaan, 28 April 2016

After a period of relative normality, many residents hid again when the bombing restarted. But various shops were still open, and some were trying to carry on with daily life. “People are determined to live their lives,” said Abu Saleh. “The people who are in Aleppo now are people who decided to stay here. We used to look at people in Gaza and wonder how they live their lives normally -– but now we know.”

#AleppoIsBurning #SaveSyria #SaveAleppo #Syria #Aleppo 28_4_16: image via Hozaifa Dahmaan @hozaifadahmaan, 28 April 2016

The Syrian government considers any medical facilities in opposition-held territory as legitimate military targets, claiming they are de facto illegal. Hospitals in opposition-held areas are refusing to share GPS coordinates with Russian and Syrian authorities because of repeated attacks on medical facilities and workers. Intense diplomatic activity is expected over the coming days as pressure mounts for a ministerial meeting of the major and regional powers that make up the International Syria Support Group.

#SaveAleppo #Syria #Aleppo: image via Hozaifa Dahmaan @hozaifadahmaan, 28 April 2016

The Syrian opposition insists Assad must step down, while the government in Damascus says his role is not up for negotiation. The war, now in its sixth year, is estimated to have killed 400,000 people and has made millions homeless.

[Aleppo, today]: image via @Fouadhallak89, 28 April 2016

#AleppoIsBurning #SaveSyria #SaveAleppo #Syria #Aleppo 28_4_16: image via Hozaifa Dahmaan @hozaifadahmaan, 28 April 2016

#AleppoIsBurning #SaveSyria #SaveAleppo #Syria #Aleppo 28_4_16: image via Hozaifa Dahmaan @hozaifadahmaan, 28 April 2016

[Aleppo is burning] Aftermath of government attacks #SaveAleppo: image via Hozaifa Dahmaan @hozaifadahmaan, 28 April 2016

US, UN condemn Syria hospital bombing in war-ravaged Aleppo: image via AFP news agency @AFP, 28 April 2016

Syrian civil defence volunteers and rescuers remove a baby from under the rubble of a destroyed building following a reported air strike on the rebel-held neighbourhood of al-Kalasa in the northern Syrian city of Aleppo: Ameer Alhalbi/AFP, 28 April 2016

#SaveAleppo #Syria #Aleppo: image via Hozaifa Dahmaan @hozaifadahmaan, 28 April 2016

#AleppoIsBurning #SaveSyria #SaveAleppo #Syria #Aleppo 28_4_16: image via Hozaifa Dahmaan @hozaifadahmaan, 28 April 2016

A boy flies his kite at sunset at a makeshift camp for migrants and refugees at the Greek-Macedonian border near the village of Idomeni. Some 54,000 people, many of them fleeing the war in Syria, have been stranded on Greek territory since the closure of the migrant route through the Balkans in February.: photo by Joe Klamar / AFP, 28 April 2016

An injured woman reacts at a site hit by airstrikes in the rebel held area of Old Aleppo, Syria: photo by Abdalrhman Ismail / Reuters, 28 April 2016

Syrians evacuate an injured man amid the rubble of destroyed buildings following a reported air strike on the rebel-held neighbourhood of Al-Qatarji, in the northern Syrian city of Aleppo on Friday: photo by Ameer Alhalbi/ AFP, 29 April 2016

An employee experiences “birth” through a latex “womb” at a Wake and Death Experience Pavilion in Shanghai, China: photo by Aly Song/Reuters, 22 April 2016

Joseph Ceravolo: Kin Pain

June 18, 1987

Walk quietly into the confusion,

all murky and acid.

Ascend lovingly into the marshes

until you breathe no more.

Walk quietly into the fusion

of love and kindred pain.

Joseph Ceravolo (1934-1988): Kin Pain, 18 June 1987, from Collected Poems, 2012

Palestinian Bedouin shepherds pull their lambs into the water to wash them, in Gaza City on Friday: photo by AFP, 29 April 2016

A picture of hands holding smartphones taking pictures of hands holding smartphones, as audience members await Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump before a campaign rally at West Chester University in West Chester, Pennsylvania: photo by Matt Slocum / AP, 25 April 2016

An exhibitor checks his phone during the 2016 Shanghai International Art Festival Of Tattoos in Shanghai, China: photo by Aly Song / Reuters, 22 April 2016

#Syria Following a reported air strike in Aleppo #AFP Photo by Ameer Alhalbi: image via Aurelia BAILLY @AureliaBAILLY, 29 April 2016

Syrians evacuate a toddler from a destroyed building following a reported air strike on the rebel-held neighbourhood of al-Kalasa in the northern Syrian city of Aleppo: photo by Ameer Alhalbi / AFP, 28 April 2016

#Palestinians Bedouin shepherds wash their lambs in the sea in #Gaza City #AFP Photo by @m55baba: image via Aurelia BAILLY @AureliaBAILLY, 29 April 2016

A Palestinian Bedouin shepherd pulls a lamb into the water to wash it in Gaza City. Every year before the beginning of the summer, shepherds wash their herds in the sea.: photo by Mohammed Abed / AFP, 29 April 2016

World in focus — best photos for April 29, 2016

Children peer from a carriage at a train station turned into a makeshift refugee camp at the northern Greek border point of Idomeni: photo by Gregorio Borgia / AP, 29 April 2016

#Syria A family runs after a reported air strike in #Aleppo Photo Ameer Alhalbi #AFP: image via AFP Photo Ddepartment @AFPphoto, 29 April 2016

Residents flee as air strikes shake Syria's Aleppo: Karim al-Masri, AFP, 30 April 2016

Aleppo (Syria) (AFP) - Terrified residents fled a new wave of air strikes on rebel-held areas of Syria's divided city of Aleppo Saturday, as key regime backer Russia rejected calls to rein in its ally.

Aleppo was left out of a new temporary US-Russian brokered truce that appeared to be holding in the regime stronghold of Latakia as well as Damascus and the nearby rebel bastion of Eastern Ghouta.

US Secretary of State John Kerry was to travel Sunday to Geneva in a show of support for the truce and will meet the UN envoy to Syria and the Jordanian and Saudi foreign ministers.

The State Department said his talks will focus on "efforts to reaffirm the cessation of hostilities nationwide in Syria".

A new round of UN-backed peace talks is set to start on May 10 in Geneva.

In Aleppo's rebel-held east, dozens of civilians left the battered Bustan al-Qasr district early Saturday, an AFP correspondent said.

"The situation has become unbearable," Abu Mohammed said as he prepared to flee with his wife and five children. "Everything is paralysed."

Russia said that it would not ask Damascus to halt air raids on Aleppo.

"No, we are not going to put pressure on (Damascus) because one must understand that the situation in Aleppo is part of this fight against the terrorist threat," Deputy Foreign Minister Gennady Gatilov said.

Washington has appealed to Moscow to keep President Bashar al-Assad's regime in check.

Once Syria's economic hub, Aleppo and its surrounding countryside have suffered some of the worst fighting in a conflict that has killed more than 270,000 people and displaced millions.

Watching the sky

At least 246 civilians have died in shelling, rocket fire and air strikes in both sides of the city since April 22, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights monitor said.

At least 10 civilians died in rebel-controlled areas on Saturday, the civil defence said.

The few people out on the streets watched the sky anxiously for regime aircraft, running for shelter when one launched a new raid.

The Britain-based Observatory, which relies on a network of sources on the ground, reported 28 air strikes on eastern neighbourhoods.

But in its daily report on Syria, Russia's defence ministry said it had recorded only "three ceasefire violations in the city of Aleppo", blaming them all on the rebels.

The SANA state news agency said shelling of western government-held neighbourhoods killed three civilians including a child, and blamed Al-Qaeda affiliate Al-Nusra Front and its allies.

A pro-government newspaper said Thursday the army was preparing an offensive to recapture all of Aleppo and the surrounding province.

Some families have fled to safer districts, while others left by the dangerous Castello road, the only route out of near-besieged east Aleppo.

Hospitals have also been bombed in nine days of escalating violence in Aleppo.

Four medical facilities were hit Friday on both sides of the front line, the International Committee of the Red Cross said.

A raid on Wednesday hit a hospital supported by Doctors Without Borders and the Red Cross as well as nearby housing, killing 30 people and sparking an international outcry.

On other fronts, fighting halted at 1:00 am Saturday (2200 GMT Friday) in a "freeze" set to last for 24 hours in Damascus and Eastern Ghouta, and 72 hours in Latakia.

Aid for besieged towns

Humanitarian convoys carrying food and medicine meanwhile entered the besieged rebel-held towns of Madaya and Zabadani, northwest of Damascus, on Saturday, the Red Cross said.

At the same time, trucks entered the besieged government-held towns of Fuaa and Kafraya, southwest of Aleppo.

Madaya became infamous in late 2015 after dozens died of starvation there.

In the eastern province of Deir Ezzor, a couple and their two daughters were killed in strikes by unidentified aircraft on a village held by the Islamic State group, the Observatory said.

And in northeastern Syria, a suicide bomber killed five Kurdish policemen at a checkpoint in the city of Qamishli, police said.

The violence in Aleppo has severely tested the February 27 truce between the regime and non-jihadist rebels intended to pave the way to an end to the five-year conflict.

Anas al-Abdeh, head of the Istanbul-based opposition National Coalition, Saturday accused the regime of "war crimes and crimes against humanity" in Aleppo.

Human Rights Watch also said the air strikes on medical facilities in the city "may amount to war crimes".

Qatar called for an emergency Arab League meeting, and Saudi Arabia condemned the regime strikes.

Und wieder wurde Aleppo von Bombenangriffen am Freitag hart getroffen: photo by AFP via Bild, 1 May 2016

#AleppoIsBurning: image via Julian Röpcke @JulianRoepcke, 30 April 2016 [Political editor @BILD / GER], 30 April 2016

The ONLY thing that could start a real peace process / national reconciliation in #Syria is: The removal of Bashar al-#Assad. Dead or alive.: tweet via Julian Röpcke @JulianRoepcke, 30 April 2016

#Syria, #FSA statement : “No to a truce silent without Aleppo”: image via yalla souriya @YallaSouriya, 30 April 2016

#Report 46 civilians were killed by the #Assad regime and its allies across #Syria on Saturday. - LCC: image via Julian Röpcke @JulianRoepcke, 30 April 2016

History counts its skeletons in round numbers.
A thousand and one remains a thousand,
as though the one had never existed:
an imaginary embryo, an empty cradle,
an ABC never read,
air that laughs, cries, grows,
emptiness running down steps toward the garden,
nobody's place in the line.

Wislawa Szymborska: from Hunger Camp At Jaslo, translated by Grazyna Drabik and Austin Flint

LETTER FROM #ALEPPO The last doctors beg the world to take action vs. the #AssadRegime. (Google-translated) #Syria: image via Julian Röpcke @JulianRoepcke, 30 April 2016

#Aleppo today. The USELESS @UN members not even try to hold an emergency session for it.: image via Julian Röpcke @JulianRoepcke, 30 April 2016

#Aleppo today: #Assad keeps slaughtering its people with air strikes. #AleppoIsBurning: image via Julian Röpcke @JulianRoepcke, 30 April 2016

Thousands petition for #Google to change color to red for #Aleppo: image via Al Arabiya English @AlArabiya_Eng, 30 April 2016

‘Aleppo is burning’ has been trending on the internet, calling for the escalated violence in the Syrian city to stop: photo by AP via Al Arabiya English, 1 May 2016

As Aleppo bleeds, social media users switch to red pictures: Staff writer, Al Arabiya English, 1 May 2016

As the violence in Syria’s Aleppo escalates, a social media campaign calling for the aggression to stop has gained momentum.

The campaign, called ‘Aleppo is burning,’ first began when social media users began to post pictures of the color red on their accounts in a bid to raise awareness.

The ongoing fighting in Syria’s second largest city, which has killed almost 250 and injured many more, has been described by the UN as “monstrous disregard for civilian lives by all parties to the conflict.”

In solidarity with the city, other campaigns have created, including a petition that pleas for Google to temporarily change the color of its logo to red.

The petition that was created on Saturday called for 10,000 signatures, but has already received over 11,000.

In addition, worldwide demonstrations have been organized to protest the Syrian regime’s airstrikes on the city.

Nearly 30 airstrikes hit rebel-held areas of Syria’s northern city of Aleppo on Saturday, marking nine straight days of bombardment.

However, a temporary “regime of calm” announced by the Syrian army late on Friday appeared to have taken hold in two other areas shattered by recent fighting, in the northwest coastal province Latakia and outskirts of the capital Damascus.

The Syrian government said the “regime of calm” -- from which a military source said Aleppo had been exempted -- was an attempt to salvage a wider ceasefire deal reached in February.

The February truce, brokered by Washington and Moscow, has all but collapsed in fighting that has intensified, particularly in and around Aleppo as peace talks in Geneva have crumbled.

[Aleppo today]: image via Hozaifa Dahmaan @hozaifadahmaan, 30 April 2016

#SaveAleppo: image via Hozaifa Dahmaan @hozaifadahmaan, 30 April 2016

#SaveAleppo #Syria #Aleppo: image via Hozaifa Dahmaan @hozaifadahmaan, 30 April 2016

#SaveAleppo: image via Hozaifa Dahmaan @hozaifadahmaan, 29 April 2016

#SaveAleppo: image via Hozaifa Dahmaan @hozaifadahmaan, 30 April 2016

Crisis in Syria: the battle for Aleppo: image via AFP, 30 April 2016

Russian President Vladimir Putin enters a hall before a meeting with his Uzbek counterpart at the Kremlin in Moscow: photo by Maxim Shemetov / AFP, 26 April 2016

Trump on getting to the convention: "I felt like I was crossing the border": image via Los Angeles Times @latimes, 29 April 2016

Remains of the Trump piñata #CAGOPConvention: image via Julia Carrie Wong @juliacarriew, 29 April 2016

A Russian Soyuz 2.1A rocket carrying Lomonosov, Aist-2D and SamSat-218 satellites lifts off from the launch pad at the new Vostochny cosmodrome outside the city of Uglegorsk, Russia: photo by Kirill Kudryavtsev/Pool/Reuters, 28 April 2016

A Russian Soyuz 2.1A rocket carrying Lomonosov, Aist-2D and SamSat-218 satellites lifts off from the launch pad at the new Vostochny cosmodrome outside the city of Uglegorsk, about 200 kilometres from the city of Blagoveshchensk in the far eastern Amur region, Russia.: photo by Kirill Kudryavtsev / Reuters, 28 April 2016

Ruling AK Party and pro-Kurdish Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP) lawmakers scuffle during a debate at the Parliament in Ankara, Turkey late April 27, 2016. REUTERS/Stringer EDITORIAL USE ONLY. NO RESALES. NO ARCHIVE

Ruling AK Party and pro-Kurdish Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP) lawmakers scuffle during a debate at the Parliament in Ankara, Turkey: photo by Reuters, 28 April 2016

Kurdish gunmen look at the burning car of a Shi'ite militiaman in Tuz Khurmato, Iraq: photo by Goran Tomasevic / Reuters, 24 April 2016

A young man asked @SenTedCruz to sign a copy of the Communist Manifesto as a joke. Here's what Cruz wrote.: image via Ben Gittleson @bgittleson, 28 April 2016

Whiff of controversy: Japan urges foreign tourists to avoid 'public flatulence': image via AFP news agency @AFP, 28 April 2016

Korean dog meat farmers seek fresh start: image via AFP news agency @AFP, 27 April 2016

A dog looks out from a cage at a dog farm during a media visit organised by the Humane Society International in Wonju, southeast of Seoul. The dogs were being transported to the US. The business was the fifth and the largest dog meat farm to be closed down by the Humane Society International. The dogs in the farm, one of thousands across the country, were bred specifically for consumption and confined in their cages from birth until slaughtered for their meat. South Koreans are believed to consume somewhere between 1.5 million and 2.5 million dogs every year, but the meat farming industry is in decline, with little demand among the younger generation.: photo by Ed Jones / AFP, 27 April 2016

Leading members of the Min Joo party (C) applaud as the exit poll is broadcast at the National Assembly in Seoul: photo by Ed Jones/AFP, 14 April 2016

Mitsubishi Motors President Tetsuro Aikawa reacts during a press conference announcing the embattled carmaker’s earnings for the fiscal year 2015, in Tokyo: photo by Franck Robichon/EPA, 27 April 2016

Volkswagen cars are loaded in a delivery tower at the plant of German carmaker in Wolfsburg, Germany: photo by Fabrizio Bensch / Reuters, 28 April 2016

Watchers wonder if Apple has lost its magic: image via AFP news agency @AFP, 28 April 2016

Mourners walked in the rubble of a hospital destroyed in an airstrike in Aleppo, Syria, by government forces on Thursday. At least 27 people were killed.: photo by Ameer Alhalbi/AFP, 28 April 2016

A man gestures amid the rubble of destroyed buildings following a strike on the rebel-held neighborhood of al-Kalasa in the northern Syrian city of Aleppo. The death toll from an upsurge of fighting in Syria’s second city Aleppo rose despite a plea by the UN envoy for the warring sides to respect a February ceasefire.: photo by Ameer Alhalbi/AFP, 28 April 2016

Syrian civil defense volunteers and rescuers remove a baby from under the rubble of a destroyed building following a air strike on the rebel-held neighborhood of al-Kalasa in the northern Syrian city of Aleppo: photo by Ameer Alhalbi/AFP, 28 April 2016

Women stand on a balcony after airstrikes in the rebel held area of al-Kalaseh neighborhood of Aleppo: photo by Abdalrhman Ismail/Reuters, 28 April 2016

A man follows rescuers carrying the body of a boy on a stretcher following a air strike on the rebel-held neighborhood of al-Kalasa in the northern Syrian city of Aleppo: photo by Ameer Alhalbi/AFP. 28 April 2016

A man carries a child after airstrikes hit Aleppo: photo by UGC via AP video, 28 April 2016

A family walks amid the rubble of destroyed buildings following an air strike on the rebel-held neighborhood of al-Kalasa in the northern Syrian city of Aleppo: photo by Ameer Alhlabi/AFP, 28 April 2016

People inspect the damage at a site hit by airstrikes, in the rebel-held area of Aleppo’s Bustan al-Qasr, Syria: photo by Abdalrhman Ismail/Reuters, 28 April 2016

Civil defense members search for survivors after an airstrike at a field hospital in the rebel held area of al-Sukari district of Aleppo: photo by Ameer Alhalbi/AFP, 27 April 2016

Syrian civil defense volunteers remove the body of a man from the rubble of destroyed buildings following airstrikes in Aleppo: photo by Ameer Alhabi/AFP, 27 April 2016

An injured woman reacts at a site hit by airstrikes in the rebel held area of Old Aleppo, Syria: photo by Abdalrhman Ismail/Reuters, 28 April 2016

A Syrian boy is comforted as he cries next to the body of a relative who died in an airstrike in the rebel-held neighborhood of al-Soukour in the northern city of Aleppo: photo by Karam Al-Masri/AFP, 27 April 2016

Syrian civil defense volunteers evacuate a woman from a destroyed building following a reported air strike on the rebel-held neighborhood of al-Kalasa in the northern Syrian city of Aleppo: photo by Ameer Alhalbi/AFP, 28 April 2016

A Love Doll is exhibited at Vanilla Gallery in Tokyo, Japan. The Japanese sex doll maker Orient Industry exhibited their life size Love Dolls in “Artificial OTOME (girl) Museum,” in collaboration with Vanilla Gallery. The main market for these Love Dolls are not only the collectors who love to live with them, but also others including widowers.: photo by Taro Karibe, 28 April 2016

Not only to learn to love to live with them but to learn to love them is all that's required of us during the exhibition

They don't ask very much of us really

But / and to live with them

Is a step up for us a step out of the lowly husks of beings we were in our miserable permanent toil and squalor

But / and

The slots were not what we thought they were we thought they were eyes

Smiling at us with happiness

Love and happiness

Happiness and love and that other thing

What was it again

The love dolls with their smiling slots have come to promise all these things to us and these are the best

Promises anyone has ever made to us

So we do the best we can to learn to love to embrace them and to live with them and to love them

Not that the mud and squalor ever really bothered us all that much but still just saying

A palm-sized baby ray in its ‘Kindergarten Aquarium’ at AquaDom; Sea Life in Berlin, Germany. The slots above the mouth that look like eyes are gills on the animal’s underbelly. When fully-grown these endangered animals reach a range of one meter.: photo by Jens Kalaena/EPA, 17 June 2015

A hippopotamus walks across flooded street in Tbilisi, Georgia. The flood killed at least 12 people and partly destroyed Tbilisi Zoo, killing dozens of animals, while 30 more -- including tigers, lions and bears -- managed to escape from their cages: photo by Beso Gulashvili/Reuters, 14 June 2015

A boy floats in a pond to cool off on a hot summer day on the outskirts of Kolkata: photo by Rupak De Chowdhuri/Reuters, 28 April 2016

Suspects involved in an alleged wire fraud sit on a plane flanked by security officers as they arrive at the Beijing Capital International Airport in Beijing: photo by Yin Gang / Xinhua News Agency via AP, 13 April 2016

World in focus – best photos for April 14, 2016

World in focus – best photos for April 14, 2016

Chinese fans of Kimi Raikkonen wait for him to arrive to sign their memorabilia ahead of this weekend’s Chinese Grand Prix in Shanghai: photo by Mark Thompson via The National, 14 April 2016

Inside The Beijing International Automotive Exhibition...A paramilitary police officer (right) turns around as hostesses line up for roll call ahead of the Beijing International Automotive Exhibition in Beijing, China, on Monday, April 25, 2016. Tesla Motors Inc. and BYD Co. are among manufacturers showing 147 new-energy vehicles at this year's show.

A paramilitary police officer (right) turns around as hostesses line up for roll call ahead of the Beijing International Automotive Exhibition in Beijing: photo by Qilai Shen/Bloomberg, 25 April 2016

civic bunny. at the civic center in san francisco: photo by patrix, 17 April 2016

Le bambole esposte alla Vanilla Gallery di Tokyo: photo by Taro Karibe via Io Donna, 28 April 2016

Love Doll: una galleria di Tokyo espone le “spose di plastica”

Le bambole esposte alla Vanilla Gallery di Tokyo: photo by Taro Karibe via Io Donna, 29 April 2016

Le bambole esposte alla Vanilla Gallery di Tokyo: photo by Taro Karibe via Io Donna, 29 April 2016

A Tokyo in mostra le Love Doll

Le bambole esposte alla Vanilla Gallery di Tokyo: photo by Taro Karibe via Io Donna, 29 April 2016

L'ultima trovata giapponese: la sposa di plastica @JattoniDallAsen #LoveDoll #SexToys: image via IO Donna Verified account @iodonnalive, 29 April 2016

Clearing, West to East | by LowerDarnley

Clearing, West to East. Lower Darnley, PEI.: photo by Jim Rohan, 4 July 2015

A sense of something deeply interfused

Whose swelling is the light of sinking suns

But what constitutes emotion anyway

A kind of bafflement at the constant maiming

Brains and blood exploding a sick slackness

A cold sweating that disturbs dreamless nights
Words emerging in discrete no-sound balloons

A loathing fluid rancid and corrosive

The tremendous desire I still remember

From early childhood that the pink and gray

Post storm sunset cloud flotillas rising

At the west end of Lake Street past Harlem

Where it opened out toward the prairie
Meadow horizon might be a mountain range

Meadow Horizon: photo by Jim Rohan, 8 February 2016

2016-05-01_A_014 | by Will not give up on film.

The Girl With the Raven(Facebook Username): photo by Will not give up on film, 2 May 2016

2016-05-01_A_022 | by Will not give up on film.

[Untitled]: photo by Will not give up on film, 1 May 2016

The joint: photo by efo, 21 April 2016

Dogpatch diptych: photo by efo, 6 April 2016

An artists impression released by the the European Southern Observatory (ESO) on May 2, 2016 shows an imagined view from close to one of the three planets orbiting an ultracool dwarf star just 40 light-years from Earth that were discovered using the TRAPPIST ("TRAnsiting Planets and PlanetesImals Small Telescope") telescope at ESOs La Silla Observatory in Chile. These worlds have sizes and temperatures similar to those of Venus and Earth and are the best targets found so far for the search for life outside the Solar System. They are the first planets ever discovered around such a tiny and dim star. In this view one of the inner planets is seen in transit across the disc of its tiny and dim parent star.

An artist's impression released by the the European Southern Observatory shows an imagined view from close to one of the three planets orbiting an ultracool dwarf star just 40 light-years from Earth that were discovered using the TRAPPIST (“Transiting Planets and PlanetesImals Small Telescope”) telescope at ESOs La Silla Observatory in Chile: photo by European Southern Observatory/AFP, 3 May 2016

Newly discovered planets may boost search for life beyond Earth: image via Reuters World @ReutersWorld, 3 May 2016

Life was never going have an easy time of it when

The nmur thubs arrayed against it in all their armoured dominion

Became unstoppable

And everybody gave in saying It's too late to begin to attempt to resist
The green latex corporate global re-wilding of a dead freewayfuture

And then forgave themselves on social media and moved on

And reached out
But nothing alive was left there in the ruins

An indian boy follows a herd of goat on a parched water pond in Kaushambi, nearly 25 kms from Allahabad, India, Tuesday, May 3, 2016. Much of India is reeling under a weeks long heat wave and severe drought conditions that have decimated crops, killed livestock and left at least 330 million Indians without enough water for their daily needs. (AP Photo/Rajesh Kumar Singh)

An Indian boy follows a herd of goat on a parched water pond in Kaushambi, India. Much of India is reeling under a weeks long heat wave and severe drought conditions that have decimated crops, killed livestock and left at least 330 million Indians without enough water for their daily needs.: photo by Rajesh Kumar Singh/AP, 3 May 2016

A boy carries a goat near Jidhi town of Awdal region, Somaliland. Across the Horn of Africa millions have been hit by the severe El Nino-related drought.: Reuters, 28 April 2016

The shadow of a boy is seen as he jumps into the Ganges River to cool off on a hot summer day on the outskirts of Kolkata, India: photo by Rupak De Chowdhuri / Reuters, 22 April 2016

World in focus — best photos for May 3, 2016

Indian boys collect drinking water from the main water supply line in Bhopal, India: photo by Sanjeev Gupta / EPA, 3 May 2016

Rohingya woman cries near the scene of a fire at a internally displaced person camp near Sittwe, Rakhine State, western Myanmar: photo by Nyunt Win / EPA, 3 May 2016

World in focus — best photos for May 1, 2016

A general view shows rescue workers searching for residents feared trapped in the rubble of a six-storey building that collapsed after days of heavy rain, in Nairobi, Kenya: photo by Gregory Olando / Reuters, 1 May 2016

A Syrian man walks past destroyed buildings on May 2, 2016, in Aleppo's Bab al-Hadid neighbourhood which was targeted recently by regime air strikes.

A Syrian man walks past destroyed buildings in Aleppo’s Bab al-Hadid neighbourhood which was targeted recently by regime air strikes: photo by Karam Al-Masri/AFP 3 May 2016

@Aleppo #Syria in snow, 1911 Tonight @AleppoIsBurning - please think of the people: image via Matthew Ward @HistoryNeedsYou, 3 May 2016

Elegant #architecture of Aleppo #Syria in 1938: image via Matthew Ward @HistoryNeedsYou, 3 May 2016

Market day by the great citadel of Aleppo #Syria 1910. I wonder what happened to the young woman in the foreground?: image via Matthew Ward @HistoryNeedsYou, 3 May 2016

The great citadel and mosque of Aleppo #Syria 75 years ago. All the streets are now reduced to rubble.: image via Matthew Ward @HistoryNeedsYou, 3 May 2016

Relaxing on the hospital steps in Aleppo #Syria 75 years ago. All the streets are now reduced to rubble.: image via Matthew Ward@HistoryNeedsYou, 3 May 2016

[#AleppoIsBurning]: image via baraa al halabi @baraaalhalabi, 1 May 2016

In 8 days, the Syrian regime and Russia killed 189 civilians in @Aleppo, including 43 women and 40 kids #AleppoIsBurning: image via Syrian Coalition @SyrianCoalition, 3 May 2016

Government warplanes are targeting Aleppo's rebel-held neighborhoods: photo by EPA/SANA, 3 May 2016

'When all of you leave our country, we will leave your countries in Europe' told me a refugee in #Idomeni Good lesson: image via Elena Herreros Rivas @ElenaHerreros, 1 May 2016 Madrid, Spain

Living in mud. Life in #Idomeni refugee camp #RefugeeCrisis please donate to @MSF: image via Josh Feldberg @JoshFeldberg, 3 May 2016

A wagon in #Idomeni is probably one of the most comfortable accommodations here. How did you sleep this night?: image via Tim Lüddeman @timluedde, 3 May 2016

Palestinian children play on a tree as the sun sets on May 2, 2016, in the Jabalia refugee camp in the northern Gaza Strip.

Palestinian children play on a tree as the sun sets in the Jabalia refugee camp in the northern Gaza Strip: photo by Mohammed Abed/AFP, 3 May 2016

Palestinian children play on a tree as the sun sets on the Jabalia refugee camp in the northern Gaza Strip: photo by Mohammed Abed / AFP, 3 May 2016

An aerial view shows colourful tulips in full bloom in a field of the company ‘Spezialkulturen’ near Blumenberg, Germany: photo by Jens Wolf / EPA, 3 May 2016

World in focus — best photos for May 2, 2016

Workers inspect rows of tulips at the Degenhardt-Sellmann Spezialkulturen tulip fields near Magdeburg in Schwaneberg, Germany. The company cultivates up to 10 different strains of tulips on 40 hectares of land to harvest not the flowers but the bulbs.: photo by Sean Gallup via The national, 2 May 2016

German Chancellor Angela Merkel signs an autograph as pupils attempt a selfie upon Merkel's arrival at the French high school (Franzoesisches Gymnasium Berlin) on May 3, 2016 in Berlin, Germany. Merkel visited the school to discuss European Union-related issues as part of the EU Project Day, in which German politicians across the country are visiting schools in order to raise awareness among high school of the role of the European Union

German Chancellor Angela Merkel signs an autograph as pupils attempt a selfie upon Merkel’s arrival at Franzoesisches Gymnasium Berlin, Germany on Tuesday: photo by Sean Gallup via FT Photo Diary, 3 May 2016

German chancellor Angela Merkel signs autographs while pupils try to take selfies during a visit at Berlin’s Lycee Francais: photo by Clemens Bilan / AFP, 3 May 2016

German comedian says Merkel 'served me up for tea' to Turkey: image via Reuters Top News @Reuters, 3 May 2016

German comedian says Merkel 'served me up for tea' to Turkey: image via Reuters World @ReutersWorld, 3 May 2016

A protestor is arrested by riot police during a protest against the proposed changes to France’s working week and layoff practices, in Lyon, central France: photo by Laurent Cipriani/AP, 28 April 2016

Trump San Francisco. Protesters clash with police outside the hotel hosting the California Republican Convention in Burlingame.: photo by Marcus Yam / Los Angeles Times, 29 April 2016

Trump San Francisco. A protestor is detained following a scuffle with law enforcement at the California Republican Convention in Burlingame.: photo by Jay L. Clendenin / Los Angeles Times, 29 April 2016

Trump San Francisco. Protesters clash with police outside the hotel hosting the California Republican Convention in Burlingame.: photo by Marcus Yam / Los Angeles Times, 29 April 2016

Trump rally in Costa Mesa. An anti-Trump demonstrator lies at the intersection of Fair Drive and Fairview Road near the Pacific Amphitheatre, where the candidate made his first appearance of his California campaign.: photo by Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times, 28 April 2016

Sheriffs on horseback and police break up a group of demonstrators outside Republican U.S. presidential candidate Donald Trump’s campaign rally in Costa Mesa, California: photo by Mike Blake/Reuters, 29 April 2016

Captain Mexico and a Mexican Winter Soldier at the anti-Trump protest. #CAGOPConvention #WeWillNotBeTrumped: image via Julia Carrie Wong @juliacarriew, 29 April 2016

Anti-trump protesters are everywhere. #CAGOP: image via Marcus Yam @yamphoto, 29 April 201

The crowd has shrunk but there is still tension. Police have arrested 2 more protesters. #CAGOP: image via Marcus Yam @yamphoto, 29 April 2016 Burlingame, CA

Cruz calls Trump pathological liar after he links Cruz's father to JFK assassination: image via Reuters Top News @Reuters, 3 May 2016

Ted Cruz to Donald Trump: 'Yes, my dad killed JFK and he is secretly Elvis': image via Reuters Politics @ReutersPolitics, 3 May 2016

Donald Trump's rivals are bracing for a crippling loss in Indiana: image via The New York Times @nytimes, 3 May 2016

Trump hopes Indiana showdown with Cruz will make him unstoppable: image via Reuters Top News @Reuters, 3 May 2016

A crate carrying one of the 33 lions rescued from circuses in Peru and Colombia is lifted onto the back of a lorry before being transported to a private reserve in Johannesburg, South Africa: photo by Dan Kitwood via the National, 1 May 2016

An old male lion raises his head above the long grass in the early morning, in the savannah of the Maasai Mara, south-western Kenya: photo by Ben Curtis/Associated Press, 7 July 2015

A lioness calls out to remind all her neighbors that this is her territory: photo by Brent Stapelkamp/Anastasia Photo, 6 June 2015

Umuya walks down a trail to follow the herd: photo by Brent Stapelkamp/Anastasia Photo, 10 June 2015

A cluster of clouds forms the shape of a wolf over an evening’s moon: photo by Brent Stapelkamp/Anastasia Photo, 10 March 2015

A male baboon (Papio Hamadryas) poses at the Safari Zoo in Ramat Gan, near Tel Aviv, Israel: photo by Baz Ratner/Reuters, 9 September 2015

A two-month-old white tiger cub stands in its enclosure at a zoo in the city of Liberec, Czech Republic: photo by Michal Cizek / AFP, 25 April 2016

A macaw flies over buildings with the Avila mountain behind, in Caracas: photo by Jorge Silva/Reuters, 23 April 2015

An American coot runs across the surface of the Salton Sea before taking flight near Niland, California. Located on what is called the “Pacific flyway,” heavy migrations of waterfowl, marsh and seabirds take advantage of the Salton Sea during spring and fall. For them, the lake is a desert oasis from vast stretches of rock and sand.: photo by Gregory Bull/Associated Press, 29 April 2015