What’s going on around the world… in photos.
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Jeroen van de Vlag from the Netherlands carves a giant sand figure to test a special grain of sand for sculptures in Luebeck, northern Germany, on Thursday, May 12, 2005, prior the upcoming sand sculpture festival ‘Sand World’. Seventy five international carvers will start in June to form figures up to twelve meters tall, featuring characters of fairytales and sagas for the sand sculpture festival with the theme ‘Fantastic & Fairytale’ to be open to the public from July 8 through Sept. 4. (AP Photo/Heribert Proepper)
Iraqi children, refugees from the embattled city of al-Qaim stand in front their tent after fleeing with others into the desert, about 45 km (29 miles) south of al-Qaim, Iraq, Thursday, May 12, 2005. Near the Syrian border, hundreds of American troops in tanks and light armored vehicles rolled through desert outposts as Operation Matador entered its fifth day, the U.S. military said Thursday. (AP Photo/Bilal Hussein)
Spectators look at the reported world’s largest building made of Lego pieces in Guenzburg, southern Germany, Thursday, May 12, 2005. The model of Munich’s new soccer stadium named Allianz-Arena was made of more than 1 million Lego pieces in about 4209 working hours. (AP Photo/Uwe Lein)
Science olympiad participants.
Britain’s Prime Minister Tony Blair, second right, and his wife Cherie, third right, stand outside 10 Downing Street in London, with supporters of the Make Poverty History campaign Thursday May 12, 2005. A group of African women on Thursday delivered thousands of letters and postcards to Blair asking him to put the crisis of world poverty at the top of his agenda and lead the world in trying to make poverty history. (AP Photo/Matt Dunham)
A Pakistani protestor holds a placard during a rally in the western city of Quetta May 12, 2005. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice urged Muslims around the world on May 12th to resist calls for violence from people outraged by allegations that interrogators at Guantanamo Bay had desecrated the Koran. Reports that interrogators at the U.S. military prison in Cuba put Korans in toilets and in at least one case flushed the holy book down the toilet have triggered violent demonstrations in Afghanistan as well as official protests in Pakistan. Photo by Rizwan Saeed/Reuters
Geek Squad agent Cyrus Tavadia (2nd R) demonstrates wireless technology to Star Wars fans dressed as Stormtrooper characters, May 11, 2005, in New York. The Geek Squad, a 24-hour computer support company, is working to help keep fans in touch with co-workers and family during their three-week wait outside the Ziegfeld Theatre, ahead of the Star Wars premiere May 19, 2005. (Stringer/Usa/Reuters)
A mother and her baby suffering from dengue fever are seen at Budhi Asih Hospital in Jakarta. Thailand has seen a 43 percent jump in cases of dengue fever in the first four months of 2005, health authorities said.(AFP/File/Bay Ismoyo)
South Korean soldiers take part in an anti-terror drill in Seoul May 12, 2005. Regional powers and South Korean financial markets reacted calmly on May 12 to North Korea’s declaration it had taken fuel from a nuclear reactor, a process that could give it more material for atomic weapons. Photo by You Sung-Ho/Reuters
Workers hang ducks on a processing line at a poultry factory in Ho Chi Minh-City. Vietnam said the bird flu epidemic had been in check for the past three weeks but admitted the battle against the deadly virus was far from won.(AFP/File/Hoang Dinh Nam)
A Goliath Casket Company employee works on a 48 inch-wide(122 centimeter) oversized coffin made out of 20-gauge steel in Lynn, Indiana. The company makes special caskets meant to hold adults weighing anywhere from 250 to 900 pounds(120 to 500KG)(AFP/File/Jeff Haynes)
Patrol : A US soldier can be seen through the center of discarded car tires as he scopes out windows for possible snipers during a neighborhood patrol in the restive district of Palestine in the city of Mosul. (AFP/Cris Bouroncle
Woody : Close-up of US director Woody Allen as he arrives for the projection of his film ‘Match Point’ at the 58th Cannes Film Festival. (AFP/Francois Guillot) Thu May 12, 3:50 PM ET
Muscle rush : US track star Shawn Crawford runs during a training session in preparation for the Super Grand Prix in Doha. (AFP/Karim Jaafar)
May 10: Shantytown : Children peer from a hole on a canvas designed to block public view of a sprawling shantytown near a railroad track in the Philippine capital Manila. (AFP/Joel Nito)
May 11: After the cross : Moroccan immigrants wait to be transferred to the southern Spanish port of Tarifa after being arrested while trying to cross the Strait of Gibraltar in a small boat. (AFP/Jose Luis Roca)
May 11: Ole! : Spanish matador El Fundi gives a pass to his first bull at Las Ventas Bullring in Madrid. (AFP/Bru Garcia)
May 11: Annual pilgrimage : Andalusian pilgrims begin the traditional annual pilgrimage to Rocio village, in Sevilla. (AFP/Cristina Quicler)
Hoping for change : A child panhandles in the historic center of Guatemala City. (AFP/Orlando Sierra)
May 10: Settler child : An Israeli settler child walks alongside an Israeli Markava tank parked inside the Israeli settlement of Katif as part of preparations for an upcoming carnival marking the Israeli independence day. (AFP/David Furst)