The Week in Pictures

An anti-government protester responds to military gunfire with a slingshot in Bangkok. The death toll in the protests rose to 30 on Sunday.  (Vincent Yu / Associated Press)

Venus appears above the crescent moon as seen from the Philippines, where the moon went on to pass over Venus, briefly obscuring it from view. The rare occurrence is called a planetary occultation.  (Aaron Favila / Associated Press)

Kyle Busch celebrates his win in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Autism Speaks 400.  (Nick Wass / Associated Press)

Thai Buddhist monks pray for peace at Victory Monument in Bangkok. Clashes between military forces and anti-government protesters have killed at least 30.  (David Longstreath / Associated Press)

Rafael Nadal of Spain celebrates his victory against Roger Federer of Switzerland after their final match in the Madrid Masters tennis tournament at the Caja Magic sports complex. Nadal won, 6-4, 7-6.  (Pierre-Philippe Marcou / AFP / Getty Images)

A protester runs away from gunfire as political violence in the capital escalates. Thailand’s army declared a glitzy shopping district a “live fire zone” on the third day of a bloody standoff between the military and anti-government protesters.  (Paula Bronstein/Getty Images)

An anti-government protester weeps after seeing a man shot in the central part of the capital. Thai troops clashed with protesters for a third day and streets became battlegrounds.  (Wong Maye-E / Associated Press)

Rafael Nadal of Spain celebrates match point against Nicolas Almagro of Spain in their semifinal match during the Mutua Madrilena Madrid Open tennis tournament.  (Clive Brunskill / Getty Images)

Children play soccer underneath colorful hanging paper lanterns at the Chogye Temple. The game is known as the Little Monk Soccer Match and is part of the celebration 21 Days of Little Monk, which honors Buddha’s birthday as well as the upcoming FIFA 2010 World Cup.  (Chung Sung-Jun / Getty Images)

Metti Kanno of Baltimore walks to the track before the 135th Preakness Stakes at Pimlico Race Course.  (Matt Rourke / Associated Press)

Applicants at an Indian army recruitment rally participate in a physical fitness test on the outskirts of Amritsar, India. Hundreds of people showed up to apply.  (Altaf Qadri / Associated Press)

A child and her pal get some play time during the Spring Danube International Dogs Exhibition.The event, which closes Sunday, showcases more than 200 breeds from across Europe.  (Samuel Kubani / AFP/Getty Images)

A man smokes a cigarette while riding his bike in a hutong, a traditional alleyway, in the Chinese capital.  (Muhammed Muheisen / Associated Press)

Sparta Prague fans celebrate after their team won first place in the Czech Republic soccer league, defeating FK Teplice, 1-0, in the last round.  (Michal Cizek / AFP/Getty Images)

Shuttle Atlantis blasts off on its final scheduled mission, a trip to the International Space Station. The shuttle fleet is being retired this year.  (Bruce Weaver / AFP/Getty Images)

AnnaBelle Tregle, 4, plays in the surf while workers in protective suits comb the beach for debris from the offshore oil spill.  (Charlie Riedel / Associated Press)

French TV host Alessandra Sublet arrives for the screening of “Wall Street : Money Never Sleeps,” presented out of competition at the 63rd Cannes Film Festival.  (Valery Hache / AFP/Getty Images)

A mural adorns the Glendale Boulevard viaduct near downtown.  (Reed Saxon / Associated Press)

A woman shouts to Greek police in central Athens during a Kurdish and Armenian demonstration against Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan during his visit.  (Filippo Monteforte / AFP/Getty Images)

Anti-government “Red Shirt” protesters add fuel to a burning barricade in a street. Eight people were killed and more than 100 injured as the military launched an operation to disperse protesters who have closed parts of the city for two months.  (Andy Nelson / Getty Images)

Young Canada geese near a pond in Casco, Maine. The goslings’ yellow plumage begins to turn gray a week after they hatch.  (Robert F. Bukaty / Associated Press)

With less than a month before the World Cup kickoff, a South African street vendor selling flags and sunglasses touts his wares.  (Alexander Joe / AFP/Getty Images)

A man takes a photo of “Dream A Fire Garden,” an installation for the opening night of the Singapore Arts Festival, which combines street art with creative fire displays.  (Stephen Morrison / EPA)

People sit next to a portrait of Iranian supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei prior to a funeral ceremony for members of the armed forces who were killed during the 1980-88 Iran-Iraq war but whose remains were only recently recovered.  (Vahid Salemi / Associated Press)

British actress Imogen Poots, one of the stars of the movie “Chatroom,” poses for photographers during the Cannes Film Festival.  (Christophe Karaba / EPA)

A baby L’Hoest’s monkey has a look around its cage at the Edinburgh Zoo.  (David Cheskin / Associated Press)

An anti-government protester receives medical treatment after being shot as demonstrators faced off with military forces. Thai Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva launched a crackdown after scrapping an offer to hold an early election. Although shots were fired in the clash, it was unlear where they came from as there were reports of independent gunmen.  (Barbara Walton / EPA)

The space shuttle Atlantis sits on the launch pad at Kennedy Space Center in preparation for its trip to the International Space Station. This is scheduled to be the final launch for Atlantis.  (Matt Stroshane / Getty Images)

Sebastian Vettel of Germany practices Thursday for the Monaco Grand Prix, a Formula One race that will be held Sunday.  (Claude Paris / Associated Press)

Stefan Kiessling, a striker for Germany, and Malta striker Andrew Cohen vie for the ball Thursday during a friendly match. Germany won, 3-0.  (Oliver Lang / AFP/Getty Images)

A South African woman walks by a giant soccer World Cup 2010 billboard in Port Elizabeth, South Africa. Port Elizabeth will be one of the host cities for the sports classic, which begins in June.  (Gianluigi Guercia / AFP/Getty Images)

Russian miners take a break near the Raspadskaya coal mine in Siberia after making a rescue attempt. The death toll after twin gas blasts in the mine last weekend has risen to 66, an official said, with rescue efforts suspended due to fires and high methane levels.  (Viktor Drachev / AFP/Getty Images)

An Afghan girl removes her chador in a school in Kabul, the Afghan capital. More than eight years after the collapse of the Taliban government, it still happens that girls are forbidden by their families to study in schools.  (Majid Saeedi / Getty Images)

Eloah Rocha wins first place in the Sarah Palin look-alike contest at Chicago’s Admiral Theater.  (Nuccio DiNuzzo / Chicago Tribune)

Oil spill cleanup material sits ready to be used to protect marshlands from the Deepwater Horizon spill in the Gulf of Mexico.  (John Moore / Getty Images)

Priests process during a Mass celebrated by Pope Benedict XVI at Fatima’s Sanctuary on Thursday. Tens of thousands of pilgrims flooded the famous shrine town for the Mass celebrating the anniversary of the day when three shepherd children reported having visions of the Virgin.  (Emilio Morenatti / Associated Press)

Mercedes GP’s German driver Michael Schumacher drives on the Monaco street circuit Thursday during the first free practice session of the Monaco Formula One Grand Prix.  (Guillaume Baptiste / AFP / Getty Images)

Children walk out behind grill gates before being taken home by parents at a preschool Thursday. Schools in China stepped up security after a 48-year-old man killed seven children and two women with a kitchen cleaver at a kindergarten in northwest China’s Shaanxi Province on Tuesday, then committed suicide.  (How Hwee Young / EPA)

A Volkswagen stands in a meadow as part of an art installation of German artist Stefan Rohrer at the opening of the horticultural show of the state of Baden-Wurttemberg, southern Germany, on Wednesday. The garden festival lasts until October 10.  (Winfried Rothermel / Associated Press)

A girl looks on after a concert at a camp for earthquake-displaced people Wednesday. A 7.0-magnitude earthquake hit Haiti on Jan. 12, killing and injuring thousands.  (Esteban Felix / Associated Press)

A woman prays during the blessing of the candles ceremony conducted by Pope Benedict XVI at Fatima’s Sanctuary on Wednesday.  (Emilio Morenatti / Associated Press)

Anti-government demonstrators watch as others fire homemade rockets at a Thai army helicopter on Thursday inside their encampment. Authorities have vowed to take a harder approach in dealing with the “Red Shirts” who have occupied the Thai capital for more than two months, demanding new elections.  (David Longstreath / Associated Press)

A screen displays the Los Angeles City Council vote count approving the city’s economic boycott of Arizona to protest that state’s new immigration law.  (Kevork Djansezian / Getty Images)

A soccer ball sits in a testing machine from the Test and Research Institute Pirmasens, part of an exhibition on World Cup soccer balls at the Science Center in Pirmasens, Germany.  (Mario Vedder / AFP/Getty Images)

Atletico Madrid players toss their coach, Quique Flores, in celebration after they won the inaugural Europa League title by defeating Fulham, 2-1, at Hamburg, Germany.  (Frank Augstein / Associated Press)

Ultra-Orthodox Jews arrive at Samuel’s Tomb on the outskirts of Jerusalem to mark the anniversary of the biblical prophet Samuel’s death.  (Menahem Kahana / AFP/Getty Images)

A Coast Guard plane flies over the Development Driller III oil platform, which is drilling a relief well at the site of the BP spill off the coast of Louisiana.  (Charlie Riedel / Associated Press)

Actress Kristin Scott Thomas hosts the opening ceremony of the 63rd annual Cannes Film Festival.  (Antonin Thullier / AFP/Getty Images)

Australian freestyle moto-cross rider Robbie Maddison jumps as the sun sets on his training session in the Sahara near the Gizah pyramids. The second stage of the Red Bull X-Fighters World Tour is set to take place Friday in front of the Sphinx.  (Joerg Mitter / EPA)

Relatives of a miner killed in weekend explosions at the Raspadskaya mine attend a funeral ceremony in western Siberia. The death toll following the twin gas blasts in Russia’s biggest underground coal mine has risen to 60, an official says, amid fading hopes for the 30 still trapped underground.  (Viktor Drachev / AFP / Getty Images)

People mark the anniversary of the 2008 Wenchuan earthquake in quake-devastated Beichuan county in southwestern China. More than 87,000 people are believed to have died as a result of the quake.  (Yan Min / EPA)

A Bosnian Muslim woman mourns near the coffin of a relative during a funeral for 31 Bosnian Muslims killed at the beginning of the 1992-95 Bosnian war. The ceremony was held in the town of Bratunac, east of Sarajevo. All the victims, which included two young girls, were exhumed from mass graves and identified by DNA.  (Amel Emric / Associated Press)

A supporter of Burundian President Pierre Nkurunziza wears a flag with the colors of the ruling party on his cap during a political rally at a sports field in Bujumbura. Nkurunziza is running for reelection. Some 3.5-million registered voters will go to the polls to elect 1,935 municipal counselors across the country on May 20 in a runup to the upcoming legislative and presidential elections. They’re the first all-inclusive elections since a peace accord ended a bloody 13-year civil war in 2006. The French government has provided Burundi with 90,000 euros to organize the upcoming elections.  (Roberto Schmidt / AFP / Getty Images)

Cate Blanchett stars with Russell Crowe in “Robin Hood,” which opened the Cannes Film Festival on Wednesday.  (Pascal Le Segretain / Getty Images)

Rescue teams search the site of the Libyan Afriqiyah Airways plane crash in Tripoli. The aircraft, with 104 people on board, crashed on landing Wednesday at the airport in Tripoli.  (Abdel Meguid al-Fergany / Associated Press)

People make their way toward the Houses of Parliament on the same day that British Labor Prime Minister Gordon Brown tendered his resignation to the queen, paving the way for Conservative leader David Cameron to take office.  (Anthony Devlin / Associated Press)

Young Filipinos flash the “L” sign, short for the word “fight” in Tagalog, as they peer through the window of a restaurant where leading presidential candidate Sen. Benigno Aquino III was to issue a postelection statement.  (Bullit Marquez / Associated Press)

A traveler contemplates flight cancellation announcements at the airport in Seville, which was among several closed because of ash from the volcano in Iceland.  (Miguel Angel Morenatti / Associated Press)

British Prime Minister Gordon Brown and wife Sarah and their children John, left, and Fraser, depart after he announces his resignation in front of the official residence, 10 Downing St.  (Alastair Grant / Associated Press)

A lethargic, emaciated gray whale that wandered into Dana Point Harbor is found floating and spouting near the jetty just offshore while spectators flock to the scene to snap pictures. Full story  (Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times)

British actress Helen Mirren, right, playfully scolds her husband Taylor Hackford as he kisses a new wax figure of Mirren at Madame Tussauds in London on Tuesday. Mirren has been involved in the creation process and has donated the floor-length black dress which her wax double wears.  (Akira Suemori / Associated Press)

A man pauses to pray in front of a mosque at nightfall as rain approaches in Kabul’s Old City. President Hamid Karzai arrived in Washington for a four-day visit, with the U.S, rolling out the red carpet as both sides seek to mend ties.
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/washingtondc/la-fg-afghan-meeting-20100510,0,4093136.story  (Mauricio Lima / AFP/Getty Images)

Long Beach SWAT officers hitch a ride on police vehicles as they leave a Long Beach parking garage. A woman was fatally shot near the site at Camden Harbor View Apartment Homes, at Seaside Way and West Ocean Boulevard, and SWAT officers were called in to inspect the garage for a possible suspect trying to elude police.  (Al Seib / Los Angeles Times)

Angelique Ngoma, minister of defense for the African nation of Gabon, inspects a gun at the four-day Special Operations Forces Exhibition and Conference in Amman. The event focuses on homeland security and counter-terrorism measures.  (Salah Malkawi / Getty Images)

Indonesian men struggle to board a packed commuter train at a station in Jakarta.  (Irwin Fedriansyah / Associated Press)

A horse of the Portuguese National Republican Guard shies and leaps while escorting the car of Pope Benedict XVI outside Lisbon’s Jeronimos Monastery. The pope arrived Tuesday for a four-day visit to Portugal.  (Armando Franca / Associated Press)

Soldiers of the British Army’s Grenadier Guards cheer Queen Elizabeth II at a ceremony at Buckingham Palace. The regiment was formed in 1656 but later took its moniker from the defeat of the Grenadiers of the French Imperial Guard at the Battle of Waterloo in 1815.  (Anthony Devlin-pa / Associated Press)

The Lakers’ Kobe Bryant drives under the basket past Utah‘s Paul Milsap, center, and Andrei Kirilenko to score on a reverse layup in Game 4 of the Western Conference Semifinals on Monday.  (Wally Skalij / Los Angeles Times)

Young people at Kolomenskoe Park enjoy an unusually warm May for Moscow.  (Mikhail Metzel / Associated Press)

One of the New Harbor Islands is encircled by oil containment booms. The oil slick passed inside the protective barrier formed by the Chandeleur Islands, as struggling cleanup operations continue for the BP Deepwater Horizon disaster off Louisiana.  (Mark Ralston / AFP/Getty Images)

A young woman gathers flowers in rapeseed field some 300 miles from Kiev, the Ukrainian capital, before heavy rains.  (Sergei Supinsky / AFP/Getty Images)

The choir performs during the final dress rehearsal in Oberammergau, Germany. The Oberammergau passion play, first staged in 1634 to ward off a plague epidemic, has been staged every 10 years since, with few interruptions. Some 2,500 villagers act, build, produce, or play music in the play, which will run from May 15th to October 3rd 2010.  (Johannes Simon / Getty Images)

Space shuttle Atlantis astronauts fly over the shuttle landing facility in their T-38 training jets. The Atlantis crew are preparing for their launch, scheduled for May 14.  (Matt Stroshane / Getty Images)

Inmates at the Quezon City Jail await their turn to vote in Philippine national elections.  (Noel Celis /AFP / Getty Images)

Nicola Pagano, left, is escorted by a police officer after his arrest at his home in Frignano. Pagano is accused of being involved in a Mafia scheme to control the fruit and vegetable trade in the parts of Italy.  (Roberto Salomone / AFP / Getty Images)

Actor Johnny Depp climbs over the guardrail of a balcony during the filming of “The Tourist” in Venice.  (Andrea Pattaro / AFP / Getty Images)

Monkeys drink water out of taps on a hot afternoon in the northern Indian city of Jammu, the winter capital of Kashmir. Temperatures in northern India have soared above 110 degrees Fahrenheit. .  (Jaipal Singh / EPA)

A portrait of a Pakistani girl on the outskirts of Islamabad.  (Vincent Thian / Associated Press)

A passenger sleeps on the floor by the check-in counters at Lisbon’s international Portela Airport. The airport reopened in the late morning after being closed for 10 hours because of an ash cloud spewed by a volcano in Iceland.  (Francisco Seco / Associated Press)

Rescuers at the site of the Raspadskaya mine in the town of Mezhdurechensk search through rubble after explosions killed at least 32 people and destroyed buildings.  (Maxim Shipenkov / EPA)

Miners continue their rescue operation at Raspadskaya mine in the town of Mezhdurechensk, in the Kemerovo region of Western Siberia. At least 32 miners and rescuers were killed after two gas explosions, and more than 80 other people are still trapped underground.

- - - - - - - - - - -


By SERGEY PONOMAREV, Associated Press Writer

MEZHDURECHENSK, Russia -- Rescuers pulled 20 more bodies from the rubble of Russia’s largest coal mine Monday but 58 miners were still missing deep underground as water flooded into the shafts.

The official death toll now stands at 32 following two explosions in the Siberian mine.

Many of the dead were rescue workers who had gone into the mine after the first of the weekend blasts. A second, more powerful blast then destroyed the main air shaft, which had a diameter of five meters (16.5 feet), and a five-story building over the mine. Black soot covered the area.

High levels of methane gas remaining in the mine had raised fears of further explosions and prevented rescue workers from resuming their search until early Monday.

Emergency Minister Sergei Shoigu, who heads the rescue operation, said later Monday that methane levels were down to acceptable levels, but another danger is now posed by rising water levels in the deep mine. Rescuers have a maximum of 48 hours to reach 13 people presumed to be in two locations that are being flooded, he told reporters.

The first blast, believed to have been caused by methane, hit the Raspadskaya mine just before midnight Saturday. There were 359 workers below ground at the time and the majority managed to get out. A total of 69 people were hospitalized Monday.

The second explosion occurred about 3 1/2 hours later, after rescuers had entered the mine. The bodies of 12 miners and rescue workers were recovered on Sunday, the Emergency Ministry said. A further 20 bodies ? all rescue workers but one ? were found on Monday.

President Dmitry Medvedev ordered the prosecutor general to determine what caused the accident at Raspadskaya. Speaking at a government meeting, Medvedev described the mine as one of the best equipped in the country.

The mine is one of several in Mezhdurechensk, a city of about 100,000 in the coal-mining Kemerovo region of west Siberia.

More than 500 emergency workers from around the country were brought to Mezhdurechensk to help restore ventilation to the mine and rebuild mine shafts so the search for those missing could resume.

The first few brigades of rescue workers went down into the mine early Monday. By afternoon, 14 brigades of five to six rescuers each were working in the mine shafts.

The Raspadskaya mine is 500 meters (1,650 feet) deep and has 370 kilometers (220 miles) of underground tunnels. It has produced about 8 million tons (8.8 million short tons) of coal a year, according to the company’s website.

There was no information on what set off the blast. Mine explosions and other industrial accidents are common in Russia and other former Soviet republics, and are often blamed on inadequate implementation of safety precautions by companies or by workers themselves.

The deadliest explosion in Russia’s coal mines in decades occurred in March 2007, when 110 miners were killed in Kemerovo.

There have been a number of deadly coal mining accidents around the world in recent months.

The United States was hit with its worst coal mining disaster in 40 years when 29 miners died April 5 in an explosion at a West Virginia mine.

In China, where the mining industry is the world’s deadliest, at least 33 miners died after a mine flooded on March 28. The flood trapped 153 miners, but most were eventually rescued.

- - - - - - - - - - -

Associated Press writer Lynn Berry in Moscow contributed to this report.  (Maxim Shipenkov / EPA)