Setting a record

Twenty Estonian men yoked to the Tallink's cruise ship Baltic Queen move the 20.000-ton cruise ship, to set a new record, during the Tallinn's Maritime Days in Tallinn on May 20, 2011. The event was organised as one of the key events on Tallinn's Maritime Days by Tallink company. The Baltic Queen is one of the Baltic Sea's largest cruise ships, with a length of 212 meters, beam of 29 meters and weight of close to 20,000 tons. In

“Sea Biscuit”

Two-year-old Green Sea Turtle “Sea Biscuit”  with her front left flipper missing, swims towards food held by senior aquarist Marina Tsamoulos, in a tropical reef aquarium at Oceanworld Manly, north of Sydney. Sea Biscuit who was rescued by Oceanworld staff in 2009 and was so badly injured when washed ashore that she lost her front left flipper, has been handraised by Tsamoulos and has learnt to dive and swim with her remaining th

Oklahoma City Thunder v Dallas Mavericks

Russell Westbrook #0 of the Oklahoma City Thunder shoots the ball over Tyson Chandler #6 and Jose Juan Barea #11 of the Dallas Mavericks in the second quarter in Game Two of the Western Conference Finals during the 2011 NBA Playoffs at American Airlines Center on May 19, 2011 in Dallas, Texas. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of

Top New Artist award

Singer Justin Bieber poses in the photo room with his Top New Artist award at the 2011 Billboard Music Awards show in Las Vegas, May 22, 2011. REUTERS

Performing on the world stage

U.S. singer Kanye West performs during the 10th Mawazine World Rhythms music festival in Rabat May 21, 2011. REUTERS

Whizz kid

A nine-year-old Sri Lankan boy Jaden on his TVS 125 Star beating Indian rider Kumar Jagan 34, (behind him) today at the Pannala Speed championship 2011. Pic by Pradeep Dildrikshana

Meeting the displaced

U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon meets internally displaced children who have taken up temporary refuge at the UEESO church in Abidjan, while fleeing the conflict with their parents May 22, 2011. Ban, who attended the inauguration ceremony of Ivory Coast's President Alassane Ouattara on Saturday, said the international community should support Ouattara as he was elected to lead based on the will of the people. REUTERS

Rehearsals

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At the temple

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“Singha Senankaye Praharaya”

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GROM practice

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Bandele, Batou, Naledi and Sakina

Four lion cubs sit in a basket as they are christened in Hagenbecks zoo in Hamburg, northern Germany May 19, 2011. The cubs were born on January 31 and are named Bandele, Batou, Naledi and Sakina. REUTERS

New delivery

A newly-delivered Sri Lankan Airlines Airbus A320 taxis at the Bandaranaike International airport in Colombo on May 19, 2011. The airline announced acquiring two more aircraft following the delivery of the newest plane on May 19.  AFP PHOTO

A visit by Aparna

Former Army Commander Sarath Fonseka’s daughter Aparna Fonseka  who arrived in Sri Lanka recently and wife Anoma Fonseka, paid a visit to Sarath Fonseka at the Welikada Prison this afternoon. The picture shows Aparna Fonseka and her mother leaving the prison after the visit. Pix by Waruna Wanniarachchi

Record dance

Students take part in an attempt to break the world record for the largest “Quadrille dance”, a dance performed by four couples in a square formation, on main street in Ljubljana, May 20, 2011. Students from 22 Slovene cities and eight different countries were organised to dance at noon for half an hour in the attempt. An estimate of 8,863 students turned up at the Ljubljana dance. REUTERS

Queen meets Irish students

Britain's Queen Elizabeth meets students from Cashel Community School at St Patrick's Rock in Cashel, County Tipperary May 20, 2011. REUTERS

Tribute to war heroes

Humanitarian Operations Medals for the North and East were presented to 200 officers and soldiers from the Sri Lanka Armoured Corps today at the Armoured Corp regiment Headquarters at Rock House, Colombo 15. The Chief Guest of the colourful ceremony was Military spokesperson and Director of Operations Major General Ubhaya Medawala. Pic by Indraratne Balasuriya

Awareness campaign for female police officers

To create awareness amongst female police officers regarding various social issues and problems faced by women, a lecture was held at the Police Finger Printing Division this morning. First Lady Shiranthi Rajapaksa and IGP’s wife Asha Balasuriya attended the event. Pic by Kitsiri De Mel

Against the pension scheme

The Joint Trade Union Alliance of the Bank of Ceylon today signed a petition against the proposed pension scheme in front of the HDFC bank Colombo. Pix by Pradeep Dilruckshana

Milovan Mirosevic of Chile's Universidad Catolica

Milovan Mirosevic of Chile's Universidad Catolica and Andres Freitas of Uruguay's Penarol struggle for the ball during their Copa Libertadores soccer match in Santiago, May 19, 2011. REUTERS

Site-seeing in the Acropolis

A young boy runs in front of the temple of the Parthenon at the Acropolis hill in Athens, May 19 2011. In a step to boost tourism in the debt ridden country, officials announce that for the first time ever Greece's most famous tourist site, the Acropolis, will open until the evening all year round, a move that has been warmly welcomed by tourists who say they have often missed it due to its closing. REUTERS

Dansal in the North

The Army conducted a dansal for Tamils in the North, in view of the Vesak poya day that was marked on Tuesday. Seen here are people at the dansal. Pix by Pradeep Pathirana

Red Shirt Protests

Buddhist monks sit in front of the stage set up by anti-government ''red shirt'' protesters during a rally at Ratchaprasong intersection at Bangkok's shopping district May 19, 2011. Thousands of “red shirt” protesters staged a rally on Thursday to mark the one-year anniversary of Thailand's worst political violence that ended on May 19 last year. REUTERS

Tribute to the former commander

DNA MPs Arjuna Ranatunga, Jayantha Ketagoda and Anura Kumara Dissanayake come out from the Welikada prison after visiting former Army Commander Sarath Fonseka today.  The second anniversary of the war victory fell yesterday, and the three MPs paid tribute to the former Army Chief who led the military to a crushing defeat of the LTTE on May 19, 2009 in Nanthikadal. Pic by Nisal Baduge.

‘Pindapatha Charika’

To commemorate the 2600 Sri Sambuddhtva Jayanthiya, nearly 300 Buddhist monks today started a ‘Pindapatha’ (walk) from Gangaramaya temple to Temple trees. Pics by Kushan Pathiraja.

Freedom in the air

Two years have passed since the victorious conclusion of the war against terrorism. With the newly established peace, the Tamil community in the north is finally connected again with the outside world. Seen here, the civilians in the north enjoying the freedom. Pics by Pradeep Pathirana

Space Shuttle External Tank Falling

The space shuttle Atlantis STS-135 is hoisted to the high bay for mating to the external tank and solid rocket boosters inside the vehicle assembly building at the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida May 18, 2011. REUTERS

President in Vesak Zone

President Mahinda Rajapaksa opened the Gangaramaya Vesak Zone this evening at the Hunupitiya Gangaramaya. The picture shows President Rajapaksa carrying the sacred relic casket in procession to be placed for display at the Sima Malakaya. Chief Incumbent of Gangaramaya Ven. Galaboda Gnanissara thera is also in the picture. (Pic by Pradeep Dilrukshana)

“Sadu Nada Daham Sakmana”

To commemorate the “2600 Sri Sambuddha Jayanthiya” Buddhist devotes walked from Borella junction to Town-Hall Colombo today. Pics by Pradeep Dilrukshana

Vesak in Jaffna

Many cities around the country were decorated with lanterns and pandals due to the Vesak celebrations taking place. The pictures shows the city of Jaffna decorated due to Vesak. Pix by Pradeep Pathirana. Pix by Pradeep Pathirana