The world mourned many mighty individuals this week as students walked out of classrooms across the US to protest gun violence and honor the victims of a shooting in Parkland, Florida.
In Utrecht, Netherlands, hundreds gathered to recognize the victims of the Syrian Civil War, which recently entered its seventh year. In the city’s Dom Square, demonstrators held candles and demanded an end to the violence that has killed, traumatized, or displaced millions of Syrians.
Elsewhere in the world, global citizens celebrated the life of Stephen Hawking, a brilliant scientist and staunch human rights advocate, who died this week.
Hawking’s explorations of the universe and ability to overcome a serious disability highlighted the strength and beauty that exists all around us. That inspiring perspective was on display this week during the inauguration of Pakistan’s first female Hindu senator and amid the annual eruption of Japanese cherry blossoms.
Visitors take a picture of early blooming cherry blossom, called as "Kanzakura" at the Shinjuku Gyoen National Garden in Tokyo, March 10, 2018.
1) Cherry Blossoms, Japan: Visitors take a picture of an early blooming cherry blossom, called a "Kanzakura," at the Shinjuku Gyoen National Garden in Tokyo, March 10.
2) Stephen Hawking Death: Students and teachers at Stephen Hawking School in Bogota, Colombia pay homage to the British scientist, following the announcement of his death on March 15. Renowned British physicist Stephen Hawking, whose mental genius and physical disability made him a household name and inspiration across the globe, died on March 14th aged 76. Propelled to superstardom by his 1988 book 'A Brief History of Time', which became an unlikely worldwide bestseller, Hawking dedicated his life to unlocking the secrets of the Universe.
Students gather on their soccer field during a 17-minute walkout protest at the Stivers School for the Arts, Wednesday, March 14, 2018, in Dayton, Ohio. Students across the country participate in walkouts Wednesday to protest gun violence, one month after the deadly shooting inside a high school in Parkland, Fla.
3) Students Protest Gun Violence: Students gather on their soccer field during a 17-minute walkout protest at the Stivers School for the Arts, Wednesday, March 14, in Dayton, Ohio. Students across the country participated in walkouts Wednesday to protest gun violence, one month after the deadly shooting inside a high school in Parkland, Fla.
4) Syrian Civil War: Hundreds of people gathered at the Dom square in Utrecht, Netherlands, on March 15 to to raise awareness, call for peace, and to demand an end to the ongoing and relentless violence in Syria and elswhere in the world. On March 15, the Syrian Civil War entered its eighth year. Meanwhile, more than 465,000 Syrians have been killed in the fighting, over a million have been injured, and over 12 million— half the country's prewar population —have been displaced from their homes.
7000 pairs of shoes, one for every child killed by gun violence since the Sandy Hook school shooting, were placed on the Capitol lawn by Avaaz, a U.S.-based civic organization, on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC, March 13, 2018.
5) Gun Violence in the United States: 7000 pairs of shoes, one for every child killed by gun violence since the Sandy Hook school shooting, were placed on the Capitol lawn by Avaaz, a U.S.-based civic organization, on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC, March 13.
Thousands of farmers listen to their leader at the end of their six day long march on foot, in Mumbai, India, March 12, 2018. Tens of thousands of farmers from across western India have arrived in Mumbai demanding, among other things, a waiver of farm loans and fair prices for their produce as India's agriculture sector struggles amid years of declining earnings. The farmers reached India's business capital Monday after marching on foot for up to six days and plan to surround the state legislature of the western state of Maharashtra in Mumbai.
6) India Farmer Protest: Thousands of farmers listen to their leader at the end of their six day long march on foot, in Mumbai, India, March 12. Tens of thousands of farmers from across western India have arrived in Mumbai demanding, among other things, a waiver of farm loans and fair prices for their produce as India's agriculture sector struggles amid years of declining earnings. The farmers reached India's business capital Monday after marching on foot for up to six days and plan to surround the state legislature of the western state of Maharashtra in Mumbai.
Krishna Kumari, center, newly elected Senator of the Pakistani Hindu Community, arrives at the Parliament with her family members in Islamabad, Pakistan, Monday, March 12, 2018. Pakistan swore in newly elected members of the Senate, including for the first time a woman from the marginalized Hindu minority.
7) Historic Senator in Pakistan: Krishna Kumari, center, newly elected Senator of the Pakistani Hindu Community, arrives at the Parliament with her family members in Islamabad, Pakistan, March 12. Pakistan swore in newly elected members of the Senate, including for the first time a woman from the marginalized Hindu minority. Kumari, a 39-year-old human rights activists, is a member of the opposition Pakistan People's Party (PPP) and was elected from a remote village in her native southern Sindh province.
Students rally in front of the White House in Washington, Wednesday, March 14, 2018. Students walked out of school to protest gun violence in the biggest demonstration yet of the student activism that has emerged in response to last month's massacre of 17 people at Florida's Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School.
8) Students Walkout to Protest Gun Violence: Students rally in front of the White House in Washington, DC, March 14. Students walked out of school to protest gun violence in the biggest demonstration yet of the student activism that has emerged in response to last month's massacre of 17 people at Florida's Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School.
9) Protests in Brazil: Demonstrators shout slogans during a protest against violence following the murder of councilwoman Marielle Franco in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, on Thursday, March 15. Franco, a 38 year-old black politician from one of Rio's poorest and most violent communities, was returning home from an event in the city center late Wednesday when a car pulled alongside hers and opened fire, local media reported. Franco, who grew up in a poor neighborhood, was a city councilwoman in Rio and an activist against police violence in poor neighborhoods of the city. In the last weeks she was in charge of investigating the military intervention in Rio and denounced the killing of yougnsters by policemen in Acari, a suburb of Rio de Janeiro.
10) Argentina Glacier: Chunks of ice come off the Perito Moreno Glacier, at Los Glaciares National Park, near El Calafate in the Argentine province of Santa Cruz, on March 11. An arch of ice formed at the tip of the Perito Moreno, between the glacier and the shore of Argentino Lake, started collapsing into the water on Saturday. It is a natural display that happens just once every several years. Such arches form roughly every two to four years, when the glacier forms a dam of ice that cuts off the flow of water around it into the lake, until the water breaks through, opening up a steadily wider tunnel that eventually becomes a narrow arch before collapsing.
11) Plane Crash in Nepal: Nepali people take part in a candlelight vigil in honor of the plane victims in Kathmandu on March 13, a day after the deadly crash of a US-Bangla Airlines plane at the international airport. At least 49 people were killed and 22 injured when a Bangladeshi plane crashed and burst into flames near Kathmandu airport on March 12, in the worst aviation disaster to hit Nepal in years. Officials said there were 71 people on board the US-Bangla Airlines plane from Dhaka.