People in Varzaghan, Iran, work at the scene of a helicopter crash on Monday, May 20. The crash killed Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi and several others.
World
Updated 5:29 AM EDT, Fri May 24, 2024
Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi, a 63-year-old ultraconservative cleric who had once been seen as a potential successor to Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei, died in a helicopter crash alongside other high-ranking officials, including the country's foreign minister, on Sunday morning.
There is no indication what might have caused the crash, which happened in a remote, mountainous area of Iran's northwest.
The loss of Raisi, a conservative hardliner, is expected to sow further uncertainty in a country already buckling under significant economic and political strain, with tensions with nearby Israel at a dangerous high.
His death triggered both domestic and international reactions, with several of Iran's autocratic partners sending both condolences and effusive praise.
Inside Iran, where many of the country's restive youth population have grown tired of rule by conservative clerics, Raisi had a much more polarizing legacy. He was widely seen as a figure in which the Iranianhardline establishment had heavily invested in. But he also brutally quashed a youth-led uprising over repressive laws, such as the compulsory hijab, and continued to stamp out dissent in its aftermath.
Here are some of the stories that made headlines over the past week, as well as some photos that caught our eye.
People watch the first race on Black Eyed Susan Day at Pimlico Race Course in Baltimore on Friday, May 17. Pimlico hosted the Preakness Stakes on Saturday, which was won by Seize The Grey. It was the first time in 85 years that the Preakness was being run on a muddy track.
Pro-Palestinian demonstrators hold up their red-painted hands as US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, seen in the foreground, arrives for a Senate Foreign Relations Committee hearing in Washington, DC, on Tuesday, May 21. Blinken said he wants to work with Congress on legislation to penalize the International Criminal Court after it applied for arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Yoav Gallant.
Buildings are damaged in Vovchansk, Ukraine, a town near the Russian border, on Monday, May 20. Vovchansk has been devastated by Russia's latest offensive.
Ed Dwight emerges from the Blue Origin NS-25 capsule after he and five other tourists were launched to the edge of space on Sunday, May 19. Dwight, a 90-year-old retired Air Force captain, was selected by President John F. Kennedy in 1961 to be the nation's first Black astronaut candidate. Despite completing training at the Aerospace Research Pilot Schooland receiving an Air Force recommendation, Dwight ultimately didn't make the NASA Astronaut Corps. He went on to become an entrepreneur and a sculptor; a new National Geographic documentary on Black astronauts, "The Space Race," highlights Dwight's pioneering story.
British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, soaked by rain, delivers a statement outside Downing Street in London on Wednesday, May 22. Sunak announced a snap general election for July 4 as his Conservative Party faces an uphill struggle to extend its 14 years in power. Sunak was required to hold a vote by January 2025.
Friends and family help Randy Hennigar clean up debris from outside his home in Greenfield, Iowa, on Wednesday, May 22. A tornado ravaged Greenfield on Tuesday, leaving four dead and at least 35 injured, the Iowa State Patrol said on Wednesday night.
An airplane sits on the flooded tarmac at the Salgado Filho International Airport in Porto Alegre, Brazil, on Monday, May 20. Weeks of deadly floods, triggered by record-smashing rainfall, have left parts of southern Brazil in disaster.
Scottie Scheffler, the world's top-ranked golfer, greets fans wearing T-shirts of him during the second round of the PGA Championship on Friday, May 17. Earlier that day, Scheffler was arrested in Louisville, Kentucky, after reportedly trying to drive around the scene of a fatal crash near the Valhalla Golf Club. Scheffler was charged with felony second-degree assault on a police officer, along with lesser charges of third-degree criminal mischief, reckless driving and disregarding signals from officers directing traffic, according to Jefferson County court records. In a statement last week, Scheffler said he proceeded as directed and "there was a big misunderstanding of what I thought I was being asked to do." His attorney has said Scheffler plans to plead not guilty to the charges.
A Palestinian child stares at the rubble of a building in Jenin, West Bank, on Saturday, May 18. The Israel Defense Forcessaid they carried out an airstrike on "an operations center" inJenin on Friday and killed "a significant wanted" militant. Al Quds Brigade, the military wing of Islamic Jihad, confirmed the killing of Islam Khamaysa in a statement, sayinghe was a leader of the Jenin Brigade.
Mourners attend the funeral of Shani Louk in Srigim, Israel, on Sunday, May 19. Louk, a 23-year-old German-Israeli woman, was killed while trying to escape the Nova music festival during Hamas' October 7 attacks. Her remains were retrieved from Gaza in an Israel Defense Forces operation.
Tug boats maneuver the damaged cargo ship Dali into the Seagirt Marine Terminal in Baltimore on Monday, May 20. After 55 days stuck in the Patapsco River, the ship was hauled away from the site of its catastrophic crash into the Francis Scott Key Bridge.
Tyson Fury punches Oleksandr Usyk during their heavyweight title fight in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, on Saturday, May 18. Usyk, a 37-year-old Ukrainian, won the bout by split decision. He is the first undisputed champ since the end of Lennox Lewis' reign in April 2000.
Lilith, 6, rests on a freshly harvested alfalfa bale near Vilademuls, Spain, on Saturday, May 18.
One of 13 students not able to graduate because they participated in pro-Palestinian protests raises his fist during the 373rd Commencement Exercises at Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts, on Thursday, May 23.
The interior of Singapore Airline flight SG321 is pictured after an emergency landing at Bangkok's Suvarnabhumi International Airport, Thailand, on Tuesday, May 21. One passenger died and 71 people were injured when their Singapore Airlines flight from London to Singapore encountered severe turbulence. More than 20 people aboard remain in intensive care.
Fashion designer Nancy Tyagi poses on the red carpet at the Cannes Film Festival in France on Friday, May 17. She said on Instagram that the dress she made weighed over 20 kilograms (44 pounds).
US President Joe Biden gives a commencement address at Morehouse College in Atlanta on Sunday, May 19. In the foreground, a faculty member raises her fist in protest of the war in Gaza. During his speech, Biden delivered a forceful call for a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas paired with the release of Israeli hostages.
Singer Billie Eilish hosts a listening party for her new album "Hit Me Hard and Soft" at the Kia Forum in Inglewood, California, on Thursday, May 16.
Scouts hold a "dead head" on auction at the annual ElkFest antler auction in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, on Saturday, May 18. A dead head is when horns or antlers are found attached to the skull of an animal that died.
Boys play on a playground in Kharkiv, Ukraine, as smoke rises from a nearby Russian missile strike on Friday, May 17.
Simone Biles competes on the uneven bars during the Core Hydration Classic in Hartford, Connecticut, on Saturday, May 18. Biles won the all-around gold, marking a perfect start to her season before the Olympic Games in Paris this summer.
A greylag goose is reflected on Lake Zicksee near Sankt Andrä, Austria, on Sunday, May 19.
Mourners in Tehran, Iran, attend the state-organized funeral procession of Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi on Wednesday, May 22.
Opposition leader Maria Corina Machado greets supporters during a rally in Aragua, Venezuela, on Saturday, May 18. It was the first rally convened by Gonzalez Urrutia, who will face President Nicolas Maduro in July's presidential election. In January, Venezuela's Supreme Court barred Machado from running for president.
A Brood XIX cicada sits on a tree in Smyrna, Tennessee, on Monday, May 20. Billions of bugs are emerging from the soil across a large swath of the United States in a natural phenomenon last witnessed in 1803.
Ukrainian servicemen fire a mortar at Russian forces near Bakhmut, Ukraine, on Wednesday, May 22.
The New York Knicks' Alec Burks drives to the basket during an NBA playoff game against the Indiana Pacers on Friday, May 17. The Pacers would go on to win the series in seven games and advance to the Eastern Conference Finals.
People wait in Ouanaminthe, Haiti, to cross into the Dominican Republic on Friday, May 17. As soaring violence and political turmoil grip Haiti, the Dominican Republic has sealed the island's shared border and airspace.
Joey Logano pits during qualifying for the NASCAR All-Star Race in North Wilkesboro, North Carolina, on Saturday, May 18. Logano won pole position for the race, which he won the next day.
A woman, leaning out of a train window, receives water on her head to cool off during a hot and humid day in Hyderabad, Pakistan, on Wednesday, May 22.
Graduation caps fly as former US President Donald Trump and former first lady Melania Trump attend the high school graduation ceremony of their son, Barron, in West Palm Beach, Florida, on Friday, May 17.
This aerial photo, taken from the window of a passenger jet on Tuesday, May 21, shows the Nakano area of Tokyo. See last week in 29 photos.
