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Pictures of the Month
April 2020
With the 'Pictures of the Month' epa offers you a selection of its professionally edited service. The curated photo selection highlights the most important topics of this month and brings together some of epa's most eye catching and visually appealing images selected by our Editors.
The photo selection spans all image categories ranging from economy, business and finance through to human interest, sports, arts, culture and entertainment. Thus, offering a comprehensive retrospective for each month.
This month's coverage included these topics:
- News:
e.g. Coronavirus / Covid-19, forest fires near Chernobyl, World Earth Day, World Health Day, Yemen floods, drought in Germany, Angolan UNITA Opposition delivers food aid, Veteran Captain Moore Walk, Holy Week & Easter celebrations, Ramadan, tornado damage in the USA, Supermoon, Berlin rallies ahead of May Day. - Sports:
e.g. Tennis Grand Slams: Wimbledon Tournament cancelled, European Leagues without spectators, closed Bronte Beach in Sydney, Australia. - Arts, Culture and Entertainment:
e.g. light installation on Pope John Paul II death anniversary, drive-in cinemas, clown performance for children in Rabat, John Lennon wall, online mass in Paris, 'Stay Home' message on Giza Pyramid, Christ the Redeemer Statue illumination.

A model of the globe with a face mask left on the ground by the children who were playing with it in Guangzhou, Guangdong province, China, 22 April 2020. World Earth Day is marked in many countries annually on 22 April to raise awareness of environmental protection. EPA-EFE/ALEX PLAVEVSKI

UNITA, the main Angolan opposition party, delivers food aid to poor families in Cacuaco municipality, near Luanda, Angola, 06 April 2020. UNITA has appealed for more solidarity to the more vulnerable communities during the emergency state in the country due to the ongoing pandemic of the COVID-19 disease caused by the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus, reports state. EPA-EFE/AMPE ROGERIO

A healthcare worker takes a break on a walkway between two buildings at the Mount Sinai Hospital in New York, New York, USA, 01 April 2020. New York City is still the epicenter of the coronavirus outbreak in the United States and there are continuing concerns that the health care system will be unable to volume of COVID-19 patients. EPA-EFE/JUSTIN LANE

Cardboard cutouts showing supporters of German Bundesliga's football club Borussia Moenchengladbach are installed on the stands at Borussia Park stadium in Moenchengladbach, Germany, 16 April 2020. Supporters of Borussia Moenchengladbach wanted to contribute to a better atmosphere during 'ghost games' in the German Bundesliga. The German government and local authorities have heightened measures to stem the spread of COVID-19. The federal and state conference on the coronavirus crisis had confirmed that all upcoming major events would be suspended until 31 August 2020. EPA-EFE/SASCHA STEINBACH

A mannequin with a with a protective face mask is on display behind a shop window together with a message about the closure of the store due to coronavirus outbreak, in Pamplona, northern Spain, 11 April 2020. Spain is currently under lockdown due to the coronavirus pandemic. EPA-EFE/Villar Lopez

A forest fire burns near the village of Volodymyrivka, in the exclusion zone around the Chernobyl nuclear power plant, Ukraine, 05 April 2020 (issued 07 April 2020). Ukraine's State Emergency Service said firefighters and rescue teams continued to put out fires at two sites near Rahivka, adding that radiation levels in the capital, Kyiv (Kiev), and Kyiv region is within a normal range. The total area affected by the fire near Rahivka was reported to be five hectares. The Kyiv police said they have identified on 06 April 2020 a man who allegedly started a mass fire in the uninhabited exclusion zone around the decommissioned Chornobyl nuclear plant last week. The 27-year-old resident of the Rahivka village told investigators that he had set some garbage and grass on fire for fun. The territory is a long-vacated area near where an explosion at the Chernobyl Soviet nuclear plant in April 1986 sent a plume of radioactive fallout high into the air and across swaths of Europe. EPA-EFE/YAROSLAV YEMELIANENKO

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe takes off his face mask as he arrives for a press conference at the prime minister's official residence in Tokyo, Japan, 06 April 2020. Prime Minister Abe is to declare a state of emergency in Japan amid increase of infection cases from the Covid-19 disease caused by the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus. EPA-EFE/FRANCK ROBICHON

The pink supermoon is seen up in the sky above San Telmo, Balearic Islands, Spain, early 08 April 2020. Supermoons occur when the moon is within 90 percent of perigee, the closest to the Earth's orbit. EPA-EFE/Cati Cladera

Theo Weterings, mayor of Tilburg, handout flowers via a ladder to the elderly in a care home in Tilburg, The Netherlands, 10 April 2020. On Good Friday, the floricultural sector distributes flowers to elderly people at 2,200 locations who are not allowed to receive visitors due to the corona crisis. EPA-EFE/REMKO DE WAAL

A tired nurse at the surveillance post during a night watch at the resuscitation intensive care unit of the Ambroise Pare clinic in Neuilly-sur-Seine, near Paris, France, 10 April 2020. France seems to be slowly reaching the peak of the epidemic after one month of a strict lockdown in an attempt to stop the widespread of the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus causing the Covid-19 disease. EPA-EFE/CHRISTOPHE PETIT TESSON

A boy, disguised as Spider-Man, video chats with his grandparents in his home in the village of Pontedeume, Galicia, northwestern Spain, 03 April 2020. Spain faces the 20th consecutive day of mandatory home confinement in a bid to slow down the spread of the pandemic COVID-19 disease caused by the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus. EPA-EFE/Cabalar

An view of a dry vegetable field near Frankenthal, Germany, 23 April 2020. As media reports, 2020 threatens to be the third year of drought in succession for Germany. The persistent drought could become a problem especially in agriculture. EPA-EFE/RONALD WITTEK

View of a light installation on the Giewont Mountain in Zakopane, in the Tatra Mountains, southern Poland, 02 April 2020. The dazzling light show commemorated the 15th anniversary of the death of Pope John Paul II. Born Karol Wojtyla in Wadowice, southern Poland, he is probably the most famous Pole of the past century and is still revered by many in the heavily-Catholic nation. The pontificate of John Paul II lasted 26 years, five months and 16 days (from 1978 to 2005), making him the second-longest-reigning elected pope in the history of the Roman Catholic Church, after Pius IX (1846-78). EPA-EFE/GRZEGORZ MOMOT POLAND OUT

The gates of the All England Lawn Tennis Club (AELTC) in Wimbledon, London, Britain, 01 April 2020. The All England Lawn Tennis Club (AELTC) is set to announce a decision on this years Wimbledon Championships. Countries around the world are taking increased measures to stem the widespread of the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus which causes the COVID-19 disease. EPA-EFE/ANDY RAIN

A Thai nurse puts face shields on newborn babies as a precaution against the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic at Princ Hospital Suvarnabhumi, in Samut Prakan province, Thailand, 08 April 2020. The hospital provides face shields to newborn infants to prevent the ongoing spread of COVID-19 disease caused by the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus. EPA-EFE/RUNGROJ YONGRIT

Vehicles wait in line at a checkpoint at the border between Las Pinas and Cavite province, Metro Manila, Philippines, 14 April 2020. According to reports, the Philippine Inter-Agency Task Force (IATF) on Emerging Infectious Disease will disclose to the public the personal information of patients who tested positive for coronavirus (COVID-19) to strengthen the country’s contact tracing efforts. EPA-EFE/FRANCIS R. MALASIG

99-year-old British veteran Captain Tom Moore (C) completes the 100th length of his back garden in Marston Moretaine, Bedfordshire, Britain, 16 April, 2020. Captain Tom Moore has raised over £12 million for Britain’s National Health Service (NHS) and has received donations to his fundraising challenge from around the world. EPA-EFE/VICKIE FLORES

Two women wearing face masks walk past a mural reading 'Stay Home Life Is Beautiful' amid the coronavirus pandemic in Los Angeles, California, USA, 07 April 2020. Countries around the world are taking increased measures to stem the spread of the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus which causes the Covid-19 disease. EPA-EFE/ETIENNE LAURENT

A patient recovered from COVID-19 coronavirus undergoes to a plasma sampling that will be used for transfusions to positive patients at the Policlinico San Matteo hospital in Pavia, Italy, 06 April 2020. Countries around the world are taking increased measures to stem the widespread of the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus that causes the Covid-19 disease. EPA-EFE/MATTEO CORNER

Pope Francis presides the Via Crucis (Way of the Cross) in the empty square outside the Saint Peter's Basilica, due the lockdown to stem the spread of the COVID-19 infection caused by the novel Coronavirus, at the Vatican City, 10 April 2020. EPA-EFE/CLAUDIO PERI / POOL

A man reads a book on his bed in the men section of the emergency homeless shelter opened at the Martin Luther King Jr Park amid the coronavirus pandemic in Long Beach, California, USA, 07 April 2020. The shelter was opened five days ago and have capacity of 75 beds and is currently hosting 20 people. The homeless population is extremely at risks amid the widespread of the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus which causes the Covid-19 disease. EPA-EFE/ETIENNE LAURENT

Cotton protective face masks on display in a vending machine with a slogan reading 'masks here' at a subway station in Berlin, Germany, 29 April 2020. Due the ongoing pandemic of the COVID-19 disease caused by the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus the regional city state of Berlin imposed an obligation for wearing protective face masks in public transport. EPA-EFE/OMER MESSINGER

A man wearing a protective face mask walks at the riverside park along the Yangtze River, in Wuhan, China, 06 April 2020. Wuhan, the epicenter of the coronavirus outbreak, will lift the lockdown on 08 April allowing people to leave the city after more than two months. According to Chinese government figures over 2,500 people have died of Covid-19 caused by SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus in Wuhan since the outbreak began. EPA-EFE/ROMAN PILIPEY

A Yemeni child peers out of a window of her family's house amid concerns over the spread of the coronavirus COVID-19, in the old quarter of Sana'a, Yemen, 06 April 2020. War-ravaged Yemen is still the only Arab country free from the SARS-CoV-2 Coronavirus which causes the Covid-19 disease. EPA-EFE/YAHYA ARHAB

Believers follow a livestream mass ceremony led by Spanish Catholic priest Diego Sanchez via laptop at the Notre Dame de Bonne Nouvelle church, in Paris, France, 02 April 2020. France is under lockdown in an attempt to stop the spread of the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus causing the COVID-19 disease. Since the French government has mandated a temporary stop to all construction works and other non-essential economic activities, religious events such as masses are closed to public. EPA-EFE/YOAN VALAT

Examination at a mobile Medicovid control station for contactless detection of people potentially infected with COVID-1 in Krakow, Poland, 14 April 2020. In this way, you can check the temperature of people entering various facilities, such as a hospital, government building, store or company. EPA-EFE/Lukasz Gagulski POLAND OUT

Historic giant port cranes are illuminated in blue color in Szczecin, Poland, 07 April 2020 Illumination is to be an expression of support, solidarity and thanks to health professionals. April 7 is World Health Day. The number of confirmed coronavirus cases in Poland has increased by 182 and reached 4,848, the Ministry of Health said on Tuesday evening. The death toll grew to 129. EPA-EFE/MARCIN BIELECKI POLAND OUT

Britain's Queen Elizabeth and her message of hope are displayed on advertising boards at Piccadilly Circus in London, Britain, 09 April 2020. Countries around the world are taking increased measures to stem the widespread of the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus which causes the Covid-19 disease. EPA-EFE/NEIL HALL

Lifeguards try to remove surfers in the water during the Easter Long Weekend at Bronte Beach in Sydney, Australia, 12 April 2020. According to media reports, Australia's New South Wales (NSW) Health Minister Brad Hazzard revealed that only seven new cases of COVID-19 were detected in the state. However, the minister urged people not to get false hope since the result came after authorities conducted around 800 tests, against the usual 4,000 that are conducted on a daily basis. EPA-EFE/JOEL CARRETT AUSTRALIA AND NEW ZEALAND OUT

Orthodox Jews cover their heads with prayer shawls as they keep distance from each other while reciting the Priestly Blessing on the high holiday of Passover, in front of the Western Wall in Jerusalem, Israel, 12 April 2020. According to media reports, Israeli police have approved small prayer gatherings in ultra-Orthodox Jewish neighborhoods across the country amid the ongoing coronavirus lockdown. EPA-EFE/ABIR SULTAN

Christ the Redeemer statue is illuminated with the projection of a health worker's uniform during a religious ceremony to celebrate Easter Sunday, on Mount Corcovado, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, 12 April 2020. EPA-EFE/Antonio Lacerda

A small bulldozer removes mud from a street following heavy rains in Sanaa, Yemen, 14 April 2020. According to reports, at least two Yemenis have been died in a flash flood triggered by heavy rains in the capital Sanaa. EPA-EFE/YAHYA ARHAB

A Moroccan man Salah, dressed as a clown, performs for children via live broadcast in the Internet in Rabat, Morocco, 17 April 2020 (issued 18 April 2020). Salah's broadcast aims to entertain children in light of the curfew in the country knows after the Moroccan authorities declared a state of health emergency nearly a month ago to stem the widespread of the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus which causes the Covid-19 disease. EPA-EFE/JALAL MORCHIDI

A member of Mississippi Power looks over the damage caused by two powerful tornadoes that swept through the area last night in Soso, Mississippi, USA, 13 April 2020. At least seven have been confirmed killed by the tornados that swept through the southeast United States last night. EPA-EFE/DAN ANDERSON

Britain's Prime Minister Boris Johnson delivers a statement outside Downing Street in London, Britain, 27 April 2020. Boris Johnson has returned to work for the first time after being treated for coronavirus at St. Thomas' Hospital. He was moved to the Intensive Care Unit after his condition worsened. Countries around the world are taking increased measures to stem the widespread of the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus which causes the Covid-19 disease. EPA-EFE/NEIL HALL

A Pakistani Muslim man reads verses from the holy Koran at the madrassa Jamia Uloom-e-Islamia during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan amid lockdown of the Sindh province due to the ongoing coronavirus COVID-19 disease pandemic in Larkana, Pakistan, 26 April 2020. Muslims around the world celebrate the holy month of Ramadan, by praying during the night time and abstaining from eating, drinking, and sexual acts during the period between sunrise and sunset. Ramadan is the ninth month in the Islamic calendar and it is believed that the revelation of the first verse in Koran was during its last 10 nights. EPA-EFE/WAQAR HUSSNAIN

A member of the Spanish Red Cross sets up beds in a temporary hospital at Les Comas in Igualada, Barcelona, Spain, 01 April 2020. Countries around the world are taking increased measures to stem the widespread of the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus which causes the COVID-19 disease. EPA-EFE/Susanna Saez

A deserted corridor at Green Park on the London Underground in London, Britain, 14 April 2020. Traffic on the tube has been reduced as all but essential workers are discouraged from travelling because of the risk of infection from Coronavirus. Countries around the world are taking increased measures to stem the widespread of the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus which causes the Covid-19 disease. EPA-EFE/NEIL HALL

World War II veteran Ermando Armelino Piveta, 99, is discharged after overcoming COVID-19 at the Armed Forces Hospital (HFA), in Brasilia, Brazil, 14 April 2020. The veteran arrived at the HFA on 06 April and was hospitalized for 8 days in the 'COVID room' of the hospital, reserved for positive cases of the disease. EPA-EFE/Joédson Alves

Gravediggers work in a collective burial in the Nossa Senhora Aparecida cemetery while family members mourn their loved ones, in the city of Manaus, Amazonas state, Brazil, 28 April 2020. The number of burials per day in the capital of Amazonas does not drop below 120 people due to the COVID-19 pandemic, which has led the local government to order the opening of mass graves. The city's funeral system is at risk as coffins have begun to become scarce. EPA-EFE/RAPHAEL ALVES

A winegrower lights anti-frost candles in a vineyard in Weinboehla, Saxony, Germany, 14 April 2020. Due to unusually low temperatures in the area, wine growers from Schloss Wackerbarth are deploying anti-frost candles to protect their grape shoots. EPA-EFE/FILIP SINGER

Four-year-old Sofia jumps playing in her room while her mother works in home office during the lockdown to combat the spread of the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus which causes the COVID-19 disease, in Domodedovo, outside Moscow, Russia, 27 April 2020. Russian authorities extended a home quarantine till the end of April to prevent the spreading of the coronavirus SARS-CoV-2 pandemic. EPA-EFE/SERGEI ILNITSKY

A woman buys books in a re-opened stationery after the partial reduction of the lockdown for the coronavirus pandemic in Genoa, northern Italy, 14 April 2020. Countries around the world are taking measures to stem the widespread of the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus which causes the Covid-19 disease. EPA-EFE/LUCA ZENNARO

US President Donald J. Trump takes questions from reporters after speaking about protecting seniors from the coronavirus COVID-19 pandemic in the East Room of the White House in Washington, DC, USA, 30 April 2020. The event comes after the president said he will not extend federal social distancing guidelines, which will expire at the end of the day. EPA-EFE/JIM LO SCALZO

A person with a face mask waits for a train at the Once railway station in Buenos Aires, Argentina, 16 April 2020. The country is in its fourth week of mandatory quarantine, which was decreed by the Government of Alberto Fernandez, in an effort to combat the spread of coronavirus and COVID-19. EPA-EFE/Juan Ignacio Roncoroni

Cars are seen at the newly opened drive-in cinema in front of the former blast furnace 'Phoenix West' in Dortmund, Germany, 17 April 2020. The German government and local authorities are heightening measures to stem the spread of the coronavirus SARS-CoV-2 which causes the COVID-19 disease. EPA-EFE/FRIEDEMANN VOGEL

People are seen in their windows and balconies of a residential building in Mumbai, India, 27 April 2020. India's initial 21-day lockdown is extended until 03 May 2020 in an attempt to curb the spread of of the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus which causes the COVID-19 disease EPA-EFE/DIVYAKANT SOLANKI

An internally displaced Afghan girl waits with water containers to be filled from a tanker outside of her temporary shelter in Kabul, Afghanistan, 29 April 2020. According to OCHA (Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs), from 01 January 2020 to 18 April 2020, about 65,045 individuals fled their homes due to conflict in Afghanistan. A total of 25 out of 34 provinces had recorded some level of forced displacement, most of the displaced people live in temporary shelters in the capital Kabul where they usually receive aid from the donor agencies. EPA-EFE/HEDAYATULLAH AMID

Authorities move cardboard coffins in Guayaquil, Ecuador, 04 April 2020. According to reports, the bodies of some COVID-19 victims have been left outside after hospitals, morgues, cemeteries and funeral homes were overwhelmed by cases in recent days. EPA-EFE/Alcaldia Guayaquil EDITORIAL USE ONLY

A general view of the Giza pyramid lit up with text encouraging Egyptians to stay home to limit the spread of the the COVID-19 coronavirus, during World Heritage Day, in Giza, Egypt, 18 April 2020. EPA-EFE/Mohamed Hossam

A customer with his dog stands in line at a reopened producer market in Prague, Czech Republic, 20 April 2020. Czech government has begun partially lifting the coronavirus measures to slow down the spread of the pandemic COVID-19 disease caused by the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus. EPA-EFE/MARTIN DIVISEK

Riot police stand in line while protesters light flares on the balconies of a squatted house in the Friedrichshain district prior to May Day in Berlin, Germany, 30 April 2020. In the late 19th century, May Day was chosen as the date for International Workers' Day with rallies and demonstrations up until now. This year, May Day takes place under the influence of the pandemic crisis of the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus which causes the COVID-19 disease. EPA-EFE/FILIP SINGER

View of the Miguel Castro prison during a riot that broke out due to lack of resources to avoid the spread of COVID-19, east of Lima, Peru, 27 April 2020 (Issued 28 April 2020). The riot left nine people dead and two wounded, according to the latest official report, after the inmates protested the lack of resources to avoid the spread of COVID-19, which has allegedly already claimed the lives of two inmates. EPA-EFE/Sergi Rugrand

An employee of the Municipal Public Services Co. cleans the Baross Square underpass with a stream of water to prevent the spread of coronavirus in Budapest, Hungary, 01 April 2020. The country has reported little over 400 cases of COVID-19 as of 01 April. EPA-EFE/MARTON MONUS HUNGARY OUT

A man wearing a protective face mask walks past the memorial wall dedicated to former English rock band 'The Beatles' musician John Lennon, featuring a protective face mask, in Prague, Czech Republic, 06 April 2020. The Czech government has imposed a lockdown in an attempt to slow down the spread of the pandemic COVID-19 disease caused by the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus. EPA-EFE/MARTIN DIVISEK

The red supermoon rises behind Mt Vesuvius as seen from Naples, Italy, 08 April 2020 (issued 09 April 2020). EPA-EFE/CIRO FUSCO