From Sri Lanka to Thailand: The most spectacular pictures of last week from Asia

SUMMARY

Here are the most spectacular images captured from across the continent last week.

By APMay 6, 2019 8:34:23 AM IST (Updated)

A statue of St. James stands on a wall speckled with fragments of shrapnel at St. Sebastian's Church, where a suicide bomber blew himself up in Negombo, north of Colombo, Sri Lanka. Nearly a week later, the smell of death is everywhere, though the bodies are long gone. Yet somehow, there’s a beauty to St. Sebastian’s, a neighbourhood church in a Catholic enclave north of Sri Lanka’s capital. You can see the beauty in the broken stained-glass windows. It’s there as the sun shines through the roof’s gaping holes. It’s there in the little statues that refused to fall over, and despite the swarms of police and soldiers who seem to be everywhere now in the streets of the seaside town of Negombo. (AP Photo/Manish Swarup)

Protesters against an extradition law march along a downtown street in Hong Kong. Thousands of people protested to express their concerns about the proposed new extradition law that would make it possible for people to be sent to mainland China to face the justice system there. (AP Photo/Vincent Yu)

Thai workers prepare to transport a giant portrait of Thailand's King Maha Vajiralongkorn by truck to a buyer's house in Bangkok, Thailand. The coronation ceremonies for 66-year-old King Maha Vajiralongkorn, also known as King Rama X, will be held on May 4-6, 2019. (AP Photo/Sakchai Lalit)

Japan's Emperor Akihito, right, leaves after a ritual to report his abdication to the throne, at the Imperial Palace in Tokyo. The 85-year-old Akihito ends his three-decade reign on Tuesday when he abdicates to his son Crown Prince Naruhito. (Japan Pool via AP)

Japan's new Emperor Naruhito and new Empress Masako are driven to Imperial Palace to greet Emperor Emeritus Akihito and Empress Emerita Michiko in Tokyo. Naruhito succeeded to the Chrysanthemum Throne Wednesday after his father Akihito abdicated Tuesday. (AP Photo/Koji Sasahara)

Chinese President Xi Jinping, centre, applauds as he attends a commemoration ahead of the 100th anniversary of the May 4 Movement at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing. The 100-year-old movement sought to overturn what was then called "feudal" thinking that opposed their calls for civil and women's rights. China's authoritarian Communist Party rulers now embrace the movement as a seminal moment in China's transition to a modern nation. (AP Photo/Ng Han Guan)

Staff at a government waste management facility arranges seized ivory tusks before destroying them, outside Seremban, Malaysia. Malaysia has destroyed nearly four tons of elephant tusks and ivory products as part of its fight against the illegal ivory trade. (AP Photo/Vincent Thian)

North Korean soldiers look at the South side, seen during a press tour at the border village of Panmunjom in the Demilitarized Zone, South Korea. South Korea on Wednesday resumed the southern side of Panmunjom tour to tourists. (AP Photo/Lee Jin-man)

Members of the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions hold up their banners during a May Day rally in Seoul, South Korea. Thousands of trade union members and activists are marking May Day by marching through Asia's capitals and demanding better working conditions and expanding labour rights. The signs read "Let's win the wage struggle." (AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon)

A protester runs around a burning effigy of President Rodrigo Duterte during a rally near the Presidential Palace in Manila, Philippines, to pay tribute to workers in celebration of International Labor Day. The workers scored Duterte allegedly for reneging on his campaign promise three years ago to end temporary hiring known as "contractualization" or "ENDO" (End of Contract). (AP Photo/Bullit Marquez)

Shaven-headed children ride a roller coaster during their visit at the Everland amusement park in Yongin, South Korea. Ten children entered a temple to have an experience of monks' life for three weeks. Buddhists visit a temple across the country to celebrate the Buddha's upcoming birthday on May 12. (AP Photo/Lee Jin-man)