Thailand’s navy has boarded and seized the floating home of a fugitive US bitcoin trader and his Thai girlfriend, both prominent members of the “seasteading” movement who possibly face the death sentence.
Thai authorities have revoked the visa of US citizen Chad Elwartowski and have charged him and his partner, Supranee Thepdet, with violating Thai sovereignty by raising a small cabin above the water, 14 nautical miles off the west-coast of Phuket.
Police said the two are believed to be in hiding in Thailand, having apparently fled their tiny sea home. Any violation of Thai sovereignty carries punishment of life in prison or death.
The Royal Thai Navy task force had planned to tow the dwelling back to shore for use as evidence on Saturday, but were still studying how to move the structure without destroying it, the navy said.
The cabin – which sits on top of a large, weighted pillar in the Andaman Sea – will be handed over to Phuket’s police to be kept as an exhibit for the legal action, the navy said in an official statement.
1/50 20 April 2019
A protester walks amid tear gas deployed by security services on the 23rd week of Gilets Jaunes protests in Paris
Getty
2/50 19 April 2019
Ultra-Orthodox Jews burn leaven in the Mea Shearim neighbourhood of Jerusalem ahead of the Jewish holiday of Passover, in Jerusalem
Reuters
3/50 18 April 2019
Christian worshippers take part in the procession of the holy Thursday, during the Catholic Washing of the Feet ceremony on Easter Holy Week, at the Church of the Holy Sepulcher in Jerusalem’s old city
EPA
4/50 17 April 2019
A young girl runs past UWSA military contingents before a parade held to mark the 30th anniversary of Wa State in Panghsang, also called Pang Kham of autonomous Wa region, north-eastern Myanmar. Wa declared itself as an independent State on 17 April 1989. Although the government of Myanmar does not recognize the sovereignty of Wa State, Myanmar military has adopted a ceasefire with the state since 9 May 1989. Wa State has been notorious for drug smuggling in the Golden Triangle of the last 30 years, although it declared its region a drug-free zone in 2005
EPA
5/50 16 April 2019
Firefighters spray water as they work to extinguish the fire at Notre-Dame Cathedral in Paris. The huge blaze that devastated the cathedral is “under control”, the Paris fire brigade said early on April 16 after firefighters spent hours battling the flames
AFP/Getty
6/50 15 April 2019
Smoke and flames rise during a fire at the landmark Notre-Dame Cathedral in central Paris
AFP/Getty
7/50 14 April 2019
Indonesian soldiers and police at a general security roll call for the upcoming general elections in Jakarta. Some 192 million Indonesians are set to cast a ballot in the world’s third-biggest democracy, with a record 245,000 candidates vying for positions from the presidency and parliamentary seats all the way down to local council jobs
AFP/Getty
8/50 13 April 2019
Hindu devotees throw holy flammable powder onto a fire as they perform rituals during Gajan Festival celebrations in Kolkata. The festival falls on the last day of the Bengali calendar which also coincides with the birth of Lord Shiva, according to Hindu mythology
AFP/Getty
9/50 12 April 2019
A woman visits the exhibition ‘Mirrors: In and Out of Reality’ in Barcelona, Spain. Maths, physics and photonics melt in this exhibition presented by Cosmocaixa in which visitors can enter a big kaleidoscope to walk through and experience with the effects and particularities of mirrors. The exhibition will be open to public until 6 June 2019
EPA
10/50 11 April 2019
Voters line up to cast their votes outside a polling station during the first phase of general election in Alipurduar district in the eastern state of West Bengal, India
Reuters
11/50 10 April 2019
The first ever photo a black hole, taken using a global network of telescopes, conducted by the Event Horizon Telescope (EHT) project, to gain insight into celestial objects with gravitational fields so strong no mater or light can escape
Event Horizon Telescope/National Science Foundation/Reuters
12/50 9 April 2019
Sudanese protesters chant slogans as they rally in front of the military headquarters in the capital Khartoum. Sudan’s police ordered its forces to avoid intervening against protesters as three Western nations threw their weight behind demonstrators’ demands for a political transition plan in the country
AFP/Getty
13/50 8 April 2019
German Chancellor Angela Merkel plays with a handball given to her by the German Handball Federation’s president as she received the German national handball team at the Chancellery in Berlin
AFP/Getty
14/50 7 April 2019
People hold candles as they attend a night vigil and prayer at the Amahoro Stadium as part of the 25th Commemoration of the 1994 Genocide, in Kigali, Rwanda. April 7 begins 100 days of mourning for more than 800,000 people who were slaughtered in a genocide that shocked the world, a quarter of a century on from the day it began
AFP/Getty
15/50 6 April 2019
A portion of the field of 1,500 participants begins the trek to the highest point over the Florida Keys Overseas Highway’s longest span during the Seven Mile Bridge Run Saturday. The event features entrants running a course over the convergence of the Atlantic Ocean and Gulf of Mexico and helps to raise funds for local youth athletic programs
AFP/Getty
16/50 5 April 2019
A refugee father and son lie on railway tracks to prevent a train from leaving a station during a protest in Athens, Greece. Dozens of migrants staged a protest in Athens central train station disrupting all railway services in the hope they will be transported to the Greek border and join other refugees attempting to follow a 2016 migration route towards northern Europe
Getty
17/50 4 April 2019
Security agents and police officers hold back migrants during the evacuation of a makeshift camp at Porte de la Chapelle, in the north of Paris. More than 300 migrants and refugees were evacuated on early April 4 from a makeshift camp to accomodation structures
AFP/Getty
18/50 3 April 2019
An Alexandra township resident gestures and they part is clashes with the Johannesburg Metro Police, South Africa during a total shutdown of the township due to protest against the lack of service delivery or basic necessities such as access to water and electricity, housing difficulties and lack of public road maintenance
AFP/Getty
19/50 2 April 2019
Children eat next to the debris of damaged homes at Purainiya village in Nepal’s southern Bara district near Birgunj, following a rare spring storm. The freak storm tore down houses and overturned cars and trucks as it swept across southern Nepal killing at least 27 people and leaving more than 600 injured
AFP/Getty
20/50 1 April 2019
A forensic expert works next to the remains of a small plane that crashed near Erzhausen, Germany. Natalia Fileva, chairwoman and co-owner of Russia’s second largest airline S7, died when a private jet she was in crashed near Frankfurt on Sunday, the company said
Reuters
21/50 31 March 2019
Ukrainian comic actor and presidential candidate Volodymyr Zelenskiy delivers a speech following the announcement of the first exit poll in a presidential election at his campaign headquarters in Kiev, Ukraine
Reuters
22/50 30 March 2019
Catalan pro-independence protesters throw rocks during a counter-demonstration against a protest called by Spanish far-right party Vox against the Catalan independence push in Barcelona. Polls suggest Vox, which campaigns against illegal immigration and “radical” feminism, will become the first far-right party to win seats in the Spanish parliament since the late 70s and could emerge as a kingmaker in Spain’s increasingly fragmented political landscape
AFP/Getty
23/50 29 March 2019
Protests against President Abdelaziz Bouteflika continue in Algeria despite the announcement on 11 March that he will not run for a fifth Presidential term and postponement of presidential elections previously scheduled for 18 April 2019 until further notice
EPA
24/50 28 March 2019
Firefighters on ladders work to extinguish a blaze in an office building in Dhaka after a huge fire tore through it, killing at least five people with many others feared trapped in the latest major fire to hit the Bangladesh capital
AFP/Getty
25/50 27 March 2019
A Palestinian protester moves a burning tire during clashes with Israeli troops near the Jewish settlement of Beit El, in the Israeli-occupied West Bank
Reuters
26/50 26 March 2019
Palestinians sisters girls look at a destroyed Hamas site close their family’s destroyed house after an Israeli air strike in Gaza City. According to reports, Israel continued to launch air strikes on the Gaza Strip overnight after a rocket allegedly fired hit a house near Tel Aviv in central Israel injuring at least seven people
EPA
27/50 25 March 2019
US President Donald Trump and Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu hold up a proclamation recognising Israel’s sovereignty over the Golan Heights as Netanyahu exits the White House
Reuters
28/50 24 March 2019
Abounded vessel Hagland Captain in anchor in the same area as the cruise ship Viking Sky, which had problems on March 23 during the storm over the west coast of Norway at Hustadvika near Romsdal
AFP/Getty
29/50 23 March 2019
Chris Pratt gets slimed while accepting the Best Butt-Kicker award for “Jurassic Park: Fallen Kingdom” at the Kids Choice Awards
Reuters
30/50 22 March 2019
An aerial view shows damaged buildings after an explosion at a chemical plant in Yancheng in China’s eastern Jiangsu province. Chinese President Xi Jinping ordered local governments to prevent any more industrial disasters after a chemical plant blast left 47 people dead, injured hundreds and flattened an industrial park in the latest such catastrophe to hit the country
AFP/Getty
31/50 21 March 2019
A child is transported on a fridge during floods after Cyclone Idai, in Buzi, outside Beira, Mozambique
Reuters
32/50 20 March 2019
Indian Hindu devotees are sprayed with coloured water as they celebrate the Holi festival at the Kalupur Swaminarayan Temple, in Ahmedabad. Holi, the popular Hindu spring festival of colours is observed in India at the end of the winter season on the last full moon of the lunar month
AFP/Getty
33/50 19 March 2019
Shards of ice pile up on Lake Michigan along the South Haven Pier
Kalamazoo Gazette/AP
34/50 18 March 2019
Emergency services stand at the 24 Oktoberplace in Utrecht where a shooting took place. Several people were wounded on a tram in the Dutch city of Utrecht, with local media reporting counter-terrorism police at the scene. “Shooting incident… Several injured people reported. Assistance started,” the Utrecht police Twitter account said. “It is a shooting incident in a tram. Several trauma helicopters have been deployed to provide help.”
AFP/Getty
35/50 17 March 2019
Coffins of victims of the crashed accident of Ethiopian Airlines are gathered during the mass funeral at Holy Trinity Cathedral in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. The crash of Flight ET 302 minutes into its flight to Nairobi on March 10 killed 157 people onboard and caused the worldwide grounding of the Boeing 737 MAX 8 aircraft model involved in the disaster
AFP/Getty Images
36/50 16 March 2019
Brenton Tarrant, the man charged in relation to the Christchurch massacre, makes a sign to the camera during his appearance in the Christchurch District Court. A right-wing extremist who filmed himself rampaging through two mosques in the quiet New Zealand city of Christchurch killing 49 worshippers appeared in court on a murder charge. Australian-born 28-year-old Brenton Tarrant appeared in the dock wearing handcuffs and a white prison shirt, sitting impassively as the judge read a single murder charge against him. A raft of further charges are expected
AFP/Getty
37/50 15 March 2019
An injured person is loaded into an ambulance following a shooting at the Al Noor mosque in New Zealand. At least 49 people have been killed and dozens more are seriously injured after shootings took place at two mosques in Christchurch. Police have arrested an Australian citizen – a 28-year-old man – and another three people, following the second shooting
Reuters
38/50 14 March 2019
Relatives of crash victims mourn and grieve at the scene where the Ethiopian Airlines Boeing 737 Max 8 crashed shortly after takeoff on Sunday killing all 157 on board, south-east of Addis Ababa. The French air accident investigation authority said that it will handle the analysis of the black boxes retrieved from the crash site and they have already arrived in France but gave no time frame on how long the analysis could take
AP
39/50 13 March 2019
Men carry a child who was rescued at the site of a collapsed building containing a school in Lagos, Nigeria
Reuters
40/50 12 March 2019
A crab stuck in plastic in Verde Island Passage, Philippines. According to data from the Global Alliance for Incinerator Alternatives (GAIA), Filipinos dispose 163 million pieces of single-use plastic sachets daily. An underwater exploration conducted by Greenpeace in Batangas, found single-use plastic sachets between, beneath, and on the corals and seabed of Verde Island Passage, the epicenter of marine biodiversity in the world
EPA
41/50 11 March 2019
Representatives of bereaved families from the affected prefecture offer flowers at an altar for victims of the 2011 earthquake and tsunami disaster during the 8th national memorial service in Tokyo on. On March 11, 2011 a devastating 9.0-magnitude quake struck under the Pacific Ocean and the resulting tsunami caused widespread damage and claimed thousands of lives.
AFP/Getty
42/50 10 March 2019
South Sudanese Catholic faithful believers attend a church service in Udier town
AFP/Getty
43/50 9 March 2019
Activists of Ukrainian nationalist parties scuffle with police officers during a rally to demand an investigation into the corruption of Ukraine’s armed forces officials, in Kiev
Reuters
44/50 8 March 2019
Algerian protesters demonstrate against their ailing president’s bid for a fifth term in power, in Algiers
AFP/Getty
45/50 7 March 2019
French gendarmes arrive for evacuation as prison guards block the entrance to the penitentiary center of Alencon, in Conde-sur-Sarthe, northwestern France, two days after a prison inmate seriously wounded two guards in a knife attack before being detained in a police raid. – The prison of Alencon / Conde-sur-Sarthe, where two guards were seriously stabbed on March 5 by a radicalized detainee, was blocked again on March 7 by about a hundred prison guards.
AFP/Getty
46/50 6 March 2019
Hindu devotees participate in a traditional activity known locally as “Perang Api” or fire war one day ahead of Nyepi in Mataram, West Nusa Tenggara. Devotees in Indonesia will celebrate Nyepi day or the “Day of Silence” on March 7, the first day of the Saka Lunar calendar
AFP/Getty
47/50 5 March 2019
Time exposure photo shows a series of lightning strikes over Santa Barbara seen from Stearns Wharf in the city’s harbor. The storm soaked California and could trigger mudslides in wildfire burn areas where thousands of residents are under evacuation orders, authorities warned
Santa Barbara County Fire Department/AP
48/50 4 March 2019
Members of Unidos da Tijuca samba school perform during the first night of Rio’s Carnival at the Sambadrome
AFP/Getty
49/50 3 March 2019
The SpaceX team in Hawthorne watches as the SpaceX Crew Dragon docks with the International Space Station’s Harmony module. SpaceX’s new crew capsule arrived at the International Space Station on Sunday, acing its second milestone in just over a day
Nasa/AP
50/50 2 March 2019
US Senator Bernie Sanders (centre) waves to supporters at a rally to kick off his 2020 US presidential campaign, in the Brooklyn borough of New York
AFP/Getty
1/50 20 April 2019
A protester walks amid tear gas deployed by security services on the 23rd week of Gilets Jaunes protests in Paris
Getty
2/50 19 April 2019
Ultra-Orthodox Jews burn leaven in the Mea Shearim neighbourhood of Jerusalem ahead of the Jewish holiday of Passover, in Jerusalem
Reuters
3/50 18 April 2019
Christian worshippers take part in the procession of the holy Thursday, during the Catholic Washing of the Feet ceremony on Easter Holy Week, at the Church of the Holy Sepulcher in Jerusalem’s old city
EPA
4/50 17 April 2019
A young girl runs past UWSA military contingents before a parade held to mark the 30th anniversary of Wa State in Panghsang, also called Pang Kham of autonomous Wa region, north-eastern Myanmar. Wa declared itself as an independent State on 17 April 1989. Although the government of Myanmar does not recognize the sovereignty of Wa State, Myanmar military has adopted a ceasefire with the state since 9 May 1989. Wa State has been notorious for drug smuggling in the Golden Triangle of the last 30 years, although it declared its region a drug-free zone in 2005
EPA
5/50 16 April 2019
Firefighters spray water as they work to extinguish the fire at Notre-Dame Cathedral in Paris. The huge blaze that devastated the cathedral is “under control”, the Paris fire brigade said early on April 16 after firefighters spent hours battling the flames
AFP/Getty
6/50 15 April 2019
Smoke and flames rise during a fire at the landmark Notre-Dame Cathedral in central Paris
AFP/Getty
7/50 14 April 2019
Indonesian soldiers and police at a general security roll call for the upcoming general elections in Jakarta. Some 192 million Indonesians are set to cast a ballot in the world’s third-biggest democracy, with a record 245,000 candidates vying for positions from the presidency and parliamentary seats all the way down to local council jobs
AFP/Getty
8/50 13 April 2019
Hindu devotees throw holy flammable powder onto a fire as they perform rituals during Gajan Festival celebrations in Kolkata. The festival falls on the last day of the Bengali calendar which also coincides with the birth of Lord Shiva, according to Hindu mythology
AFP/Getty
9/50 12 April 2019
A woman visits the exhibition ‘Mirrors: In and Out of Reality’ in Barcelona, Spain. Maths, physics and photonics melt in this exhibition presented by Cosmocaixa in which visitors can enter a big kaleidoscope to walk through and experience with the effects and particularities of mirrors. The exhibition will be open to public until 6 June 2019
EPA
10/50 11 April 2019
Voters line up to cast their votes outside a polling station during the first phase of general election in Alipurduar district in the eastern state of West Bengal, India
Reuters
11/50 10 April 2019
The first ever photo a black hole, taken using a global network of telescopes, conducted by the Event Horizon Telescope (EHT) project, to gain insight into celestial objects with gravitational fields so strong no mater or light can escape
Event Horizon Telescope/National Science Foundation/Reuters
12/50 9 April 2019
Sudanese protesters chant slogans as they rally in front of the military headquarters in the capital Khartoum. Sudan’s police ordered its forces to avoid intervening against protesters as three Western nations threw their weight behind demonstrators’ demands for a political transition plan in the country
AFP/Getty
13/50 8 April 2019
German Chancellor Angela Merkel plays with a handball given to her by the German Handball Federation’s president as she received the German national handball team at the Chancellery in Berlin
AFP/Getty
14/50 7 April 2019
People hold candles as they attend a night vigil and prayer at the Amahoro Stadium as part of the 25th Commemoration of the 1994 Genocide, in Kigali, Rwanda. April 7 begins 100 days of mourning for more than 800,000 people who were slaughtered in a genocide that shocked the world, a quarter of a century on from the day it began
AFP/Getty
15/50 6 April 2019
A portion of the field of 1,500 participants begins the trek to the highest point over the Florida Keys Overseas Highway’s longest span during the Seven Mile Bridge Run Saturday. The event features entrants running a course over the convergence of the Atlantic Ocean and Gulf of Mexico and helps to raise funds for local youth athletic programs
AFP/Getty
16/50 5 April 2019
A refugee father and son lie on railway tracks to prevent a train from leaving a station during a protest in Athens, Greece. Dozens of migrants staged a protest in Athens central train station disrupting all railway services in the hope they will be transported to the Greek border and join other refugees attempting to follow a 2016 migration route towards northern Europe
Getty
17/50 4 April 2019
Security agents and police officers hold back migrants during the evacuation of a makeshift camp at Porte de la Chapelle, in the north of Paris. More than 300 migrants and refugees were evacuated on early April 4 from a makeshift camp to accomodation structures
AFP/Getty
18/50 3 April 2019
An Alexandra township resident gestures and they part is clashes with the Johannesburg Metro Police, South Africa during a total shutdown of the township due to protest against the lack of service delivery or basic necessities such as access to water and electricity, housing difficulties and lack of public road maintenance
AFP/Getty
19/50 2 April 2019
Children eat next to the debris of damaged homes at Purainiya village in Nepal’s southern Bara district near Birgunj, following a rare spring storm. The freak storm tore down houses and overturned cars and trucks as it swept across southern Nepal killing at least 27 people and leaving more than 600 injured
AFP/Getty
20/50 1 April 2019
A forensic expert works next to the remains of a small plane that crashed near Erzhausen, Germany. Natalia Fileva, chairwoman and co-owner of Russia’s second largest airline S7, died when a private jet she was in crashed near Frankfurt on Sunday, the company said
Reuters
21/50 31 March 2019
Ukrainian comic actor and presidential candidate Volodymyr Zelenskiy delivers a speech following the announcement of the first exit poll in a presidential election at his campaign headquarters in Kiev, Ukraine
Reuters
22/50 30 March 2019
Catalan pro-independence protesters throw rocks during a counter-demonstration against a protest called by Spanish far-right party Vox against the Catalan independence push in Barcelona. Polls suggest Vox, which campaigns against illegal immigration and “radical” feminism, will become the first far-right party to win seats in the Spanish parliament since the late 70s and could emerge as a kingmaker in Spain’s increasingly fragmented political landscape
AFP/Getty
23/50 29 March 2019
Protests against President Abdelaziz Bouteflika continue in Algeria despite the announcement on 11 March that he will not run for a fifth Presidential term and postponement of presidential elections previously scheduled for 18 April 2019 until further notice
EPA
24/50 28 March 2019
Firefighters on ladders work to extinguish a blaze in an office building in Dhaka after a huge fire tore through it, killing at least five people with many others feared trapped in the latest major fire to hit the Bangladesh capital
AFP/Getty
25/50 27 March 2019
A Palestinian protester moves a burning tire during clashes with Israeli troops near the Jewish settlement of Beit El, in the Israeli-occupied West Bank
Reuters
26/50 26 March 2019
Palestinians sisters girls look at a destroyed Hamas site close their family’s destroyed house after an Israeli air strike in Gaza City. According to reports, Israel continued to launch air strikes on the Gaza Strip overnight after a rocket allegedly fired hit a house near Tel Aviv in central Israel injuring at least seven people
EPA
27/50 25 March 2019
US President Donald Trump and Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu hold up a proclamation recognising Israel’s sovereignty over the Golan Heights as Netanyahu exits the White House
Reuters
28/50 24 March 2019
Abounded vessel Hagland Captain in anchor in the same area as the cruise ship Viking Sky, which had problems on March 23 during the storm over the west coast of Norway at Hustadvika near Romsdal
AFP/Getty
29/50 23 March 2019
Chris Pratt gets slimed while accepting the Best Butt-Kicker award for “Jurassic Park: Fallen Kingdom” at the Kids Choice Awards
Reuters
30/50 22 March 2019
An aerial view shows damaged buildings after an explosion at a chemical plant in Yancheng in China’s eastern Jiangsu province. Chinese President Xi Jinping ordered local governments to prevent any more industrial disasters after a chemical plant blast left 47 people dead, injured hundreds and flattened an industrial park in the latest such catastrophe to hit the country
AFP/Getty
31/50 21 March 2019
A child is transported on a fridge during floods after Cyclone Idai, in Buzi, outside Beira, Mozambique
Reuters
32/50 20 March 2019
Indian Hindu devotees are sprayed with coloured water as they celebrate the Holi festival at the Kalupur Swaminarayan Temple, in Ahmedabad. Holi, the popular Hindu spring festival of colours is observed in India at the end of the winter season on the last full moon of the lunar month
AFP/Getty
33/50 19 March 2019
Shards of ice pile up on Lake Michigan along the South Haven Pier
Kalamazoo Gazette/AP
34/50 18 March 2019
Emergency services stand at the 24 Oktoberplace in Utrecht where a shooting took place. Several people were wounded on a tram in the Dutch city of Utrecht, with local media reporting counter-terrorism police at the scene. “Shooting incident… Several injured people reported. Assistance started,” the Utrecht police Twitter account said. “It is a shooting incident in a tram. Several trauma helicopters have been deployed to provide help.”
AFP/Getty
35/50 17 March 2019
Coffins of victims of the crashed accident of Ethiopian Airlines are gathered during the mass funeral at Holy Trinity Cathedral in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. The crash of Flight ET 302 minutes into its flight to Nairobi on March 10 killed 157 people onboard and caused the worldwide grounding of the Boeing 737 MAX 8 aircraft model involved in the disaster
AFP/Getty Images
36/50 16 March 2019
Brenton Tarrant, the man charged in relation to the Christchurch massacre, makes a sign to the camera during his appearance in the Christchurch District Court. A right-wing extremist who filmed himself rampaging through two mosques in the quiet New Zealand city of Christchurch killing 49 worshippers appeared in court on a murder charge. Australian-born 28-year-old Brenton Tarrant appeared in the dock wearing handcuffs and a white prison shirt, sitting impassively as the judge read a single murder charge against him. A raft of further charges are expected
AFP/Getty
37/50 15 March 2019
An injured person is loaded into an ambulance following a shooting at the Al Noor mosque in New Zealand. At least 49 people have been killed and dozens more are seriously injured after shootings took place at two mosques in Christchurch. Police have arrested an Australian citizen – a 28-year-old man – and another three people, following the second shooting
Reuters
38/50 14 March 2019
Relatives of crash victims mourn and grieve at the scene where the Ethiopian Airlines Boeing 737 Max 8 crashed shortly after takeoff on Sunday killing all 157 on board, south-east of Addis Ababa. The French air accident investigation authority said that it will handle the analysis of the black boxes retrieved from the crash site and they have already arrived in France but gave no time frame on how long the analysis could take
AP
39/50 13 March 2019
Men carry a child who was rescued at the site of a collapsed building containing a school in Lagos, Nigeria
Reuters
40/50 12 March 2019
A crab stuck in plastic in Verde Island Passage, Philippines. According to data from the Global Alliance for Incinerator Alternatives (GAIA), Filipinos dispose 163 million pieces of single-use plastic sachets daily. An underwater exploration conducted by Greenpeace in Batangas, found single-use plastic sachets between, beneath, and on the corals and seabed of Verde Island Passage, the epicenter of marine biodiversity in the world
EPA
41/50 11 March 2019
Representatives of bereaved families from the affected prefecture offer flowers at an altar for victims of the 2011 earthquake and tsunami disaster during the 8th national memorial service in Tokyo on. On March 11, 2011 a devastating 9.0-magnitude quake struck under the Pacific Ocean and the resulting tsunami caused widespread damage and claimed thousands of lives.
AFP/Getty
42/50 10 March 2019
South Sudanese Catholic faithful believers attend a church service in Udier town
AFP/Getty
43/50 9 March 2019
Activists of Ukrainian nationalist parties scuffle with police officers during a rally to demand an investigation into the corruption of Ukraine’s armed forces officials, in Kiev
Reuters
44/50 8 March 2019
Algerian protesters demonstrate against their ailing president’s bid for a fifth term in power, in Algiers
AFP/Getty
45/50 7 March 2019
French gendarmes arrive for evacuation as prison guards block the entrance to the penitentiary center of Alencon, in Conde-sur-Sarthe, northwestern France, two days after a prison inmate seriously wounded two guards in a knife attack before being detained in a police raid. – The prison of Alencon / Conde-sur-Sarthe, where two guards were seriously stabbed on March 5 by a radicalized detainee, was blocked again on March 7 by about a hundred prison guards.
AFP/Getty
46/50 6 March 2019
Hindu devotees participate in a traditional activity known locally as “Perang Api” or fire war one day ahead of Nyepi in Mataram, West Nusa Tenggara. Devotees in Indonesia will celebrate Nyepi day or the “Day of Silence” on March 7, the first day of the Saka Lunar calendar
AFP/Getty
47/50 5 March 2019
Time exposure photo shows a series of lightning strikes over Santa Barbara seen from Stearns Wharf in the city’s harbor. The storm soaked California and could trigger mudslides in wildfire burn areas where thousands of residents are under evacuation orders, authorities warned
Santa Barbara County Fire Department/AP
48/50 4 March 2019
Members of Unidos da Tijuca samba school perform during the first night of Rio’s Carnival at the Sambadrome
AFP/Getty
49/50 3 March 2019
The SpaceX team in Hawthorne watches as the SpaceX Crew Dragon docks with the International Space Station’s Harmony module. SpaceX’s new crew capsule arrived at the International Space Station on Sunday, acing its second milestone in just over a day
Nasa/AP
50/50 2 March 2019
US Senator Bernie Sanders (centre) waves to supporters at a rally to kick off his 2020 US presidential campaign, in the Brooklyn borough of New York
AFP/Getty
The floating home has been promoted as “the world’s first seastead” by the group Ocean Builders, part of a movement in tech and libertarian circles to build communities beyond the bounds of nations as a way to explore alternative societies.
“I was free for a moment. Probably the freest person in the world,” Mr Elwartowski posted on his Facebook on 13 April, before the Thai navy raided his cabin.
Mr Elwartowski, 46, and Ms Supranee, whose Facebook page describes her as a “Bitcoin expert, Trader, Chef, seastead Pioneer”, apparently left the offshore structure after a surveillance plane flew overhead the previous day.
In a video posted last month detailing how the cabin was raised, Mr Elwartowski said 20 more similar sea houses would be up for sale to form a community.
He and Ocean Builders claimed it was in international waters beyond Thailand’s jurisdiction. Thai authorities say the structure is in its 200-mile exclusive economic zone and therefore a violation of its sovereignty.
The navy said they have evidence that the floating home was built in a private boatyard in Phuket and said the couple wanted to establish a “permanent settlement at sea beyond the sovereignty of nations by using a legal loophole”.
It said the action “reveals the intention of disobeying the laws of Thailand … undermining Thailand’s national security as well as economic and social interests of maritime nations.”
Ocean Builders has denied allegations that the couple were planning to set up an independent state or “micro nation”, according to its online statement. The group said that the pair, both active bitcoin investors, did not build, invest in or design the floating home themselves but were “volunteers excited about the prospect of living free”, documenting their lives as “pioneer seasteaders” off the coast of Phuket.
The US Embassy in Bangkok said that Mr Elwartowski had engaged a lawyer and was being offered appropriate assistance.
According to Ocean Builders, the concept of “seasteading” has been discussed for years but the cabin Elwartowski and Supranee lived on was the first attempt at living in what it described as international waters.
Other groups, such as the Seasteading Institute, which was originally backed by PayPal co-founder Peter Thiel, have sought to build floating cities with the cooperation of host nations.
Additional reporting by Reuters
