The Frame

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) -- Orb has been made the early 7-2 favorite for the Kentucky Derby, with undefeated Verrazano the second choice in a full field of 20 horses.

Trained by Shug McGaughey, Orb drew the No. 16 post on Wednesday. Four horses have won from there, most recently Animal Kingdom two years ago. McGaughey is in racing's Hall of Fame, but the 62-year-old trainer has yet to win the Derby in six previous tries.

Orb comes into Saturday's big race on a four-race winning streak. He won the Florida Derby in his last start.

Wood Memorial winner Verrazano drew the No. 14 post and is the 4-1 second choice. The colt is one of a record-tying five starters trained by Todd Pletcher. He won his first and only Derby in 2010 with Super Saver.

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In May Day protests, parades, strikes and other demonstrations held in cities around the world, activists lashed out at political and business leaders they say have ignored workers' voices or enriched themselves at the expense of laborers. In some places, the demonstrations turned violent, with activists clashing with police.

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SAVAR, Bangladesh (AP) - An eight story building housing garment factories near the Bangladeshi capital collapsed Wednesday, killing at least 200 people. The disaster, just five months after a garment factory fire killed 112 people, has drawn renewed attention to the notoriously unsafe conditions in Bangladesh's $20 billion clothing industry that supplies retailers around the world. The disasters also highlight failings in the retail industry's system of factory audits that are meant to ensure unsafe factories are not used.

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Saturday's earthquake in China's Sichuan province, measured by China's earthquake administration at magnitude 7.0 and by the U.S. Geological Survey at 6.6, killed at least 192 people, injured more than 11,000 and left nearly two dozen missing, mostly in the rural communities around Ya'an city.

The temblor struck along the same fault line where a devastating quake to the north killed more than 90,000 people in Sichuan and neighboring areas five years ago in one of China's worst natural disasters. Relief teams flew in helicopters and dynamited through landslides to reach some of the most isolated communities, where rescuers in orange overalls led sniffer dogs through piles of brick, concrete and wood debris to search for survivors.

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BOSTON (AP) - By Wednesday, two days after the bombing, investigators in white jumpsuits had fanned out across the streets, rooftops and awnings around the blast site in search of clues. They combed through debris amid the toppled orange sports drink dispensers, trash cans and sleeves of plastic cups strewn across the street at the marathon's finish line.

President Barack Obama branded the attack an act of terrorism. Obama plans to attend an interfaith service Thursday in the victims' honor in Boston.

Scores of victims of the Boston bombing remained in hospitals, many with grievous injuries. Doctors who treated the wounded corroborated reports that the bombs were packed with shrapnel intended to cause mayhem. In addition to the 5-year-old child, a 9-year-old girl and 10-year-old boy were among 17 victims listed in critical condition.

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Congratulations to Sacramento Bee photojournalist, Renée C. Byer, who learned today that she was named a finalist for the 2013 Pulitzer prize. Byer, already a Pulitzer prize winner in 2007, was one of two finalists in the Feature Photography category.

Byer has more than 25 years experience in photojournalism and has been a staff photographer at The Bee since 2003.

Byer's entry, "A Grandfather's Sorrow and Love," is posted below.

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PYONGYANG, North Korea (AP) -- As the world watches to see what North Korea's next move will be in a high-stakes game of brinksmanship with the United States, residents of its capital aren't hunkering down in bunkers and preparing for the worst. Instead, they are out on the streets en masse getting ready for the birthday of national founder Kim Il Sung -- the biggest holiday of the year.

The festivities leading up to Kim's birthday come amid fears that North Korea may be planning to test launch a new missile in retaliation for what it claims are provocative war games by U.S. and South Korean troops just across the Korean border. Even at such a seemingly innocuous setting as a flower show in Kim's honor, North Korea's warning that it is prepared to strike back if pushed too far is on prominent display.

This year's exhibition of "Kimilsungia" flowers - which North Koreans claim their scientists have bred into the most beautiful orchids in the world - is built around mockups of red-tipped missiles, slogans hailing the military and reminders of the threats that North Koreans feel are all around them.

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The National Cherry Blossom Festival is a spring celebration in Washington, D.C., commemorating the March 27, 1912, gift of Japanese cherry trees from Mayor Yukio Ozaki of Tokyo City to the city of Washington. Mayor Ozaki donated the trees in an effort to enhance the growing friendship between the United States and Japan and also celebrate the continued close relationship between the two nations.

The festival runs for March 20 to April 14 this year with peak bloom predicted for April 6 through 8. eak bloom is defined as the period when 70 percent of the blossoms on the Yoshino Cherry trees are open; however, the blooming period can last up to 14 days.

Visit the National Cherry Blossom Festival website.

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LA PLATA, Argentina (AP) -- Argentine police and soldiers searched house to house, in creeks and culverts and even in trees for bodies on Thursday after floods killed at least 57 people in the province and city of Buenos Aires.

As torrential rains stopped and the waters receded, the crisis shifted to guaranteeing public health and safety in this provincial capital of nearly 1 million people. Safe drinking water was in short supply, and more than a quarter-million people were without power, although authorities said most would get their lights back on overnight.

Many people barely escaped with their lives after seeing everything they own disappear under water reeking with sewage and fuel that rose more than six feet (nearly two meters) high inside some homes. The wreckage was overwhelming: piles of broken furniture, overturned cars, ruined food and other debris.

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Indonesian Christians carry a bamboo cross during a Good Friday procession to reenact Jesus' path to crucifixion. At the Vatican, Pope Francis lies down in prayer during the Passion of Christ Mass inside St. Peter's Basilica. Hundreds of Christians stream through the cobblestone alleyways of Jerusalem's Old City toward the Church of the Holy Sepulcher, traditionally believed by many to be the site of the crucifixion.

Christians all over the world attend ceremonies that mark the day Jesus Christ was crucified, commonly known as Good Friday.

These are some images of Good Friday around the world.

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