Top photos of the day: Thursday, May 8, 2014

From the archives:

Decked in a tae kwan-do jacket, Gov. James Thompson gives the podium a chop after kicking off Asian-American Heritage Week in 1986. Chicago martial arts instructors, represented by Tac-Hi Nam (left) made Thompson an honorary fourth-degree black belt. Today is Thompson’s 78th birthday. | Sun-Times file photo

A selection of some of the best photographs from around the world:

Singer Rita Ora performs during the final of Germanys Next Top Model TV show at Lanxess Arena in Cologne, Germany. The three finalists Ivana Teklic, Jolina Fust and Stefanie Giesinger will compete for the TV show for the top model crown. | Getty Images

Syrian government forces hang the national flag on top of a pole in the old city of Homs, following a negotiated withdrawal of rebel fighters from the city centre where the opposition had held out under tight siege for nearly two years is the first in more than three years of conflict. At least 80 percent of rebel fighters have already pulled out of the battleground central Syrian city and the rest will leave later in the day, the provincial governor told AFP. | Getty Images

BJP leader Narendra Modi flashes the v-sign to supporters as he is surrounded by bodyguards while driving through the streets in Varanasi, India. Thousands of supporters lined the the Hindu holy city as Modi drove to a party meeting after a rally planned by the leader was prohibited by local authorities. India is in the midst of a nine-phase election that began on April 7 and ends May 12. | Getty Images

Orthodox Christians march around the regional administration building, which is occupied by pro-Russian activists, in a call for peace in Donetsk, Ukraine. Tensions in Eastern Ukraine are high after pro-Russian activists seized control of at least ten cities ahead of the Victory Day holiday and a planned referendum on greater autonomy for the region. | Getty Images

A girl plays soccer in front of graffiti created by acclaimed local graffiti artist Acme in the pacified Pavao-Pavaozinho community in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Protests and shootings broke out following the discovery of dancer Douglas Rafael da Silva Pereira’s body in the ‘favela’ last month. Ahead of the World Cup, some of Rio’s pacified favelas have seen an increase in violence, including a number of shootings in Pavao-Pavaozinho. Around 10,000 people live in the Cantagalo and Pavao-Pavaozinho communities with a total of around 1.6 million Rio residents residing in shantytowns, many of which are controlled by drug traffickers. | Getty Images

A man representing a group of Orthodox Christians holds a cross outside the occupied regional administration building, which serves as the local headquarters for pro-Russian activists in Donetsk, Ukraine. Tensions in Eastern Ukraine are high after pro-Russian activists seized control of at least ten cities ahead of the Victory Day holiday and a planned referendum on greater autonomy for the region. | Getty Images

Rosheda, 20, holds her malnourished child, 2 months old, in front of her hut. She is too poor to afford enough food and the child will likely die without aid in Sittwe, Burma. Some 150,000 Rohingya IDP (internally displaced people) are currently imprisoned in refugee camps outside of Sittwe in Rakhine State in Western Myanmar. Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF), the primary supplier of medical care within the camps, was banned in March by the Myanmar government. Follow up attacks by Buddhist mobs on the homes of aid workers in Sittwe put an end to NGO operations in the camps. Though some NGOs are beginning to resume work, MSF remains banned, and little to no healthcare is being provided to most Rohingya IDPs. One Rohingya doctor is servicing 150,000 refugees with limited medication. Several Rakhine volunteer doctors sporadically enter the camps for two hours a day. Births are the most complicated procedures successfully carried out in the camps, requests to visit Yangon or Sittwe hospitals for life threatening situations require lengthy applications and are routinely denied. Malnutrition and diarrhea are the most widespread issues, but more serious diseases like tuberculosis are going untreated and could lead to the rise of drug resistant tuberculosis (DR-TB). | Getty Images