The Week in Pictures: May 16 - 23 2019, NBC News

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Oklahoma twister

An EF-2 tornado forms on the outskirts of Mangum, Oklahoma, on May 20.

The Plains have been battered for days by severe weather including flooding and twisters.

— Brett Conner / Zuma Press

Destruction in Missouri

Jessica Rodgers and neighbor Ray Arellana carry Rodgers' sister in a stroller over downed power lines on May 23, the day after a tornado tore though Jefferson City, Missouri.

A deadly storm system swept across Missouri on Wednesday, killing at least three people in the southwestern part of the state and causing extensive damage and injuring multiple people in the capital city.

— Charlie Riedel / AP

Rallying the base

President Donald Trump pumps his fist after speaking at a campaign rally in Montoursville, Pennsylvania, on May 20.

— Evan Vucci / AP

Hirsute pursuits

A competitor poses before taking part in one of the 17 categories of The World Beard and Moustache Championship in Antwerp, Belgium, on May 18.

— Yves Herman / Reuters

Rush-hour traffic

Climbers line up near the summit of Mount Everest on May 22.

A rush of climbers marked one of the busiest days on the world's highest mountain. Many teams had to line up for hours to reach the summit, risking frostbite and altitude sickness.

— Project Possible AFP - Getty Images

Brexit protest

A milkshake drips off Brexit Party leader Nigel Farage after a protester threw it at him during his visit to Newcastle Upon Tyne, England, on May 20.

Farage's Brexit Party is leading opinion polls in the contest for 73 U.K. seats in the 751-seat European Parliament.

— Ian Forsyth / Getty Images

Cannes fashion

Fernanda Liz attends the screening of "Oh Mercy! (Roubaix, une lumière)" during the 72nd annual Cannes Film Festival on May 22.

— Matt Winkelmeyer / Getty Images

Moonhenge

The moon rises above 42nd Street in New York City on May 19.

— Gary Hershorn / Getty Images

At the border

José, 27, with his son José Daniel, 6, is searched by U.S. Customs and Border Protection Agent Frank Pino on May 16 in El Paso, Texas.

Father and son spent a month trekking across Mexico from Guatemala. About 1,100 migrants from Central America and other countries are crossing into the El Paso border sector each day.

Pino says that Border Patrol resources and personnel are being stretched by the ongoing migrant crisis and that the real targets of the Border Patrol are slipping through the cracks.

— Paul Ratje / AFP - Getty Images

Abortion bans

Abortion rights advocates demonstrate against recent abortion bans on May 21 in Philadelphia.

Dozens of #StopTheBans rallies at statehouses and city centers around the nation — as well as in Puerto Rico and Canada — were scheduled Tuesday.

— Matt Rourke / AP

Biden takes the stage

Former Vice President and Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden takes off his jacket for a campaign kickoff rally on May 18 in Philadelphia.

Since Biden announced his candidacy in late April, he has taken the top spot in all polls of the sprawling Democratic primary field. Biden's rally on Saturday was his first large-scale campaign rally after doing smaller events in Iowa and New Hampshire in the past few weeks.

— Drew Angerer / Getty Images

Navy tradition

After working for more than an hour, the 2022 plebe class from the U.S. Naval Academy celebrates successfully placing an upperclassman's hat atop the Herndon Monument on May 20, in Annapolis, Maryland.

Plebes, or freshmen, must use teamwork to scale the monument, which is greased with about 50 pounds of vegetable shortening, to remove a traditional plebe cap and replace it with the upperclassman's cap. The tradition dates back more than 70 years and concludes the plebe year for Naval Academy students.

— Win McNamee / Getty Images

Malawi elections

A woman receives a ballot at a polling station at Masasa Primary School in Mzuzu, Malawi, on May 21.

Malawians on Tuesday voted in presidential and parliamentary elections seen as a tough test for President Peter Mutharika who is running against the deputy president and a former pastor who heads the opposition.

— Patrick Meinhardt / AFP - Getty Images

Rainbow launch

India launches a new earth observation satellite from the space center in Sriharikota on May 22.

— Arun Sankar / AFP - Getty Images