Stephen Kaliski and Matt Gorman, sophomore roommates at New York University showed up at Times Square with an American flag normally hung on their dorm-room wall.

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From Birmingham's International Convention Centre to Liverpool's Queen Square hotel, the European Union flag is everywhere.

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She has an eye for ephemera at the edge of a vast stage: that tear-gas canisters become more not less potent when they pass their expiry date, that in July last year a Saudi flag appeared in Tahrir Square, that the soldiers took possession of any US dollar bills they came across as evidence of demonstrators being foreign agents.

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On top of the mess, one straight tube juts out, a square of gray duct tape hanging from it, flapping in the breeze, a flag of surrender.

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The ceremony followed a 90-minute open-topped parade from Mansion House during which the two buses crawled through thousands of flag-waving fans as crowds built up in a sun-drenched Trafalgar Square.

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Mr Meles' flag-draped coffin was carried from his palace to the city's Meskel Square for a ceremony, then buried at the Holy Trinity Cathedral.

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Organizers say the expo will feature, among other attractions, 50, 000 square meters of exhibition space, three islands in an artificial lake and the world's largest flag.

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Early in the day Pope Francis glided through the square in an open-top vehicle amid a sea of colored banners, including the white and sky-blue flag of his home country of Argentina.

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The eerie emptiness of Trafalgar Square is contrasted in the Times with a picture from 24 hours earlier when it was packed solid with cheering, flag waving crowds celebrating news of London's successful Olympic bid.

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