World News in Pictures

[Mr Lick]

Carnival time in Brazil

[Mr Lick]

Carnival in Cologne - Poking fun at the world














A fringe cabaret event

[Mr Lick]

The carnival from Rio



















































Ronaldinho enjoying the festvities

































Rio's Mayor (L) hands over the key to the city to the Carnival King, Milton Junior

[Mr Lick]

Revellers take part in the annual national carnival in Santo Domingo, Haiti March 6, 2011.













A carnival float representing WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange (L-R), Russia's Prime Minister Vladimir Putin, Saudi Arabia's King Abdullah Bin Abd al-Aziz Al Saud and U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton is pictured during the Rose Monday carnival parade in the western German city of Cologne March 7, 2011.



Revellers of the Vila Isabel samba school participate in the annual Carnival parade in Rio de Janeiro's Sambadrome March 6, 2011.








Hungarian people wear masks during the traditional Buso Carnival in Mohacs, southern Hungary March 6, 2011.




A Christian resident of the coastal city of Tripoli, northern Lebanon, performs during a parade at the annual carnival of Zambo, preceding Clean Monday, March 6, 2011.






A member of the "Bloco da Lama" (Block of Mud) group performs on Jabaquara beach in the city of Paraty, 263 km (163 miles) from Rio de Janeiro, March, 5, 2011.




A man dressed as an "Empailles" reacts next to villagers during the Carnival in the village of Evolene in southern Switzerland March 6, 2011







Bolivian indigenous men from Mocenada group perform during the Anata Andina (Andean carnival) in Oruro, Bolivia March 3, 2011



Contestant Carmen Eneida Carballo Rivero, wearing a creation called "Flashes of Atlantis", performs on stage during the annual carnival queen election gala in Santa Cruz de Tenerife, Spanish Canary Island of Tenerife, March 2, 2011.

[Mr Lick]

More pics from Libya









Anti-Gaddafi rebels shoot after hearing an incoming aircraft at a checkpoint near the oil facility of Ras Lanuf March 7, 2011.



A rebel fighter reacts during an airstrike in Ras Lanuf, Libya March 7, 2011.










Mourners react during funeral of rebels killed in clashes with forces loyal to Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi in Bin Jawad, in Benghazi's Cemetery March 7, 2011.










A rebel fighter fires his AK-47 rifle in Ras Lanuf, March 6, 2011.




A rebel walks inside a destroyed weapons dump near Benghazi March 5, 2011.






Captured soldiers from forces loyal to leader Muammar Gaddafi are presented by rebels following clashes for control over the centre of the city of Zawiyah, 50 km (31 miles) west of the capital Tripoli, March 5, 2011. Libyan government forces launched a second attack on the western town of Zawiyah on Saturday after rebels drove them out in a morning of fierce fighting, while in the east, opponents of Muammar Gaddafi pushed towards his home town.

[Mr Lick]

Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic: Children dressed as devils wait at the Malecón seaside boulevard to take part in the last day of the annual national carnival



Rio de Janeiro, Brazil: A trash collector walks past a reveller on Vargas Avenue before the start of a carnival parade



Tripoli, Libya: A man makes bubbles with two electric bubble-blowers at a day-long gathering of pro-Gaddafi soldiers and civilians in Green Square



Port-au-Prince, Haiti: Haitians participate in the first carnival after the January 2010 earthquake



Hong Kong, China: A policeman lies on the ground after a scuffle with protesters during a demonstration against government budget plans



Evolene, Switzerland: An empailles (straw man) wearing a costume made from a jute bag stuffed with straw and frightening mask at a carnival procession in the Alps resort



Sana'a, Yemen: An anti-government protester is hoisted aloft at a demonstration demanding the resignation of President Ali Abdullah Saleh



Ras Jadir, Tunisia: A bus takes men to a UN displaced persons' camp after crossing into Tunisia from Libya



Bangkok, Thailand: Passenger boats on Saen Saep canal during rush hour

[Mr Lick]

Island's gems: contemporary Sri Lankan art exhibition



Tilak Samarawickrema, Untitled II, 2010, ink on paper



Sujeewa Kumari, Untitled, 2009, oil on canvas



Vajira Gunawardena, Head, 2010, oil on canvas



Kingsley Gunatillake, Life of a Banana Leaf, 2010, mixed media on board Photograph: Saskia Fernando Gallery



Pala Pothupitiyie, Jaffna Map



Dumith Kulasekara, Crying Masculinity, 2009, oil on canvas



Sanjeewa Kumara, Rainbow tree and rainbow joy, oil on canvas



Prageeth Manohansa, Horse, scrap metal



Jagath Weerasinghe, Celestial Violence, 2009, acrylic on canvas



Jagath Ravindra, Endless Memory, 2011, acrylic on canvas



Muhanned Cader, Coded and Loaded, 2010, pencil on paper



Chandraguptha Thenuwara, Untitled 2, ink on paper

[Mr Lick]

Libya conflict: fighting in Bin Jawad






Rebels open fire while a government helicopter attacks the frontline of the conflict near Bin Jawad

[Mr Lick]

The human cost of Libya's uprising



Families who have fled the conflict in Libya make their temporary homes in a refugee camp near the Tunisian border. The Tunisian government estimates that since 20 February around 105,000 people have fled across the border to escape the violence in Libya



Ibrahim, two, and Shadija, four, born in Libya with Egyptian nationality, have taken temporary refuge with their family in a camp in Ras Ajdir, Tunisia. Their father worked in western Libya, in Sabratha, located between two of the most conflict-ridden cities, Zuwara and Zawiyah. News of Muammar Gaddafi's forces' actions in nearby cities caused many people to flee. Ibrahim and Shadija's mother, Madhia, said: "We have seen people killed on our journey and the children have been crying a lot because of the tense situation"



Ahmed, three, with his father, Eafen, 27, in a refugee camp on the border with Tunisia. Eafen was a wood worker in Libya. An estimated 15,000-18,000 people who have fled the violence in Libya remain in transit camps in Tunisia



Ramadan, one, was born in Libya but is now on the move with his family fleeing to safety. His father is from Egypt but was an agricultural worker in Libya. Gaddafi's son Saadi claims that Egyptian and Tunisian nationals are responsible for encouraging the unrest



Jalila, 30, sits with two of her four children, Mohamed, 10, and Achraf, 14, and her nephew Mohamed, five, among the belongings they managed to bring with them as they fled Libya. Jalila’s husband has been a wood worker in Libya for the past 11 years. An unknown number of people are still waiting to cross the border and be processed for evacuation



A young child stands outside the tent where his family are staying in a refugee camp near the Tunisian border. On 3 March the evacuation of people at the Tunisian-Libyan border intensified, with several countries, including the UK, sending planes to evacuate people from the congested border area



Mohamed, five, among the possessions his family managed to bring with them when they fled Libya. Many Libyan children have gone through deeply traumatic experiences in recent weeks



A child travels on a bus with his family as they are taken from the refugee camp to Djerba airport where they are hoping for a flight back home. While some families are escaping the violence, there is concern for those still in Libya with no humanitarian assistance

[Mr Lick]

British Museum buys Assyrian treasures cleaned by Agatha Christie

The crime writer used face cream to restore the ivories discovered in the city of Nimrud by her archaeologist husband



A technician at the British Museum holds a carved ivory cow and calf furniture decoration from ancient Assyria





A gold-covered ivory wing decoration



A carved ivory lion's paw





Part of the ear from a life-sized ivory statue



An Egyptian-inspired piece from the Nimrud collection

[Mr Lick]

Paris Fashion Week





More from the Stella McCartney show



Someone turn the fan on



Oh dear!



Rather more classic attire at Stella McCartney



I love to open my presents by pulling the bow first





Brilliant idea, a double chin remover as a fashion accessory



Something missing? Maybe a Blackpool FC supporters scarf.



Love to take her for walkiiiiiiiiieeeeeeesssssss, but only if she licks my face first.

[Mr Lick]

The International Space Station and the shuttle Discovery streak through the sky above New York's Central Park on Monday evening. Discovery's final space mission ends Wednesday




Thousands of Sunni Bahrainis gather near the home of a Sunni family to protect the household from Shi'ites they believe are intending to attack them, in the town of Busiteen, north of Manama, early 8 March 2011. A member of the Sunni family was involved in a car accident that injured a Shi'ite who was protesting at Bahrain's Financial Harbour on Monday night, and people from the Sunni community turned up to defend the family against possible reprisals from the Shi'ites.



Chechen women pass by a destroyed building in the Zavodskoi district of Grozny, Chechnya on Monday, March 7, 2011.



Revellers dressed as clowns and a man watch the carnival parade in Sesimbra village, Portugal on March 7. The clown parade in Sesimbra village became a tradition after a world record for the biggest clown march was set in 2004.



A trader works with three telephone receivers in the crude oil and natural gas options pit on the floor of the New York Mercantile Exchange on March 7.



People wearing protection helmets and costumes throw oranges as part of Carnival celebrations in the northern Italian Piedmont town of Ivrea on Monday, March 7. The traditional Battle of the Oranges has its roots in the middle of the 19th century.



Teams throw oranges at each other during the traditional Battle of the Oranges on Monday. The event marks the rebellion of the people against tyrannical lords who ruled the town in the Middle Ages, with the revellers on carts representing guards of the tyrant, those on foot the townsfolk.








A handful of the thousands of padlocks clipped by lovers onto the railings of the Pont des Arts bridge over the River Seine in Paris on Monday, Mar. 7. The Pont Neuf bridge and the Ile de la Cite island in the river Seine can be seen in the background.



Alan Poizner and Michaela Jackson, both of Nashville, secured this lock to the Shelby Street Pedestrian Bridge and tossed the key into the Cumberland River after the couple got engaged in Nashville, Tenn.




Wearing shorts and a T-shirt, Jonathan Symonds, right, and Martin Ward shovel out their driveway in Saranac Lake, NY on Monday, March 7. Parts of upstate New York are buried under more than 2 feet of heavy snow, with freezing rain, sleet and 30-mph winds added to the mix, closing scores of schools and knocking out power to more than 40,000 utility customers



A collision involving two vehicles that claimed the life of a 19-year-old Paul Smith's College student on state Route 86 in Ray Brook, N.Y., on Sunday, March 6. George H. Deets IV, of East Dorset, Vt., was driving a 2002 Saturn sedan, left, when he lost control of the vehicle and slid into an oncoming 2010 Honda CRV operated by Alan Daunais of Saranac Lake, NY., according to state police.



Donald Devoil, center, takes his children to a neighbor's house since his daycare was closed due to a winter storm in Montpelier, Vt. on Monday, March 7. Meteorologist Bruce Taber says 20.6 inches of snow has fallen at the Burlington International Airport and it's supposed to keep snowing through the early afternoon. He says some parts of northern Vermont could get up to 30 inches of snow. At left is Isla, 1, and at right is Callum, 5.

[Mr Lick]

Lava flows on the Pu'u O'o crater on Kilauea volcano in Hawaii on Sunday.



Scientists fly in a helicopter above the Pu'u O'o vent on Kilauea volcano on Sunday. Scientists say the Pu'u O'o crater floor has collapsed and an eruption occurred along the middle of Kilauea Volcano's east rift zone. Scientists at the Hawaiian Volcano Observatory say after a fissure broke out around 5 p.m. Saturday, lava was seen erupting up to 65 feet high.



Lava pours from the Pu'u O'o vent on Kilauea volcano on Sunday. Scientists say the Pu'u O'o crater floor has collapsed and an eruption occurred along Kilauea's eastern rift zone.

[Mr Lick]

Former French President Jacques Chirac leaves his office in Paris, March 7, a few hours before the start of his corruption trial in Paris which will be the first time a former head of state has been called on to appear before the courts in France. Chirac, president until 2007, is expected to attend the trial on Tuesday.

[Mr Lick]

More Carnival pics



Members of Uniao da Ilha Samba school parade at the Sambadrome in Rio de Janeiro, on Monday.



















Revelers perform during carnival celebrations in Barranquilla, Colombia. In 2003, UNESCO declared Barranquilla's carnival as a "Masterpiece of Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity."



Portugal's Prime Minister Jose Socrates, left, and Spain's Jose Zapatero, threatened by an "IMF beast" during the parade on the streets of Torres Vedras on March 6. Torres Vedras village carnival organization devoted 2011 carnival to the subject "The Jungle".



A fire breather performs during a carnival parade in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, on March 6.



A girl participates in the Red Cross Children's Carnival competition at Queen's Park Savannah in Port of Spain, Trinidad,



A carnival reveller celebrates the traditional Rose Monday carnival parade in the western German city of Duesseldorf on March 7. The Rose Monday parades in Cologne, Mainz and Duesseldorf are the highlight of the German street carnival season.

[Mr Lick]

Anti-government protesters throw a boy into the air during a demonstration demanding the resignation of Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh, in Sanaa, Yemen, Monday, March 7, 2011. Government supporters wielding knives and handguns attack protesters in the country's south, leaving one dead in the latest of weeks of demonstrations demanding the president to step down.




Afghan refugee women from Helmand, wait for their turn to receive free ration at the World Food Program (WFP) distribution center in Kabul, Afghanistan, Monday, March 7, 2011. In the last four months WFP has provided food rations to hundreds of thousands of Afghan families mostly widows, refugees, the disabled and poor families.




Exile Tibetan Buddhist nuns tie multi-color flags during the third day of "losar" or Tibetan New Year in Dharmsala, India, Monday, March 7, 2011. Believed by Tibetans to spread prayers to the wind these flags known as "lungta" or wind horse represent five elements; Fire, Earth, Water, Air and Sky.




A spotlight from an Italian Coast boat shines on a boat loaded with migrants spotted at sea off the Sicilian island of Lampedusa, Italy, early Monday, March 7, 2011. Over 1,000 migrants from North Africa have arrived in Italy overnight, some in rickety boats that had to be escorted ashore by the Italian coast guard. It was one of the biggest arrivals since a steady influx of Tunisians started in mid-January, when an uprising ousted the country's longtime president and caused a breakdown in coastal patrols. The uprising in Libya has also caused concern here that tens of thousands of migrants might be on their way.




Britain's Prince Andrew arrives in Canary Wharf to visit the headquarters of the London CrossRail project, in London, Monday, March, 7, 2011. Prince Andrew will have to decide whether he can continue his role as a trade envoy amid a controversy about his links to a convicted pedophile, a British Cabinet minister said Monday.






Anti-Gadhafi rebel runs away as smoke rises following an air strike by Libyan warplanes near a checkpoint of the anti-Libyan Leader Moammar Gadhafi rebels, in the oil town of Ras Lanouf, eastern Libya, Monday, March 7, 2011.




Hundreds of communal guards hold a protest in Algiers, Algeria, Monday March 7, 2011. The guards are part of a state-armed militia that has been on the front line of the government's fight against Islamic insurgents. The Interior Ministry recently decided to disband the guards, saying they are no longer needed.




China's Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi reacts during a press conference for the National People's Congress at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, China, Monday, March 7, 2011. Yang said there is now a positive atmosphere in relations with the U.S. following a rocky year in which they feuded over issues from Taiwan to Internet freedom.

[Mr Lick]

Models dressed like their Ken dolls pose during the press preview day of the International Toy Fair Nuremberg on Feb. 2, 2011, in Germany to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Ken doll.







Barbie and boy toy Ken's romance came to end in 2004 only to be reignited on Valentine's Day, Feb. 14, 2011.




Barbie and Ken dolls are on display at the exhibition "50 years of Barbie" in the eastern German town of Schmalkalden on Nov. 21, 2009.




A 1985 Day2Night Ken doll is dressed in a tuxedo in this studio portrait. On March 11, 2001, Mattel toy company celebrated the 40th anniversary of the Ken doll which was originally introduced March 11, 1961, at the American International Toy Fair.




A model poses as a Ken Doll during the "Celebrating Ken: Fashion, Art, and the Ultimate Dream Date" at Christie's on Feb.13, 2011, in New York City.




"Sweet Talkin' Ken," a Ken doll from the Barbie line in the Mattel area of the Toy Fair 2011 on Feb. 15, 2011, at the Javits Center in New York. "Sweet Talkin' Ken" is the newest release with a built-in microphone that allows girls to record up to 5 seconds of sound, then play back the message in three different voices.

[Mr Lick]

Mexican Drug War Continues: Ambush of Police Convoy and Beheadings in Acapulco

Culiacan, Mexico - A police convoy, transporting two prisoners from northern Mexico, was attacked in a massive ambush. Seven police officers and one inmate were killed in the raid. Six other officers and a second prisoner were wounded in the ambush.

Twenty vehicles stopped the police convoy and opened fire, stated Sinaloa State Attorney General Marco Antonio Higuera. “The patrol vehicles were destroyed. It was practically a massacre. Initial reports indicate there were 1,200 shell casings at the scene;” reported Higuera.




Police cordon off a crime scene where four people were found dead in Acapulco













Mexican soldiers check the dead bodies of six men found next to a road between Acapulco and Mexico City





A police officer teaches school children how to react in case of an armed attack at a school in Acapulco

[Mr Lick]

Refugees from Ivory Coast reach Liberia

[Mr Lick]

Greece snow: Bad weather brings chaos to Athens roads



Snowstorms have caused transport chaos around the Greek capital Athens, with one overnight traffic jam stretching for up to 15km (9 miles).

[Mr Lick]

Gaddafi renews attack on rebels

[Mr Lick]

Rio de Janeiro Carnival

[Mr Lick]

20 killed, 127 wounded in Pakistan bomb attack



A bomb planted by suspected Islamicmilitants exploded at a filling station in Pakistan's centralPunjab province Tuesday, killing at least 20 people and wounding 127 others, police said. "We fearthe death toll may rise because the condition of some of the injured is very critical," said Aftab Cheema, regional police chief in Faisalabad, the country's...

[Mr Lick]

Paris fashion week again



Now that is weird! Looks like she's got an enormous erection



That's right luv, don't forget your sleeping bag.



Can't help but feel embarrassed wearing that, can you darling?



Utterly tasteless, and the stole isn't helping any.



That girl on the left is crying out for a good chest licking



Looks like you'll need a black belt in Origami to date that lovely lady



Her lucks in, i absolutely adore mushrooms!



It's at times like this i wouldn't mind 'feeling blue'



Don't worry luv, the Samaritans are only a phone call away.



You got your boots on the right way darling?



Off to a bullfight later madam?



There's something really sinister looking about that one-armed girl



Parker! Yes, m'lady?

[Mr Lick]

Muscat, Oman: Unemployed men gather at the national football stadium in the hope of clinching one of the 10,000 vacancies for new police recruits



Ras Ajdir, Tunisia: Soldiers attempt to bring order to a crowd of workers from Ghana who are fleeing unrest in Libya



Ras Lanuf, Libya: Rebel fighters shout in defiance at an airforce jet flying overhead after dropping a bomb near a checkpoint



Hyderabad, India: Activists from the National Federation of Indian Women take part in a torch-lit rally on the eve of International Women's Day



Tang Dong Cun, China: A woman carries a basket on her back as she walks down a road collecting firewood



Managua, Nicaragua: A woman walks through the Oriental market



Garmser, Afghanistan: A US marine of the 2nd Battalion, 1st Marines Regiment on patrol in Helmand province