World News in Pictures

[Mr Lick]

Flooding across southern England - in pictures

With swollen rivers and flooded roads across parts of southern England, the Environment Agency has issued 37 flood alerts, particularly in Somerset, Dorset and Devon, after torrential overnight rain. April 2012 is now officially the wettest since records began in 1910




A taxi drives through a flooded Piccadilly Circus in central London

[Mr Lick]

Occupy groups join for May Day protests

Demonstrators in New York, Chicago, San Francisco and elsewhere are staging Occupy's biggest protest of the year. The Occupy movement called on people to stay home from work and school, skip the chores and take to the streets
























World Trade Center first responder Walter Hillegass marches with protesters in New York

[Mr Lick]

Chinese activist Chen Guangcheng is seen in a wheelchair pushed by a nurse at the Chaoyang hospital in Beijing on May 2, 2012.

China demanded an apology from Washington over Chen Guangcheng's stay at the U.S. Embassy,according to the government's news service Xinhua.

An unnamed U.S. official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, told reporters that Chen had not asked for asylum in the U.S. and would be staying in China

[Mr Lick]

Opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi took a historic oath on Wednesday to join a parliamentary system crafted by the generals who locked her away for much of her long struggle against dictatorship, ushering in a dramatic new political era for Myanmar

[Mr Lick]

Afghan police personnel gesture as they evacuate onlookers from the site of a suicide bomb attack in Kabul on Wednesday, May 2.



Police chief Ayub Salangi told Reuters the car bomb exploded on Jalalabad road, the main road out of the capital heading east, where several U.S. military bases and compounds housing Westerners are located. A guard and five civilians were killed. Salangi told NBC News that one of the civilians is a school child.

[Mr Lick]

Two of Saturn's more than 60 moons join the ringed planet in this scene, captured by the Cassini orbiter on Jan. 19 and released on April 30. Tethys appears as a small white dot above the rings on the far left of the image. Enceladus appears as a smaller bright speck beside the planet. The rings cast wide shadows on the planet's southern latitudes.

[Mr Lick]

An elderly woman waves as she finds herself caught ahead of an Occupy Wall Street May Day march down Fifth Ave. in New York on May 1.






An Anti-capitalist protester from the 'Occupy' movement lays in front of a police officer in Paternoster Square in London on May 1.

[Mr Lick]

Police tape off a Wells Fargo Bank in Seattle Tuesday, May 1, after protesters broke the bank's windows during a May Day march.

[Mr Lick]

Ng Ah Kwai, 50, of Penang, Malaysia, who was born with deformed arms, paints with his foot during the Mouth and Foot Painting Convention in Singapore May 1, 2012. Over 70 handicapped artists are showcasing 200 artworks at the exhibition which takes place from May 1 to May 6.

[Mr Lick]

An 'Occupy London'' protester hands out flowers to commuters in a central London train station to mark May Day, May 1.

[Mr Lick]

Visitors looks at the vehicles at an oval track of a velodrome during an old timer car and motorcycle show in Budapest on May 1.

[Mr Lick]

The rusting hulk of an abandoned ship is beached on the coastline in Lagos, Nigeria. All photos taken March 15, 2012 and made available May 1, 2012



Last August, Nigeria's Transport Minister Yusuf Suleiman promised to remove the wrecks within weeks, but nothing was done

[Mr Lick]

NYC subway bomb plotter found guilty

A Bosnian immigrant, Adis Medunjanin, accused of plotting to bomb New York's subway system as an "al Qaeda terrorist" has been found guilty on all counts, including conspiracy to use weapons of mass destruction, conspiracy to commit murder and supporting a foreign terrorist organization

[Mr Lick]

Five Men Arrested Of Plotting To Bomb Bridge



CLEVELAND, OH - MAY 01: In this handout provided by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), Joshua Stafford, 23, poses for a mug shot photo after being arrested in connection to a plot to blow up a bridge in Cleveland, Ohio. Five alleged anarchists plotted to detonate an explosive device under a bridge that passes over the Cuyahoga River for political reasons. The FBI were aware of the situation and suspects face charges including conspiracy and attempting to use explosives to damage property affecting interstate commerce

[Mr Lick]

Cardinal Brady will not resign over 'abuse failure'




The Catholic primate of all-Ireland has said that he will not resign as Church leader despite revelations in the BBC's This World show.

It found Cardinal Sean Brady had names and addresses of those being abused by paedophile priest Brendan Smyth.

However, he did not pass on those details to police or parents.

Cardinal Brady said he accepted he was part of "an unhelpful culture of deference and silence in society, and the Church".

"With others, I feel betrayed that those who had the authority in the Church to stop Brendan Smyth failed to act on the evidence I gave them," he said.

"However, I also accept that I was part of an unhelpful culture of deference and silence in society, and the Church, which thankfully is now a thing of the past."

The cardinal said he was "shocked, appalled and outraged" by Smyth and said he had trusted that those with the authority to act in relation to Smyth would treat the evidence seriously and respond appropriately.

He accused the BBC of exaggerating his authority in the programme.

"The commentary in the programme and much of the coverage of my role in this inquiry gives the impression that I was the only person who knew of the allegations against Brendan Smyth at that time and that because of the office I hold in the Church today I somehow had the power to stop Brendan Smyth in 1975.

"I had absolutely no authority over Brendan Smyth. Even my Bishop had limited authority over him. The only people who had authority within the Church to stop Brendan Smyth from having contact with children were his Abbot in the Monastery in Kilnacrott and his Religious Superiors in the Norbertine Order."

He added that he had worked with others in the Church to put these new procedures in place and looked forward to continuing that vital work in the years ahead.

Senior Vatican Prosecutor Monsignor Charles Scicluna has defended Cardinal Brady.

"My first point is that Fr Brady was a note taker in 1975, he did what he should have done. He forwarded all the information to the people that had the power to act," he said.

"My second point is that in the interest of the Church in Ireland, they need to have Cardinal Brady as the archbishop of Armagh because he has shown determination in promoting child protection policies. You need to have leaders who have learned the hard way and are determined to protect children."

The BBC investigation centres on a secret church inquiry in 1975 when a 14-year-old boy was questioned about abuse.

Smyth abused him and others in guesthouses on trips across Ireland.

In 1975, Cardinal Brady was a priest and teacher in County Cavan in the Republic of Ireland, when he was sent by his bishop to investigate a claim of child sexual abuse by a fellow priest.

That priest was later exposed as Ireland's most prolific paedophile, Father Brendan Smyth, who died in prison in 1997, one month into a 12 year prison sentence.

The first child to tell his parents about the abuse was 14-year-old Brendan Boland.

The man tasked with the secret church investigation that followed would later become the most senior priest in Ireland.

Sean Brady's role in the affair became clear in 2010, when it became known that he had been present when the abused boy was questioned.

He claimed, however, that the boy's father had accompanied him, and described his own role as that of a note-taker.

However, the BBC This World investigation has uncovered the notes Cardinal Brady took while the boy was questioned.

The child's father was not allowed in the room, and the child was immediately sworn to secrecy.

What Cardinal Brady failed to tell anyone in 2010 was that Brendan Boland had also given him and his colleagues the precise details of a group of children, some of whom, were being abused by Smyth.

Cardinal Brady did interview one of them and swore him to secrecy.

This World spoke to all of the children who Brendan Boland had identified; they all told the programme that to the best of their knowledge none of their parents or families were warned in any way about the paedophile Brendan Smyth.

[Mr Lick]

Theft of Dirk the penguin: Rhys Jones and Keri Mules fined



Two Welsh tourists who stole a penguin named Dirk from a theme park following a night out have each been fined 1,000 Australian dollars (£637).

Rhys Owen Jones, 21, and Keri Mules, 20, admitted the theft when they appeared before Brisbane magistrates.

The friends, from south Wales, broke into Sea World on Queensland's Gold Coast, swam with dolphins and let off a fire extinguisher in a shark enclosure.

The pair were told the prank could have seen them end up "in a morgue".

Jones, 21, and Mules, 20, pleaded guilty to trespassing and stealing and keeping a protected animal, Australia's Department of Justice said.

[Mr Lick]

India ferry disaster aftermath

[Mr Lick]

US President visits troops in Afghanistan



Referees for Euro 2012 warm up prior to a training session in Warsaw, Poland

[Mr Lick]

Kabul suicide attack











The Taliban have admitted carrying out the attack

[Mr Lick]

'Assaulted' India MP Prabha Taviad weeps in parliament




An MP from India's Gujarat state broke down and wept in parliament alleging she was assaulted by police when she went to attend a government function.

Prabha Taviad showed bruises on her arms and said her hair was pulled and she was dragged into a police car.

Police said they detained her as she was trying to hold a demonstration ahead of a function to be attended by Gujarat's Chief Minister Narendra Modi.

The incident took place in Dahod district on Tuesday.

Ms Taviad is an MP from India's governing Congress party, which in Gujarat is in opposition to the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).

Encouraged by senior Congress party colleague Girija Vyas, Ms Taviad tried to describe the incident in the Lok Sabha, the lower house of parliament.

But she soon began sobbing, wiping her tears with a handkerchief.

Ms Vyas, former chief of the National Commission for Women, came to her rescue and narrated the incident while Ms Taviad pointed at the bruises on her arms.

[Mr Lick]

MI6 death: Gareth Williams 'probably' killed unlawfully



"On the balance of probabilities" MI6 officer Gareth Williams was unlawfully killed, the coroner heading the seven-day inquest has said.

Giving a narrative verdict, Fiona Wilcox said it was "unlikely" he got into the bag he was found dead in alone, but it was "unlikely" his death would "ever be... explained".

The body of the 31-year-old code-breaker from Anglesey was found locked in a bag in his London flat in 2010.

MI6 apologised to Mr Williams' family.

After the inquest, MI6 chief Sir John Sawers apologised "unreservedly" to Mr Williams' family over the way the police inquiry was hampered by his colleagues failing to realise he was missing.

It was a week before police were alerted to the codebreaker's disappearance, by which time there was extensive decomposition of his body - an "important area of evidence".

In her summing up, the coroner said: "Most of the fundamental questions in relation to how Gareth died remain unanswered".

But, she said, she was "satisfied so that I'm sure that a third party moved the bag containing Gareth into the bath" where his body was found.

[david44]

Something odd he could break code but not out of a bag Suggests as hundreds of tests tproved hat someone locked him in maybe a spank pank or accomplice.The fact he died maakes the verdct stink of cover up to meor am I too cynical. He'd previously been found by landlord chained to a bed

[Mr Lick]

Prague, Czech Republic: Sunbathers enjoy unusually warm weather at a public swimming pool



Kabul, Afghanistan: A trail of blood next to shattered glass in a school complex near the site of a suicide bomb attack at a guesthouse

[Mr Lick]

A TV grab from state-owned French television station France 2 showing the debate between Francois Hollande and Nicolas Sarkozy for the 2012 French presidential election campaign



Fabrice Muamba leaves the Reebok Stadium after making an emotional return at the kick off in Bolton on Wednesday



Nicole Kidman finds herself a million miles away from Hollywood in Bo'ness near Falkirk in Scotland. She and co-star Colin Firth are filming The Railway Man, a true story of a British officer captured by the Japanese during the second world war and forced to work on the infamous Burma railway

[Mr Lick]

Kate and Gerry McCann speak in front of an age-progressed police image of their daughter Madeleine during a news conference to mark the fifth anniversary of her disappearance. The McCanns say there is 'no doubt' authorities will reopen the investigation into their daughter's disappearance. Three-year-old Madeleine went missing while on holiday with her parents in the Algarve region of Portugal in May 2007



It's been the subject of controversy but artist Henry Bruce's latest project is really quite pretty in pink. As part of the art and sculpture exhibition at Delamore Estate, Bruce has painted a massive skeletal 21-metre high oak tree to celebrate the beauty of nature and the evolving life of trees



The Queen's delight at meeting a police horse named after first world war veteran Harry Patch is apparent during a visit to Nine Springs Park in Yeovil. The trip was part of her diamond jubilee tour of the UK



In Exeter schoolchildren waiting to meet the Queen have the ultimate royal accessory: the (inflatable) corgi dog