World News in Pictures

[Mr Lick]

A tornado is seen in Tsukuba, north of Tokyo, in this picture taken by a resident, May 6.

Firefighters and medical teams rushed to the area after the tornado struck about 40 miles from Tokyo. The city is a science center, with dozens of research and academic institutes, but the tornado appeared to be mostly in residential areas.

Officials say a 14-year-old boy died and more than 30 people were injured

[Mr Lick]

George Lindsey dies at 83

Actor George Lindsey, who played bumbling Goober Pyle on the 1960s TV series "The Andy Griffith Show," died on Sunday. He was 83.

[Mr Lick]

Several killed in Nepal flash floods

At least 17 people, including three foreigners, are confirmed to have died during the flood in Pokhara and adjoining villages in Kaski, Nepal. The death toll could be as high as 60, according to rescuers scouring the area for survivors.







A rescue team searches for missing people at an area that used to be a small village, swiped away by a flash flood caused by an avalanche in the Annapurna mountain range on Saturday









A water buffalo sits stuck at an area that used to be a small village

[Mr Lick]

Hidden lives of child brides

The case of a tortured Afghan child bride whose treatment shocked the world has led to three members of her husband's family being jailed for 10 years, an official said on May 5. The war on women rages on in countries like Afghanistan and India, where government leaders endorse edicts calling women second-class citizens, endangering hard-won progress in women's rights




In this Friday, May 6, 2011 photo, child bride Smita,13, from Raghogarh village, looks on at the Maa Jalapa Devi temple after her marriage ceremony in Rajgarh, about 155 kilometers (96 miles) from Bhopal, India. Ignoring laws that ban child marriages, several young children, are still married off as part of centuries-old custom in some Indian villages. India law prohibits marriage for women younger than 18 and men under age 21.



7-year-old child bride Guddu Bai sits at the back of a truck as she waits for the rest of her family members after being wed

[Mr Lick]

Leader of extreme-right Golden Dawn party Nikolaos Mihaloliakos (C) is escorted by followers on his way to a news conference in Athens May 6, 2012. Golden Dawn is set to become the most extreme right-wing group to sit in parliament since Greece returned to democracy after the fall of a military junta in 1974.



Tribal people and farmers from the eastern Indian state of Jharkhand take part in a prayer ritual believed to bring rain, outside the Hindu Lord Shiva temple in Ranchi May 6, 2012. The India Meteorological Department (IMD) has forecast average rains in 2012. The annual rains are likely to be 99 percent of the long period average, helping India avoid drought for the third year in row.

[Mr Lick]

Russia's president-elect Vladimir Putin walks down Andreyevsky (St.Andrew's ) Hall of the Great Kremlin Palace in Moscow May 7, as he arrives to take his oath of office and become Russia's president for a historic third mandate at a glittering ceremony inside the Kremlin



Russian people march along a street during an opposition's protest rally in Moscow on May 6. Russian riot police violently clashed with protesters at a rally on the eve of Vladimir Putin's return for a third Kremlin term, arresting over 400 people including opposition leaders.



The Management

[Mr Lick]

Claudio Sanchez, frontman for the rock band Coheed and Cambria, plays a few bars with his face during his performance at the Beale Street Music Festival, May 6, in Memphis, Tenn. The weather cooperated for a third straight day as crowds gathered to watch Coheed and Cambria and other acts like Bush, Herbie Hancock, and Wiz Khalifa.



Kermit Ruffins performs at the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival in New Orleans, La., May 6

[Mr Lick]

37 left homeless after SF fire

Officials say a fire that roared through a four-story apartment building in San Francisco's Mission District on Sunday, May 6, has left several dozen people homeless

[Mr Lick]

Kharapani, Nepal: people try to cross a damaged suspension bridge over the Seti river after flash floods



São Paulo, Brazil: Brazilian pianist Ricardo de Castro Monteiro plays in the air on a piano hanging from wires during the annual 'Virada Cultural' event



Kfar Nabul, Syria: Syrian women flash the sign for victory during a protest



Ontario, Canada: Royal Scots get some refreshment after The Battle of Longwoods re-enactment



London, UK: Phyllis Broadbent, Pearly Queen of Islington, at the annual crowning of a new generation of Pearly Kings and Queens

[Mr Lick]

Violence rages in Syrian elections

Syrians voted in a parliamentary election on May 7 touted by authorities as a milestone of political reform but dismissed by the opposition as a facade while people are killed every day in an anti-government uprising.

[Mr Lick]

Rickie Fowler finally picked up his first PGA Tour win in North Carolina on Sunday May 6, in what might be the start of a rivalry for years to come.




CHARLOTTE, NC - MAY 06: Rickie Fowler of the United States celebrates after making a putt for birdie on the first playoff hole to defeat Rory McIlroy of Northern Ireland and D.A. Points of the United States during the final round to win the Wells Fargo

[OhOh]

The Syrians headed to the ballot boxes today morning at 7:00 a.m. local time (4:00 GMT) as to exercise their right in electing the People's Assembly (Parliament) members according the New Constitution adopted last February.




In turn, Interior Minister Mohammad Ibrahim al-Shaar affirmed that voting is proceeding normally, with voting centers witnessing considerable turnout, adding that there are no problems so far with the exception of some minor things that usually occur in elections.




7,195 candidates , including 710 women, representing the social spectrum, 2,632 of whom with university degrees, are competing through 12,152 electoral centers for 250 parliamentary seats, 127 of which are allocated to peasants and laborers, in 15 electoral constituencies.









Not quite "Dawns rosy finger" but you get the drift.

[Mr Lick]

Lingerie football




Adrian Purnell (18) of the Eastern Conference team runs on the field with other teammates during a Lingerie Football League exhibition match against the Western Conference team in Mexico City May 5, 2012.









A natural instinct of women to go for the hair

[Mr Lick]

It's eerie enough to see one whirlwind swirling across the Martian surface, but three? Get out your 3-D glasses and spot the three dust devils rising from Amazonis Planitia, as seen by the high-resolution camera aboard NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter.

These mini-twisters are analogous to the dust devils that are whipped up on sunny afternoons on Earth, due to the rise of hot air through a low-pressure pocket of cooler air above it. In February, the Mars orbiter spotted a couple of prominent examples of the phenomenon that rose as high as 12 miles into the Red Planet's thin atmosphere. These three dust devils aren't nearly as big, but seeing them simultaneously in one 3-D picture gives you an idea just how active the wind patterns on Mars can get.

[Mr Lick]

Johan Jonker from South Africa plays a joke with his game partners by pretending to retrieve the ball from the hole using his amputated arm during the South African Disabled Golf Open in Langebaan, South Africa on Monday. The South African Disabled Golf Open is one of the top disabled golf tournaments in the world with more than 60 competitors competing over the 3 day event. People suffering from any number of physical disabilities including arm and leg amputees, hemiplegics, paraplegics, stroke victims, blind and deaf people that are able to grip the club with at least one hand and hit the ball can compete.



Robin Singh from South Africa drives the ball during the South African Disabled Golf Open in Langebaan



Neal Merry from Wales plays a shot during the South African Disabled Golf Open

[Mr Lick]

Members of the London's Metropolitan Police Services went head-to-head with U.S. law enforcement and airport crewmembers to see which team of up to 16 people could pull a 150,000 pound Jet Blue A320 aircraft 100 feet in the fastest time.

The "Brits vs. Yanks" competition raises money and awareness for the Joining Against Cancer Kids (JACK) Foundation, a UK based organization that rase money for Neuroblastoma cancer research.

A team of TSA employees had the fastest time of 32 seconds.

[Mr Lick]

A zombie chases a runner on the "Run for Your Lives" 5K obstacle course race in Amesbury, Mass. on May 5.

"Run for Your Lives" 5k zombie races pit runners against man-made and natural obstacle courses and zombies, who chase them down and try and take "health" flags off the runners belts

[Mr Lick]

Men dressed as chimney sweeps on stilts take part in the annual Sweeps Festival on May 7, in Rochester, England.
The three day annual Sweeps Festival in Rochester, England dates back 400 years and was originally the one day in the year that the chimney sweeps could afford time off to celebrate the coming of spring.


This year marks the festival's 32nd year since its reintroduction in 1980, with traditional activities including Morris dancers, who parade to Rochester Castle, and a Jack-in-the-Green ceremony.

[Mr Lick]

Designated Romanian Prime Minister Victor Ponta, left, reacts as he chats with Florin Geogescu, right, designated Finance Minister and Interior Affairs Minister Ioan Rus, center, during the validation vote session in front of both parliament chambers, in Bucharest, Romania, May 7. Ponta, one of the main opposition leaders, was nominated as prime minister by the Romanian president Traian Basescu April 27, after the last government, lead by Mihai Razvan Ungureanu, collapsed during a no-confidence vote



Romanian Premier designate Victor Ponta, left, prepares to address a parliament session in Bucharest, Romania, May 7. Romanian lawmakers are voting on whether to approve the prime minister designate's left-leaning Cabinet, which is expected to continue a slate of economic reforms.

[Mr Lick]

Myanmar pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi releases a balloon as she leaves the National League for Democracy party Lanmadaw township branch office's opening ceremony in Yangon May 7, 2012.

[Mr Lick]

Members of the Rotary International Convention 2012 gather to form the world's biggest smiley in Bangkok May 7. The number of participants is a reflection of the convention year, and the year Rotary reached its $200 million fundraising challenge for polio eradication. Rotary International Convention's concept of "The Land of Thousand Smiles" in order to convey in friendliness of the Thais and being the land of smile as well as to express Thailand's hospitality in welcoming participants from the four corners of the world.

[Mr Lick]

Mascots representing a variety of sports clubs and associations in England participate in the Mascot Grand National 2012 in aid of the Have a Heart Charity at Kempton Park race course in Sunbury on Thames, England on May 7.

[Mr Lick]

MUENSTER, GERMANY - JULY 07: Lars Seidensticker, chairman of the pro party in Berlin, delivers a speech during the pro NRW far-right anti-Islam political party protest outside a mosque on May 7, 2012 in Muenster, Germany. Pro NRW members are campaigning on an anti-Islam platform in state parliamentary elections in the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia and have protested outside mosques in the last week in a provocative tour titled 'Freedom Instead of Islam'. Violence erupted at Pro NRW march in Bonn on Saturday as Salafist Muslim counter-demonstrators turned on Police protecting the anti-Islam protesters, leaving two police officers stabbed and some 100 people arrested









Counter demonstrators stand on a police barrier during the Pro NRW far-right anti-Islam political party protest outside a mosque on May 7, 2012 in Bielefeld, Germany

[Mr Lick]

Former News of the World editor and one-time communications director to David Cameron, Andy Coulson, finds himself at the centre of the media circus while arriving at the high court, where he is in dispute with News Group Newspapers over his legal fees in the phone-hacking row



France's president-elect François Hollande gets a helping hand or maybe a little push from outgoing president, Nicolas Sarkozy, as they make their way to take part in a ceremony in Paris marking the 67th anniversary of the allied victory over Nazi Germany in the second world war



Heartbreaking scenes in Kathmandu, Nepal as authorities forcibly remove more than 200 squatters who have set up their homes illegally along the banks of the Bagmati river



A schoolgirl girl clings to her mother while police try to arrest them as they protest to prevent their eviction. Dozens of people were injured in violent clashes with government forces

[Mr Lick]

Nepal squatters clash with police- more pics