World News in Pictures

[Mr Lick]

Maybe not everyday wear. A model walks the runway at the KTZ show during London Fashion Week Fall/Winter 2013/14 at Somerset House.



Polar bear Knut's final resting place is on display at the Natural History Museum in Berlin, Germany. Knut's hide has been mounted on a polyurethane body with the synthetic body and glass eyes. Knut was hand-raised after his mother rejected him and became famous around the world before suddenly dying in 2011 after suffering from encephalitis.



Flintstone automatic: A Palestinian protester uses a slingshot to throw a stone at Israeli troops during clashes outside Ofer prison near the West Bank city of Ramallah. Clashes broke out on Friday between Palestinian stone-throwers and Israeli troops following a protest calling for the release of hunger-striking Palestinian prisoners held in Israeli jails



Camera-tastic: US actor Nicolas Cage poses during a photocall for the film "The Croods" during the 63rd Berlin International Film Festival Berlinale in Berlin, Germany

[Mr Lick]

An Indian paramilitary soldier keeps watch from his armored vehicle in Srinagar, Indian Kashmir. Indian troops killed a Pakistani soldier who crossed the line of control (LoC) between Indian and Pakistan-administered Kashmir, an official said



Citrus installation: A man works on an 'Rail Road' sculpture made from lemons and oranges ahead of the 80th Lemon Festival in Menton, France. The 80th Lemon Festival themed 'Around the World in 80 Days' runs from 16 February to 06 March



South Korean Army 155mm Howitzers fire live rounds during a live fire drill in Cheorwon, 70 km northeast of Seoul. South Korean President Lee Myung-Bak said today that North Korea can never be made to abandon its nuclear weapons programme, arguing that only regime collapse could remove the threat from Pyongyang



Veiled women mourners march and raise their fists during the funeral of Ameena Seyyed Mahdi in Abu Seba village, north of the Bahraini capital Manama. The 36-year-old woman died in controversial circumstances on 13 February after being hospitalized



Infant gorilla Bomassa eats leaves beside his mother as they roam the Forest Glade exhibit at the North Carolina Zoo

[Mr Lick]

Anti-government protesters set a car on fire to create a road block to mark the second anniversary of the February 14 uprising, in Budaiya, west of Manama, February 14, 2013.



San Francisco Sheriff's Captain Kevin Paulson (C) and Eliana Lopez, wife of San Francisco Sheriff Ross Mirkarimi (R), cheer with a group of inmates after dancing together in opposition of violence against women in a One Billion Rising event at the San Francisco County Jail #5 on Valentine's Day in San Bruno, California February 14, 2013. The event, with participants from 250 countries performing a choreographed dance routine on a day associated with romantic love, aims to raise awareness about violence against women in which one in three women across the globe will be raped or beaten in their lifetime.



Rhoda Brogan walks around the show home which neighbours her own home, on the Glenall housing estate in the village of Borris-in-Ossory, County Laois, Ireland February 13, 2013. Of the 26 houses in the unfinished estate only six are occupied.

[Mr Lick]

North Korean soldiers attend a rally celebrating the country's third nuclear test at the Kim Il-Sung square in Pyongyang February 14, 2013. Korean characters on a sign read,"(We) celebrate ardently success of the third underground nuclear test!".



Japanese artist Yoko Ono dances next to art pieces "river bed" and "morning beams" during the opening of the exhibition "Half-a-wind show. A retrospective" at Schirn Kunsthalle in Frankfurt February 14, 2013.



Members of the Druze community take part in a rally in the Druze village of Majdal Shams on the Golan Heights, which stands at the heart of a long-standing conflict between Israel and Syria February 14, 2013.

[Mr Lick]

Allahabad, India: A naga sadhu, or Hindu holy man, puts on garlands before participating in a procession to reach Sangam, the confluence of the Ganges, Yamuna and Saraswati rivers. Millions of Hindu pilgrims are attending the Maha Kumbh festival, one of the world's largest religious gatherings, which lasts for 55 days and falls every 12 years



Dhaka, Bangladesh: Thousands of people hold candles at the Shahbagh intersection. The mass movement began on 5 February, when protests began against the life sentence given to the leader of the Jamaat-e-Islami party, Quader Molla, and to other war criminals, calling the sentences too lenient and demanding capital punishment instead



New Delhi, India: Activists dance in an event to support the One Billion Rising global campaign. Flash mobs and rallies with singing and dancing were organised across the world as part of the campaign, timed to coincide with Valentine's Day, to bring an end to violence against women

[Mr Lick]

Oscar Pistorius in court

[Mr Lick]

Syrian rebels fire mortar toward government forces



Over 200 couples get married in a swimming pool on Valentines Day in Lima, Peru

[Mr Lick]

Chubby Checker sues HP over penis app

Chubby Checker celebrated the 50th anniversary of The Twist in 2010

Rock'n'roll singer Chubby Checker is suing HP over an app that used his name as a euphemism for penis size.

The Chubby Checker app - which appeared on websites for Palm OS devices - claimed to guess the intimate measurement based on shoe size.

Lawyers acting for the singer are seeking $500m (£323m) in compensation, saying the app has done "irreparable damage" to his reputation.

HP said it removed the app as soon as it received a complaint from lawyers.

Lawyers for the 71-year-old singer - real name Ernest Evans - filed a "cease and desist" order against HP and its subsidiary Palm in September 2012, soon after the app became available.

Now they have launched a trademark infringement case against the two tech firms.

[Mr Lick]

Asteroid 2012 DA14 set for record-breaking Earth pass




An asteroid as large as an Olympic swimming pool will race past the Earth on Friday at a distance of just 27,700km (17,200mi) - the closest ever predicted for an object of that size.

It will pass closer even than the geosynchronous satellites that orbit the Earth, but there is no risk of impacts or collisions.

Its closest approach will be 19:25 GMT.

For regions in darkness around that time, it will be visible using good binoculars or a telescope.

The asteroid's arrival was preceded by a damaging meteor event in Russia on Friday - but indications from the meteor's path suggest that the two events are entirely unrelated - just a "cosmic coincidence", as Alan Fitzsimmons of Queens University Belfast told BBC News.



The asteroid orbits the Sun in 368 days - a period similar to Earth's year - but it does not orbit in the same plane as the Earth.

As it passes - at 7.8km/s (17,450 mi/hr) - it will come from "under" the Earth and return back toward the Sun from "above".

It will pass over directly over the eastern Indian Ocean, making for the best viewing in Eastern Europe, Asia and Australia.

But keen viewers anywhere can find one of several live streams of the event on the internet, including a feed from the Jet Propulsion Laboratory at Nasa, available from 19:00 GMT.

2012 DA14 was first spotted in February 2012 by astronomers at the La Sagra Sky Survey in Spain - once a fairly small-scale, amateur effort to discover and track asteroids that has in recent years become a significant contributor to our knowledge of these "near-Earth objects".

They caught sight of the asteroid after its last pass, at a far greater distance.



From their observations, they were able to calculate the asteroid's future and past paths and predict Friday's near-miss - which will be the closest the object comes for at least 30 years.

Prof Fitzsimmons said that it is a scientific opportunity not to be missed.

"When asteroids come this close, it's very important to try to learn about them - it's become so bright, so it's so easy to study," he told BBC News.

"We get an additional insight into these small objects, which are the most likely impactors on Earth."

The notion that it is these smaller, tens-to-hundreds of metres-sized objects that pose the greatest potential threat to Earth is explored in the BBC feature article Can we know about every asteroid? .

For skywatchers in the UK, the graphic below indicates roughly where in the northern sky to try to spot 2012 DA14.

For skywatchers in the UK, the graphic below indicates roughly where in the northern sky to try to spot 2012 DA14.

[Mr Lick]

Children play beside the tomb of the Askia on February 15, 2013 in Gao, northern Mali. The European Union on Friday announced fresh aid worth 20 million euros to help restore law and order in Mali as well as the return of basic state services such as education after months of trouble.

[Mr Lick]

North Korean synchronized swimmers perform at a mass synchronized swimming exhibition event in Pyongyang on on Feb. 15.



Young North Korean synchronized swimmers perform at an exhibition event in Pyongyang on on Feb. 15.

[Mr Lick]

Mercury shows off its colourful side




Scientists working on Nasa's Messenger probe to Mercury have shown off a stunning new colour map of the planet.

It comprises thousands of images acquired by the spacecraft during its first year in orbit.

This is not how we would see Mercury, which would look like a dull, brownish-grey globe to our eyes.

Rather, the map represents an exaggerated view of the planet that is intended to highlight variations in the composition of its rock.

"Messenger's camera has filters that go from the blue to the near-infrared of the spectrum, and we are able to use computer processing to enhance the very subtle but real colour differences that are present on Mercury's surface," explained Dr David Blewett from the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Lab.

"The areas that you see that are orange - those are volcanic plains. There are some areas that are deep blue that are richer in an opaque mineral which is somewhat mysterious - we don't really know what that is yet.

"And then you see beautiful light-blue streaks across Mercury's surface. Those are crater rays formed in impacts when fresh, ground-up rock is strewn across the surface of the planet," the mission scientist told BBC News.

Dr Blewett displayed the map here in Boston at the annual meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS).




Mercury: The inner-most planet

• Mercury was visited first by the Mariner 10 probe in the 1970s; and by Messenger currently
• The planet's diameter is 4,880km - about one-third the size of Earth
• It is the second densest planet in Solar System; 5.3 times that of water
• The Caloris Basin is the largest known feature (1,300km in diameter)
• Scientists speculate there is water-ice in the planet's permanently shadowed craters
• Mercury's huge iron core takes up more than 60% of the planet's mass
• It is an extreme place: surface temperatures swing between 425C and -180C
• Mercury is the only inner planet besides Earth with a global magnetic field
• Messenger is the first spacecraft to go into orbit around the planet

[Mr Lick]

Venezuela's President Hugo Chavez smiles in between his daughters, Rosa Virginia (R) and Maria while recovering from cancer surgery in Havana in this photograph released by the Ministry of Information on February 15, 2013



A Palestinian with marks of pepper spray on his face is detained by Israeli border policemen who suspect him of throwing stones during clashes at a protest in the East Jerusalem neighbourhood of Issawiya February 15, 2013



Naga Sadhus or Hindu holy men hold the hair of another Naga Sadhu for drying on the banks of the river Ganges after taking holy dip during the third 'Shahi Snan' (grand bath) at the ongoing "Kumbh Mela" or Pitcher Festival, in the northern Indian city of Allahabad February 15, 2013

[Mr Lick]

A protester, who opposes Egyptian President Mohamed Mursi, shouts slogans while holding a cross and a Koran as he stands on top of a burnt riot police vehicle after protesters seized it from the Qasr al-Nile bridge during a demonstration against Mursi and members of the Muslim Brotherhood at Tahrir Square in Cairo February 15, 2013.



Aksel Lund Svindal of Norway skis during the second run of the men's Giant Slalom race at the World Alpine Skiing Championships in Schladming February 15, 2013.



An elderly woman takes part in a memorial service in the centre of Minsk, February 15, 2013



U.S. President Barack Obama (R) hugs Mary Jo Copeland of Minneapolis as she reacts upon receiving the Presidential Citizens Medal for the Sharing and Caring Hands social assistance safety net she founded in 1985, in the East Room at the White House in Washington, February 15, 2013

[Mr Lick]

A Russian policeman works near an ice hole, said by the Interior Ministry department for Chelyabinsk region to be the point of impact of a meteorite seen earlier in the Urals region, at lake Chebarkul some 80 kilometers (50 miles) west of Chelyabinsk February 15, 2013.

[Mr Lick]

Mardi Gras, New Orleans 2013

[Mr Lick]

[Mr Lick]

[Mr Lick]

Big Bear, California: Gloves sit inside the burned out cabin where the remains of multiple murder suspect and former Los Angeles Police Department officer Christopher Dorner were found



Ramallah, West Bank: Palestinians are covered with teargas during clashes with Israeli troops at a rally held in support of a prisoner on hunger strike in protest against his incarceration



Gao, Mali: A French soldier checks passengers from a transport truck as security is stepped up to stop the infiltration of rebel fighters



Chelyabinsk, Russia: The local zinc plant damaged by a meteorite shockwave



Barcelona, Spain: Onlookers watch workers from the Telefonica phone company take part in a demonstration to protest against what they claim are unjustified dismissals

[tomswi]

The 56th annual World Press Photo Contest has selected a picture by Paul Hansen of the Swedish newspaper Dagens Nyheter as the World Press Photo of the Year 2012.

The picture shows a group of men carrying the bodies of two dead children through a street in Gaza City on Nov. 20, 2012. They are being taken to a mosque for a burial ceremony while their father's body is carried behind on a stretcher. Two-year-old Suhaib Hijazi and his older brother Muhammad were killed when their house was destroyed by an Israeli missile strike. Their mother was put in intensive care




The photo was selected from a total of 103,481 images submitted by 5,666 photographers from 124 countries.

"The strength of the picture lies in the way it contrasts the anger and sorrow of the adults with the innocence of the children," jury member Mayu Mohanna said. "It's a picture I will not forget."

For all the suffering and death of innocent children, thank you usa!, usa the murder of children, women.. usa you are the best in this shit! Fuck you usa!

[Mr Lick]

Apologies for the delay in posting, i have been travelling during the past 24 hours.


Warning - Graphic and very scary pics below.




a series of photos of Hindu holy men before and after they had their beards and hair shaved off as part of the initiation ritual to become Naga Sadhus — naked holy men — at the Maha Kumbh Festival in Allahabad, India.

The initiation of new Naga Sadhus can only be performed at the Kumbh Mela, which occurs once every 12 years and sees millions of devotees converging at the confluence of three holy rivers: the Ganges, the Yamuna and the mythical Saraswati









That man should wear more than a beard

[Mr Lick]

Danica Patrick, driver of the No. 10 GoDaddy.com Chevrolet, gets out of her car after qualifying for the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Daytona 500 at Daytona International Speedway on Feb. 17 in Daytona Beach, Fla.

[Mr Lick]

Pakistani relatives of Saturday's bombing victims mourn next to the bodies in a mosque in Quetta, Pakistan, Feb. 17. Angry residents demanded government protection from an onslaught of attacks against Shiite Muslims a day after scores of people were killed in a massive bombing that a local official said was a sign that security agencies were too scared to do their jobs.









Fire rages from destroyed buildings Feb. 16 at the site of the attack.

[Mr Lick]

Seriously people, shouting 'Get out you tosser' isn't going to change anything

[Mr Lick]

Mogadishu, Somalia: Somali soldiers walk near the wreckage left after a car bomb went off at a popular beachfront restaurant frequented by Somali officials and city residents



Dalton, New Hampshire, US: a man makes his way to the next shooting station as he competes in the Primitive Biathlon, in which competitors wear snowshoes and fire single-shot, muzzle-loaded firearms at four stations



Telford, England: Tristan Ellis, aged three, poses as Buzz Lightyear with his father Gavin Ellis at the MCM Midlands Comic Con Expo