World News in Pictures

[Mr Lick]

Paris, France: Lou Hamrani, six, walks in the street after attending the Mini Miss Model contest. The French senate has voted to ban beauty pageants for children under 16



Athens, Greece: The leader of ultra-rightwing Golden Dawn party, Nikos Michaloliakos, is escorted by masked police officers to the prosecutors' office



Rizal, Philippines: A dog lies on a makeshift operating table as volunteer veterinarians conduct free spaying and neutering services during 'world rabies day' events

[Mr Lick]

A rose lays on the memorial stone of former Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, in the grounds of the the Royal Hospital Chelsea, marking the spot where her ashes were laid to rest following a service in London September 28, 2013.



Actors dressed as Hitchcock Blondes participate in a tour of the streets where Hitchcock grew up in Leytonstone, east London, September 28, 2013



Shanghai Municipality Communist Party Secretary Han Zheng inaugurates the Shanghai Free Trade Zone during a ceremony in Pudong district, Shanghai September 29, 2013

[Mr Lick]

Petra Kvitova of the Czech Republic celebrates after defeating Angelique Kerber of Germany during their singles final match at the Pan Pacific Open tennis tournament in Tokyo September 28, 2013.



Extreme-right Golden Dawn party spokesman Ilias Kassidiaris (C) shouts as he leaves the Greek police headquarters in Athens September 28, 2013.

[Mr Lick]

An 11 month old baby pangolin in Namibia. Little is known about the shy, endangered species



A two and a half month old white Bengal tiger and a six month old baby orangutan play together in a nursery room at the Taman Safari zoo of Cisarua in Jakarta, Indonesia



A horse fight takes place in Rongshui County, southern China's Guangxi Province, to celebrate the autumn harvest

[Mr Lick]

Dragonflies, predatory insects belonging to the taxonomic order Odonata, form a closed circle with their joined bodies during copulation to lock their sex organs together briefly. It is known as a wheel formation and is unique to the order Odonata.



Snapped in a swamp in Moscow, these happy hoppers first caught Irina Furashova's attention with their loud croaks and unique mating songs. After spending two years photographing and observing the pool frogs, the keen amateur photographer has managed to capture some of their happiest moments.



18 days old African calf, Iqhwa, with her mother at Vienna Zoo in Austria. Little Iqhwa is a sensation as she is the 1st elephant calf who came into being from artificial insemination. Her father is an elephant bull who lives in Africa. To guarantee the sperm cells were in working order, they had to be frozen. In the Zulu language Iqhwa means ice, so it's an appropriate name for her, says zoo director Dagmar Schratter



A gibbon named Lele looks out of a window on a bus travelling to the Yunnan Wildlife Park in Kunming, China. A new bus line travelling to the Yunnan Wildlife Park began its trial operation on Wednesday, accompanied by some animal stars from the park as a promotional campaign.

[Mr Lick]

Barcelona forward Lionel Messi, right, arrives at a court in Spain to answer tax fraud charges. Lionel and and his father Jorge Messi are accused of defrauding authorities of more than 4m euros ($5.4m; £3.4m).



Soldiers salute the Philippine flag after pushing back Moro National Liberation Front rebels in the southern Philippines. Government forces say they have now rescued the last civilians held by the rebels after three weeks of fighting.



Models present creations by designer Hussein Chalayan as part of his Spring/Summer 2014 ready-to-wear fashion show during Paris fashion week.



UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon addresses the world body's climate panel as it releases a report that identifies humans as the main cause of global warming.

[Mr Lick]

A man holds a programme for the funeral service of Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta's nephew Mbugua Mwangi in Nairobi. Mr Mwangi was one of the victims in the Westgate shopping centre attack.



A fighter from the rebel Free Syrian Army peers through a hole in the wall in a neighbourhood of Aleppo. UN chemical weapons inspectors have said they are investigating new claims of three chemical attacks in Syria.

[Mr Lick]

Pimp your ride: a car covered in 200,000 rhinestones is displayed at a car show in Nanjing, China



An Indian civic worker cleans a statue of Mahatma Gandhi in Mumbai, India, ahead of Gandhi's 144th birth anniversary



Best of friends: two damselflies on a flower in the Po Valley, Italy, look like they're holding hands. Photographer Alberto Ghizzi Panizza, 38, spotted the insects in the dew as he walked across a flood plain early one morning. Struck by their cute poses, he took the shots shortly after dawn as they rested on wild flowers

[Mr Lick]

If you can't find any dolphins, you could try swimming with tuna like retired Japanese Olympic synchronized swimmer Saho Harada as she holds a graceful pose inside a shoal of tuna, two miles off the coast of Malta.



Racing pundit John McCririck arrives at Victory House for the start of his employment tribunal in London, UK. McCririck is taking former employer Channel 4 and TV production company IMG Media Limited to a tribunal, after his sacking which he alleges is due to age discrimination.

[Mr Lick]

South Korean soldiers (foreground) look toward the North Korean side (back) as a North Korean soldier approaches the UN truce village in the Demilitarized Zone during the visit of US Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel. Hagel toured the South-North Korean border on September 30 as he kicked off a trip to key regional allies in the battle to halt Pyongyang's nuclear weapons programme



US Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel listens to US Army Col. James Minnich as a North Korean soldier takes a photograph of the secretary through a window

[Mr Lick]

Men carry an injured victim at the site of a bomb explosion in the busy Kissa Khwani market in Peshawar, Pakistan. A bomb explosion killed at least 31 people in the third deadly strike to hit the city in the last week.



Greek actress Ino Menegakie acting as the priestesses passes the flame to the first torch bearer, Greek skier Giannis Anoniou, at the Temple of Hera during the lighting ceremony in ancient Olympia, Greece. The ceremony marked the final countdown to the start of this year's winter Games in Sochi, Russia

[Mr Lick]

Minnesota Vikings cheerleaders at Wembley Stadium in London



The Milky Way glows bright in the clear Icelandic sky. Photographer Iurie Belegurschi, 30, from Reykjavik took advantage of the clear sky while taking 15 people on a photo tour around the south of Iceland. The group were hoping to see the Northern Lights, but ended up being treated to an even better sight- an incredibly bright Milky Way

[Mr Lick]

The Red Arrows, the British Royal Air Force Aerobatic Team, perform at the Malta International Airshow outside Valletta



A dog wipes out while competing in the Surf City surf dog competition in Huntington Beach, California, USA



Competitors tackle the Monster Climb during the New York Merrell Down and Dirty Obstacle Race. Over 6000 competitors took part in the event which included mud pits, water crossings, slippery mountain, cargo nets, monster climb and ladder walls. The event was held at Pelham Bay Park in the Bronx, New York, USA

[Mr Lick]

Competitors tackle the mud pit during the New York Merrell Down and Dirty Obstacle Race



Two men operate a egg and cow-shaped vehicle during a race organized by the Red Bull Soapbox Race at the Taipei University of the Arts. More than fifty vehicles took part in this 400-metre race

[Mr Lick]

Visitors explore Swarm of interactive jellyfish created by the group of artists Aphidoidea during Glow 2013 at the beach in Santa Monica, California. Glow is an all-night cultural experience featuring original commissions by artists that re-imagine Santa Monica Beach as a playground for thoughtful and participatory temporary artworks



Taipei City Zoo's recently born panda cub. The cub, the first panda born in Taiwan, was delivered on July 7 following a series of artificial insemination sessions after her parents -- Yuan Yuan and her partner Tuan Tuan -- failed to conceive naturally. The birth of Yuan Zai in July, which means child of Yuan Yuan, sparked great joy in Taiwan with local media carrying daily reports and photos on her growth

[Mr Lick]

The Liaoning Province Meteorological Station topples near a residential construction site during a controlled demolition in Shenyang, China. The building, with a 45-metre-high giant thermometer attached to its exterior, was demolished to make way for a new residential area



Smashed cars are used as a backdrop on the runway during the Givenchy show at 'la Halle Freyssinet', part of the Paris Fashion Week

[Mr Lick]

A diver swims towards a great white shark in the Baja Peninsula in Mexico



The unmanned U.S. commercial cargo ship Cygnus is seen approaching the International Space Station



An artist has turned a carpet into a stunning portrait of tennis ace Andy Murray - by staining it with commonly spilled items such as wine and coffee. Ed Chapman spent 300 hours painting the masterpiece.The 42-year-old used one jar of coffee, half a bottle of red wine, three bottles of nail varnish, three lipsticks, a jar of tumeric, and three shovels of soot. He also lobbed on two cartons of tomato juice, two jars of passata, tomato sauce, blackcurrant cordial, a jar of ink, and a bottle of food colouring

[Mr Lick]

A roof explodes after a Chinese military drone dropped a bomb on a building during an anti-terrorism drill in Foshan, Guangdong



Wingsuit flyer Jeb Corliss of the U.S. glides through a narrow valley in the Langshan Mountain in Quzhou, Jiangsu province



A woman holds a cat while another kisses it during an international feline beauty show in Bucharest, Romania



Hong Kong actors Sean Lau, right, and Louis Koo smile during a press conference to promote their latest film Inferno in Petaling Jaya, near Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

[Mr Lick]

Sphynx kittens reach for a referee's toy while being evaluated during an international feline beauty show in Bucharest, Romania



A hippopotamus stares at the photographer from its enclosure at the San Antonio Zoo in Texas



Children play inside inflatable installations at the Casa Daros museum in Rio de Janeiro

[Mr Lick]

Minnesota Vikings beat Pittsburgh Steelers at Wembley as NFL comes to London











Star spangled: Gene Simmons, singer for the rock band Kiss, sung the American national anthem before the game

[Mr Lick]

Trumpet blower: Boxer David Haye blows the Vikings' horn ahead of kick-off

[Mr Lick]

Too quick: Greg Jennings gets away from Cortez Allen to score the first touchdown of the game for the Vikings



Over the moon: Le'Veon Bell of the Pittsburgh Steelers flips over into the endzone for the Steelers' first touchdown



Star man: NFL MVP Adrian Peterson ran in two touchdowns for the Vikings, who won 34-27



Job done: Matt Cassel and Greg Jennings celebrate at Wembley after the Vikings' victory

[Mr Lick]

The best of Sign Language: September 2013



A man cries over the coffin of his brother, who was killed in a bomb blast, at a hospital in Peshawar, September 29, 2013



A woman and her child travel along a flooded street by boat at Kabin Buri district in Prachin Buri, Thailand, September 29, 2013



Lawmaker of extreme-right Golden Dawn party Christos Pappas (C) shouts as he leaves the Greek police headquarters in Athens, September 29, 2013. The leader of Greece's far-right Golden Dawn party and four more of its lawmakers will appear in court on Tuesday to enter pleas on charges of belonging to a criminal organisation after being arrested following the killing of an anti-fascist rapper.

[Mr Lick]

Security officials, rescue workers and residents gather at the site of a bomb attack in Peshawar, September 29, 2013



A man casts a fishing net on a flooded street at Srimahaphot district in Prachin Buri, Thailand, September 29, 2013.



A supporter of India's main opposition Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) holds a mask of Hindu nationalist Narendra Modi, prime ministerial candidate for BJP and Gujarat's chief minister during a rally being addressed by Modi in New Delhi, September 29, 2013.



A woman roped jumps from a 44-metre high (144-feet high) waterpipe bridge in the Siberian Taiga area outside Krasnoyarsk,September 29, 2013

[Mr Lick]

A fan poses at the London Tattoo Convention, where more than 300 artists from around the world are showcasing their work.



A dog wipes out while competing in the Surf City competition in Huntington Beach, California.