World News in Pictures

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[Mr Lick]

[Mr Lick]

The knight and his steed: using its suction discs for a firm grip, a red-eyed tree frog clings to a hercules beetle. The image, shot by Nicolas Reusens, is one of the entries for the 2014 Sony world photography awards



A poster depicting former South African president Nelson Mandela hangs on barbed wire as a Palestinian protester flees teargas fired by Israeli soldiers during clashes at a weekly demonstration against Jewish settlements at Bilin, near Ramallah, in the West Bank



A severely wounded man lies in a Bangui mosque in the Central African Republic, following a day-long gun battle between mainly Muslim Seleka soldiers and Christian militias



People walk on the North Sea beach near the town of Norddeich, Germany, in strong winds

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Veteran U.S. soldier Merrill Newman (C), who was detained for over a month in North Korea, arrives at Beijing airport in Beijing, in this photo taken by Kyodo December 7, 2013. Newman, 85, arrived in China on Saturday after being freed by the reclusive nation on humanitarian grounds. North Korea's KCNA news agency earlier said he was being deported because he had admitted to his wrongdoing and apologised



Rebel fighters carry weapons during an offensive on the Canadian hospital building, which they say is being controlled by forces loyal to Syria's President Bashar al-Assad, in Aleppo December 4, 2013



A woman leaves flowers at a statue of South Africa's former president Nelson Mandela at South Bank in London December 6, 2013. South African anti-apartheid hero Mandela died peacefully at home in Johannesburg at the age of 95 on Thursday after months fighting a lung infection, leaving his nation and the world in mourning for a man revered as a moral giant



Joao Vicente Goulart (L) comforts his son Cristopher during the burial of the remains of their respective father and grandfather, former Brazilian President Joao Goulart, for his burial after being brought from Brasilia where a new autopsy was performed 37 years after his death, in Sao Borja, Rio Grande do Sul state, December 6, 2013. Goularts remains were exhumed in Sao Borja last November 14 and flown to Brasilia to determine whether he was poisoned by agents of the right-wing military regime that deposed him in 1964, as part of an effort by Brazil's leftist government to answer unresolved questions about murders, kidnappings and other human rights abuses during the dictatorship, which ended in 1985. A state funeral will be held later in the day although the results of the autopsy are still unknown



Schoolchildren hold candles and portraits of former South African President Nelson Mandela during a prayer ceremony at a school in the western Indian city of Ahmedabad December 6, 2013. South African anti-apartheid hero Mandela died peacefully at home in Johannesburg at the age of 95 on Thursday after months fighting a lung infection, leaving his nation and the world in mourning for a man revered as a moral giant



A rebel fighter eats under a table, with bullet casings on the ground around him, in Aleppo, December 4, 2013



Israeli police chase a Palestinian during clashes with stone-throwing protesters after Friday prayers, outside al-Aqsa mosque in the compound known to Muslims as Noble Sanctuary and to Jews as Temple Mount, in Jerusalem's Old City December 6, 2013. Israeli police hurled stun grenades to disperse stone-throwing Palestinian protesters outside the mosque, Islam's third holiest site, after prayers and five people were detained for causing disturbances at the site, a police spokesman said on Friday

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UK weather in pictures: The aftermath of the gale-force storms and flooding

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Prayers for Mandela

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And in London, hundreds of people have left flowers by the statue of Nelson Mandela near the Houses of Parliament. The Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby led a service of thanksgiving for Mr Mandela nearby

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Montreal



Marseille




Berlin

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A woman (C) argues with gendarmes as villagers and environmental activists protest against exploration for shale gas by U.S. oil major Chevron, in the village of Pungesti, 340 km (211 miles) northeast of Bucharest December 7, 2013



A police officer reacts amid the ruins of a police station which was destroyed by a bomb attack in the municipality of Inza in Cauca province December 7, 2013. At least eight people were killed and 20 injured in a bomb attack on Saturday in a village in southern Colombia that the military blamed on left-wing FARC guerrillas who have been engaged in peace talks with the government for the last year



Cristiano Ronaldo, who plays for Real Madrid and Portugal's national soccer team, reacts as a fan grabs his face while signing autographs upon arrival at the Madrid Wax Museum, in Madrid December 7, 2013

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Kalyanarat Ranasinghe's wife Dammika cries after receiving the flag that covered the casket of her husband, a Level II NYPD Traffic Enforcement Agent, during his wake service in New York, December 7, 2013. Ranasinghe was on duty when he was struck by a large truck as its driver pulled away from the curb, pinning him underneath, an NYPD spokesman said Saturday



Gold medallist Mao Asada (C) of Japan poses as silver medallist Julia Lipnitskaia (L) of Russia and bronze medallist Ashley Wagner of the U.S. look on during the award ceremony for the women's competition at the ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating Final in Fukuoka, southwestern Japan December 7, 2013



Protestors sing and play a piano decorated with EU and Ukrainian symbols as Interior Ministry members stand guard near the presidential administration building during a rally held by supporters of EU integration in Kiev December 7, 2013. Ukraine's opposition accused President Viktor Yanukovich on Saturday of betraying national interests at unannounced talks with Russia's Vladimir Putin, though both countries said nothing had been agreed

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More than MCMXXXIV years ago, Italy's Mount Vesuvius turned Pompeii into a death trap — but the sleeping volcano just yawns in an image captured by DigitalGlobe's GeoEye 1 satellite.

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A line of Santas waits to use the facilities at the annual 5km run in Brighton, East Sussex. Runners got a free suit and medal to take home after the festive event, which was in aid of charity Pass It On Africa, which helps to build schools



Sheepdog Otto rounds up a flock of organic, free range, bronze-feathered turkeys at Hook House Farm in Kirby Fleetham



A prototype parcelcopter from German postal and logistics group Deutsche Post DHL flies 300 feet above ground, its maximum approved height, in Bonn. DHL was demonstrating its prototype parcelcopter, which is a modified microdrone that costs 40,000 euros (£33,500) and can carry packages up to 2.65 pounds

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A scaffolding dome is erected in preparation for the funeral of Nelson Mandela, in his hometown of Qunu, South Africa



Buildings are shrouded in smog on in China. Heavy smog has been lingering in northern and eastern parts of China since last week



A Tiger Shark is photographed eating a fish which has been fed to him by diver Vincent Canabal at Tiger Beach in the Bahamas



Australian fast bowler Peter Siddle celebrates dismissing England's Stuart Broad

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It may look like a flying whale but this is the moment thousands of starlings flocked into the shape of a mammal. Nature photographer Damian Waters captured this extraordinary spectacle as he watched the birds swarm to seek the warmth of nearby cattle sheds near Gretnain Scotland



A man playing Father Christmas sits with children at the Hinomoto nursery school in Tokyo

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An artist adds some finishing touches to graffiti which is part of the International Urban Art Festival at the Getsemani neighborhood, in Cartagena, Colombia



Philadelphia Eagles personnel clear snow before the NFL game against the Detroit Lions



Philadelphia Eagles' Riley Cooper, left, kicks up the snow as he pulls in a two-point conversion against the Detroit Lions



Ed Balls performs Der Dichter Spricht, the final movement of Schumann’s Kinderszenen, at a concert hall in north London

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Anti-government protesters march during a rally in Bangkok



Ducks swim past damaged houses and trees at typhoon-ravaged Tolosa town in central Philippines



Flowers and messages of condolence are left at the statue of Late South African president Nelson Mandela in Parliament Square



An anti-government protester beats the statue of Vladimir Lenin with a sledgehammer in Ukraine. Protesters have toppled the statue of Bolshevik leader Vladimir Lenin in central Kiev amid huge protests gripping the country

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Nelson Mandela in pictures: preparations for memorial ceremony



Mandla Mandela with crowds outside the home of his late grandfather, Nelson Mandela. More than 100 heads of state and government are headed to South Africa for the memorial service in Johannesburg on Tuesday

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Thai parliament dissolved as protests continue

The Thai prime minister, Yingluck Shinawatra, has dissolved parliament and called a snap election, but anti-government protest leaders pressed ahead with mass demonstrations seeking to overthrow her

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Protesters converge on Government House in Bangkok for a huge rally