World News in Pictures

[Mr Lick]

Family members of Oscar Pistorius sit in court ahead of his trial in Pretoria on March 3. "Blade Runner" Pistorius arrived at the Pretoria High Court on Monday for the start of his murder trial, opening a decisive chapter in the story of the rise and fall of one of the world's best-known athletes

[Mr Lick]

An anti-government protester throws a gas canister at the police during clashes at Altamira square in Caracas, Venezuela March 3, 2014



Claudia, a roommate of Andres Gonzalez Manzano, sleeps wrapped in a blanket next to their belongings and a couple of friends at their building's lobby after they were evicted from the apartment Manzano was renting in Madrid, Spain March 3, 2014

[Mr Lick]

Men inspect the General National Congress building, a day after protesters stormed into the building in Tripoli, Libya March 3, 2014



Vitaly Churkin, Russia's ambassador to the United Nations, shows a letter to the U.N. Security Council in New York purportedly from ousted Ukrainian leader Viktor Yanukovich to Vladimir Putin asking the Russian leader for military intervention in Ukraine in this still image from UNTV video March 3, 2014



Rescue workers observe a burning boat near the Barra da Tijuca beach in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil March 3, 2014

[Mr Lick]

Boeing 737 fuselages are delivered by train to a Boeing manufacturing site in Renton, Washington, February 26, 2014



Russia's President Vladimir Putin, Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu and head of the Russian army's main department of combat preparation Ivan Buvaltsev watch military exercises at the Kirillovsky firing ground in the Leningrad region, Russia March 3, 2014

[Mr Lick]

Members of the Mocidade samba school perform during the second night of the carnival parade at the Sambadrome in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.



Oscar Pistorius makes his way to North Gauteng High Court for the second day of his trial accused of the murder of his girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp in Pretoria, South Africa. Lawyers for Mr Pistorius questioned a neighbour who told his trial she heard a woman's "terrible screams" and shots.



Police officers peek through a curtain at the site of a bombing in a court complex in Islamabad, Pakistan. At least 11 people were killed when gunmen burst into the court complex and opened fire before at least two suicide bombers detonated explosives, at a time of the morning when crowds gather.

[Mr Lick]

Demonstrators in Venezuela clashed with police on the streets of Caracas in renewed protests against the government. The protests began in early February in the western states of Tachira and Merida when students demanded increased security after a female student alleged she was the victim of an attempted rape.



One of eight Chevrolet Corvettes is removed from a sinkhole in the Skydome at the National Corvette Museum in Kentucky in the US.



Boxer Manny Pacquiao takes part in a training session in General Santos, Philippines. Pacquiao will fight for the WBO welterweight championship against Timothy Bradley on 12 April at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, Nevada.



Auctioneer Karen Fairweather dusts a Bechstein piano used by John Lennon and Paul McCartney of The Beatles while filming their movie Help! in 1965. The piano, which McCartney used to compose the song Yesterday, is part of an auction of more than 200 lots of rare Beatles memorabilia and vinyl records in Liverpool later this month.

[Mr Lick]

Two European red fox cubs squabble over food in Holle, Germany



Chelsea Pensioners (left to right) Paddy Fox, John Honey and Jim Fellows sow Flanders poppy seeds in Cadogen Place, Chelsea, to mark the centenary of the First World War



Black ink is thrown at India's Sahara group chairman Subrata Roy's face as he arrives at the Supreme Court in New Delhi. Roy was arrested after he failed to respond to the Supreme Court's summons to appear in court in connection with the case in which Sahara owes millions of investors over 22,000 crore Indian rupees (2.1 billion pounds).

[Mr Lick]

A frontier soldier from the People's Liberation Army jumps through a ring of fire as part of training in Heihe, Heilongjiang province, China



Guo, a farmer in his 50s, drives his self-made scale replica of a Lamborghini in a street in Zhengzhou, central China's Henan province. Guo spent 6 months and about 5,000 yuan (£492) to make the 6ft 6in long (2 metres), 3ft 2in wide (1 metre) 'Lamborghini' as a toy for his grandson. The replica is mainly made of scrapped metals and parts from electric bicycles. It bears five sets of batteries and can travel as far as 37 miles when fully charged

[Mr Lick]

A delegate from the Oroqen ethnic minority wearing a deer hat arrives at the Great Hall of the People for the opening session of the National Peoples Congress (NPC) in Beijing, China



A partially frozen Niagara Falls lit up by lights during sub-freezing temperatures at the North American landmark

[Mr Lick]

A carnival goer dressed as a 'Peliqueiro' chases a man in Spain's northwestern village of Laza. In times gone by, 'Peliqueiros' or ancient tax collectors pursued villagers through the streets as they went about their business ringing cowbells and hitting villagers with their sticks



Bianca, a chihuahua, is pictured after winning the second annual Doggie Gras Parade and Fat Cat Tuesday Celebration at the Helen Woodward Animal Centre in Rancho Santa Fe, California

[Mr Lick]

A massive storm cloud looms over Sydney, Australia. A severe thunderstorm warning was issued for the city's metropolitan area with heavy rainfall due to cause flash flooding in areas



Men in helmets are hit by oranges during the traditional 'Battle of the Oranges' held during the carnival in Ivrea, near Turin, Italy



High school student Rachel Canning, 18, left, takes the oath as her parents, Elizabeth and Sean, look on in Morris County Superior Court in Morristown, New Jersey. Rachel is suing her parents for financial support and college tuition after she claims they threw her out of the home

[Mr Lick]

Protesters prepare to sling stones from a makeshift catapult towards Venezuelan national guard troops during an anti-government demonstration in Caracas



U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry stands beside a barricade at the Shrine of the Fallen in Kiev

[Mr Lick]

Hotel hostesses serving the delegates pose for photographers outside the Great Hall of the People, Beijing, as the opening session of the annual National People's Congress gets underway



Looking like they're worn out from all the festivities, children sit on a bench during the traditional last-day-of-carnival event called 'Kusaki' in Jedlinsk, Poland. The carnival, where all roles are played by males, takes place during Shrove Tuesday and includes a folk party and a re-enactment showing the 'defeat of Death'



Koola the gorilla cuddles her four-month-old baby at Brookfield Zoo, Chicago

[Mr Lick]

Flames and smoke shoot up after an explosion at a townhouse complex in Ewing, New Jersey. A gas line damaged by a contractor exploded 'like a bomb' while utility crews worked to repair it at the complex, injuring at least seven people and destorying several homes



Behind you! Actress Eva Green attends the premiere of Warner Bros. Pictures and Legendary Pictures' '300: Rise Of An Empire' at the TCL Chinese Theatre, Hollywood

[Mr Lick]

Misao Okawa, the world's oldest Japanese woman, at her 116th birthday celebrations at Kurenai Nursing Home in Osaka, Japan. Okawa, born in Tenma, Osaka, on March 5, 1898 to a family of Kimono merchants married in 1919 and had three children, of which a daughter and a son are still alive. She has four grandchildren and six great-grandchildren

Give us a kiss!!



U.S. First Lady Michelle Obama reacts after finding wireless microphones from TV stations under her seat as she visits the Washington Yu Ying Public Charter School ahead of her upcoming trip to China



A mother and son wearing carnival costumes walk in flooded Saint Mark's Square on the last day of Carnival in Venice

[Mr Lick]

New Orleans Mardi Gras 2014 festivities

In New Orleans, the first recorded Mardi Gras – French for Fat Tuesday – took place in 1699. Originally, festivities marked the beginning of Lent, but today this officially recognised holiday is synonymous with beads, krewes and king cake



Actor Hugh Laurie looks out at the crowd as Bacchus 2014 during the Krewe of Bacchus Parade in New Orleans last Sunday. The city's Mardi Gras celebration culminates with Fat Tuesday

[Mr Lick]

[Mr Lick]

Ukraine ejected pro-Moscow demonstrators on Wednesday from a regional government building and raised its flag where Russia's had flown since the weekend, signaling an important shift of control in the Russian-speaking east.
The Donetsk administrative headquarters had been held since Monday by activists who burst in chanting "Putin come!" and demanded control over the regional police force and the end of ties with Kiev. Police said they evacuated it peacefully after receiving reports it was booby-trapped with explosives

[Mr Lick]

"Crimeans support Russia! Crimeans support Russia!" the crowd of about 50 people chanted in the capital of Ukraine's Crimea region. Others held signs bearing slogans such as "America: Don't Kill People."

[Mr Lick]

Fat Tuesday around the world

[Mr Lick]

[Mr Lick]

[Mr Lick]

Journalists wait inside the courtroom ahead of the Oscar Pistorius trial at the high court in Pretoria, South Africa



Oscar Pistorius is pursued by media as he leaves North Gauteng high court during a break on the third day of his trial in Pretoria, South Africa

[Mr Lick]

Chinese people's armed police give free haircuts as a form of community service during the annual "Learn from Lei Feng Day" at a public square in Shanghai, China



Greenpeace activists invading the Beznau nuclear power plant in Döttingen, Switzerland



Float builder Jacques Tilly carries the head of a figure depicting the Russian president, Vladimir Putin, in a shopping cart in Duesseldorf, Germany

[Mr Lick]

Actress Eva Green attends the premiere of her latest film, 300: Rise Of An Empire, in Hollywood, California.




In Orbit, a 25ft (7.6m) wheel made from wood, steel, and furniture, is home for performance artists Ward Shelley (top) and Alex Schweder for 10 days at the Boiler gallery in Williamsburg, New York. They will share two living units arrayed over the hamster-wheel-like sculpture, with Shelly living on the outside and Schweder on the inside.



Scottish First Minister Alex Salmond delivers a lecture on Scottish independence, in central London under the watchful eye of George Stephenson, a pioneering railway engineer and inventor of early locomotive the Rocket.



The third day of the murder trial of South African athlete Oscar Pistorius has resumed in Pretoria. Mr Pistorius has pleaded not guilty to intentionally killing his girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp on 14 February 2013. The 27-year-old double amputee, who shot the model and reality TV star at his home, says he mistook her for an intruder.



A musher and two dogs cross a small stream in the middle of the Farewell Burn during the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race, in Alaska.