World News in Pictures

[Mr Lick]

Staff Sgt. Butch is greeted by Capt. Andrea Lohmann during a training exercise that had the dog working with a handler around soldiers preparing an obstacle course on Joint Base Lewis-McChord, Wash.



Two rare white lion cubs play with each other at the Ouwehands Zoo in Rhenen, Netherlends.



A dog belonging to US Marines from 1st Battalion, 8th Marines, Bravo company stands beside a caged bird in the Musa Qala District of Afghnaistan's Helmand province.



Qasim, a laborer, smiles as a camel nuzzles him near sacks of grain in a wholesale market in Karachi, Pakistan. Secret lovers?



Spanish model Maria Reyes poses with her dog Pancho on the red carpet before the Spanish Film Academy's Goya awards ceremony at Madrid's Royal Theatre.



Bagira, a 17-year-old lioness, looks on after her arrival at the Lions Rock Big Cat Sanctuary in Bethlehem, South Africa.



Visitors looking at part of the new aquarium at Ocean Park in Hong Kong.



Animal Control officer Anthony Crothers holds a cat as he tries to remove a can from its head in Evansville, Ind.



A moose eats plants and berries from an ornamental tree in the back yard of an office in Anchorage, Alaska.



A Panda bear climbs down a ladder in its snow covered enclosure at the Beijing Zoo



Head of Memphis Animal Services Matt Pepper spent most of Saturday sitting in a cage at the Animal Shelter wearing a dog costume. Pepper said he'd stay in that cage until all 31 dogs available for adoption Saturday found homes



Ilsa, a Bermese Mountain Dog from Kent, Connecticut, cristens the crosswalk at West 37th St. and 7th Ave. just outside Madison Square Garden where the Westminster Dog Show takes place.

[Mr Lick]

An unidentified Bahraini woman wears a button on her veil reading "We all will sacrifice for our country" on a national flag



Father with his children receiving news that their mother never survived the NZ earthquake

[Mr Lick]

Chicago Mayor-elect Rahm Emanuel, center, greets commuters at a train station, Wednesday, Feb. 23, 2011, in Chicago.





Finland's Matti Hautamaeki soars through the air during the men's training at the Ski World Championships in Oslo, Norway, on Wednesday, Feb. 23, 2011.



Somali government soldiers take positions during clashes with Islamist insurgents in southern Mogadishu's Daynile neighborhood, Wednesday, Feb 23, 2011. The fighting erupted after Somali forces advanced into the Islamist controlled barracks in the area.

[Mr Lick]

Grammy-winning Jamaican reggae singer Buju Banton was convicted Feb. 22, 2011, of conspiring to set up a cocaine deal in 2009. A federal jury returned their verdict after deliberating for 11 hours over two days on the fate of Banton, who won a Grammy just last week for best reggae album for "Before the Dawn." He was found guilty of three of the four charges he faced

[Mr Lick]

Chancellor Angela Merkel's defence minister was stripped of his doctorate on Wednesday by the German university that awarded the title, after he admitted to flaws in a thesis that is the focus of a plagiarism row.

[Mr Lick]

Para officer survives direct hit from Taliban rocket propelled grenade

Lt Col Andy Harrison has returned to the front line after a brief stint in medical care. He was said to be extremely lucky to avoid fatal injuries after the missile, designed to penetrate armoured vehicles, failed to detonate when it hit his body armour. “He had a pretty amazing escape,” said a colleague. “It’s not very often that someone gets hit full on by an RPG and lives to tell the tale.”

Lt Col Harrison was awarded an MBE in 2000 for leadership and bravery when his team of UN observers was taken hostage for two months by rebels in Sierra Leone. He managed to lead the hostages back to friendly territory.

[Mr Lick]

Cricket stars meet acid survivors



The England cricket team and coaches visit the Acid Survivors Foundation (ASF) in Dhaka, Bangladesh

[Mr Lick]

Latest pics on Libya













Dutch citizens on a Netherlands military plane fleeing the turmoil

[Mr Lick]

Marseilles v Man Utd - Champions League













Marseille's Stephane Mbia grabs the ball after being penalised for inadvertently slapping Nani in the face



It's not quite going according to plan



Edwin Van der Sar plucks a rare threat at goal from the air



Nani has looked the most dangerous of United's attacking trio, but Steve Mandanda dives to the rescue and ensures the stalemate continues. 0-0 it ends

[Mr Lick]

London fashion week



One or two gagging for a temple visit there



OMG, at last, a cure for an erection



These 2 look like a couple of wartime serving wenches



For those that don't go for the co-ordinated look



It's pleasing to see that hats are in at last as i've been trying to hide my baldness for decades

[Mr Lick]

A man throws molten iron against a wall to mark the end of China's spring festival in Yu County, Hebei province, February 16, 2011.



Ken Dodds son having a smoke prior to the end of the Spring Festival parade in Hebei province, China, February 17, 2011.



A worker fertilizes plants at an agricultural field in Labuan, Malaysia, February 11, 2011.



An owl rests on a pole in Rufino, Santa Fe Province, Argentina, February 17, 2011.

[Mr Lick]

Madrid fashion week



You wanna put an iron to that love.



Can i take your jacket darling?




Ideal hat for a fishing trip



Theres something quite alluring about this almost prehistoric outfit



WTF? Ok if she's having an evening out with Zippy and Bungo i suppose.



Just in case you're wondering, a guide dog is supplied with hat.



Wow, Wow and triple WoW!!!



Now, that's one scarey looking woman



Good to see she hasn't forgotten the bobbles, give the lads a thrill girl.



Off to a bullfight are we sir?



Apparel and mug that may only be suitable for a funeral parlour

[Mr Lick]

Apparently the very new Burmese parliament opened at the end of January. Here are a few pics





No journalists or diplomats were invited to attend the opening ceremony












Burmese ministers, many of whom gave up military posts to run in the November 'election'.

[Mr Lick]

More on Libya



Photographers are invited in to a state security building in Tobruk, Libya



An old gypsy woman trying to sell some lucky heather



A Libyan doctor treats a man who was injured during demonstrations in Benghazi last week



A man stands in front of destroyed vehicles in a state security building in Tobruk



A man whose brother who was killed in Benghazi at a hospital morgue



French nationals board a plane at Tripoli airport on Wednesday. France sent two aircraft to Tripoli and a third to Sebha to bring back about 500 people



Burn-out vehicles in a state security building in Tobruk



Mortuary assistants look at unidentified victims of last week's violence in Benghazi

[Mr Lick]

Search for Christchurch survivors



Rescuers stand at the smoking ruins of the Canterbury Television building where dozens of students and staff are feared dead



A body is carried out from the destroyed Canterbury Television building



The Grand Chancellor Hotel which is listing and expected to collapse



A damaged car in Cathedral Square



A Japanese rescue worker with a working dog walks past the rubble of the Canterbury Television building



Engineers and building inspectors gather for a briefing



Tony Christie stands by rubble in what was his backyard in the suburb of Sumner



Rescue workers search a damaged building in central Christchurch



A Lyttelton resident, Graeme Gordon, with one of the boulders that rolled down from the Port hills and destroyed his property



A home stands on the edge of a landslide in Redcliffs, near Christchurch



A worker stands by the remains of the Canterbury Television building



A suburban street is covered with silt forced out of the ground during the earthquake by a liquefaction process

[Mr Lick]

In response to Julian Assange's hearing at Belmarsh Court today



Indian hopes are high as students pose with a replica of the cricket WC



The Turkish government doing their bit to ensure the safety of their citizens. With 25,000 citizens in Libya it is the largest evacuation operation in it's history



Hundreds of parked taxi's line the road, their drivers demanding lower fuel costs in Seoul, S. Korea

[Mr Lick]

More on Libya



Men gesture from the top of an armoured vehicle in the eastern Libyan town of Shahat, February 24, 2011.



People walk past a burnt army vehicle in al-Marj city, Libya,



A man shows a crater caused by what he says is the impact of a missile fired from a Libyan army aircraft as he stands in front of an old military plane at a military airport runway in the eastern Libyan town of Al Abrak, February 24, 2011



A man fires his pistol into the air as he celebrates with other people in an army armoured vehicle in the eastern Libyan town of Shahat, February 24, 2011.



Munitions lie in a state security building taken over by anti-government protesters in Ben Ghazi, February 23, 2011.



A man walks with his children past an army armoured vehicle at a military airport runway in the eastern Libyan town of Al Abrak, February 24, 2011.




An anti-government protester writes on an army tank near a square where people are protesting in Benghazi city, Libya, February 23, 2011. The characters read "people want the removal of the regime".

[Mr Lick]

WC Cricket - W. Indies v S. Africa





Chris Gayle out on the 3rd ball of the match after SA ask them to bat first



However, Darren Bravo, marks his WC debut with a styish half century, sharing a century partnership with Devon Smith



SA turn the game around when 3 wickets fall for only 7 runs, leg-spinner Imran Tahir striking twice



Dwayne Bravo run out for a very lively 40 from 37 balls, including 3 sixes revives the innings



Dale Steyn wraps up the innings taking 3-24 as the Windies are bowled out for 222 in the 48 over.



The Windies hit back very quickly with 2 early wickets as Amla and Kallis are sent back to the pavillon with only 20 runs on the board



Dwayne Bravo, the star all-rounder is stretchered off with a knee injury



With only 24 runs needed rain interupts play



De Villiers completes a magnificent century



Game over with De Villiers finishing on 107 n.o and Duminy adding 42 to win by 7 wickets in the 43rd over

[Mr Lick]

Gorbachev and Merkel share a moment at a photography exhibition in Berlin celebrating the man's 80th birthday



Queeny inspecting ranks of Gurkha's troops serving in the British Army during her visit to Maidstone, Kent

[Mr Lick]

Newlyweds Emma Howard and Chris Greenslade cheer for a group photo after their wedding, Friday, Feb. 25, 2011, just days after she was pulled from the rubble of the earthquake devastated Pyne Gould Corporation in Christchurch, New Zealand. Tuesday's magnitude 6.3 temblor collapsed buildings, caused extensive other damage and killed more than 100 people



A very modified four-wheel-drive buggy takes on the Nemesis II obstacle Thursday, Feb. 24, 2011, along the Patzcuaro's Revenge trail near Las Cruces, N.M., in the annual Chile Challenge off-road rock-crawling event. It was one of the about 200 off-road vehicles registered for this year's Chile Challenge, an event that pits man and machine against rocks, small cliffs and desert trails



Tristan Webb stands in a large hole along River Road, Avonside on Friday, February 25 in Christchurch, New Zealand. The death toll has risen to 113 and the hope for finding survivors is fading as rescuers search through debris for over 200 still missing following a 6.3 magnitude earthquake that struck Christchurch on Tuesday. The quake, which was an aftershock of a 7.1 magnitude quake that struck the South Island city on September 4, 2010, has seen damage and fatalities far exceeding those of the original



Space Shuttle Discovery viewed from the rocket garden at the Kennedy Space Center visitor complex, lifts off on its last mission from Kennedy Space Center, Cape Canaveral, Florida, USA, 24 February 2011. The six astronauts will fly on the last flight of Shuttle Discovery in the space program to the International Space Station.



Unoccupied FEMA trailers burn, Thursday, Feb. 24, 2011 near Lumberton, Miss. Authorities say at least 162 unoccupied FEMA trailers were destroyed by a grass fire Thursday in south Mississippi's Pearl River County.



Morning alpenglow casts a warm light on 6,288-foot Mount Washington, in New Hampshire's White Mountains, 40 miles to the west of a group of ice-fishing shacks on Long Lake in Naples, Maine Thursday Feb. 24, 2011. The exceptionally clear weather is coming to an end as another winter storm is predicted for Friday.



A British man, who did not want to give his name, is met by his two children as he arrives at Gatwick Airport on a flight from Tripoli chartered by the British Government on Feb. 24 in London, England. British Nationals are being evacuated from Libya by Foreign Office charter flights with some oil companies hiring private aircraft to evacuate their staff. The Royal Navy frigate HMS Cumberland has arrived in Benghazi to help bring home other British nationals.



A visitor of the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant walks the hallways of the destroyed 4th block of the plant on Feb. 24 ahead of the 25th anniversary of the meltdown of reactor number four due to be marked on April 26, 2011. Ukraine said early this year it will lift restrictions on tourism around the Chernobyl nuclear power plant, formally opening the scene of the world's worst nuclear accident to visitors. Chernobyl's number-four reactor, in what was then the Soviet Union and now Ukraine, exploded on April 26, 1986, sending a radioactive cloud across Europe and becoming the world's worst civilian nuclear disaster. Following the accident, a concrete sarcophagus was built over the stricken reactor and a new 20,000-ton steel case to cover the whole plant is planned



A man is reflected in the mirrored walls at the World Financial Center in Lower Manhattan's Battery Park City Feb. 24, 2011



Stan Burun, a dog behaviour specialist, poses with dogs guests Cleo and Belle in a room in the Actuel Dogs Hotel in Vincennes near Paris Feb. 24. Heated pools, massage salons and a la carte menus are de rigueur at luxury hotels across the world, but in an exclusive establishment just outside Paris, the big difference is the guests: they have four legs, and enthusiastically wagging tails. Actuel Dogs bills itself as France's first luxury hotel for dogs, and founders Devi and Stan Burun also offer training programs for unruly hounds and dog walks in the woods

[Mr Lick]

The aurora borealis, or Northern Lights, are seen in the sky above the village of Ersfjordbotn near Tromso in northern Norway on Feb. 21. Aurorae are caused by the interaction between energetic charged particles from the sun and gas molecules in the upper atmosphere of the Earth.



A man skis at the Swiss mountain area of Hoch-Ybrig, some 35 miles south of Zurich, on Feb. 23.

[Mr Lick]

Fleeing Libya



Migrant labourers and other expatriates prepare to board a ship going to Greece, from the Libyan harbour in Benghazi, February 24, 2011.



A woman reacts as she is reunited with a man who arrived on a flight from Tripoli in Libya, chartered by oil company BP, at Gatwick Airport, south of London, February 24, 2011.



A Turkish citizen and his daughter, Fatma Nur Capak, leave the port after their arrival from Libya, at the Mediterranean port of Marmaris, February 23, 2011.



British nationals board an Astraeus Airlines 757 Boeing aircraft waiting to depart to London's Gatwick Airport after being evacuated from Libya at Malta International Airport, outside Valletta, February 24, 2011



Turkish citizens wait for buses at the port after their arrival from Libya at the Mediterranean port of Marmaris, February 23, 2011.





A Russian citizen (front R), who was evacuated from Libya, arrives at Domodedovo airport outside Moscow, February 23, 2011



A man carries his belongings as he crosses through the Salum cross from Libya into Egypt, February 22, 2011.

[Mr Lick]

Inside Libya















Suspected African mercenaries sit in a room in a court as they are held by anti-government protesters, in Benghazi February 24, 2011.



Anti-government demonstrators walk through a prison, that has been drilled through by demonstrators, to look for prisoners in a gutted military compound in Benghazi city February 24, 2011.

[Mr Lick]

Lee Westwood, Mclilroy and Mickelson all lose in Accenture Matchplay Championship



Second-round results (US unless stated)
Graeme McDowell (NI) bt Ross Fisher (Eng) 4&2
YE Yang (SKor) bt Stewart Cink 4&3
Ben Crane bt Rory McIlroy (NI) 8&7
Rickie Fowler bt Phil Mickelson 6&5
Jason Day (Australia) bt Paul Casey (Eng) 4&2
Luke Donald (Eng) bt Edoardo Molinari (Ita) 2&1
Bubba Watson bt Mark Wilson 6&5
Miguel Angel Jimenez (Spa) bt Ryan Palmer 4&2
JB Holmes bt Ernie Els (SA) one up
Matt Kuchar bt Bo van Pelt 3&2
Matteo Manassero (Ita) bt Charl Schwartzel (SA) one up
Ryan Moore bt KJ Choi (SKor) 5&4
Geoff Ogilvy (Aus) bt Thomas Bjorn (Den) one up
Nick Watney bt Lee Westwood (Eng) one up
Hunter Mahan bt Robert Karlsson (Swe) two up
Martin Kaymer (Ger) bt Justin Rose (Eng) 20th hole

[Mr Lick]

Acrobats on roller skates perform a stunt during the Shehuo festival to celebrate the upcoming lantern festival in Taiyuan, Shanxi province February 16, 2011.




A Hindu holy man feeds his monkey a strawberry from his mouth at the premises of Pashupati Temple in Kathmandu February 23, 2011. Hindu holy men from Nepal and India come to this temple to take part in the Shivaratri festival which falls on March 2. This is one of the biggest Hindu festivals dedicated to Lord Shiva and celebrated by devotees all over the world, with holy men smoking marijuana and some smearing their bodies with ashes and praying



Bobarino Gravittine of the U.S. performs with a flaming lasso during a street circus festival in San Jose's central square, also known as the Plaza de Cultura, February 11, 2011.




Model Kelvin Kwong and nurse Ashley Tse kiss in front of their friends and relatives during a surprise engagement bash thrown by Kelvin during Valentine's Day inside a McDonald's restaurant in Hong Kong, February 14, 2011. In the buzzing financial hub known for its fast living, young Hong Kong couples can now grab love on the run at the city's McDonald's outlets, which are offering a burgeoning new sideline: "McWeddings." The party is the first formal wedding event since the service was launched in January.




A woman dressed in a burlesque costume kisses a motorcyclist during a flash mob to mark Valentine's Day in downtown Rome February 14, 2011



An owner waits with his dog, painted with spots, before a traditional dog fighting competition in Kabul February 18, 2011.



A barber shaves the hair on the head of a cricket fan into the shape of a Cricket World Cup trophy in the western Indian city of Ahmedabad February 16, 2011. The Cricket World Cup is jointly hosted by India, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh and takes place from February 19 to April 2.



A U.S. Marine inflates a cobra skin after removing its entrails during a jungle survival exercise with the Thai Navy as part of the "Cobra Gold 2011" joint military exercise, at a military base in Chon Buri Province February 13, 2011. More than 13,000 armed forces personnel representing Malaysia, South Korea, Thailand, Singapore, Indonesia and United States are taking part in the exercises, which take place every year in Thailand.





Participant Bunthawee Sengwong (L) kisses Kanchana Kaetkaew as she uses the toilet during an attempt to break the world record for the longest kiss in Pattaya, 150 km (90 miles) east of Bangkok February 14, 2011. The World's Longest Continuous Kiss event which was organized to celebrate Valentine's Day, started out with 14 couples on Sunday at 6am (February 12, 2300 GMT). So far, seven couples have already broken the Guinness World Record for the longest kiss held by Germans Nikola Matovic and Kristina Reinhart who kissed continuously for 32 hours 7 minutes and 14 seconds in 2009.




Young people take part in a pillow fight outside Madrid's Royal Palace February 14, 2011. The pillow fight was a flash mob event organised by "MadridMobs" with the only rules of having fun and cleaning up after themselves.