World News in Pictures

[Mr Lick]

Europe leaders warn of difficult 2012

German Chancellor Angela Merkel heads Europe's largest economy

European leaders have warned of a difficult year ahead, as many economists predict recession in 2012.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel said Europe was experiencing its "most severe test in decades" but that Europe was growing closer in the debt crisis.

France's President Sarkozy said the crisis was not finished, while Italy's president called for more sacrifices.

[Mr Lick]

Football Association report says Luis Suarez evidence 'unreliable'GMT, Saturday, 31 December 2011


Suarez was handed an eight-match ban for racially abusing Evra
Luis Suarez gave "unreliable" evidence to the body that was investigating claims he racially abused Patrice Evra, according to a report published by the Football Association.

Liverpool's Suarez was given an eight-match ban and a £40,000 fine after he clashed with Manchester United's Evra.

The report says Suarez has "damaged the image of English football around the world".

Mr Suarez said that he pinched Mr Evra's skin in an attempt to defuse the situation. He also said that his use of the word 'negro' to address Mr Evra was conciliatory and friendly. We rejected that evidence - Independent Regulatory Commission report

"To describe his own behaviour in that way was unsustainable and simply incredible given that the players were engaged in an acrimonious argument.
"That this was put forward by Mr Suarez was surprising and seriously undermined the reliability of his evidence on other matters.
"There were also inconsistencies between his accounts given at different times as to what happened."

[Mr Lick]

Texas airport: explosives found in man's luggage

Police removed the explosives from Midland airport in a secure transport box

A man has been detained at an airport in the US state of Texas after he tried to carry explosives through security, officials say.

The man was stopped at Midland International Airport when explosives in military wrapping were found in his carry-on baggage as it went through an X-ray machine.

He is being held by the FBI.

The airport terminal was cleared for checks, but normal operations have now resumed, say Midland city officials.

The FBI is conducting an investigation.

[Mr Lick]

Bodh Gaya, India: Buddhist devotees queue on the first day of the Kalachakra festival



Jerusalem: ultra-Orthodox Jews during a protest in the Mea Shearim neighbourhood, protesting over what they call the 'media campaign of incitement' being waged against their community



Villingen-Schwenningen, Germany: members of the historic riflemen corps fire gun salutes to welcome the new year in the Black Forest

[Mr Lick]

Oberstdorf, Germany: strollers walk through the fog



Pasay City, Philippines: Filipinos return to their burnt homes to look for usable items after a fire in the night



New York, USA: workmen begin the task of cleaning up after thousands of revellers gathered in Times Square for New Year's Eve



Chile: burnt vegetation frames background mountains as a massive forest fire rages uncontrolled at the Torres del Paine national park in the Patagonian steppe

[Mr Lick]

Just as a record crowd ushered in the new year in New York's Times Square, Occupy Wall Street protesters returned to Zuccotti Park by the hundreds to reclaim the park and the area around it.
After taking down metal barricades, piling them up and scuffling with police, protesters were soon kicked out of the park. Smaller groups splintered and started marching through the streets after being shoed from lower Manhattan. Police used pepper spray on protesters and a number of them were arrested.
Into the wee hours of the morning, groups of protesters marched north. Some hurled orange traffic barrels into the street, blocking traffic, though most of the demonstrations were peaceful. A seemingly high ratio of police to protesters monitored the groups' movement, keeping them on sidewalks and from obstructing traffic.

[Mr Lick]

Ceremonially dressed young dancers give a compliment to their ladies as the Vienna ball season opens on Dec. 31, with the imperatorial 'Kaiserball' (Emperorball) at the Hofburg castle in Vienna.

[Mr Lick]

150 officers warned over Facebook posts

Seven officers resigned following complaints about Facebook posts between 2008 and 2010

One police officer was sacked and more than 150 faced disciplinary action over their behaviour on Facebook in a three-year period, figures have shown.

Some used the social networking site to harass ex-partners and ex-colleagues or make comments about officers' wives.

Others suggested they had beaten up members of the public during protests.

The figures, from 41 of the 43 forces in England and Wales, were obtained by the Press Association under the Freedom of Information Act.

[Mr Lick]

Biker Jorge Martinez Boero dies on Dakar Rally first day

Boero was riding between the cities of Mar del Plata and Santa Rosa when the accident happened

Argentine motorcyclist Jorge Martinez Boero had died in an accident on the opening day of the Dakar Rally.

Boero, 38, sustained fatal injuries in a fall during the first stage in western Argentina, organisers say.

The annual off-road race, originally from Paris to Dakar in Senegal, moved to South America in 2009, largely because of security concerns.

Most of the participants are amateur motorcyclists and car drivers, running against experienced racers.

It was the second Dakar rally Boero had taken part in.

Organisers say he was killed when he came off his bike during the stage between the Argentine cities of Mar del Plata and Santa Rosa de la Pampa on Saturday.

[Mr Lick]

British man held over Costa Rica killing

It is thought the man and his alleged victim were tourist volunteers on an environmental programme

A British man has been arrested by police in Costa Rica in connection with the murder of a young Czech woman.

Costa Rican officials said the man, 20, was alleged to have stabbed 22-year-old Alexandra Drbohlavova to death at a campsite about 125 miles north-west of the capital, San Jose, on Wednesday.

The authorities said the man could be held for six months ahead of a trial.

The UK Foreign Office confirmed it was providing consular assistance after a UK national was arrested on Thursday.

[Mr Lick]

Argentine governor, Carlos Soria, killed by gunshot

Carlos Soria had just taken up his post as governor

A provincial governor in Argentina has died of a gunshot to the head while celebrating the new year with his wife.

Police say the Rio Negro governor, Carlos Soria, was at home when the incident happened, shortly before 05:00 local time (08:00GMT).

His vice-governor, Alberto Weretilneck, who will succeed Mr Soria, described it as a "domestic accident".

Mr Soria's wife, Susana Freidos, is being questioned by police, say local media reports.

The governor was only a few weeks into his tenure, having been sworn in on 10 December 2011.

He was a member of Argentina's governing Peronist party and had been elected in Rio Negro by a wide margin.

Emergency workers called to the house found him bleeding in bed and rushed him to hospital, where he died a short time later.

[Mr Lick]

Obama signs Iran sanctions bill into law

Iran insists its nuclear programme is for peaceful purposes only
Iran nuclear crisis

US President Barack Obama has signed into law a major defence bill including tough new sanctions against Iran.


The law cuts off from the US financial system foreign firms that do business with Iran's central bank.

But Mr Obama stressed that he had concerns about parts of the legislation dealing with the handling of foreign terror suspects.

"The fact that I support this bill as a whole does not mean I agree with everything in it," Mr Obama said.

The president signed the law in Hawaii, where he is on holiday. The move comes at a times of heightened tension over the Iranian nuclear programme.

Western powers say Tehran is seeking to acquire a nuclear weapons capability, but Iran insists the programme is purely for energy and medical purposes.

In recent weeks the US has introduced sanctions against Iran's financial sector, although it has stopped short of targeting the central bank outright.

[Mr Lick]

Emergency vehicles speed to the scene of a shooting of a Mount Rainier National Park ranger as another ranger redirects traffic in Mount Rainier, Wash., Jan 1. The ranger, Margaret Anderson, was fatally shot following a New Year's Day traffic stop and authorities believed the gunman was still in the woods with an assault rifle.



Park superintendent Randy King said that Anderson is a mother of two young daughters who has served as a park ranger for about four years. King said Anderson's husband also was working as a ranger elsewhere in the park at the time of the shooting

[Mr Lick]

Gary Ablett, former Liverpool & Everton defender, dies at 46



Gary Ablett, the only player to win the FA Cup with Liverpool and Everton, has died at the age of 46 following a battle against non-Hodgkin's lymphoma.

The defender played more than 100 games for both Merseyside clubs and Birmingham. He also managed Stockport.

"Respected throughout the game by players, coaches and managers alike Gary will be sadly missed," the League Managers' Association said.

"Our thoughts and condolences are with Gary's wife Jacqueline and children."

Having joined Liverpool as an apprentice in 1982, Ablett made his debut for the Reds in December 1986.

Under manager Kenny Dalglish, he helped a dominant side win the League title in 1988 and 1990 and the FA Cup in 1989.

He was sold to arch-rivals Everton for £750,000 in January 1992 and went on to lift the FA Cup with them in 1995.

[Mr Lick]

Four people found dead at house in Peterlee

The area around the house in Peterlee where the bodies were found is cordoned off
Four people have been found dead at a house in Peterlee, County Durham.

The bodies of a man and three females were discovered after what police suspect was a firearms incident.

Officers were called to the house in Greenside Avenue, where a shotgun was found next to the man's body, at about 23:45 GMT on Sunday.

A Durham Police spokesman said a 19-year-old woman who had minor injuries to her wrist and shoulder was treated at hospital and later discharged.

The spokesman said the four dead people were related or known to each other and they were not looking for anyone else.

Firearms officers were called to the scene after a caller reported that a number of people had been shot inside a semi-detached house.

The victims' bodies were found in different rooms in the downstairs of the house, and paramedics confirmed all four were dead at the scene.

[Mr Lick]

Switzerland: A giant installation of the Swiss flag by artist Gerry Hofstetter, illuminates the north face of the Jungfrau mountain, next to the Eiger (left) and Mönch (centre) mountains. The installation commemorates the 100th anniversary of the Jungfrau railway



Kathmandu, Nepal: Devotees gather around a Living Goddess Kumari (centre) as she observes the bathing rituals of Lord Seto Machindranath



Nigeria: A man covers his hands in crude oil during an anti-Shell protest after a spill at the Bonga oilfield

[Mr Lick]

Heijningen, the Netherlands: An employee of Maltha glass recycling looks at an enormous amount of bottles which arrived after the Christmas holidays



Santa Rosa De La Pampa, Argentina: The burning car of Alfie Cox of South Africa and co-driver Jurgen Schroder in the sand dunes during stage 1 of the 2012 Dakar Rally



Vancouver, Canada: Revellers run into English Bay during the annual New Year's Day Polar Bear Swim

[Mr Lick]

Batu Mbelin, Indonesia: Marvel, a four-year-old orangutan with a respiratory problem, is prepared for a surgery at a Sumatran Orangutan Conservation Programme facility



Kesennuma, Japan: The sun rises over an area devastated by the March 2011 tsunami in Miyagi prefecture

[Mr Lick]

Los Angeles arson spree



Los Angeles city fire fighters battle one of many carport fires in the early morning hours in Sun Valley, December 31, 2011.

[Mr Lick]

Los County firefighters battle a carport fire from an arsonist who set 12 new fires early Monday morning in January 2, 2012.

[Mr Lick]

Polar Bear dips



New Yorkers

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Canadians

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The French

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The mad Scots

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The Germans - don't mention the war









A member of the Berliner Seehunde (Berlin Seals) ice swimmers club takes a dip in the Oranke Lake during their traditional New Year swimming event in Berlin January 1, 2012.