World News in Pictures

[Mr Lick]

A child walks along the beach as the sand is blown around in the high winds in Seaburn, England, Jan. 3, 2012.



People take photographs of waves crashing against the harbor wall on Jan. 3, 2012 in Porthcawl, Wales. High winds gusting up to 95mph and heavy rain have been affecting many parts of the country disrupting travel and causing damage to buildings.

[Mr Lick]

A young man with a portrait of the former Macedonian President Kiro Gligorov, walks in front of the funeral procession at a cemetery in Macedonia's capital Skopje, on Jan. 3, 2012. Gligorov, who narrowly survived an assassination attempt in 1995, was buried Tuesday in his family's grave in the capital of Skopje. About 100 people took part in the private, non-religious ceremony. Macedonians marked a national day of mourning Tuesday for Gligorov, their first democratically elected president who shepherded the tiny Balkan nation through a bloodless secession from the former Yugoslavia.

[Mr Lick]

An Afghan police officer inspects the scene of an explosion south of the capital Kabul

[Mr Lick]

Australian captain Michael Clarke batted all day for an unbeaten 251 as the hosts took a commanding lead against the touring India side in Sydney. Ricky Ponting scoring a fine 134 in partnership.

[Mr Lick]

Celebrations in Bulgaria mark the 134th anniversary of Sofia's liberation

[Mr Lick]

Monks attend a teaching session by the Dalai Lama in the northern Indian state of Bihar

[Mr Lick]

At least 135 people have died due to the recent extreme cold conditions in India

[Mr Lick]

All the best images from St James' Park – where Newcastle were taking on a Manchester United team who needed three points to pull level with their neighbours City at the top of the table – as well as from Goodison Park – where Everton were facing Bolton



After their New Years Eve defeat to Blackburn Rovers and Manchester City's victory over Liverpool, Sir Alex Ferguson will have been hoping for three points to keep United's title ambitions on track



The new year sees a new sponsor for Newcastle United with Virgin Money, who bought Northern Rock from the government, replacing the local bank on their shirts. If you look closely you'll see that in keeping with these austere times, the club have stuck the new sponsor's logo over the old one rather than get new shirts



Midway through the first half Demba Ba gets behind Rio Ferdinand, and the United defender clumsily sticks out a leg, bringing the forward down inside the area, but the referee waves play on



Just after the half-hour mark Newcastle get the lead they deserve and it's no surprise it comes from the right boot of Ba. A long clearance by Krul is knocked on by Ameobi and from the edge of the area Ba hooks a delicate first-time volley over Ferdinand and Anders Lindegaard and into the net.



Just two minutes into the second half Newcastle double their lead with another stunning goal. After Phil Jones bodychecks Ba – collecting a yellow card for his trouble – 30 yards out, Yohan Cabaye whips a curling effort over the United wall and into the top corner off the underside of the bar



Just when United thought it couldn't get any worse, in the last minute of normal time they concede a third in the most comical of manners. Krul hoofs a long ball downfield which Lindegaard comes out to collect, but for some reason Phil Jones decides to interfere, stooping to head the ball clear but mistiming his intervention and deflecting the ball into an empty net. The Newcastle manager Alan Pardew celebrates

[Mr Lick]

Over at Goodison Park, Everton fans show their support for Landon Donovan, returning for another stint on loan from LA Galaxy



The returning forward skips past a flailing Sam Ricketts



The rather turgid affair is livened up just after the hour mark with a goal from the most unlikely of sources. The Everton keeper Tim Howard launches a clearance from inside his area which catches the wind in dramatic fashion, bouncing around 25 yards from the Bolton goal before sailing over Adam Bogdan and in



John Heitinga is the first to congratulate the goalscorer



Just four minutes later the Everton keeper finds himself picking the ball out of his own net when a smart finish from David Ngog makes it 1-1



With twelve minutes to go, Bolton find the net for the second time when Eagles evades Baines and slips the ball forward to his captain Gary Cahill, who fires a first -time shot into the far corner and give the visitors a 2-1 victory. Time will tell whether or not this is Cahill's last goal for Bolton

[Mr Lick]

Protests return to Bahrain



A protester gestures as he sits facing riot police during a protest in the village of Sitra south of Manama, January 4, 2012.

[Mr Lick]

This long-exposure photo by Roberto Porto shows the bright arcs of star trails and a bright Quadrantid meteor in the predawn sky over Tenerife in Spain's Canary Islands

A dazzling display of "shooting stars" kicked off the 2012 skywatching season early Wednesday, thrilling amateur astronomers around the world with views of the Quadrantid meteor shower.

Usually one of the most dependable meteor displays of the year, the Quadrantid meteor shower peaked at about 2:30 a.m. ET in a brief but eye-catching light show. Quadrantid meteors are the leftover crumbs of a shattered comet that broke apart centuries ago, NASA scientists say.

[Mr Lick]

Visitors ride a horse-drawn carriage at the International Harbin Ice and Snow Festival held in Harbin, China's northern Heilongjiang province, Jan. 5, 2012. The annual three-month long festival will officially open on Jan. 6. The festival attracts visitors from all over China as well as a number of foreign guests who brave below zero temperatures to see colorful large ice and snow sculptures, ride horse-drawn carriages and enjoy a number of winter activities set up on the sidelines of the festival.

[Mr Lick]

France's Stephane Peterhansel and his co-pilot Jean-Paul Cottret of France drive their Mini Monster during the fourth stage of the fourth South American edition of the Dakar Rally 2012 from San Juan to Chilecito Jan. 4, 2012.



France's Olivier Pain rides his Yamaha during the Stage 4 of the 2012 Dakar Rally between San Juan, San Juan province and Chilecito, la Rioja province, Argentina, on Jan. 4, 2012. Spain's Marc Coma won the stage.



Cyril Despres of France and Team Red Bull KTM arrives at the bivouac after stage four of the 2012 Dakar Rally from San Juan to Chilecito on Jan. 4, 2012 in Chilecito, Argentina

[Mr Lick]

A saleswoman holds a box of Kodachrome film June 22, 2009 in an electronics shop in lower Manhattan in New York City. According to reports on January 4, 2012, if the Eastman Kodak Co. is preparing to file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy-protection if it is unable to sell a cache of digital patents.

[Mr Lick]

Olga Vilukhina of Russia skis during the women 4 x 6 km relay at the Biathlon World Cup in Oberhof, Germany, on Wednesday, Jan. 4, 2012. Russia won the competition.



Russia's biathlet Olga Vilukhina (L) and Germany's biathlet Magdalena Neuner compete at the shooting range during the women's 4 x 6 km relay event of the IBU biathlon World Cup in the eastern German town of Oberhof on Jan. 4, 2012.



Russia's Olga Vilukhina celebrates as she crosses the finish line to win the Women's 4x6km biathlon relay during the Biathlon World Cup event in Oberhof, eastern Germany, Wednesday, Jan 4, 2012.

[Mr Lick]

Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-Minn.) ended her campaign for the Republican presidential nomination after winning just 5 percent of the votes in the Iowa caucuses.



Tea party supporter William Temple, of Brunswick, Ga., sits in the Des Moines Airport heading home after the Iowa caucus, Wednesday, Jan. 4, 2012.



Globe Manufacturing Company employees Shirley Smith, left, and Pat Dexter listen as Republican presidential candidate and former Utah Governor, Jon Huntsman Jr., speaks on Jan. 04, 2012 in Pittsfield, New Hampshire.

[Mr Lick]

Flip-flops and sandals donated by local people in support of a 15-year-old boy who is being prosecuted for lifting an old pair of sandals, are lined up at a collection point in Palu, Central Sulawesi, Indonesia, Jan. 4, 2012. Thousands of Indonesians have donated flip-flops and other old sandals in a campaign to show support for the boy who could face up to five years in prison if found guilty, the same sentence given to many terrorists, drug pushers and rapists.

[Mr Lick]

Council staff clean a section of the rarely seen Minton tiled floor at St. George's Hall on Jan. 4, 2012 in Liverpool, England. The exquisite floor which is usually covered for protection is in the process of being competeley unveiled to allow the public a glimpse of the 30,000 handmade mosaic tiles from Saturday, Jan. 7 to Sunday, Jan. 22. The Minton covering was layed in 1852, and depicts dolphins, tritons and sea nymphs reflecting Liverpool's seafaring heritage.

[Mr Lick]

Gary Speed: Football Association of Wales announces memorial friendly

52 GMT, Wednesday, 4 January 2012


Wales won four of their last five games under manager Gary Speed


A Gary Speed memorial international friendly will be played when Wales host Costa Rica on 29 February, the Football Association of Wales has announced.

Speed, who was found hanged at his home in November, made the first of his outfield record 85 Welsh caps in a friendly win over Costa Rica in 1990.

The Welsh FA has confirmed their first friendly since Wales boss Speed's death will be at the Cardiff City Stadium.

Dean Saunders scored the only goal on Speed's debut at Ninian Park.

And Speed, who was then a 20-year-old midfielder at Leeds United, replaced Glyn Hodges as a 76th-minute substitute in the friendly in May 1990.

So the visit of Costa Rica is expected to be an emotional first international fixture since Speed's shock death on 27 November.

The FAW have revealed that 10% of all profits from the friendly will go to the chosen charities of Speed's family.

"This will be an opportunity to celebrate the life and achievements of a great servant to Welsh football both as a player and as a manager," said a Welsh FA statement


Wales 1-0 Costa Rica 1990

May 20, 1990 at Ninian Park

• Wales team: Neville Southall (c), Clayton Blackmore, Paul Bodin, Eric Young (Andy Melville, 70), Mark Aizlewood, Peter Nicholas, Jeff Hopkins, Barry Horne, Glyn Hodges (Gary Speed, 76), Mark Hughes (Malcolm Allen, 75), Dean Saunders
• Goalscorer: Saunders (10)
• Wales boss: Terry Yorath
• Referee: Arturo Martino
• Attendance: 5,977

[Mr Lick]

Women only to work in Saudi Arabia lingerie shops



A law allowing only women to work in lingerie shops in Saudi Arabia is coming into force.

Campaigners hope this will end decades of awkwardness in the Islamic kingdom where women have always been served by male shop assistants.

The heated issue of the total lack of female shop workers in Saudi Arabia has simmered for years.

Many Saudi women say they have felt particularly uncomfortable buying their lingerie from men.

Female campaigners recently increased the pressure for change through a Facebook campaign and a boycott of lingerie stores.

Now King Abdullah's royal decree finally comes into effect, banning male staff from selling female underwear.

"It's about time, it's been a long struggle and the authorities have finally come to their senses," says Radio Jeddah journalist Samar Fatany.

She says she, and any woman who could afford to, would often shop abroad rather than face the embarrassment of giving her underwear size over the counter to a man.

[Mr Lick]

Kenyan senior judge Nancy Baraza in security guard row



Kenya's deputy chief justice is facing a police investigation following claims that she threatened to shoot a security guard after refusing to be frisked.

The female guard said Nancy Baraza ignored the security desk at the entrance to an upmarket shopping mall in Nairobi and threatened to shoot her.

Security has been intensified in Kenya following its incursion into Somalia in October and attacks by Islamists.

Ms Baraza has declined to comment on the incident pending the inquiry.

According to a report to the police by the guard, Ms Baraza drove into the compound of the upmarket Westlands Trading Centre in Nairobi and parked her car 50m (54 yards) from the security desk at the entrance to the mall.

The guard said Ms Baraza ignored the security desk - at which all people entering the mall are frisked - before going to various shops.

The guard told the police that she told Ms Baraza that she was to be frisked but she walked away.

Things got out of hand, the report says, when the deputy chief justice finished her shopping.

She went to the car before coming back to the security guard and threatened to shoot her, the report says, if she persisted in what Ms Baraza is alleged to have termed as humiliating her.

[Mr Lick]

Storms hit the UK



River Ouse levels rise in York city centre. ''Oh dear darling, i'm trapped in a pub by rising water, wont be home for a few days maybe, what a bummer''!



A van is recovered from the side of the A1 near Boroughbridge, North Yorkshire



Overlec engineers, sub contractors for Scottish Power, work on a broken overhead power line in Cumbernauld



A workman with a chainsaw works to remove a fallen tree from Newmarket road in Royston, Hertfordshire



A robin tries to stay on a branch as it is blown around by winds in Woolacombe, Devon



A couple walk in front of a rough sea in Woolacombe

[Mr Lick]

Bodh Gaya, India: Buddhist volunteers pour milk into a vat to prepare tea for devotees during the Kalachakra festival. Bodh Gaya is believed to be the place where Buddha attained enlightenment



Sitra, Bahrain: An anti-regime protester gestures as he faces riot police during a protest



Harbin, China: A woman bleeds after hitting a patch of ice during a winter swimming competition in the Songhua river

[Mr Lick]

Cairo, Egypt: An injured protester stands outside the court where Hosni Mubarak, the ousted president, is standing trial



Yantai, China: Huaao the giant panda climbs a tree at a zoo in Shandong province



Mexico City, Mexico: Agents take part in the inauguration of the headquarters of the investigative police agency

[Mr Lick]

Blasts rock Iraq



Iraqi residents help victims at the site of a bomb attack in Nassiriya, southeast of Baghdad, January 5, 2012.



People grieve outside a morgue before claiming the body of a relative who was killed in a bomb attack in Sadr city in eastern Baghdad, January 5, 2012.