World News in Pictures

[Mr Lick]

Ingrid Betancourt's 'kidnapper' killed in combat



The Colombian military says one of the Farc guerrillas accused of kidnapping former presidential candidate Ingrid Betancourt has been killed.

Military officials said seven Farc members had died in combat in the southern province of Caqueta.

Among them was "Diomedez", wanted for allegedly taking part in the 2002 kidnapping of Mrs Betancourt.

Mrs Betancourt spent more than six years in captivity before being freed by Colombian soldiers.

She was one of 15 hostages freed in July 2008 as part of Operation Checkmate, when the rebels were tricked into handing her and the other hostages over to soldiers masquerading as members of a humanitarian group who had volunteered to fly them by helicopter to a new location.

Military officials said a female rebel had been injured in the firefight and was recovering in hospital.

[Mr Lick]

Mexico violence: Morelos state security chief sacked



Head of Public Security in the central Mexican state of Morelos Gen Gaston Menchaca Arias has been removed from his post.

The move follows the murder two weeks ago of seven young people in Morelos.
The killings prompted the father of one of the victims to call for mass protests, which were attended by tens of thousands of Mexicans nationwide.

The father, Javier Sicilia, blamed Mexican politicians as well as criminal gangs for the killings.

'Rotten state'

Mr Sicilia, a poet, said Morelos was "rotten" and that its governor, Marco Adame, "played dumb" when it came to security.

Mr Sicilia has been protesting in the central square of the city of Cuernavaca, demanding those who killed his son and six other youngsters be brought to justice.

The public prosecutor's office in Morelos says it has identified those who allegedly carried out the crime, but no arrests have been made so far.

Mr Sicilia's son, 24-year-old Juan Francisco, was found dead inside a car along with six others in Cuernavaca on 28 March.

Police say a note found next to the bodies suggests the killings were carried out by one of the country's powerful drug cartels.

[Mr Lick]

India activist Anna Hazare ends hunger strike



Indian anti-corruption activist Anna Hazare has ended a 96-hour hunger strike, after ministers agreed to all of his demands.

The 72-year-old campaigner is pushing for tough anti-corruption laws, and has gained huge public support.

He demanded that the committee drafting the new law be made up of activists as well as politicians. The government said it had agreed to the request.

In recent months India has been rocked by a string of corruption scandals.

A former telecom minister is awaiting trial after being accused of selling telecom licences off for a fraction of their value.

And Indians were shocked when allegations emerged that apartments in Mumbai intended for war widows were in fact given to civil servants.

There is no greater symbol of coercive non-violent protest in India than a fast”

Last month the head of the country's anti-corruption watchdog was forced to resign by the Supreme Court on the grounds that he himself faced corruption charges.

[Mr Lick]

Musician Gil Robbins dies at 80



Gil Robbins, a folk singer, guitarist and member of the early 1960s group the Highwaymen, has died aged 80.

Robbins, the father of Hollywood actor and director Tim Robbins, died at his home in Esteban Cantu, Mexico.

In a statement to the Associated Press Tim Robbins described Gil Robbins as "a fantastic father", "a great musician" and "a man of unshakeable integrity".
Robbins joined The Highwaymen in 1962.

He played and sang baritone on five albums until their 1964 break-up.

The group's most notable hit was Michael, recorded before Robbins joined.

With Robbins a member, the group began to perform more political music, singing songs with a greater focus on social justice.

Tim Robbins, star of the Shawshank Redemption, worked with his father on the 1992 film Bob Roberts - about a right-wing, folk-singing US Senate candidate.

The actor starred in and also directed Bob Roberts while his father was vocal coach and choral consultant and took a small role.

Gil Robbins also had a small role in Dead Man Walking, which was directed by his son.

Tim Robbins said of his father: "His commitment to social justice was evident to us from an early age, as was his infectious mischievous sense of humour.

[Mr Lick]

China's car sales rise 6.5% in March as market rebounds



China's auto market rebounded in March as car sales rose by 6.5%, compared with the same month a year ago.

New passenger car sales stood at 1.35m, according to the latest data by the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers (CAAM).

That marks a 39% jump from the previous month. The numbers were being closely watched, after sales in February grew at the slowest pace in two years.

China overtook the US in 2009 to become the world's biggest auto market.
Car sales for the first three months of the year grew by 9.1%, compared with the first quarter last year.

The rebound in the sector was led by Toyota. The world's biggest car manufacturer saw sales surge by 37.4% in March, from the same time a year ago.

However, rival Japanese car makers Mazda and Honda reported a slide in their sales.

[Mr Lick]

Abidjan, Ivory Coast: Tiny tomatoes are on sale at a market as residents venture out in search of the limited supplies available in the Youpougon neighbourhood



Masaya, Nicaragua: A woman holds her costumed dog up to be blessed during Saint Lazarus celebrations at Maria Magdalena Catholic church



Altlandsberg, Germany: Hundreds of bicycles hang on the facade of a rental shop



Gorman, California, US: Fox hunters return from a British-style hunt for coyotes on Tejon Ranch. The traditionally attired riders usually hunt coyotes, which are easier to find than native California grey foxes



Boca Chica, Dominican Republic: Girls scout for customers to buy their homemade snacks at a public beach



Bhaktapur, Nepal: A man carries a sacred rock that devotees reach out to touch during the Nepalese New Year festival celebrations

[Mr Lick]

Rio de Janeiro, Brazil: A boy sits on Copacabana beach during a protest against weapon trafficking. The protesters also paid tribute to the victims killed by a gunman at Tasso da Silveira school



Sana'a, Yemen: An anti-government protester chants slogans during a demonstration demanding the resignation of Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh



Assam, India: A woman comes out of the No 9 Buddha Mayong polling station after casting her vote in the final phase of the Assam Assembly elections

[Mr Lick]

Japan disaster: Natori, one month on



11 April: Monks and rescue workers observe a minute of silence on top of Hiroyi Yama, or "weather hill", one month on from the disaster which struck Natori, Miyagi prefecture



11 March : The 10-metre tsunami strikes the coast of Natori City following the magnitude 9 earthquake









The grandmother of deceased brothers 16-year-old Itaru and 19-year-old Ren Kashiwagi, killed by the tsunami, touches a portrait of one of them as their father Yoshinori carries the boys' remains away from the crematorium



Locals look out over their destroyed neighbourhood from Hiyori Yama in Natori



Trucks help to remove the debris left over from the disaster





10 April: Photo albums and other items found in the rubble are laid out in a school gymnasium in Natori



11 April: A man and his grandson offer a prayer at the ruins of a house of their relatives at Natori



11 April: Rescue workers observe a minute's silence in Natori



11 April: Buddhist monks pray in an area destroyed by the disaster

[Mr Lick]

Top of the hops

Ale used to have an image problem but times have changed. Brewers who know their rock as well as their hops are naming beers after their favourite bands and songs. It's time to say cheers to drinks that are full of punk spirit



Like Neil Young’s 1970 opus ­After the Gold Rush, Norfolk-based Wagtail brewery’s 4.0% golden bitter is sweet and easy going. Ideally sampled ­before Harvest.



Two Fall-related IPAs. Thwaites’s former is a well-balanced, hoppy session bitter, while Northern Brewing’s ale (brewed for London’s Snooty Fox pub) is described as “Just like Mark, strong, pale and dry with an orange aroma and grapefruit notes.”



From West Yorkshire’s Revolutions brewery, this strong, dark ale honouring Dusseldorf’s electronic godfathers is made with German ingredients, in a brewery close to a Kraftwerk (power station), by robots. The company also produces Ravenscroft, a feisty ale ­inspired by John Peel’s real name. It is – you’re best saying this slowly – a “pale session beer”.



Sheffield-made mild named after ’s Stuart Basford. “I said: ‘He’s already drunk our beer.’ We brewed a Devils and Dust bitter just for him.”



The Fall

Mark E Smith’s Salford minstrels seem to have more beers named after them than any other band – appropriately, given the amount they’ve supped over the years. Like the veteran group, Davenports’ creation (4.4% abv) is extremely bitter and takes time to finish.



The Clash

One from the Portland-based ­Upright brewery. This 6.7% ­premium lager is “in the style of the British punk rockers who Fought the Law in the Clash of the lower-class leftists with limited Career pportunities.” Sample it and lose Complete Control.



Stairway to Heaven

Named after , a full-flavoured hoppy ale that is initially easy to drink before ­delivering a 5% proof hammer of the gods. Wobbly drinkers heading upstairs are advised to take the lift.



Blitzkrieg Hop

Another American beer, named after . Like Da Brudders, this golden ale offers a short, sharp sensation, and has a small white head on it that doesn’t linger very long.



Punk IPA

The Brewdog company’s popular, spiky 5.6% abv pale ale is as ­aggressive as any classic punk ­single. The even stronger Hardcore IPA (9.2%) version increases the potential for Anarchy in the UK.



Rushmore

Leeds’s Ridgeside brewery know their heavy rock. This 4.3% pale ale – their second Deep Purple-­related beer along with Black Night – is partly named after the American-grown hops, but also the Purps’ 1970 In Rock album, whose cover featured Mount Rushmore’s stone heads replaced by the members of the band. A heady brew indeed.

[Muadib]

One of my favorite Ales from a micro-brew in Montana...

Moose Drool


Remember that feeling?


That first taste, the best part of a beer after a long day. We want to make that better than ever. So we made Moose Drool. The name sounds a little iffy, but it's really the best Brown Ale you'll ever taste. That's why Moose Drool is far and away the best-selling beer brewed in Montana.
It's chocolate brown in color with a creamy texture. A malty beer with just enough hop presence to keep it from being too sweet. The aroma mostly comes from the malt with a hint of spice added by the hops. Moose Drool is brewed with pale, caramel, chocolate, and whole black malts; and Kent Goldings, Liberty, and WILLAMETTE HOPS. It has an original gravity of 13 degrees Plato, and is 4.2% alcohol by weight, 5.3% by volume.

[Mr Lick]

^ You've got to be a brave man to even taste 'Moose Drool', let alone drink it. Well done Muadib

[Mr Lick]

A clinic staff blows cigarette smoke into the ear of an Indonesian patient undergoing treatment for illness using tobacco at the Griya Balur clinic in Jakarta. The treatment includes the blowing of smoke from "divine cigarettes" infused with "nanotechnology" to remove their cancer causing "free radicals." Along with cancer and autism, it's just one of the ailments the Griya Balur clinic claims it can cure with cigarettes.

[Mr Lick]

Hundreds of Civil War photographs unearthed

Young George W. Weeks of Company D, 8th Maine Infantry Regiment with a drum in front of painted backdrop showing shoreline with house and lighthouse. In a letter dated October 12, 1865, Weeks wrote to his mother, "I am coming home at last. I have served three years in the greatest army that was ever known." Weeks died from malaria at the age of 21.





Five soldiers, four unidentified, in Union uniforms of the 6th Regiment Massachusetts Volunteer Militia outfitted with Enfield muskets in front of encampment.



Unidentified young soldier in Confederate shell jacket, Hardee hat with Mounted Rifles insignia and plume with canteen and cup.




Unidentified young soldier in Union uniform and forage cap with revolver




Unidentified African American soldier in Union uniform with wife and two daughters.



"The photographs were acquired from a myriad of sources: shops specializing in historical memorabilia, civil war shows, photography shows, antique centers, estate auctions, eBay, and other collectors like us. Assembling this collection has been a labor of love for our entire family," Lindquist said.

[Mr Lick]

Cars and trucks navigate a flooded Interstate 29 North of Fargo April 10, near Harwood, North Dakota. A seven-mile stretch of the interstate between Harwood and Argusville was open but flooded with water from the Red and Sheyenne Rivers. The Red River crested yesterday in Fargo at 38.5 feet, well below the anticipated 41 feet and the record crest 40.84 feet experienced in 2009.

[Mr Lick]

Ivory Coast former first lady Simone Gbagbo, wife of Ivory Coast former president Laurent Gbagbo, is pictured surrounded by forces loyal to Alassane Outtara at the Golf Hotel after their capture in Abidjan, Ivory Coast on April 11, 2011. Ivorian leader Laurent Gbagbo was captured at his besieged residence in Abidjan and is in detention.

[Mr Lick]

Luna Lutz visits at a tree with 9,800 Easter eggs at the garden of pensionar couple Christa and Volker Kraft in Saalfeld, Germany, Monday, April 11, 2011. The Kraft family have decorated their tree for Easter for more than forty years.

[Mr Lick]

A powerful storm system that flattened much of an Iowa town over the weekend spawned what may be a record-breaking seven tornadoes in Wisconsin, officials said Monday




Sarah Mitchell,left, hugs her best friend Mandi Kieper in front of the damaged home where Kieper lives in Kaukauna, Wis. on Monday, April 11, 2011. Spring thunderstorms with strong winds, hail and tornadoes injured three people and damaged buildings, power lines and trees in Wisconsin. The National Weather Service said Monday it had confirmed two tornadoes so far and was investigating other reports.





Home owner Chad Hemenway , left, talks to his insurance agent while his sister Jennifer Allen looks skyward in the roofless living room of his damaged home in Kaukauna, Wis. on Sunday April 11, 2011. A large storm and reported tornado left a path of downed trees and destroyed homes on Sunday night.

[Mr Lick]

A supporter of the Mexican Electricians Union is confronted by policemen at the former headquarters of the state-owned Central Light and Power Company located in Mexico City on April 11, 2011. Protesters set fire to at least four vehicles and disrupted traffic. The demonstrators are demanding the reinstatement of the company that supplied electricity to the city and its surrounding areas. It was closed in Oct. 2009.

[Mr Lick]

A wounded blast victim is brought by rescuers to an ambulance in Minsk, Belarus, on Monday, April 11, 2011. An explosion tore through a subway station in the Belarusian capital during evening rush hour Monday, and an official in the presidential administration said there were fatalities.

[Mr Lick]

What a way to predict summer weather. According to Reuters: As the bells of St. Peter's church chime six o'clock, the bonfire below the Boeoegg, a snowman made of wadding and filled with firecrackers, is set alight and mounted guildsmen gallop around the pyre to the tune of the Sechselaeuten March. The faster the head of the Boeoegg, the symbol of winter, catches fire and explodes, the warmer and more beautiful the summer will be






The Boeoegg, a snowman made of wadding and filled with firecrackers, explodes atop a bonfire in the Sechselaeuten square in Zurich on Monday.



A guild rides around the 'Boeoegg' on the Sechselaeuten meadow in Zurich, Switzerland, on Monday.

[Mr Lick]

Members of the Nassau County police search team look through a brush area for the remains of bodies slain by a possible serial killer near the Tobay beach area of Wantagh on Monday.



Emergency personnel, some dressed in suits to protect from poison ivy and ticks, search through the brush near Jones Beach in Wantagh, N.Y., Monday, April 11.



As TODAY's Amy Robach reports, investigators in New York are exploring leads in the murders of at least eight women that suggest the suspect could have a tie to law enforcement, like that of TV's "Dexter" — forensic investigator by day, serial killer by night. Criminal profiler Pat Brown comments.

[Mr Lick]

TOKYO — The Japanese government's nuclear safety agency raised the crisis level of the Fukushima Dai-ichi power plant accident from 5 to 7, the worst on the international scale and on par with the Chernobyl accident 25 years ago.
The emission of radioactive substances from the stricken plant is about 10 percent of the amount that had been detected at Chernobyl, the agency said on Tuesday.

However, an official at Tokyo Electric and Power (TEPCO) said later Tuesday that they are concerned that the radiation leakage could eventually exceed the 1986 disaster.









An aerial photo taken by an unmanned drone shows the damaged units of the Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear plant









A cameraman films the warped tarmac of a road in Iwaki, Fukushima prefecture, on Monday, April 11. Earlier, a 6.6 magnitude aftershock shook the area



A survivor in Kamaishi, Iwate prefecture, wipes away a tear after a moment of silence at 2:46 p.m. on April 11, exactly one month after the earthquake struck

[Mr Lick]

Manchester United v Chelsea

Pre- match special

[Mr Lick]

More on the Minsk Subway Bombing





Bomb Kills 11 in Minsk Subway

Doctors stand over the body of a victim of a subway blast in the Minsk subway Monday. The attack, which the Belarusian government blamed on terrorists, was near the office of President Alexander Lukashenko.

[Mr Lick]

Reenactors portraying Union soldiers occupy Fort Sumter in Charleston Harbor in South Carolina on Monday. The first shot of the Civil War was fired at the fort on April 12, 1651.