World News in Pictures

[Mr Lick]

Ancient finds




Chilean paleontologists Pablo Mansilla (L), Omar Recabarren (C) and Consuelo Huidobro (R) inspect a mastodon's fossilized remains at the rural Padre Hurtado municipality near Santiago, CHhile, March 24, 2011.
The remains of the mastodon were discovered on the banks of the Mapocho river during the construction of a water treatment plant, local media reported. It is believed that mastodons inhabited earth some 15,000 years ago



Recovered pre-Hispanic artifacts are displayed at the Foreign Ministry in Lima March 2, 2011.
Peru's Foreign Ministry presented to the Culture Ministry about 98 archaeological pieces from The Nazca, Chancay, Moche and Wari cultures recovered from Argentina and the U.S., local authorities said.



An assistant at the Ministry of State for Antiquities, shows one of four objects that have been missing from the Egyptian museum since the January revolution and now returned, at the Supreme Council of Antiquities office in Cairo April 12, 2011. The object is of the gilded wooden statue of Tutankhamun standing in a boat throwing a harpoon



The skull of a 13-ton (12,000 kg) Diplodocus sauropod is seen at "The World's Largest Dinosaurs" exhibit at the American Museum of Natural History in New York April 13, 2011. The exhibition that explores the biology of a group of uniquely super-sized dinosaurs, the long-necked and long-tailed sauropods, opens on April 16 and will run through till January 2, 2012.



One of the small heads that were discovered during the restoration of the 600-year-old Capella Maggiore frescoes is seen at Florence's Santa Croce Basilica April 7, 2011. The tiny heads are not visible from the ground but after a five-year restoration, visitors will be able to climb the scaffolding to view the frescoes close up, instead of from 30 metres below at ground level



An unearthed mastodon's fossilized remains are pictured at the rural Padre Hurtado municipality near Santiago March 11, 2011.



A recovered pre-Hispanic artifact is displayed at the Foreign Ministry in Lima March 2, 2011.
Peru's Foreign Ministry presented to the Culture Ministry about 98 archaeological pieces from The Nazca, Chancay, Moche and Wari cultures recovered from Argentina and the U.S., local authorities said.




People look at an exhibition of archaeological pieces from Machu Picchu at the government palace in Lima April 4, 2011.
The first shipment of artefacts from the famed Inca ruin Machu Picchu were returned to Peru on March 30, almost 100 years after being taken to Yale University, symbolically ending a bitter dispute.



Photographers take pictures of recovered pre-Hispanic artifacts displayed at the Foreign Ministry in Lima March 2, 2011.








Workers inspect archaeological pieces from Machu Picchu, at the government palace in Lima April 1, 2011.



Peru's President Alan Garcia (C) talks to a group of students next to a skeleton of an inhabitant of the ancient cita Picchu at an exhibition of archaeological pieces from Machu Picchu at the government palace in Lima April 4, 2011.



Chilean paleontologist Consuelo Huidobro brushes a mastodon's fossilized teeth remains at the rural Padre Hurtado municipality near Santiago March 24, 2011.



The two nails, presented in a new documentary film as having a connection to Jesus, are displayed at the Department of Anatomy and Anthropology at Tel Aviv University April 6, 2011.

[Mr Lick]

Battle for Libya






A rebel fighter practises throwing a javelin besides a destroyed Libyan army tank, along the frontline at the western entrance of Ajdabiyah April 13, 2011.



Mohamed, 10, stands guard at the frontline along the western entrance of Ajdabiyah April 13, 2011



Volunteer fighters listen to an instructor (C) during a weapon training session at a military camp in Benghazi April 13, 2011.



A volunteer fighter learns how to prepare a DShK heavy machine-gun during a weapon training session at a military camp in Benghazi April 13, 2011.









A protester holds a gun to an effigy of Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi during a demonstration against him in Benghazi April 13, 2011





Volunteer fighters learn how to prepare heavy calibre ammunition during a weapon training session at a military camp in Benghazi April 13, 2011

[Mr Lick]

Scientists, as well as mammal and bird predators, think twice before messing with this fish-hook ant in the forests of Cambodia. The curved spines can easily slice through skin, and they tend to hold on for a while.
The ants were observed during a RAP expedition to Cambodia's Virachey National Park



Soldiers parachute during an anti-airborne drill as part of the annual Han Kuang military exercise at the Chingchuankang Air Force Base in Taichung, central Taiwan, April 14, 2011. Taiwan is in the midst of its annual five-day military drill which prepares itself for any possible attacks from China.



A Libyan rebel aims his rocket-propelled grenade at a vehicle he suspects of carrying supporters of Muammar Gadhafi, at a road checkpoint in Zuwaytinah, some 60 miles southwest of the rebel stronghold of Benghazi on April 13, 2011.



Indira, a white Bengal tiger, is seen inside a cage at Cali Zoo in Cali, Colombia on April 13.

[Mr Lick]

Poster for The Walking Dead on funeral parlour wall



An advertising firm has apologised for placing a billboard for a TV show called The Walking Dead on the side of a funeral parlour.

The unintended, "unfortunate juxtaposition" caused raised eyebrows in Consett, County Durham.

The roadside advert for the Channel 5 post-apocalyptic drama has since been removed from the exterior wall of the Co-operative Funeralcare premises.

An alternative poster has been pasted in its place.

[Mr Lick]

Son writes off his dad's £275,000 supercar




A 20-year-old has written off his dad's £275,000 Gumpert Apollo after taking it for a spin in Germany.

He lost control of the rear wheel drive supercar on a sharp bend near Brokdorf, just north of Hamburg.

After the crash the driver's door ended up 100ft (30m) away and the car was described as a "total loss".

The man was driving with a 19-year-old female passenger and both of them walked away from the accident with minor injuries.

Police are investigating whether he was speeding when he lost control of the car on the 50mph road.

The Gumpert Apollo has a top speed of 225mph (360kph) and goes from 0 to 60mph in less than three seconds.

[Mr Lick]

A woman runs while men throw water at her as part of traditional Easter celebrations, during a media presentation in Holloko, Hungary, 62 miles east of Budapest, on April 14. Locals from the World Heritage village of Holloko, celebrate Easter with the traditional "watering of the girls", a Hungarian tribal fertility ritual rooted in the area's pre-Christian past.

[Mr Lick]

People lay flowers in the coffin of Roman Kaptyukh, a victim of Monday's metro blast, during a funeral ceremony in Minsk, on April 14. The U.N. Security Council condemned the what it called an "apparent terrorist attack" on a metro station in Belarus, phraseology that appeared to reflect uncertainty over who was behind it. The rush-hour bombing killed 12 people and wounded over 200 on Monday at the main subway station in Minsk.





A team of firefighters from the Oslo, Minn., fire department are joined by a Polk Co. deputy sheriff and a rural letter carrier on the Oslo Fire Dept. air boat that is serving as the only transportation in and out of town along the Red River on April 13 near Grand Forks, N.D. Authorities on Wednesday considered dropping half-ton sandbags from a National Guard helicopter to shore up a dam that stands between 30 endangered homes and the swollen Des Lacs River in northwest North Dakota.

[Mr Lick]

A girl leads as pupils dance to Michael Jackson's "Dangerous" during a daily exercise routine at a primary school in Wushan county, Chongqing municipality, China on April 14.
A total of 725 pupils in the school dance to the Michael Jackson hit song every morning as a routine exercise program between classes, according to local media.

[Mr Lick]

A boy holds a sweet potato snack for his father at a charcoal factory at a slum in Manila, April 12, 2011



Forces loyal to Ivorian President Alasane Ouattara look at a man suspected of being a militia member loyal to rival presidential claimant Laurant Gbagbo in Abidjan, April 12, 2011.



A soldier loyal to Ivorian President Alasane Ouattara wears a wig taken from the residence of rival presidential claimant Laurant Gbagbo in Abidjan, April 12, 2011.



An abandoned barn is seen submerged near Great Bend, North Dakota, April 12, 2011.



Residents have dinner in a scrapped vehicle which serves as their dwelling, at a dismantling centre for old vehicles on the outskirts of Hefei, Anhui province, April 12, 2011.



Supporters of Venezuela's President Hugo Chavez and Venezuela's militia members attend a ceremony to commemorate the ninth anniversary of the return to power of President Hugo Chavez after a brief coup, in Caracas, April 13, 2011.



Tibet's exiled spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama, cleans his glasses during a press conference in Dublin, April 13, 2011.

[Mr Lick]

Model Izzy Morely poses for a photograph while a displaying a creation titled 'The Birds' by Sophie Donaldson during a press view of the Edinburgh College of Art Costume Show in Edinburgh, Scotland, April 13, 2011.



An injured riot policeman is helped by his comrade during clashes in La Paz, April 13, 2011.



Students react in front of the Tasso da Silveira school, where a gunman opened fire on children, during a mass in tribute of the victims in Rio de Janeiro, April 13, 2011.



U.S. Army Pfc Matthew Wenger shaves at an outdoor sink at Combat Outpost Nolen in the Arghandab Valley north of Kandahar, April 13, 2011.



A rebel fighter walks past a Libyan army tank, destroyed by a NATO airstrike a few days ago, along the frontline at the western entrance of Ajdabiyah, April 13, 2011.



Pope Benedict XVI is seen through the window of the Popemobile as he arrives to lead his weekly general audience at the St. Peter's Square in Vatican, April 13, 2011.



A woman cries at the entrance to the Oktyabrskaya metro station in Minsk, April 13, 2011.

[Mr Lick]

One of eight penguin chicks makes its way to the ocean after being released by Taronga Zoo staff at Long Reef, Sydney, April 13, 2011.

[Mr Lick]

Battle for Libya






Smoke is seen in the city of Benghazi,




A rebel fighter looks through binoculars as he mans a mounted anti-aircraft gun atop a pick-up truck, at the frontline along the western entrance of Ajdabiyah, April 14, 2011.

[Mr Lick]

Calls grow for Japan PM to quit in wake of quake




Japan's fragile post-disaster political truce unravelled on Thursday as the head of the main opposition party called on unpopular Prime Minister Naoto Kan to quit over his handling of the country's natural calamities and a nuclear crisis.

At the stricken Fukushima Daiichi plant in the northeast of the country, engineers were struggling to find a new way to cool one of the six crippled reactors and Japan's Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency said it was now "highly likely" there was a hole in the suppression unit of the reactor.

Kan, whose public support stands at about 30 percent, had sought a grand coalition to help the country recover from its worst ever natural disaster and enact bills to pay for the country's biggest reconstruction project since World War Two.

Kan's Democratic Party controls parliament's lower house but needs opposition help to pass bills because it lacks a majority in the upper chamber, which can block legislation

[Mr Lick]

Deal struck to try to calm restive Syrian city




Syrian authorities sought to defuse tensions in Banias by agreeing to withdraw the feared secret police from the restive coastal city replacing them with army patrols and to free imprisoned pro-democracy protesters.

Syrian forces sealed off Banias and surrounded it with tanks after a protest against the rule of President Bashar al-Assad, 45, in the city on Friday, during which protesters shouted "the people want the overthrow of the regime."

The demonstration, echoing the rallying cries of revolutions in Tunisia and Egypt, was part of a wave of unrest that has swept Syria in which one rights group said 200 people have died. Students marched on Wednesday in Syria's second city of Aleppo.

[Mr Lick]

Ahvaz, Iran: A couple stand on the shore of the Arvand river during a sandstorm



Katmandu, Nepal: People take part in a peace rally to mark the Nepalese new year



Athens, Greece: Public sector workers whose contracts were under threat due to spending cuts celebrate outside the supreme court after a ruling in their favour



Ratnagiri , India: An 11-year-old boy carries a container full of dust on his shoulder at a laterite mine



Rio de Janeiro, Brazil: A police helicopter throws flower petals over the Tasso da Silveira school where 12 students were shot dead a week ago



Amritsar, India: Sikhs queue to give offerings at the Golden Temple during the Baisakhi festival, which marks the Sikh new year



Jerusalem: An ultra-Orthodox Jewish boy carries donated food for the poor from a distribution centre before Passover



Holloko, Hungary: Men throw water at women to demonstrate the traditional Easter celebration called the 'watering of the girls'

[Mr Lick]

Libyan rebels receiving anti-tank weapons from Qatar



Nato air strikes have targeted Libyan government tanks but cannot hit built-up areas without risking collateral damage.

Qatar is secretly supplying anti-tank weapons to the Libyan rebels as part of its strategy of working to overthrow the Gaddafi regime, it has emerged. Officials in Doha confirmed that the Gulf state's military had been shipping French-made Milan missiles to the rebel stronghold of Benghazi.

Qatar's prime minister and foreign minister, Sheikh Hamad bin Jassem, made clear on Wednesday that UN resolutions on Libya permitted the supply of "defensive weapons" to opposition forces struggling to fight Libyan armour.

Qatari government officials were tight-lipped about the deliveries, which are being organised by the joint chiefs of staff and probably made by sea. "We need to send the Libyans equipment so they can defend themselves and get on with their lives," one senior source said. "These are civilians who have had to become fighters because of the situation."

Britain's foreign secretary, William Hague, and colleagues from the 21-nation Libya contact group endorsed Qatar's position. Hague insisted the UK would supply only non-lethal equipment. France's view is similar but both countries – which are leading Nato air strikes in Libya – accept that arming the rebels is legal.

Gaddafi's government has repeatedly complained that the Qataris are supplying the rebels. Khaled Kayim, Libya's deputy foreign minister, claimed on Wednesday that about 20 Qatari specialists were already in Benghazi. Rebel spokesmen have said they are in talks with "friendly" countries, including Qatar and France, to obtain weapons.

[Mr Lick]

Phone hacking: senior News of the World journalist arrested



The police investigation into phone hacking at the News of the World has taken a dramatic turn with the surprise arrest of James Weatherup, a senior journalist at the paper.

He is the third current or former News of the World journalist to be arrested as part of Scotland Yard's new investigation into alleged phone hacking at the paper.

[Mr Lick]

Gay couple claim they were ejected from Soho pub for kissing

Two men say staff at the John Snow asked them to leave because they were being 'obscene'



Jonathan Williams (l), and James Bull claim they were thrown out of a pub in London's Soho district

Two men have spoken of their shock and anger after they were asked to leave a pub in London after a member of staff apparently objected to them kissing.

Jonathan Williams, a journalist for a financial trade magazine, and James Bull, a charity volunteer, say they were ejected from the John Snow on Broadwick Street, Soho, by a woman who claimed to be the landlady and said they were being "obscene".

Bull said he was physically sick after the incident, which happened at about 10.45pm on Wednesday, after the couple had earlier been for dinner on their first date together in Covent Garden.

Bull said: "I felt so belittled, and to be made to feel so dirty and cheap over something like that – it's just wrong."

The pair say that objections were first raised to their displays of affection shortly after they arrived at 8.30pm by a fellow drinker claiming to be the landlord, who was off duty.
They refused what they described as his "polite request" to stop kissing. Williams, 26, and Bull, 23, insist they were not indulging in a "huge display of affection", but were merely kissing on the lips.

[Mr Lick]

Goldman Sachs accused of fooling clients in scathing Senate report

Goldman Sachs accused of selling mortgage-linked derivatives at inflated prices and trying to cause 'maximum pain' to investors




In a frenzy to protect its interests at the start of the credit crisis, Goldman Sachs sold mortgage-linked derivatives to clients at inflated prices and misrepresented the nature of the deals, according to documents released by a Senate subcommittee.

Carl Levin, the Michigan Democrat who heads the Senate permanent subcommittee on investigations, said Goldman had "exploited" clients and top executives had lied to Congress during testimony in 2010.

"They gained at the expense of their clients and they used abusive practices to do it," said Levin

No real surprise there then

[Mr Lick]

Rory McIlroy bounces back with strong start to Malaysian Open



Rory McIlroy in action at the Malaysian Open.

Rory McIlroy hit probably the longest drive of his career as he put his Masters meltdown behind him to record an opening round three-under-par 69 at the Malaysian Open.

All eyes were on McIlroy after he blew a four-shot lead at Augusta, with huge crowds putting up with stifling temperatures in Kuala Lumpur to follow the Northern Irishman.

But unlike the Masters champion, Charl Schwartzel, who slumped to a 73 after an early tee-time, McIlroy showed no ill-effects of the 25-hour journey to Malaysia – and his clubs arriving late – as he birdied three of his opening five holes.

[Mr Lick]

World's oldest man Walter Breuning dies in US aged 114



The world's certified oldest man, whose advice to others included the observation "you're born to die", has passed away aged 114 in the US.

Walter Breuning was old enough to remember his grandfather recounting his part in the slaughter of the American Civil War, during the 1860s.

In his final years in Montana, he was passionate about ending two modern wars, those in Iraq and Afghanistan.

His long good health he put down to a strict regime of two meals a day.

"How many people in this country say that they can't take the weight off?" he asked in an interview with the Associated Press news agency in October.

"I tell these people, I says get on a diet and stay on it. You'll find that you're in much better shape, feel good."

The former railway clerk died of natural causes in hospital in Great Falls.

He had been living in the same retirement home since 1980.

His wife of 35 years, Agnes Twokey, died childless in 1957.

"We got along very good," Breuning said. "She wouldn't like to spend money, I'll tell you that."

[Mr Lick]

Ex-UN inspector Scott Ritter guilty in sex chat case



Former UN weapons inspector Scott Ritter has been found guilty of unlawful contact with a minor following an online sex sting operation.

Ritter, an outspoken critic of the war in Iraq, had a sexually graphic online chat in 2009 with an undercover police officer posing as a 15-year-old girl named Emily.

The 49-year-old was convicted on six of seven counts.

Ritter's lawyer said his client did not think he was speaking with a minor.

Ritter, a former US Marine, initiated a conversation through a Yahoo chatroom in February 2009 with police detective Ryan Venneman who was posing as the teenage girl.

Mr Ritter then performed a sex act on himself in front of a web camera, despite the officer's repeated claims that he was 15-years-old.

[Mr Lick]

Men arrested after lambs found in cars on M5 motorway



Sixteen lambs were discovered crammed into two cars stopped by police on the M5.

Some of the animals were on the back seat of one of the cars while others were discovered packed into the boot.

Officers have now located the owner of the lambs which were found near Oldbury in the West Midlands in the early hours of Thursday.

Six men were arrested on suspicion of theft after the Vauxhall Cavalier and Rover cars were stopped.

Police said the lambs' owner is from Toddington, Gloucestershire, and he will be reunited with his flock.

The police spokesman said officers found eight lambs in the boot of one of the vehicles with another three on the back seats.

In the second vehicle, four lambs were found in the boot and two in the foot-well.

"The lambs were found to be tightly bound and were obviously distressed," he said.

[Mr Lick]

Argentina former military ruler Bignone gets life



Argentina's last military ruler, Reynaldo Bignone, has been sentenced to life in prison for the torture and murder of political opponents more than three decades ago.

Four other former soldiers and police officers were also convicted.

The trial is the latest in a series related to military rule in Argentina in 1976-83, when around 30,000 people were killed or made to disappear.

Gen Bignone, 83, was already serving a 25-year sentence for other killings.

This case related to the abduction and murder of left-wing activists in the town of Escobar outside Buenos Aires after the coup of 1976 that ushered in military rule.

those killed were the former left-wing militant, Gaston Goncalves, and the former congressman, Diego Muniz Barreto.

Also sentenced to life in prison were former Gen Santiago Riveros, former army intelligence officer Martin Rodriguez and the former mayor of Escobar, Luis Patti, who was a policeman at the time of the killings.

Another former policeman, Juan Fernando Meneghini, was jailed for six years.
In his final defence, Gen Bignone said the civil court was not "competent" to judge him.

[Mr Lick]

Belgium hears ex-bishop Vangheluwe play down abuse



Former Belgian bishop Roger Vangheluwe has gone live on TV to talk about how he sexually abused two boys but does not see himself as a paedophile.

Emerging from hiding, he revealed he had molested two of his nephews, and not one, as he confessed last year before resigning as bishop of Bruges.

He does not face prosecution because the abuse occurred decades ago.

"It had nothing to do with sexuality," he said, in comments that caused indignation among politicians.

Justice Minister Stefaan De Clercq said in a statement the Church authorities "had to take measures to stop the irresponsible behaviour of the former bishop".

"It is a slap in the face of his victims and all victims," the justice minister added.
The 74-year-old is believed to be living outside Belgium since being ordered to leave the country by the Vatican, which has yet to decide on his future.

A decision will be made "naturally taking into account the various aspects of this issue, starting with the suffering of the victims and the requirements of the justice system", Vatican spokesman Federico Lombardi told AFP news agency earlier this week.