World News in Pictures

[Mr Lick]

A 40,000-pound, 26-foot statue of Marilyn Monroe's famous pose from "The Seven-Year Itch" was dismantled Monday night in preparation for the long drive to its new home in California.

The initially controversial "Forever Marilyn" creation by Seward Johnson was unveiled last July. She now heads to Palm Springs, where the actress was discovered by a Hollywood agent.

[Mr Lick]

FBI finds mother, daughter dead; 2 missing

The bodies of a Tennessee mother and her oldest daughter were found behind an alleged kidnapper's house in north Mississippi, the FBI said May 7, and authorities believe the woman's two other daughters are still with the man accused in their abduction.
















This undated photo provided by the Mississippi Department of Public Safety shows Adam Mayes. Warrants for kidnapping are being issued for Mayes, who is considered "armed and extremely dangerous," an official said in a news release Saturday, May 5,

[Mr Lick]

Ronnie O'Sullivan poses with his son little Ronnie after winning the World Snooker Championship at the Crucible Theatre, Sheffield

[Mr Lick]

Google gets Nevada driving licence for self-drive car



Driverless cars will soon be a reality on the roads of Nevada after the state approved America's first self-driven vehicle licence.

The first to hit the highway will be a Toyota Prius modified by search firm Google, which is leading the way in driverless car technology.

Its first drive included a spin down Las Vegas's famous strip.

Other car companies are also seeking self-driven car licences in Nevada.

The car uses video cameras mounted on the roof, radar sensors and a laser range finder to "see" other traffic.

Engineers at Google have previously tested the car on the streets of California, including crossing San Francisco's Golden Gate bridge.

For those tests, the car remained manned at all times by a trained driver ready to take control if the software failed.

According to software engineer Sebastian Thrun, the car has covered 140,000 miles with no accidents, other than a bump at traffic lights from a car behind.

[Mr Lick]

Aviva boss Andrew Moss to step down



Insurance firm Aviva has announced that group chief executive Andrew Moss will be leaving with immediate effect.

The move comes after the firm suffered the embarrassment of losing a shareholder vote on executive pay at its annual general meeting last week.

Mr Moss had already turned down an annual salary increase following concerns among shareholders about pay levels at the insurer.

Chairman designate John McFarlane will take on the role on an interim basis.

Aviva shares rose 5% in early trading following the announcement

[Mr Lick]

Air India has fired 10 pilots after dozens of them called in sick amid a dispute over training for the new Boeing 787 Dreamliner planes.

The airline has derecognised the Indian Pilots' Guild and its office is being sealed, an Air India spokesman said.

Civil aviation minister Ajit Singh called the strike "illegal".

The pilots are protesting against the decision to train pilots from Indian Airlines, which merged with Air India in 2007, to fly these planes.

Air India pilots have said the planes were ordered before the merger, so they should be preferred for training.

According to reports in the Indian media, another 150 pilots were expected to miss work later on Tuesday.

Air India said it had cancelled four international flights due to the unavailability of pilots

[Mr Lick]

Amir Khan's rematch with Lamont Peterson is in doubt after the American champion failed a drugs test.

Both fighters agreed to random testing before their light-welterweight bout in Las Vegas on 19 May and Peterson tested positive for synthetic testosterone.

"Lamont has never had a positive test either before or after this isolated occurrence," said a Peterson statement.

"We plan to submit medical findings by Tuesday reflecting the facts in support of Lamont's good faith intentions."

The fighters are due to meet for a second time on 19 May after the World Boxing Association ordered a rematch following Peterson's controversial victory over Khan on 10 December 2011.

[Mr Lick]

David Haye and Dereck Chisora are to face each other in a fight sanctioned by the Luxembourg Boxing Federation on 14 July.

Chisora's manager Frank Warren says the fight will take place at Upton Park.
The British heavyweights were involved in a brawl in a press conference following Chisora's defeat by Vitali Klitschko in Munich in February.

The British Boxing Board of Control will not sanction the fight because neither holds a British licence.

Chisora had his licence withdrawn after a number of controversial incidents before and after the Klitschko fight - but he has appealed against the decision.

Among the controversies, the 28-year-old slapped Klitschko at the weigh-in and spat water at the Ukrainian's brother Wladimir before the contest.

Haye relinquished his licence when he retired in October last year, three months after losing his WBA title to Wladimir in Hamburg.

Warren had previously said he would not go ahead with a fight between the two boxers.

However, he said he had changed his mind because Chisora's appeal against his licence withdrawal had been "pushed back to July".

Warren said: "What [Chisora] did was stupid and there should be some sort of punishment.

"But he will be out of action for six months and will lose money. Why should he not make a living?"

Chisora was granted a licence to fight by the Luxembourg Boxing Federation but Warren added that "a number of commissions" had been willing to do so.

[Mr Lick]

Blackburn, UK: a chicken on the pitch during a Premier League match against Wigan



Moscow, Russia: Alexei Navalny, an anti-corruption whistleblower and blogger, speaks to protesters outside the presidential administration building



Helston, UK: an early-morning dance during the Helston Flora Day celebrations



Kathmandu, Nepal: a boy cries as he holds his sister in his lap after a confrontation between squatters and police

[Mr Lick]

David Haye v Dereck Chisora, a bizarre boxing press conference

Images of the peculiar press conference held at West Ham's Upton Park to announce the forthcoming fight between the two men whose brawl in Munich last year disgraced boxing



We all know what happened the last time Dereck Chisora met David Haye. The two ended up scrapping like dogs amid a crowd of bemused journalists after Chisora, beaten earlier in the evening by Vitali Klitschko, took offence to Haye's interruption of his press conference



Inevitably, the two have now agreed to fight one another inside a boxing ring. Despite Chisora's ban, the fight has apparently been licenced by the Luxembourg Boxing Federation. Haye, who had vowed to retire after his world title embarrassment against Wladimir Klitschko last year, has clearly been eyeing up a return to the ring for some time - the guy's still in impeccable shape






Presumably Chisora, who reportedly threatened to kill Haye in Munich, is laughing behind his hand at this farcical scene. The pair will square up properly on 14 July at Upton Park, in case you're interested



Haye seems keen to wind Chisora up in the meantime









Haye gets ready to punch the fence. Good one, David

[Mr Lick]

German Chancellor and Christian Democratic Union (CDU) party leader Angela Merkel reacts before a party board meeting in Berlin, May 7, 2012. Germans voted a new parliament in the state of Schleswig-Holstein on Sunday, with Angela Merkel's conservatives fighting to prevent a loss of local power to their Social Democrat rivals that could dent the chancellor's 2013 re-election hopes



A full-size model of Japan's robot animation character "Gundam" stands in front of a shopping mall behind trees in Tokyo, May 7, 2012. The 18-meter-tall "Gundam" was installed to promote its entertainment facility "Gundam Front Tokyo", which opened last month.

[Mr Lick]

Facebook Inc. CEO Mark Zuckerberg is escorted by security guards as he departs New York City's Sheraton Hotel May 7, 2012. Facebook Inc kicked off its IPO roadshow in New York on Monday, attracting hundreds of investors to the Sheraton as the world's largest social network aims to raise about $10.6 billion, dwarfing the coming-out parties of tech companies like Google Inc and granting it a market value close to Amazon.com Inc's.



Riot police detain human rights activist Lev Ponomaryov during an unsanctioned protest in Moscow May 7, 2012. Vladimir Putin was sworn in as Russia's president in a glittering Kremlin ceremony on Monday, starting a six-year term in which he faces growing dissent, economic problems and bitter political rivalries.



Secretary of Defense Leon E. Panetta (L) and China's Minister of National Defense Gen. Liang Guanglie hold a news conference following their meeting at the Pentagon in Washington May 7, 2012.

[Mr Lick]

Riot police chase opposition supporters during an unsanctioned protest in Moscow May 7, 2012. Vladimir Putin appealed for unity in Russia after being sworn as president on Monday and pledged to strengthen democracy in his new six-year term.



Courtside fans react as Los Angeles Clippers point guard Eric Bledsoe dives into the crowd during Game 4 of their NBA Western Conference basketball playoff series against the Memphis Grizzlies in Los Angeles, California May 7, 2012.

[Mr Lick]

Maurice Sendak, 83, who passed away Tuesday from complications following a stroke, was primarily known as a children's book author and illustrator. But Sendak was never afraid of adapting his pictures and words into alternative media, which is how his most famous book, "Where the Wild Things Are" ended up as an animated short, a full-length feature and even an opera.

[Mr Lick]

Kurdish Protesters clash with ant-riot police in front of Kurdistan Parliament building in Erbil, north of Baghdad, Iraq on 08 May 2012. Hundred rallied in front of the Kurdistan parliament against the article by Norwegian Kurdish expatriate writer Halmat Goran published on 02 May in a local magazine Chrpa. The article is said to be offensive to Islam and to Muslims

[Mr Lick]

A displaced Congolese family carry their belongings on the road between Rutshuru and Goma, after the village of Kibumba was occupied by an armed militia consisting of current or former members of the "National Congress for the Defence of the People", according to those fleeing, in Congo on Tuesday. Mutinous soldiers formerly from the armed militia "National Congress for the Defence of the People" and linked to Congolese ex-general Bosco Ntaganda, who is wanted for alleged war crimes by the International Criminal Court, say they have formed a new rebel group called the "March 23 Movement", led by a colonel who was formerly the No. 2 in the army under Ntaganda

[Mr Lick]

Claire Lomas, who is paralyzed and walks with the aid of a "bionic" suit, finishes the London Marathon on May 8, 16 days after the event began. The former chiropractor was in tears as she became the first person to complete any marathon using a bionic ReWalk suit.



Claire Lomas of Britain celebrates after finishing the London Marathon, 16 days after the race began, in London, Britain, on May 8. Lomas, who is paralyzed from the waist down following a horse riding accident, is the first person to complete a marathon in a bionic ReWalk suit

[Mr Lick]

Zhang Wuyi sits in his double-seater submarine during a test operation at an artificial pool near a shipyard in Wuhan, Hubei province May 7. Zhang, a 37-year-old local farmer, who is interested in scientific inventions, has made six miniature submarines with several fellow engineers, one of which was sold to a businessman in Dalian at a price of 100,000 yuan ($15,855) last October. The submarines, mainly designed for harvesting aquatic products, such as sea cucumber, have a diving depth of 20-30 metres, and can travel for 10 hours, local media reported.

[Mr Lick]

A Syrian man shot while smuggling medicine over the Lebanese border is carried into a field hospital in Qusayr, nine miles from Homs, Syria, on May 7, 2012

[Mr Lick]

The Helston Town Band leads dancers through a private home as they take part in the Early Morning Dance as part of the Helston Flora Day celebrations on May 8, 2012 in Helston, England. The dance, which starts at 7am and is the first in a series throughout the day, goes all over the town and even in and out of houses and shops

[Mr Lick]

Petitioners protesting about medical and land grab issues are detained by police outside the Chaoyang Hospital where blind Chinese activist Chen Guangcheng is being held, in Beijing on May 8.



A petitioner, allegedly persecuted by local officials after reporting a corruption case to the central government, shows a scar, trying to attract public attention for his case, while he is grabbed by a policeman outside the hospital where blind activist Chen Guangcheng is staying for treatment in Beijing, China, Tuesday, May 8.

[Mr Lick]

Italian football clubs to face match-fixing probe



More than 30 people - including Andrea Masiello - have been arrested over the past year

More than 20 football teams are to be informed that they are facing investigation as an Italian inquiry into match-fixing reaches a new phase.

The Italian football federation said 61 people, including 52 active players, would also be told they will have to answer questions over the allegations.

More than 30 arrests have been made in investigations into match-fixing over the past year in Italy.

Prosecutors are studying suspicious results in 33 matches.

The probe could lead to another damaging trial, similar to the one in 2006 that saw Juventus relegated to Serie B and other major clubs suffer points reductions.

[Mr Lick]

Greek election: Syriza 'to tear up EU austerity deal'



Alexis Tsipras says his cabinet would reject "barbaric" austerity measures

The leader of Greece's left-wing Syriza bloc has said he will try to form a coalition based on tearing up the terms of the EU/IMF bailout deal.

Alexis Tsipras, whose bloc came second in Sunday's vote, said Greek voters had "clearly nullified the loan agreement".

He has three days to reach a coalition deal and has told the two major parties to end their support for the austerity terms if they want to take part.

The European Commission and Germany say countries must stick to budget cuts.

European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso said on Tuesday: "What member states have to do is be consistent, implementing the policies that they have agreed."

But, after French voters chose a new president on Sunday in Francois Hollande who has advocated greater focus on growth, EU leaders are to gather on 23 May for an informal meeting at which his proposals will be discussed.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel has written to Mr Hollande, saying that it is "up to us... to prepare our societies for the future and protect and advance prosperity in a sustainable way".

[Mr Lick]

Mayoral candidate 'kills himself' in Italian city




A prominent councillor and former mayoral candidate has been found dead in the Italian city of Bologna, after apparently throwing himself off a council building balcony.

Maurizio Cevenini, 58, had withdrawn from a bid to become the northern city's mayor after an illness in 2010.

His death, though not apparently related to the financial crisis, comes after a spate of suicides in the area.

Local media report that three men have killed themselves over recent days.

According to local news sources, a 55-year-old man from the Sicilian city of Palermo committed suicide in the town on Monday night, hanging himself in the room of the dormitory where he was staying.

A 48-year-old local business man who was reported to be in debt was found dead on Monday on the outskirts of the town and, in the nearby town of Vicenza, an estate agent also in financial difficulty was found dead in a park having hanged himself, according to Il Secolo XIX newspaper.

[Mr Lick]

Nine men who ran a child sexual exploitation ring in Greater Manchester have been jailed.

The men from Rochdale and Oldham, who exploited girls as young as 13 were given sentences ranging from four to 19 years.

They were found guilty of offences including rape and conspiracy to engage in sexual activity with a child.

Liverpool Crown Court heard the group plied five victims with drink and drugs and "passed them around" for sex.

The girls were abused at two takeaway restaurants in the Heywood area of Rochdale by the men aged between 24 and 59. The takeaways are now under new management.