World News in Pictures

[Mr Lick]

The celebrity factor: British Formula One driver Lewis Hamilton and US singer Nicole Scherzinger arrive at the world premiere of 'Jack Reacher' in Leicester Square in London, Britain



Free Tibet: A protestor poses for a photograph during the solidarity march from the Chinese Consulate to the United Nations Headquarters in support of Tibet in New York. The march also aims to brings to attention a string of self-immolations that have taken place in Tibet in protest of China's handling of the region



The election light show: Lasers project the number of seats won in the parliamentary elections by the political parties on the facade of the communist era built Palace of Parliament in Bucharest, Romania

[Mr Lick]

Philippine Navy personnel load coffins on to the BRP Laguna, which is set to transport relief supplies to typhoon-affected areas, from a navy base in Cavite City, south of Manila, on Tuesday.

The United Nations has appealed for $65 million in emergency aid for millions of victims of Typhoon Bopha in the southern Philippines, where at least 714 people were killed as muddy floodwaters washed out entire villages.

[Mr Lick]

Syrian rebels stand atop Sham II, a homemade armored vehicle made by the rebels' Al-Ansar brigade, in Bishqatin, west of Aleppo, on December 8, 2012.




From a distance it looks rather like a big rusty metal box but closer inspection reveals the latest achievement of Syrian rebels: a homemade armored vehicle waiting to be deployed.

The Sham II is built from the chassis of a car and touted by rebels as '100 percent made in Syria.'



The fully-enclosed vehicle made from light steel is about four yards in length and two yards across, mounted with a 7.62 mm machine gun which is activated with a PlayStation-style controller from inside the cabin.

The vehicle has five cameras: three at the front, one in the back and another attached to the gun

[Mr Lick]

A fan of Jenny Rivera lights a candle at the Basilica of Guadalupe in the city of Monterrey, Mexico, Monday Dec. 10, 2012. U.S. authorities confirmed Monday that Rivera, a U.S.-born singer whose soulful voice and openness about her personal troubles made her a Mexican-American superstar, was killed in a plane crash early Sunday in northern Mexico.

[Mr Lick]

Lawyers loyal to the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) shout slogans outside the Dhaka Judge Court during a strike. At least 134 participants in the countrywide stoppage were detained, as activists clashed with police and vandalised vehicles



Indian policewomen drag an activist of the Communist party of India (Marxist) to a police truck after detaining her during a demonstration in Hyderabad. The CPI (M) was protesting against the hike in property taxes, and demanding a rise in the cap on the number of subsidised cooking gas refills allotted to every household per year

[Mr Lick]

Protesters opposed to Egypt's President Mohamed Morsi try to remove a metal barrier protecting the presidential palace in the Cairo suburb of Heleopolis. About 200 demonstrators are contesting the draft constitution scheduled to go to a referendum on 15 December



Snowball - a golfer plays in the snow at Etchinghill Golf Club near Folkestone in southern England



Choristers from Winchester Cathedral don ice-skates to enjoy the artificial rink outside. Forecasters are warning that the UK could experience the coldest day of the year so far tomorrow, as temperatures could drop as low as -14C



No need to duck - Tower Bridge in London is raised for a giant 50ft rubber duck, marking the launch of a bursary granting funds and rewards for ideas that encourage people to have more fun



A customs officer rearranges elephant tusks found in a hidden compartment of a shipping container at the customs house in Malaysia's port town of Klang outside Kuala Lumpur

[Mr Lick]

They're not sharks, exactly: a diver dressed in a Father Christmas costume swims with sardines during a promotional event for the Christmas "Sardines Feeding Show with Santa Claus" at the Coex Aquarium in Seoul, South Korea



An aerial view shows the destruction caused by typhoon Bopha in the town of Cateel, in the southern Philippines

[Mr Lick]

Dee Dee Moore, with lawyers Byron Hileman, left, aand Christopher Boldt, after Moore was found guilty of first-degree murder over the death of lottery winner Abraham Shakespeare. Moore was sentenced to life imprisonment without parole



A forensic officer works around a damaged unmarked police car in East Belfast. Police were attacked in Belfast last night by loyalists angered by a decision to remove the union flag from Belfast City Hall, which has sparked eight consecutive days of protests

[Mr Lick]

A Boeung Kak lake resident lies on the road as she protests next to riot police during a march to celebrate the 64th anniversary of Human Rights Day, in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, December 10, 2012



A New Zealand SPCA dog Monty, an 18-month-old Giant Schnauzer, drives a modified Mini Countryman on a race track in Auckland, December 10, 2012.



Hotel maid Nafissatou Diallo appears in New York State Supreme Court for a hearing where a settlement in her civil lawsuit against former International Monetary Fund chief Dominique Strauss-Kahn was expected to be announced, in the Bronx, New York December 10, 2012.

[Mr Lick]

A participant is helped into the venue of the "Beauty without limits" beauty contest for women confined to wheelchairs in Vladivostok, Russia, December 10, 2012.




German Bundeswehr army soldiers dressed as Saint Nicholas and Santa's little helpers walk to distribute gifts at the combat outpost OP North, near Baghlan, northern Afghanistan, December 6, 2012.



Gordon Brown, former Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and UN Special Envoy for Global Education, attends the event "Stand up for Malala, Girls' education is a right!" during the United Nations Human Rights Day at the UNESCO headquarters in Paris, December 10, 2012.

Still hasn't managed to shake off that pompous pose i see.



Boy meets Girl in Oslo (hoping to receive a peace prize, no doubt )



Pro-democracy lawmaker Leung Kwok-hung (3rd R), also known as "Long Hair," is blocked by security guards as he tries to approach Hong Kong Chief Executive Leung Chun-ying (L) inside the Legislative Council in Hong Kong December 10, 2012, where the latter is being questioned by lawmakers

[Mr Lick]

An apocalypse survival pod, made in China.

[Mr Lick]

There are about 20 illegal mines near the village of Stranjani, where Bosnians dig for coal with their bare hands and use makeshift tools, such as bathtubs, to transport the coal. One bag of their coal is sold for $4 dollars, which is popular with the locals as it is cheaper than the coal sold at the legal city mine.

[Mr Lick]

Female Afghan National Police (ANP) officers trained alongside men at a training center near the German Bundeswehr army camp of Marmal in Mazar-e-Sharif, northern Afghanistan on Tuesday. German police are mentoring the training program for ANP, as part of an ongoing International Security Assistance Force mission, according to Reuters. Woman make up only 9 percent of the police force, according to The New York Times, as many husbands and provincial commanders are uncomfortable with women in such a role

Well, giving a gun to people who can't reverse a car, would be of great concern to me also

[Mr Lick]

Vehicles move on a snow-covered road after the season’s first snowfall near the northern Indian city of Shimla, on Tuesday. The snowfall is expected to trigger a rush of tourists to the area

[Mr Lick]

Afghan men gather at a crowded bus stop in the center of Lashkar Gah to catch a bus to Sangin, Afghanistan, the scene of some of the most violent fighting between the Taliban and British and U.S. forces.



Don't fancy yours much



Expecting rain are we?

In southern Helmand province, one of Afghanistan's deadliest battlefields, angry residents say 11 years of war has brought them widespread insecurity.

Development that was promised hasn't materialized and the Taliban's rule is often said to be preferred.

[Mr Lick]

Ciudad Juarez, Mexico: Red shoes, symbolising missing women, outside the state attorney's office during a demonstration



Madrid, Spain: Spanish police carry off a member of the Mortgage Victims' Platform outside Bankia headquarters

Ok, maybe he's got a mortgage on a Wendy House eh?



Asuncion, Paraguay: Demonstrators hand out flowers to riot police during a march marking International Human Rights Day



Cancún, Mexico: Clowns celebrate International Clown Day



Las Vegas, US: Tuf Cooper of Decatur flips a calf on its side during the tie-down roping competition at the National Finals Rodeo



Cairo, Egypt: A wheelchair-bound woman shouts political slogans outside the presidential palace



Qiantun, China: Farmer Liu Qiyuan looks out from one of seven survival pods he has dubbed 'Noah's Arc' in his back yard

[Mr Lick]

Freezing weather across UK

Forecasters are warning the UK could experience the coldest day of the year so far on Wednesday as temperatures possibly drop as low as -14C, bringing widespread ice, harsh frosts and freezing fog

[OhOh]

Ravi Shankar, the sitar virtuoso who became a hippie musical icon of the 1960s after hobnobbing with the Beatles and who introduced traditional Indian ragas to Western audiences has died. He was 92. Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh also confirmed Shankar's death and called him a "national treasure."

[Mr Lick]

Ravi Shankar playing the sitar on May 31, 1966.



1974



1975







2005



2011, England

[Mr Lick]

Ukrainian opposition deputies wear sweaters featuring portraits of jailed former prime minister Yulia Tymoshenko on the front and 'Free political prisoners!' on the back. During the opening ceremony of the newly elected Ukrainian parliament in Kiev.



Buddhist monks take part in a protest in Yangon in support of monks who were injured during a demonstration. Hundreds of Buddhist monks took to the streets of several cities and towns in Burma today to protest against police violence during a crackdown on demonstrators at a copper mine last month



1, 2, 1, 2, 1, 2 testing testing: Newly married couples pose for photographs during a mass wedding ceremony at the Thean Hou temple in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Today's unique date is widely considered to be fortunate for a wedding, guaranteeing a happy marriage



Egyptians make their way past a tank stationed outside the presidential palace in Cairo. Egypt's powerful army has called for President Mohamed Morsi and the secular opposition to meet later in the day to prevent a crisis over an imminent constitutional referendum

[Mr Lick]

Fists have been flying among Ukrainian politicians ahead of the opening ceremony of the newly elected parliament in Kiev



North Koreans raise a toast in Pyongyang after hearing the news of a rocket launch. Reports say that North Korea successfully fired a long-range rocket, defying international warnings



Meanwhile South Korean activists make their protest against North Korea known during a demonstration in Seoul

[Mr Lick]

A masked anti-Mursi protester sits near Republican Guard soldiers standing guard in front of the presidential palace in Cairo, December 11, 2012



Members of the Mortgage Victims' Platform (PAH) camp while demanding dation in payment, in central Valencia, Spain, December 11, 2012



Policemen surround an officer, who was injured by a vehicle in Times Square, Midtown Manhattan in New York, December 11, 2012. The officer was injured after being dragged by a vehicle over 100 feet (30 meters), but the circumstances were unclear, witnesses at the scene said. Police at the location would not comment

[Mr Lick]

Santa season

[Mr Lick]

Celebrations in North Korea as they lauch a long-range rocket to put a satellite into space



The Spice Girls reunite in London for the Viva Forever! musical based upon their hits

[Mr Lick]

Netherlands 'halal homes' ignite religious row




Renovations in Amsterdam apartments - nicknamed "halal homes" in the press - have sparked a political row in the Netherlands.

About 180 apartments in Amsterdam have been given special makeovers which suit the wishes of Muslim residents. Features include individual taps that can be used for ritual cleansing before prayers and sliding doors to keep men and women apart.

Some right-wing politicians have been stirring up public opposition, warning that anyone asking for such modifications should "leave for Mecca".

From the outside, the apartments look no different from other social housing blocks in the residential area of Bos and Lommer, in the less opulent western reaches of the capital.

Aynur Yildrim gives a tour of her home with the enthusiasm of an inspired estate agent. In the bathroom she bends to reveal the lowered water point - a modification that, in some variation, might equally exist in non-religious homes. But it is the perceived religious aspect of these changes that has made them so controversial.

And it is in the tidy kitchen that the distinction is most striking, as Ms Yildrim shows off the sliding doors.

"I wanted a closed kitchen, in order to be able to close the kitchen off now and then for a bit more privacy. Sometimes we like to be separated, the women on one side and the men on the other."

After a poor performance in recent parliamentary elections, Mr Wilders may be angling to woo immigration-conscious right-wing voters again with his strong, headline-grabbing statements. Recent opinion polls suggest that if there were to be an election tomorrow, his Freedom Party (PVV) would win.

A Dutch property developer and PVV supporter said he was "shocked" by the "halal homes" concept.
"It's a ridiculous idea, I thought it was a joke," he complained.

"It turns into reality. The rules of the Koran are discrimination, it is stimulating discrimination. It's taking us back to medieval times."

"These immigrants are from lower social classes, they're not educated, they're bringing those values to our Dutch society - the opposite should happen, they should adapt to our modern and free values.

We should teach them to integrate. This is backwards. What if it were on buses? If we were to separate men and women on buses it would be like discrimination again, here in the Netherlands. It's crazy. I can't believe it. It frightens me."



Geert Wilders has long campaigned against Muslim influence in Dutch society