World News in Pictures

[Mr Lick]

Guatemala shock as two murdered girls found on street

Campaign groups are demanding justice for the victims

Guatemalan police are investigating the murder of two girls aged six and 12 whose bodies were found dumped on a street in the capital, Guatemala City.

The girls, who were wearing pyjamas, appeared to have been strangled, officials said.

Police are trying to establish whether their deaths are linked to the murders of two women found with gunshot wounds in the same district.

Some 700 women were killed in Guatemala in 2011, according to official figures.

The bodies of the two girls were found in the early hours of Wednesday on a street in Zona 11, a southern district of Guatemala City.

Two murdered women, thought to be aged between 20 and 35, were discovered in the same neighbourhood. One had been shot in the face.

It is not clear whether they were victims of domestic violence or murdered by criminal gangs.

"Guatemala awoke in mourning," women's rights group Survivors' Foundation said in a statement. "We demand these crimes be solved."

[Mr Lick]

Ahmed Dogan attacked by armed assailant in Bulgaria




The unidentified attacker was unable to fire his gun at Ahmed Dogan


A man put a gas pistol to the head of the leader of Bulgaria's ethnic Turkish party during a televised conference.

Ahmed Dogan, leader of the Movement for Rights and Freedoms (MRF) was unharmed and the unidentified man was wrestled to the ground by security guards.

The incident happened on Saturday at a party congress in the capital Sofia.

Interior Minister Tsvetan Tsvetanov said the attacker tried to fire two shots but "most likely the gun misfired".

Early reports suggested the weapon was a gun, but it was later confirmed to be a gas pistol - a non-lethal weapon used largely for self-defence which does not fire bullets but which can cause serious injuries if fired from close range.

Mr Tsetanov also said the assailant had a criminal record for drugs possession, robberies and hooliganism.

Police arrested the attacker, a 25-year-old from the Black Sea town of Burgas, who was also carrying two knives.

The liberal MRF party represents ethnic Turks and other Muslims, who make up about 12% of Bulgaria's population of about seven million.

Mr Dogan, 58, has led the party for almost 25 years. He returned to the party conference a few hours after the attack and was given a standing ovation.

President Rosen Plevneliev said in a statement: "Bulgarian society is traditionally known for its tolerance, mutual acceptance and respect between different ethnic groups and religions.

"Such an act is unacceptable in a democratic state."

Attacks on politicians are rare in Bulgaria, but in 1996, former Prime Minister Andrei Lukanov was found shot dead near his home in Sofia.












Oktai Enimehmedov, center, is escorted by security personnel after attacking Ahmed Dogan.

[Mr Lick]

Firefighters attempt to extinguish a fire that engulfed a residential area in Manila, Philippines, Jan. 19. Nearly 50 houses were destroyed leaving 100 families homeless.

[Mr Lick]

Travelers ward off boredom by sleeping while waiting to board a canceled flight at Heathrow Airport's Terminal 5 in London, England, Jan. 19. More than 400 flights were canceled or delayed on Jan. 18 because of severe snow storms. Thousands of passengers were forced to sleep at the airport.

[Mr Lick]

2013 Detroit Motor Show



The Acura NSX Concept is shown at media previews for the North American International Auto Show in Detroit on Jan. 15, 2013. Approximately 6,000 members of the media from 68 countries are attending the show this year. The 2013 NAIAS opens to the public Jan. 19.



The smart forstars electric concept car on display on Jan. 15. The name is a tongue-in-cheek reference to the glass roof above the passengers that gives a clear view of the starry sky.






The Nissan Resonance Concept hybrid-electric vehicle is revealed on Jan. 15.

[Mr Lick]

The Ford Atlas concept pickup truck is shown during the media preview Jan. 15 at the North American International Auto Show in Detroit..









The Hyundai HCD-14 Genesis Concept car is intorduced at the North American International Auto Show on Jan. 14 in Detroit



The Honda Urban SUV Concept is shown at media previews for the North American International Auto Show on Jan. 14 in Detroit

[Mr Lick]

A model poses with the 2014 Maserati Quattroporte at media previews for the North American International Auto Show on Jan. 14 in Detroit

[Mr Lick]

Muslim devotees arrive on overcrowded trains to attend the Biswa Ijtema, or World Muslim Congregation, at Tongi, Bangladesh, on Jan. 13. At least 3 million Muslims joined in prayer on the banks of a river in Bangladesh as the world's second-largest annual Islamic congregation ended.



Two boxers train under the illumination of the Haslingden "Halo" Panopticon on Jan. 15 in Rawtenstall, England. The installation designed by John Kennedy of LandLab sits on a hill called Top o' Slate, a reclaimed landfill site in East Lancashire, and has become a major landmark since opening in 2011. "Halo" is the centerpiece of a partnership led by the REMADE in Lancashire program, Groundwork and Rossendale Council that has reclaimed and returned to public use 33 hectares of land.



An Afghan truck driver peers through the broken windshield of his vehicle at the site of a suicide attack near the Afghan intelligence agency headquarters in Kabul on Jan. 16. A squad of suicide bombers attacked the headquarters in heavily fortified central Kabul that day, killing at least two guards and wounding dozens of civilians.

[Mr Lick]

People slide down inflatable chutes as they evacuate a Boeing 787 Dreamliner operated by All Nippon Airways at Takamatsu Airport on Jan. 16. The plane made an emergency landing in Takamatsu, Japan, after smoke appeared in the plane's cockpit. All 137 passengers and crew members were evacuated safely.



An officer whips a man convicted of rape in Sabzevar, Iran, on Jan. 16. Rape, like murder and treason, can be punished by death in Iran. Sometimes judges impose a sentence of lashes before execution or imprisonment.

[BaitongBoy]

Congratulations Mr Lick, as you approach one million viewers, a first for TD, I believe...

Well done...

[Mr Lick]

^ Many thanks BB, your comments are much appreciated



Andy Murray of Britain celebrates defeating Ricardas Berankis of Lithuania during their men's singles match at the Australian Open tennis tournament in Melbourne January 19, 2013.



Mourners pray over the coffin of Pakistani immigrant Shehzad Luqman during a ceremony in front of Athens city hall January 19, 2013. Luqman, 27, was stabbed to death by two men on a motorcycle as he rode his bicycle to work in the Athens neighborhood of Petralona in the early hours of Wednesday. According to police, the attackers, a 25-year-old and a 29-year-old firefighter, admitted they stabbed him in the chest following a drunken argument. Police are investigating whether the attack was racially-motivated after discovering dozens of pamphlets of the ultra-nationalist Golden Dawn party in the home of one of the attackers. Thousands of immigrants and human-rights activists marched in Athens on Saturday to protest against racist attacks in Greece as the country struggles to pull itself out of a severe debt crisis.

[Mr Lick]

Nigerian soldiers unload their equipment as they arrive at the Mali air force base near Bamako January 19, 2013. The first West African regional forces arrived in Mali on Thursday to reinforce French and Malian troops battling to push back al Qaeda-linked rebels after seven days of French air strikes



French soldiers take up positions outside Markala, January 19, 2013. Islamist rebels in Mali abandoned the central town of Diabaly on Friday after fleeing a French air strike, military sources said, while West African troops arrived in Bamako to take on the insurgents in Mali's north

[Mr Lick]

A freed Norwegian (R) and two British hostages are seen at the police station in In Amenas January 19 , 2013. The Algerian army on Saturday carried out a final assault on al Qaeda-linked gunmen holed up in a desert gas plant, killing 11 of the Islamists after they took the lives of seven more foreign hostages, a local source and the state news agency said.



Maxwell Owura lies on a hospital bed in Niono, January 19, 2013. The 39-year-old barber was hit in the leg by a stray bullet during the fighting between the Malian army and Islamists in Diabaly.



Guevara, a Syrian Palestinian woman married to an Al Wa'ad battalion commander, is pictured in Aleppo January 19, 2013. Guevara was the director of a secondary school before the revolution and is now one of the main snipers of the battalion on the front line in Aleppo

[Mr Lick]

A kangaroo stands on ground blackened by a bushfire near Coonabarabran, about 350 km (217 miles) northwest of Sydney January 19, 2013



Skier Rok Perko of Slovenia crashes during the men's Alpine Skiing World Cup downhill race at Lauberhorn in Wengen January 19, 2013.

[Mr Lick]

Jakarta under water

[Mr Lick]

[Mr Lick]

Cirque Du Soleil showcase



Artists perform during Cirque du Soleil's Varekai show in Lima, January 16, 2013

[Mr Lick]

[Mr Lick]

Aurora movie theater reopens



A couple walks together as they arrive at the movie theater where 12 people were killed in a shooting rampage at a Batman film last July in Aurora, Colorado January 17, 2013. The theater was set to reopen tonight with a private "night of remembrance" for survivors and others connected to the tragedy.















Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper (R) bows his head during the prayer at the reopening and remembrance in Theater H, the remodeled Theater 9 of the Century Aurora Theater in Aurora, Colorado January 17, 2013.






A new sign adorns Theater 9 during the reopening and remembrance of the Century Aurora Theater in Aurora, Colorado January 17, 2013 where suspect James Holmes is accused of killing 12 people and wounding 70 others July 20, 2012.

[Mr Lick]

Behind Kachin rebel lines in Burma



The Burmese military have launched fresh attacks on rebel Kachin forces, breaking a short-lived ceasefire







4 rebels were killed when a bomb was dropped by government forces

[Mr Lick]

Original Batmobile sold for $4.2m at US auction






The customised 1955 Lincoln Ventura better known as the Batmobile


The Batmobile used by actor Adam West in the original TV series of Batman has sold for $4.2m (£2.6m) at a US auction.

The car was bought by Rick Champagne, a logistics company owner from Phoenix, Arizona.

The 56-year-old, who was just 10 when the high-camp TV series began in 1966, said it "was a dream come true".

The Batmobile design was based on a 1955 Lincoln Futura, a concept car built in Italy by the Ford Motor Company.

It was the first time that car had come up for public sale since it was bought in 1965 by car-customiser George Barris, who transformed it in 15 days, at the cost of $15,000 (£9,400), into the superhero's famous vehicle.

It had a V-8 engine, arguably one of the first in-car phones, and parachutes, which were deployed to help Batman turn sharp corners.

Mr Barris told reporters at the auction: "The car had to be a star on its own. And it became one."

Since the show was cancelled in 1968, he has toured the Batmobile and was eventually housed in a private showroom in California.


Adam West, now 84, played the caped crusader in 120 episodes in four years of programming, with Burt Ward starring as the "boy wonder" Robin and comedian and actor Cesar Romero as Batman's arch nemesis, The Joker.

[Mr Lick]

Lance Armstrong: US insurance firm ready to file $12m lawsuit


A Texan company plans to file a lawsuit next week to recoup $12m from disgraced cyclist Lance Armstrong.

SCA Promotions insured bonuses paid to Armstrong when he claimed his fourth, fifth and sixth Tour de France wins.

The American has admitted using performance-enhancing drugs for all seven of his Tour de France wins.

"We will likely file that lawsuit as soon as next week unless we get a satisfactory response from Armstrong's camp," SCA lawyer Jeff Tillotson said.

“Lance Armstrong neither has the legal right, nor frankly the moral right to keep those funds” - Jeff Tillotson SCA Promotions lawyer

The insurance policy was taken out by Tailwind Sports, owner of the US Postal team, to cover performance bonuses payable to Armstrong if he claimed his fourth, fifth and sixth Tour victories.

SCA initially refused to pay out money covering the bonus for Armstrong's sixth Tour win in 2004, totalling $5m, because it argued Armstrong was not a clean rider.

Armstrong took the company to an arbitration hearing in Dallas in 2005 and won, because the contract between the parties stipulated the insurance money would be payable if Armstrong was the "official winner" of the Tour

[Mr Lick]

Off-duty Greater Manchester police officer murdered

PC Francis was assaulted minutes after getting out of a taxi

An off-duty police officer has died after being assaulted in Greater Manchester.

PC Gareth Francis, 28, was walking home from a night out with friends on Castle Street, Edgeley, Stockport, at 01:20 GMT, when he was attacked, police said.

He was taken to Stepping Hill Hospital with a head injury and died later.

Two men, aged 20 and 21, from Stockport, have been been arrested on suspicion of his murder and remain in custody for questioning.

A post-mortem examination will take place later to establish the cause of death. Police have appealed for witnesses

[Mr Lick]

Ballarat, Australia: Charlie Parker, three, swims in a pool at the Ballarat Wildlife Park with an American alligator called Gump, whose snout has been restrained



Sana'a, Yemen: a boy wears a paper mask to symbolise silence during a protest outside the office of the United Nations. The demonstration was held in protest against the silence of the international community over the plight of Muslims in regions of conflict



Sieversdorf, Germany: a blue tit feeds in a snow-covered garden



Kisumu, Kenya: protesters block a road with burning tyres as they take to the streets to demonstrate against the results in the Orange Democratic Movement's (ODM) primary elections



Istanbul, Turkey: thousands of Turks gather in front of the offices of Agos, an Armenian newspaper, during a commemoration ceremony for journalist Hrant Dink, who was killed in 2007



Washington DC, US: a worker cleans bulletproof glass on the west Capitol platform where President Barack Obama will take the oath of office at his second inauguration



Park City, Utah, US: Marc Fignon, director of the film The Great Depression, hands out flyers for his film to festivalgoers at the 2013 Sundance film festival



Al-Bab, Syria: a man brings together handmade missiles in a secret factory

[Mr Lick]

The U.S. Navy ship USS Guardian remains stuck in the vicinity of the Tubbataha Reef, western Philippines, on Jan. 19. The minesweeper ran aground at the Tubbataha National Marine Park, a World Heritage Site off Palawan province, 600 kilometers south of Manila, before dawn on Jan. 17. Image released Jan. 20.