World News in Pictures

[Mr Lick]

The Associated Press reports — During a heated town hall gathering in the Phoenix suburb of Sun Lakes, Sen. John McCain said the border near Yuma is largely secure, but he said smugglers are using the border near Tucson to pump drugs into Phoenix. He said immigration reform should be contingent on better border security that must rely largely on technology able to detect border crossings.

"There are 11 million people living here illegally," he said. "We are not going to get enough buses to deport them."

Some audience members shouted out their disapproval.

One man yelled that only guns would discourage illegal immigration. Another man complained that illegal immigrants should never be able to become citizens or vote. A third man said illegal immigrants were illiterate invaders who wanted free government benefits.

McCain urged compassion. "We are a Judeo-Christian nation," he said

[Mr Lick]

Uwe Kiehl of team Germany I dives during a match at the Underwater ice hockey Championships in lake Weissensee in Austria on Feb. 17.













Underwater ice hockey is played upside-down underneath the ice of frozen lakes with a floating puck by teams of two divers in wet suits and flippers.

Reuters photographer Michael Dalder made these unique pictures on assignment covering the Underwater Ice Hockey Championships in Austria

[Mr Lick]

A worker cleans debris from the Fun Town Pier that was damaged by Superstorm Sandy, Feb. 19, in Seaside Heights, N.J.






Rebuilding the boardwalk made famous by MTV's "Jersey Shore" began in earnest last Friday as heavy equipment including a gigantic drill and a pile-driving machine were brought onto the sand in the south end of Seaside Heights, N.J., the Associated Press reported.

They quickly began drilling holes in the sand and pounding wooden pilings into them, shaking the ground for blocks around.

It marked the beginning of a $3.6 million contract the borough awarded to rebuild the boardwalk. Mayor William Akers said the initial work — restoring the boardwalk so that it can be walked on safely — should be done by May 10. Continue reading.

New Jersey Governor Chris Christie has estimated that damage in New Jersey caused by Superstorm Sandy could reach $37 billion.




The Star Jet roller coaster remains in the water on Feb. 19, after the Casion Pier it sat on collapsed from the forces of Superstorm Sandy, in Seaside Heights, N.J.

[Mr Lick]

Press photographers take pictures of a Madame Tussauds wax figure of Sophie Scholl, one of the most famous members of the German World War II anti-Nazi resistance movement, the White Rose. It's displayed near to one of the entrance doors at Ludwig Maximilian University in Munich. Sophie, whose activities led to her execution 70 years ago, was a student at Munich University, where she printed and distributed anti-Nazi leaflets



That's hard: a U.S. Marine drinks the blood of a cobra during a jungle survival exercise with the Thai Navy as part of the "Cobra Gold 2013" joint military exercise, at a military base in Chon Buri province

[Mr Lick]

Vasily Balakhonov takes a bath in a barrel in Bryansk, Russia. Just 12, mainly elderly residents, call the small village of Chukhrai their home. They live in wooden huts on a diet of potatoes, vegetable soup and the local staple, borscht, a purple stew made from beetroot. Everything the villagers eat is grown themselves on the land surrounding their houses.



A general view of Chukhrai village in the grip of winter.



Occasionally a grocer with a tractor ventures down the treacherous forest track to the village with bread and flour

[Mr Lick]

And in India cars burn in a factory car park during a trade union strike in Nodia on the outskirts of New Delhi. Millions of Indian workers have staged a two-day walkout to protest against government anti-labour policies



A man rides a bicycle in front of an immobilised ferry during a 24-hour strike in the port of Piraeus, near Athens. Greek workers walked off the job on Wednesday in a nationwide protest against wage cuts and high taxes, keeping ferries docked in ports, shutting state schools and leaving hospitals working with emergency staff



David Cameron visits the Golden Temple, Sikhism's holiest shrine in Amritsar, India



A Borneo orangutan relaxes among the rocks in its enclosure at the Mandai zoological garden in Singapore. Singapore Zoo have bred a total of 37 orangutans to date

[Mr Lick]

A rocket is launched by Free Syrian Army fighters towards Nairab military airport and the international airport, which are controlled by forces loyal to Syria's President Bashar al-Assad in Aleppo, February 19, 2013.



A firefighter reacts as he works at extinguishing a fire at the site of a military aircraft crash in Sanaa, February 19, 2013.



Supporters of presidential candidate Raffi Hovannisian protest in Yerevan, February 19, 2013. Armenian President Serzh Sarksyan promised on Tuesday to make the country secure and stable after cruising to victory in an election which international vote monitors said lacked real competition

[Mr Lick]

Supporters of Jamiat-Ulema-e-Islam (JUI), one of the largest Sunni political parties, and Ahl-i-Sunnat Wal Jamaat (ASWJ), a political and religious group, carry the casket of one of the two workers who had been shot by unidentified gunmen a day earlier, during funeral prayers in Karachi, Pakistan, February 19, 2013.



People gather in Duomo Square as Five-Star Movement activist and comedian Beppe Grillo (top C) speaks during a rally in Milan, February 19, 2013



Deputies representing the UDAR (Punch) party wearing red t-shirts, listen to their leader heavyweight boxing champion Vitaly Klitschko (L, gesturing), as they block the speaker's rostrum during a session of the Ukrainian parliament in Kiev, February 19, 2013. Members of parliament have blocked the work of parliament since convening after a winter break, demanding personal voting during sessions after accusing deputies representing the ruling Party of the Regions of voting on behalf of their absent colleagues, local media reported

[Mr Lick]

A Communist party deputy waits near rows of voting apparatus in the parliament hall as opposition deputies block the speaker's rostrum during a session of the Ukrainian parliament in Kiev, February 19, 2013.



Bulgarian riot police is seen amidst smoke coming from a firecracker, thrown by demonstrators during a protest against high electricity prices in Sofia, February 19, 2013.



Celtic's Kelvin Wilson (R) confronts St Johnstone's Patrick Cregg during their Scottish Premier League soccer match at McDiarmid Park Stadium in Perth, Scotland February 19, 2013.

[Mr Lick]

A priest listens to a confession (Tony Blair's?) during Mass at the Temple of Divine Providence in Warsaw, September 30, 2012



A Free Syrian Army member carrying a weapon, walks down a debris-filled street in the Khaldiyeh area of Homs February 19, 2013

[Mr Lick]

Pistorius hearing and Steenkamp funeral











Oscar's father, Henke



The funeral of Reeva

[Mr Lick]

Bahraini protesters



Sydney's doll hospital celebrates it's centenary

[Ratchaburi]

Sorry Mr Lick but the picture is of a woman in confession not DC

[Mr Lick]

Richard Briers' life and career



The Good Life







Ever Decreasing Circles










The 1967 spy spoof Fathom alongside Raquel Welch



Monarch of the Glen






1974 comedy One-Upmanship with Peter Jones



Alongside Judi Dench in 1979



Dr Who in 1987



Alongside Robert DeNiro in the 1994 version of Frankenstein



As You Like It



CBE in 2003 with wife Annie and grandchildren

[Mr Lick]

Prince Philip cracks Filipino nurse joke

The nurse laughed at Prince Philip's joke

The Duke of Edinburgh told a Filipino nurse her country must be "half empty", because so many of her compatriots have come to the UK to work for the NHS.

He made the remark during a visit to Luton and Dunstable Hospital where he unveiled a £5.5m cardiac centre.

"The Philippines must be half empty - you're all here running the NHS," the prince told the nurse, who laughed.

A spokesperson for the hospital said the visit of the duke had been "hugely motivational".

The 91-year-old royal, who called himself "the world's most experienced curtain puller", was said to be in a "jovial" mood during the visit and asked when the hospital would get a helipad to save him a journey by car.

[Mr Lick]

Kansas City shopping centre blaze























Several people are reported to have been injured

[Mr Lick]

Saudi Arabia king swears in first women on Shura Council

The appointment of women to the council has been criticised by some clerics

Saudi Arabia's King Abdullah has sworn in 30 women to the previously all-male Shura Council, seen by many as a major step in female participation in public life in the conservative kingdom.

It is the first time in country's history that women have been able to hold any political office.

The council advises the government on legislation and comprises 150 members.

Critics say the move is only symbolic, as the council cannot make laws and its members are all appointed by the king.

King Abdullah appeared on state television, welcoming the women at a swearing-in ceremony.

[Albert Shagnastier]

From one goomba to another

[Albert Shagnastier]

Prince Philip cracks Filipino nurse joke

You have to love that horrible fucker

[Mr Lick]

Syrian security agents next to a vehicle on fire following a huge explosion in Damascus on Feb. 21, 2013.





The death toll is expected to rise in Damascus after a car bomb exploded near a security checkpoint in the downtown area of the Syrian capital. NBCNews.com's Dara Brown reports.


Syrian state TV says 53 people were killed and more than 200 wounded in a car bomb attack near the headquarters of the ruling Baath party in central Damascus.

The bomb was one of at least three attacks in the heart of the city on Thursday. A second blast shook another neighborhood and mortar rounds exploded near the Syrian Army General Command.

The Britain-based activist group the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said 42 had been killed in the car bombing, most of them civilians.

The difference in the death tolls could not be immediately reconciled.

[Mr Lick]

Singapore: A frog looks out of its cage at a market



Jerusalem: An Israeli girl dresses up as a Spider-Man as she prepares to celebrate the Jewish festival of Purim



Pamplona, Spain: Demonstrators protest against government austerity measures in front the regional parliament

[Mr Lick]

Hug a camel day in Mongolia. Herdsmen decorate a camel in celebration of the traditional livestock prosperity festival at Hexigten Banner in Chifeng, north China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region. The Spring Festival, celebrated by nomadic Mongolians heralds in the New Year for their livestock herds



Women, whose hands are painted with Yemen's colours, take part in a rally marking the first anniversary of downfall of President Ali Abdullah Saleh in the Yemeni capital Sanaa. Yemeni police shot dead four people in Aden on Thursday in clashes with protesters calling for southern independence



A woman shouts slogans during a protest againt violence to women, at the close of the National Meeting of Rural Women, in Brasilia, Brazil

[Mr Lick]

A handout photograph from the Spanish Guardia Civil shows a would-be immigrant, discovered hidden next to the engine of a car, which crossed the border between Morrocco and the Spanish North African enclave of Melilla.



Palestinian youths take a break from throwing stones at Israeli security forces during protests outside Ofer military prison, West Bank.



A protester lies on the ground after inhaling tear gas. Israeli forces fired tear gas and rubber bullets at hundreds of stone-throwing Palestinian protesters at the West Bank prison. Several people, including troops, demonstrators and two Israeli journalists were injured



Anti-government protesters gather in front of the court house on the fifth day of a general strike in Port Said, Egypt. The strike was called to demand justice for demonstrators killed in clashes with police in January after a court sentenced 21 local al-Masry football fans to death for their involvement in deadly violence in clashes with fans of al-Ahly club.

[Mr Lick]

Derelict homes on Arnside Road, Liverpool. Liverpool Council are proposing to sell off a selection of its derelict housing stock at £1 for each property in the failed redevelopment area known as the Granby Triangle



Government soldiers walk down a street during running battles with Islamic militants in Gao, Mali. French and Malian troops are battling Islamist fighters in the northern town



A Malian government soldier takes cover amidst dust caused by the firing of a a rocket propelled grenade in Gao

[Mr Lick]

A victim of a bomb blast is treated at Omini hospital in Hyderabad, India. After three separate explosions in the southern city, 12 people have been reported killed and 52 injured



Volkswagen have revealed their revolutionary new VW XL1 two-seater sports car in Osnabrück, Germany. The manufacturers claim the one-litre vehicle is the world's most economical car with fuel consumption of 314mpg. Current production is limited to 50 cars so don't expect to see one at your local dealer any time soon



A protester dressed as Che Guevara lights a flare as he takes part in an anti-austerity demonstration in Brussels, Belgium