World News in Pictures

[Mr Lick]

Malian soldiers guard handcuffed prisoners after they arrived by boat in Kadji, on the Niger river. French and Malian troops have launched an operation in northern Mali, where Islamists are hiding out on an island in the Niger river



A general view shows Iraqi Sunni protesters praying during an anti-government demonstration in Fallujah city. Iraqi Sunni complained about injustice and marginalization, claiming that the Shiite-led Iraqi security forces were indiscriminately arresting their sons and torturing them.



Germany's Viktoria Rebensburg speeds down the course during an alpine ski, women's World Cup super G, in Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Germany

[Mr Lick]

Media members work during the European Indoor Championships in Gothenburg, Sweden



Press freedom wanted: An activist from Reporters Without Borders stands in front a banner with blood-covered brass knuckles in the form of the Olympic rings which are displayed on the fences of the Russian embassy in Paris. Reporters Without Borders activists protest against the 2014 Sochi Winter Olympics games in Russia and the working conditions against journalists working in Russia



Svetlana Denyaeva of Russia competes in the Women's Long Jump qualification during day one of the European Athletics Indoor Championships at Scandinavium in Gothenburg, Sweden

[Mr Lick]

Berlin Wall protests

A section of the East Side Gallery, the longest-remaining stretch of Berlin Wall and the second-most visited site in Berlin, is due to be dismantled to make way for a luxury apartment block. There were protests on Friday as work began on removing the section. The gallery's murals include depictions of the former Soviet and East German leaders Leonid Brezhnev and Erich Honecker in a passionate clinch, and a Trabant car bursting through the wall


















Workers lift a piece of the wall



Left: a photo taken on 11 November 1989 of West Berliners crowding in front of the Berlin Wall as East German border guards demolish a section of the wall to open a new crossing point. Right: Friday's protests



12 November 1989: West Germans celebrate the unification of Berlin atop the Berlin Wall



1989



1989

[Mr Lick]

A policeman takes pictures of an unconscious person lying on the ground of Changan Avenue as several other people stand around, next to the Great Hall of People in central Beijing, February 28, 2013.



A freed detainee greets his mother outside al-Rusafa prison in Baghdad, February 28, 2013. Iraq's government released more than 160 prisoners held under anti-terrorism laws on Thursday as a goodwill gesture to try to appease Sunni Muslim demonstrators who are staging protests against Shi'ite Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki. Two months of demonstrations, mainly in Sunni-dominated Anbar province, have evolved into a tough challenge for the Shi'ite premier, increasing worries that could slide back into the sectarian confrontation of its recent past. Officials said a ministerial committee had freed some 160 detainees whose jail terms had ended or whose cases had been dismissed for lack of evidence. Sunni leaders say security forces use terrorism laws to unfairly target their sect



Israeli border police officers detain a Palestinian suspected of throwing stones during clashes outside Israel's Ofer military prison near the West Bank city of Ramallah February 28, 2013. The death of a Palestinian prisoner in disputed circumstances in an Israeli jail on Saturday, together with a hunger strike by four other Palestinian inmates, have touched off violent protests over the past several weeks outside the prison and in West Bank towns

[Mr Lick]

A person jumps off the Wuhan Yangtze River Bridge in Hubei province February 27, 2013. A young couple jumped into the Yangtze River from the bridge one after another in the haze on Wednesday. According to local media, police said the couple was still missing and has a low chance of surviving.



Ta Ta!!



Brenda Schwarzkopf, widow of the late U.S. Four Star General H. Norman Schwarzkopf, is escorted by Major General Kenneth Tovo at her late husband's graveside while holding an American flag at Schwarzkopf's burial service at the United States Military Academy at West Point, New York, February 28, 2013. Schwarzkopf, who graduated from West Point in 1956, commanded the U.S.-led international coalition that drove Saddam Hussein's forces out of Kuwait in 1991. He was 78 when he died in Tampa, Florida on December 27, 2012 of complications from pneumonia.

[Mr Lick]

Eastleigh, UK



Jean Claude' Baby Doc' Duvalier appears in court



Gene Simmons of Kiss performs in Perth, Oz

[Mr Lick]

[Mr Lick]

Super Comic convention at the ExCel Centre in London

[Mr Lick]

Bahrain activist Zainab al-Khawaja sentenced to jail

Zainab al-Khawaja has been detained and imprisoned several times since February 2011

A court in Bahrain has sentenced pro-democracy activist Zainab al-Khawaja to three months in prison.

Ms Khawaja received the sentence after a court of appeal overturned an earlier acquittal.

The state news agency said she was found guilty of "insulting and humiliating a public employee.

Ms Khawaja has been a leading activist in the Gulf kingdom, which has been in political turmoil since pro-democracy protests erupted in February 2011.

She had previously served sentences of one and two months in two other cases.

The government insists that Bahrain's judicial system is fair and transparent.

However the sentencing of Zainab al-Khawaja after an appeal by the state prosecutor against her earlier acquittal will be taken as a further sign by opposition forces that justice in Bahrain is heavily politicised, particularly as it happened in the same week that two police officers were acquitted in the shooting death of a protester in 2011.

A human rights lawyer told me that the court had ignored "crystal clear" evidence in that case and contrasted the treatment of activists by the courts with the treatment police officers receive.


Bahrain is ruled by a Sunni Muslim royal family but the majority population is Shia who have long complained of discrimination.

[Mr Lick]

'Ex-gay' London bus advert 'like a slap in the face'

The adverts were a riposte to a slogan by gay charity Stonewall

A proposed bus advert by a Christian group would have been like a "slap in the face" to gay charity Stonewall over an anti-bullying message, the High Court has heard.

Transport for London banned the Core Issues Trust's "ex-gay" advert because it could cause "widespread offence".

It told the court there was a "storm of protest" as news of the advert spread.

TfL said the mayor was aware but denied he influenced the decision, weeks before an election.

The advert, which was to read "Not Gay! Ex-Gay, Post-Gay and Proud. Get over it!" was also paid for by Christian group Anglican Mainstream.

Dr Michael Davidson, co-director of the Core Issues Trust, is asking the court for permission to have a judicial review against TfL's decision to ban the adverts.

[Mr Lick]

Girl, 14, guilty of football row manslaughter

Junior Nkwelle suffered cuts to his heart and a lung

A 14-year-old girl has been found guilty of arranging the killing of a "kind, ambitious and humble" schoolboy after a row over football.

Junior Nkwelle, 15, was knifed in the heart and lung on a housing estate in Brixton, south London, last September.

The Old Bailey found the girl and her boyfriend, 17, guilty of manslaughter but not guilty of murder.

The pair, who cannot be identified for legal reasons, will be sentenced on 5 April.

Jurors heard Junior and his friends had been playing football on the Loughborough estate when an argument broke out.

The girl and her friends appeared to have taken offence over some matter, jurors were told.

The court heard Junior was subsequently stabbed in the chest after his killer arrived on a bus.

[Imminent]

Great stuff.

[Mr Lick]

Supporters of Raila Odinga are pictured here traveling home after a major rally in Kisumu town on March 1, 2013. Kisumu town is the home of Kenyan Prime Minister Raila Odinga, and a hotbed of support for ODM and CORD. Kenya is to hold general elections on March 4.

[Mr Lick]

William Scott's modernist magic comes to Tate St Ives

British abstract artist William Scott – a master of still life whose portrayals of pots and pans reveal an uncanny command of form and colour – is the subject of a major retrospective in Cornwall. Join us on a tour of his greatest works, from his early portraits to the audacious abstractionism of his 50s heyday



Girl and Blue Table (1938)



Seated Nude (1939)



Still Life With Garlic (1947)









Self Portrait



William Scott

[Mr Lick]

A man mourns at the body of a member of the Free Syrian Army who died during clashes, at Bustan al Qasr cemetery in Aleppo March 1, 2013.



U.S. Speaker of the House John Boehner walks away after speaking about the sequester following a meeting with U.S. President Barack Obama and congressional leaders at the White House in Washington March 1, 2013. Obama began a meeting with congressional leaders on Friday to discuss a series of automatic spending cuts that start to take effect later in the day, talks that were not expected to result in a last-minute deal



Malian soldiers ride in the back of a military pickup truck in Gao March 1, 2013. According to the Malian Army, Kadji was a stronghold of radical Islamist group the Movement for Oneness and Jihad in West Africa (MUJAO) before Malian forces took it back on Thursday.



Kashmiri Muslims raise their arms upon seeing a relic of Sheikh Abdul Qadir Jeelani, a Sufi saint, being displayed to devotees during the Friday following at his shrine in Srinagar March 1, 2013. Thousands of Kashmiri Sufi Muslims gathered on Friday at the shrine of Jeelani, also known as Shah-e-Baghdad (King of Baghdad), on his 873rd death anniversary to offer special prayers.



An Israeli soldier argues with a Palestinian protester during clashes in the West Bank city of Hebron March 1, 2013. The death of a Palestinian prisoner in disputed circumstances in an Israeli jail last week, together with a hunger strike by four other Palestinian inmates, two of whom ended their protest on Wednesday after an agreement on their release was reached with Israel, have touched off violent protests over the past several weeks in the West Bank.



People stand next to a 24.9 metre (82 feet) diametre pit at a village in Guangyuan, Sichuan province, February 28, 2013. According to local media the pit formed on a karst landform last year after the ground surface kept sinking for six days in September. The investigators said the pit may face further sinking after rains due to its geological conditions.



A member of the Free Syrian Army reacts to the death of a comrade who died during clashes, at Bustan al Qasr cemetery in Aleppo March 1, 2013

[Mr Lick]

Forty-four-year-old Cen Yingyuan combs her 6-foot-long hair at home in Zhanjiang, China, Feb. 23. Cen is only 5 feet tall, and has not gotten a haircut in 11 years. She uses beer to keep her hair black and smooth.

[Mr Lick]

A man performs during a male striptease show held in celebration of International Women's Day at a club in Bucharest, March 2.



Romanians dedicate both March 1, which is traditionally Romania's first day of spring, and March 8 to honor women and their contribution to society.


International Women's Day is March 8.

[Mr Lick]

Bilin, West Bank: Palestinian youths throw stones towards Israeli border guards



Embu, Kenya: Conrad Njeru Karukenya, also known as Tiger-Power, lies on the ground as a truck runs over him during a presentation to pupils of the Tenri primary school. He says: "I started doing these things as a joke while in school in 1963"



Karranah, Bahrain: riot police push back burning trash containers set on fire by protesters during an anti-government demonstration



Havana, Cuba: a worker selects cigars at the H Upmann cigar factory during the 15th annual cigar festival

[Mr Lick]

Antarctic: a runner takes part in the Antarctic marathon, held for the first time in the frozen continent



Sydney, Australia: paraders prepare for the start of the annual Sydney gay and lesbian mardi gras parade



Naples, Italy: Napoli's supporters burn flares during the match against Juventus at the San Paolo stadium

[Mr Lick]

Anchorage, US: Honey the dog peeks out of a dog truck at the ceremonial start of the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race in Alaska



Manama, Bahrain: A medic treats a protester wounded by a pellet gun



Sydney, Australia: A parade participant celebrates Mardi Gras



Salt Lake City, US: Siri Davidson poses with her children and an AR-15 rifle she received on Valentine’s Day, at a gun rights rally at the Utah state capitol



Nairobi, Kenya: A supporter of presidential candidate Uhuru Kenyatta's National Alliance party rides a motorbike across a sea of hats and flags at Uhuru park

[Mr Lick]

Chelsea fans' anti-Rafa Benítez protest

After Rafael Benítez's broadside at Chelsea fans and the club hierarchy, Saturday's game against West Brom gives the fans a chance to reply. And reply they most certainly have

[Mr Lick]

Karachi bomb blast



Dozens of people have been killed in the bomb blast

[Mr Lick]

Bangladesh protest violence escalates



Islamic activists have gone on the ramage in protest of the sentencing to death of Islamic leader Delwar Sayeedi for war crimes committed in 1971

[Mr Lick]

Retired police inspector and girlfriend found shot dead in Devizes

One of the victims, Bill Dowling, was a retired police inspector with 30 years' service

A retired police officer has been found shot dead with his girlfriend at his home in Wiltshire.

The bodies of Bill Dowling and the woman, who has not been named, were found at Moonrakers estate in Devizes just before 11:00 GMT on Saturday.

Mr Dowling, believed to be in his late 50s, had 30 years' service with the force and retired about six years ago.

Wiltshire Police said they were not looking for anyone else in connection with the deaths.

A police spokesman described it as "an isolated incident" and said there was "no reason to believe that anyone else is at risk."

He added that next of kin had been informed.

[BigRed]

Lima, Peru: Men kiss during a gay rights march



Los Angeles, US: Children watch performers taking part in World Sword Swallowers' Day

I like the juxtaposition