World News in Pictures

[Mr Lick]

"Give 'ere, it's my turn with the Errol Flynns"



Tiger Woods, whose rivalry with Rory McIlroy has been the talking point going into this Masters, examines his options after taking a drop in the rough on the second. Woods isn't in trouble for long, though, and comes away with a par



What's more, he manages four birdies in the opening ten holes - including one on this, the eighth - to put himself high up the leaderboard






The steady guidance of his caddie J.P. Fitzgerald helps McIlroy to overcome a tricky start. Birdies on the second, eighth and ninth draw him into contention



Stenson is (or rather, was) the man to beat. He was six under going into the final hole. But the Swede has to hit out of the gallery during a torrid conclusion as he scores eight on the par four 18th. Ouch



Paul Lawrie's back nine is pretty remarkable. He hits two eagles in three holes, then a birdie on this, the 17th, to reach four under. A bogey on the 18th takes the edge of his round, but he remains one of the early leaders among those who've completed their rounds



Woods tugs his shot on the 15th, but again recovers. The 17th and 18th prove trickier and successive bogeys leave him on par at the end of his round






Westwood enjoys four straight birdies between holes five and eight. And further success on the back nine makes him the day's front runner at five under by the end of his round. A Brit is leading the Masters! How long will it last?

[Mr Lick]

Individually packaged hand-knitted uteri are placed on a countertop at the lobby of the State Capitol in Phoenix, Thursday, April 5. Critics of an Arizona proposal to limit birth control gave more than a dozen state lawmakers the personalized gift. The packages were delivered each in a clear plastic bag, labeled with a lawmaker's name and containing a letter from a Tempe woman asking legislators to oppose the measure.



Young Afghan miners take a rest at a coal mine in Samangan province, north of Kabul on April 3, 2012. Afghanistan is believed to have mineral reserves worth as much as 3 trillion USD which could theoretically generate billions of dollars in tax revenue for the troubled country.

[Mr Lick]

The man in the image has long gray hair and beard crowding in on his face, but the eyes and the swastika-tattooed forehead are unmistakable: Charles Manson, mastermind of a notorious killing spree that gripped America in the summer of 1969.

The California Department of Corrections released two new photos of the convicted murderer on Thursday in advance of his latest parole hearing.

"He looks a lot different," department of corrections spokeswoman Terry Thornton told CNN, which had requested the images. The last images of Manson showed him with a buzz cut.

Manson is trying for parole for the 12th time, theOrange County Register reported. An appearance at the hearing on Wednesday isn’t expected, the newspaper said – Manson last showed up for one 15 years ago

[Mr Lick]

Syrians walk through blood and debris in a neighborhood of Damascus, Syria, after a raid by Syrian troops killed several rebels and civilians on April 5. Syrian troops launched a fierce assault Thursday, days ahead of a deadline for a U.N.-brokered cease-fire, with activists describing it as one of the most violent attacks around the capital since the year-old uprising began.



Syrian youth stand in a building damaged by tank shells in a neighborhood of Damascus, Syria, after a raid by Syrian troops killed several rebels and civilians on April 5. Syrian troops launched a fierce assault Thursday, days ahead of a deadline for a U.N.-brokered cease-fire, with activists describing it as one of the most violent attacks around the capital since the year-old uprising began.

[Mr Lick]

Nick May puts the finishing touches on a 35-foot-tall giant at Northstar Church in Panama City, Fla. The art installation, made of chicken wire and cellophane, is being used to promote a six-week series on the "giant" issues of life.

[Mr Lick]

Horses jump into the Apure River during a weekend of traditional horse races across the waterway in San Fernando de Apure, Venezuela.












Cattleman Eduardo Contreras celebrates after winning one of the horse races across the Apure River in San Fernando de Apure, Venezuela

[Mr Lick]

Thieves snatched a truck from a business in an Upstate New York town -- and the evidence almost disappeared into the sands of time.

But a week after it was taken, the vehicle was discovered by eagle-eye investigators flying around Wayne County, according to local media.

“Jeffery Paul was in the process of burying the box truck,” Investigator Corey Black told the Batavia News, referring to the son of David Paul, who owns Country Construction, where the truck was spotted.“He was bulldozing it under in a sand pit.”

With a search warrant in hand, police found other suspected stolen property in the 77-acre site. “We recovered the box truck, two stolen backhoes, one old one that had been dismantled, and a stolen car,” Black said. Only the box truck was buried in the sand pit.

Investigators described the Pauls as cooperative. They face possession of stolen property charges, according to Black.

[Mr Lick]

Town with one resident sold at auction

A town advertised as the smallest in the United States has sold at auction for $900,000. Buford, Wyo., is located between Cheyenne and Laramie in southeast Wyoming. Two unidentified Vietnamese men placed the winning bid for the town on Apr. 5.




This Jan. 1, 2011 file photo shows Buford resident Don Sammons standing in front of the population sign in Buford, Wyo. The town advertised as the smallest in the United States has sold at auction for $900,000.

[Mr Lick]

Tsunami 'ghost ship' sunk by US Coast Guard - in pictures

A Japanese ship carrying more than 9,000 litres of diesel fuel has been sunk by the US Coast Guard, after it was washed out to sea by the 2011 tsunami. The Ryou-Un Maru, which had been destined for scrap, had been drifting toward busy shipping lanes off the coast of Alaska









A US Coast Guard vessel fires ammunition at the Ryou-Un Maru, setting light to the diesel on board









The US Coast Guard vessel douses the Ryou-Un Maru with water after its fuel was burned off

[Mr Lick]

New Delhi, India: A marching band member sleeps on a scooter as he waits to perform in a procession for Mahavir Jayanti



Kiev, Ukraine: A stray dog stretches in the grass. Authorities have killed thousands of stray animals in the last year to clean up the streets for the Euro 2012 football championships



New Delhi, India: Har Parkash, 70, also known as Guinness Rishi, poses for photographs at his home. He holds the record for having the highest number of flags (over 200) tattooed on his body

[Mr Lick]

A mourner cries at the spot where a man committed suicide at central Syntagma square in Athens, April 5, 2012. A cash-strapped Greek pensioner shot and killed himself outside parliament in Athens on Wednesday saying he refused to scrounge for food in the rubbish, touching a nerve among ordinary Greeks feeling the brunt of the country's economic crisis.



The body of inmate Javier Federico Solis, who was killed after a prision riot in Granja Canada Jail, lies on the ground in Escuintla, 70 km (43 miles) of Guatemala City April 5, 2012. The riots occurred this morning resulting in the death of a prisoner and several wounded by gunfire, according to local media. Inmates were believed to be interfering with prison authorities intending to transfer away a group of prisoners, who was extorting through telephones from inside the prison, prison authorities said.



Presidential candidate from the Muslim Brotherhood, and the Freedom and Justice Party (FJP) Khairat al-Shater waves to his supporters after presenting recommendation documents to the Higher Presidential Elections Commission (HPEC) headquarters in Cairo April 5, 2012. Al-Shater declared that introducing sharia law would be his "first and final" objective if he wins elections in May and June. The presidential election will be held on May 23 and 24.

[Mr Lick]

Petrino put on leave after crash

Arkansas put football coach Bobby Petrino on paid leave Thursday after he failed to disclose he had been riding with a female employee half his age when his motorcycle skidded off the road over the weekend — an accident that prompted him to apologize for that and for what he described as a "previous inappropriate relationship




Arkansas football coach Bobby Petrino speaks during a news conference at a Fayetteville, Ark., on Tuesday, April 3, 2012, after being released from a hospital after he was injured in a motorcycle accident on Sunday, April 1. The 51-year-old says he was not wearing a helmet at the time of the crash, which occurred on Arkansas Highway 16 in Madison County _ about 20 miles southeast of Fayetteville. State law does not require an adult rider wear a helmet



In this undated image released by the University of Arkansas, Razorback Foundation assistant director Jessica Dorrell is shown. Dorrell was a passenger of Arkansas football coach Bobby Petrino during a weekend motorcycle ride that ended with a crash that sent him to the hospital, according to a police report released Thursday, April 5, 2012

[Mr Lick]

German player Andreas vom Rothenbarth takes a shot in the British and World Marble Championships on April 6 in Tinsley Green, England.

[Mr Lick]

The Russian Orthodox Church apologized on Thursday for doctoring a photograph of Patriarch Kirill to remove what bloggers said was a luxury wristwatch following accusations that he lives a lavish lifestyle.

The church responded after bloggers said a 2009 photo of the Patriarch on its website showed the reflection of a Breguet watch worth about $30,000 in the polished surface of a table where his arms rested during talks.

The Church made no reference to a watch in a statement, but said a "rude violation of our internal ethics" had been made and removed the doctored 2009 photo from its Website, replacing it on Thursday with a version showing a watch on his wrist

"Employees of the press service's photo-editing desk made a silly mistake while working with the photo archives," the statement said, promising they would be punished.

[Mr Lick]

A man pulls his load of whicker chairs on a cart in a street in Shanghai. China's manufacturing activity rose to the highest level in a year in March official data showed but analysts tempered enthusiasm, saying the world's second largest economy was still slowing.



A Bangladeshi youth rafts piles of bamboos along a waterway in Dhaka. The bamboo industry has now started to export to European and Asian markets producing non -traditional food items from areas in the Chittagong Hills. Some 45 percent of Bangladesh's population are employed in the agriculture industry - many in the production of cereals including wheat and maize.

[Mr Lick]

A crowd of people gather to catch a glimpse of a golden snapper fish at Ghat fish market in Bangladesh. The snapper caught by fishermen in the Bay of Bengal has been sold at US$40,000 because of its rare golden color.



Australia's Anna Meares races to a world record in the women's sprint qualifying at the Track Cycling World Championships in Melbourne, Australia. Meares set the new record of 10.782 seconds during flying 200m's event.



A model displays a creation by a group of Kyrgyz designers 'NAH' during a Fashion Week in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan.

[Mr Lick]

The designer of the iconic Porsche 911 sports car, Ferdinand Alexander Porsche, has died at the age of 76.

FA Porsche first designed the model in the early 1960s.

The 911 first appeared in 1963, and the elegance and simplicity of its shape quickly made it a classic. It is now in its seventh version, and was recently voted one of the best cars of the twentieth century.

His grandfather, Ferdinand Porsche, designed the Volkswagen Beetle.

FA Porsche was in charge of the family firm's design department when he conceived the 911 as a replacement for its first model, the 356.




The company says FA Porsche died on Thursday in the Austrian city of Salzburg, but it has not revealed how he died.

He will be buried in Austria, and a memorial service will be held in Stuttgart, the city of his birth, and where the company is based.

[Mr Lick]

US Marine faces dismissal for criticising President Obama




US Marine is facing dismissal from the military for criticising President Obama on his Facebook page.

Sergeant Gary Stein imposed Mr Obama's face on mocked-up film posters, including one for the movie "Jackass".

Prosecutors say Sgt Stein repeatedly ignored warnings from superior officers, and that the postings are in breach of military regulations.

He argues that he has a constitutional right to freedom of speech.

A disciplinary board recommended that he be demoted, and given an "other-than-honourable" discharge.

[Mr Lick]

Masters 2012: day two at Augusta






Mike Weir faces an awkward shot from the bushes off the sixth fairway. Good luck with that one Mike ...

[Mr Lick]

Tiger Woods doesn't look too happy with himself after a putt on the tenth green. No wonder - that's his second of three successive bogeys






Zach Johnson checks for his ball on the first fairway. if only he'd looked where he was going, he might not have hit a bogey

[Mr Lick]

Meanwhile, Lee Westwood gives his tee-shot a good old wallop on the 14th, where he cards a par four. Westwood knocked 10 straight pars earlier on before hitting a bogey on the tenth and a birdie on the 11th



Fred Couples watches over Ryo Ishikawa of Japan as he hits from a sand trap to the 12th green. Couples, the veteran, has hit five birdies in the opening nine to become one of the front runners at this year's Masters



Similarly, Jason Dufner of the United States is going well. Three under yesterday and two under today - that's enough to give him a share of the lead



Couples, who sank two birdies in the last four holes, looks mighty pleased - and a tad surprised - to be sharing a lead of the Masters. But Louis Ooosthuizen, Sergio Garcia, Lee Westwood and Rory McIlroy are just all one shot behind on four under

[Mr Lick]

The burning fuselage of an F/A-18 Hornet lies smoldering after crashing into a residential building in Virginia Beach, Va., Friday, April 6. Media reports indicate the two aviators were able to eject from the jet before it crashed. They were being treated for injuries that were not considered life threatening.

[Mr Lick]

With a line of 11,541 red chairs, one for each victim of the siege of Sarajevo, Bosnia on Friday remembered when war broke out 20 years ago and the West dithered in the face of the worst atrocities in Europe since World War Two.

The anniversary finds the Balkan country still deeply divided, power shared between Serbs, Croats and Muslims in a single state ruled by ethnic quotas and united by the weakest of central governments.

[Mr Lick]

A French Customs agent stands beside a stuffed polar bear seized at Charles-de-Gaulle airport outside Paris on April 5, 2012. The stuffed bear is one of hundreds of protected species or items made out of endangered species intercepted at the airport in recent weeks.

[Mr Lick]

French boxer Salim Larbi cries after a final knock-out at the end of his WBO interim champion match against Czech boxer Lukas Konecny on April 5, 2012, in Brno, Czech Republic. Konecny, the winner, will go on to compete against Russian boxing champion Baysangurov for the championship belt.