The Year in Pictures

Prince William, Duke of Cambridge and Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge, depart The Lindo Wing with their newborn son at St Mary's Hospital in London, England. The Duchess of Cambridge yesterday gave birth to a boy at 16.24 BST and weighing 8lb 6oz, with Prince William at her side. The baby, as yet unnamed, is third in line to the throne and becomes the Prince of Cambridge

An Alcurrucen's ranch fighting bull stands alone surrounded by a crowd of runners on the way to entering the bullring during the second day of the San Fermin Running Of The Bulls festival in Pamplona, Spain. The annual Fiesta de San Fermin, made famous by the 1926 novel of US writer Ernest Hemmingway 'The Sun Also Rises', involves the running of the bulls through the historic heart of Pamplona

Two-year-old Jack Rigby arrives for the funeral service of his father Fusilier Lee Rigby at Bury Parish Church in Bury, Greater Manchester, England. The Royal Regiment of Fusiliers soldier was killed whilst off duty near Woolwich Barracks in South-East London in May. Michael Adebowale and Michael Adebolajo are accused of 25-year-old's murder.

Chinese astronauts L-R Zhang Xiaoguang, Nie Haisheng and Wang Yaping salute after getting out of the re-entry capsule of China's Shenzhou X spacecraft following its successful landing at the main landing site in Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region of China.

U.S. Air Force Senior Airman Shyla Smith R and Courtney Burdeshaw kiss in the west chapel moments after they were wed at the Manhattan Marriage Bureau .

The Rolling Stones and guests perform on the Pyramid Stage at Glastonbury Festival 2013 in Glastonbury, England.

Ash spews from Mexico's Popocatepetl volcano, some 55 km from Mexico City, as seen from San Damian Texoloc in the Mexican central state of Tlaxcala. During the weekend authorities have raised the alert level to 'Yellow Phase Three,' the fifth of a seven-stage warning system, restricting access to an area of 12 km around the volcano while preparing evacuation routes and shelters.

Confederate Civil War re-enactors march for an evening attack during a three-day Battle of Gettysburg re-enactment on June 29, 2013 in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania.

Radical cleric Abu Qatada L prepares to board a plane at RAF Northolt which will take him to Jordan, after he was deported from the UK to face terrorism charges in his home country in London, England.

A team go over a jump during the Red Bull Soapbox Race at Alexandra Palace in London, England. The Red Bull Soapbox Race returned to London after nine years and encourages competitors to build and race their own homemade soapboxes down a hill.

Russian President Vladimir Putin rides in a submersible in the Baltic Sea near Gotland Island, Russia. The vessel dove to the sea floor to explore a sunken

A man buries his son in green algae at a beach in Qingdao, China. A large quantity of non-poisonous green seaweed, enteromorpha prolifera, hit the Qingdao coast in recent days. Since June 8, more than 50,000 tons of such seaweed has been removed from the city's beaches

Chancellor of the Exchequer George Osborne plays with Titas during a visit to a nursery in Hammersmith, London.

A Yellow Scorpion eats his prey as it glows in the dark near Sde Boker in the Negev Desert, Israel. The Negev is second on a list of the world's top ten regional travel destinations for 2013.

US Army Private First Class Bradley Manning arrives alongside military officials at a US military court facility to hear his sentence in his trial at Fort Meade, Maryland.

Police close in on the U.S. Capitol as people run for cover after reports of a shooting on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC. The US Capitol and the White House were placed on lockdown after an 'active shooter' situation was r

A general view of Sydney harbor shrouded in smoke haze in Sydney, Australia. Sydney is shrouded in a haze of smoke as bushfires rage in the western Sydney suburbs of Springwood, Winmalee and Lithgow.

top An emergency responder helps evacuate two people with a boat, after their neighbourhood experienced flooding due to Superstorm Sandy October 30, 2012 in Little Ferry, New Jersey. The same home in Little Ferry, NJ is shown October 22, 2013.

A view over New York City and the 'Tribute In Light' marking the twelfth anniversary of the terrorist attacks at the World Trade Center in New York City.

Members of staff demonstrate a form of massage using pythons at Bali Heritage Reflexology and Spa in Jakarta, Indonesia. The snake spa offers a unique massage treatment which involves having several pythons placed on the customers body.

Huntsman Andrew German of The Cheshire Forest Hunt exercises his hounds in the autumnal countryside in preparation for the start of the new hunting season in Knutsford, United Kingdom. The hunting season traditionally starts near to November 1st. Although a ban on hunting has been in force since February 2005 many supporters of fox hunting are continuing to call for a repeal of the ban, saying the current law is hard to interpret and enforce.

Downing Street's former director of communications and News Of The World editor Andy Coulson departs the Old Bailey following denying the charges against him at the phone-hacking conspiracy trial in London, England.

Students from St Andrew's University indulge in a tradition of covering themselves with foam to honour the 'academic family' in St Andrews, Scotland. Every November the 'raisin weekend' which is held in the university's St Salvator's Quadrangle, is celebrated and a gift of raisins now foam is traditionally given by first year students to their elders as a thank you for their guidance and in exchange they receive a receipt in Latin.

The wind blows a red flag onto the face of an honour guard before a welcome ceremony for Australia's Prime Minister Julia Gillard outside the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, China. At the invitation of Chinese Premier Li Keqiang, Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard will pay an official visit to China after the Boao Forum for Asia Annual Conference 2013

Honorato Hernanes of SS Lazio celebrates after scoring the team's third goal during the Serie A match between Calcio Catania and SS Lazio at Stadio Olimpico.

Guests take their seats during the Ceremonial funeral of former British Prime Minister Baroness Thatcher at St Paul's Cathedral in London, England.

In this image released by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, two suspects in the Boston Marathon bombing walk near the marathon finish line in Boston, Massachusetts. The twin bombings at the 116-year-old Boston race resulted in the deaths of three people with more than 170 others injured.

Police run across the path of the funeral cortege carrying the body of former Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher at Ludgate Circus in London, England.

Tourists ride a pedal-powered sky cycle roller coaster at Washuzan Highland Amusement Park in Kurashiki, Japan. Washuzan Highland Amusement park overlooks a panoramic view of islands on the Seto Inland Sea.

Tens of thousands of workers and labor activists march through the central business district in Jakarta, Indonesia. Protestors were demanding the implementation of higher minimum wages and better working conditions.

Chocolate, a miniature dachshund receives acupuncture therapy to help with lumbar disk herniation, at the Marina Street Okada animal hospital in Tokyo Japan.

Ariel Castro stands with his head down during his arraignment on kidnapping and rape charges in Cleveland, Ohio. Castro is accused of abducting three girls, Michelle Knight, 32, Amanda Berry, 27 and Gina DeJesus, believed to be about 23 and holding them for about 10-years.

Four-year-old Sophia Phillips carries an American flag presented to her during a burial service for her father, Staff Sergeant Francis G. Phillips, at Arlington National Cemetery in Arlington Virginia. Phillips, from Meridian, New York was killed in combat in the Maiwand district of Afghanistan when the vehicle he was riding in was struck by an improvised explosive device.

An American flag flies over the rubble of a destroyed neighbourhood on May 24, 2013 in Moore, Oklahoma. The tornado of EF5 strength and two miles wide touched down killing at least 24 people and leaving behind extensive damage to homes and businesses. U.S. President Barack Obama promised federal aid to supplement state and local recovery efforts.

Head coach Mack Brown of the Texas Longhorns has a cooler of ice water dumped on him by his team after the Longhorns beat the Oklahoma Sooners 36-20 at the Cotton Bowl in Dallas, Texas.

Revelers surround the 'Nans Vells', 'old dwarves' in Catalan, during the first day of 'La Patum' Festival in Berga, Spain. The Patum festival's roots are found in the theatrical performances of the Middle Ages and is held in the town of Berga each year during the week of Corpus Christi.

Competitors celebrate completing the Colour Run in Gold Coast, Australia.

Oscar Pistorius appears in the Pretoria Magistrates court in Pretoria, South Africa. Pistorius is accused of the murder of Reeva Steenkamp. This is Pistorius's first appearance ahead of his murder trial.

An aerial view of the flooded parts of the Slovak capital Bratislava from the high water level of the Danube river in Bratislava, Slovakia. Bratislava underwent the Danube highest water level in history which reached record-breaking 1,030 centimetres but the anti-flood barriers at the city centre resisted successfully.

Riot police fire tear gas to disperse the crowd during a demonstration near Taksim Square in Istanbul, Turkey. Istanbul has seen protests rage on for days, with two protesters and one police officer killed.

Andy Murray of Great Britain kisses the Gentlemen's Singles Trophy following his victory in the Gentlemen's Singles Final match against Novak Djokovic of Serbia on day thirteen of the Wimbledon Lawn Tennis Championships at the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club in London, England.

Lightning strikes the Willis Tower formerly Sears Tower in downtown in Chicago, Illinois. A massive storm system with heavy rain, high winds, hail and possible tornadoes is expected to move into Illinois and much of the central part of the Midwest today.

Leaders L-R President of the European Commission Jose Manuel Barroso, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, German Chancellor Angela Merkel, Russia's President Vladimir Putin, Britain's Prime Minister David Cameron, US President Barack Obama, French President Francois Hollande, Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper, Italian Prime Minister Enrico Letta and European Council President Herman Van Rumpuy, stand for the family group shot at the G8 venue of Lough Erne .

Students prepare to sleep on mats laid out on the floor inside a gymnasium at Huazhong Normal University in Wuhan, Hubei province of China. About 600 students slept inside the gymnasium to keep cool in Wuhan which reached 35 degrees Celsius 95 degrees Fahrenheit on Saturday. The university turned on the air conditioner in the gymnasium and provided more than 450 mats for the students.

Recording artists Jay-Z and Beyonce arrive at the presidential inauguration on the West Front of the U.S. Capitol in Washington, DC. Barack Obama was

U.S. President Barack Obama and first lady Michelle Obama sing together as they dance during the Inaugural Ball at the Walter Washington Convention Center in Washington, DC. Obama was sworn-in for his second term of office earlier in the day.

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton testifies before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC. Lawmakers questioned Clinton about the security failures during the September 11 attacks against the U.S. mission in Benghazi, Libya, that led to the death of four Americans, including U.S. Ambassador Christopher Stevens.

A truck is covered in ice as firefighters help to extinguish a massive blaze at a vacant warehouse in Chicago, Illinois. More than 200 firefighters battled a five-alarm fire as temperatures were in the single digits.

This combination of photos shows bottom the Tiananmen Square during severe pollution on January 23, 2013, and the same view top taken during clear weather on January 24, 2013 in Beijing, China. The air quality in Beijing on Wednesday hit serious levels again, as smog blanketed the city.

Workers stand in a suspended platform ready to clean windows at the Shanghai World Financial Center in the Pudong area of Shanghai, China. China's economic growth accelerated for the first time in two years as government efforts to revive demand drove a rebound in industrial output, retail sales and the housing market.

A military regiment takes part in a morning exercise in Heilongjiang Province of China. The temperature dipped to minus 30 degrees Celsius.

A man comforts his daughter on their roof as they inspect damage to their neighbourhood as parts of southern Queensland experiences record flooding in the wake of Tropical Cyclone Oswald in Bundaberg, Australia.

A man hangs onto the railing of North Curl Curl ocean pool after winds and rain battered Sydney last night producing large swell in Sydney, Australia. Parts of Sydney are experienced record rainfall after ex-cyclone Oswald swept through the city last night.

Ifandbutwhynot ridden by Timmy Murphy falls during the QTS Scottish Champion Hurdle Race, at Ayr racecourse in Ayr, Scotland.

Lightning strikes St Peter's dome at the Vatican. Pope Benedict XVI announced today he will resign as leader of the world's 1.1 billion Catholics because his age prevented him from carrying out his duties -- an unprecedented move in the modern history of the Catholic Church.

Thousands of couples take part in a mass wedding ceremony at Cheongshim Peace World Center in Gapyeong-gun, South Korea. 3,500 couples from 200 countries around the world exchanged wedding vows for the first time after the Unification Church founder Moon Sun-Myung passed away.

People walk around the Buddha Statue holding candles for prayers during Makha Bucha Day at Buddhist Park in Nakhon Pathom, Thailand.

Duchess of Cambridge gets her shoe stuck in the grating and is helped by Prince William, Duke of Cambridge as they visit the Irish Guards' St Patrick's Day Parade at Mons Barracks in Aldershot, England.

Bullfighter Juan Jose Padill performs during a bullfight as part of the Las Fallas Festival in Valencia, Spain. The Fallas festival celebrates the arrival of spring with fireworks, fiestas and bonfires made from large ninots puppets.