Afghan villagers protest against US special forces accused of overseeing killings

Afghan villagers attend a protest against US special forces accused of overseeing torture and killings in Wardak province on Feb 26, 2013. More than five hundred men marched through the capital of Afghanistan's restive Wardak province on Tuesday in an outburst of anger against US special forces accused of overseeing torture and killings in the area. A US defence official in Washington said a review in recent months in cooperation with Afghanistan's Defence Ministry and National Directorate of Security (NDS) intelligence agency found no involvement of Western forces in any abuse. -- PHOTO: REUTERS

Former IMF head Dominique Strauss-Kahn is followed by journalists while leaving the Paris courts after a hearing regarding his seizure request of the new book Belle et Bete (Beauty and Beast) by author Marcela Iacub detailing their seven-month affair, on Feb 26, 2013. Strauss-Kahn is suing Iacub and her publisher Stock for an attack on his private life and to prevent the book from going on sale. Strauss-Kahn is also seeking 100,000 euros ($164,000) in damages and compensation from Iacub and Stock, and a similar amount from the French magazine which carried excerpts from the work. -- PHOTO: REUTERS

Members of the Free Syrian Army chant and dance near Nairab military airport in Aleppo on Feb 26, 2013. -- PHOTO: REUTERS

President Barack Obama, followed by a US Secret Service agent, jogs towards well wishers after stepping off Air Force One at Joint Base Langley–Eustis, Virginia, on Tuesday, Feb 26, 2013, as he travels to Newport News, Virginia, to make a speech about automatic budget cuts, at Newport News Shipbuilding. -- PHOTO: AP 

Mr Stephen Knapp (left) is comforted by Mr Charles Maikish, former World Trade Center Director, as mourners and family members of victims participate in a 20th anniversary memorial for victims of the 1993 bombing of the World Trade Center in New York, on Feb 26, 2013. -- PHOTO: REUTERS

Electoral posters are seen in Rome on Feb 26, 2013. The Italian stock market fell and state borrowing costs rose on Tuesday as investors took fright at political deadlock after a stunning election that saw a protest party lead the poll and no group had a clear majority in parliament. -- PHOTO: REUTERS

New York Yankees catcher Bobby Wilson (left) picks up a dropped third strike as Philadelphia Phillies batter Ben Revere looks over his shoulder during the fourth inning of a MLB spring training game in Clearwater, Florida, on Feb 26, 2013. Wilson threw out Revere on the play. -- PHOTO: REUTERS

An employee dressed in a panda costume poses for a photo during the soft opening of a panda-themed hotel at the foot of Emei Mountain, Southwest China's Sichuan province, on Feb 25, 2013. According to local media, the hotel is the first panda-themed hotel in the world and will officially open in May with room rates from 300 to 500 yuan (S$60 to S$100) per night. Picture taken on Feb 25, 2013. -- PHOTO: REUTERS

Children play during a vigil prayer service for Pope Benedict XVI at Basilica de Suyapa in Tegucigalpa on Feb 25, 2013. -- PHOTO: REUTERS

Everton's Phil Neville controls the ball during their FA Cup fifth round replay soccer match against Oldham Athletic at Goodison Park in Liverpool, northern England, on Feb 26, 2013. -- PHOTO: REUTERS

Shipyard workers watch the motorcade of US President Barack Obama pass by at Newport News Shipbuilding in Newport News, Virginia on Feb 26, 2013. Mr Obama is visiting the shipyard to highlight the impact the sequester will have on jobs and middle class families. The cuts fall evenly on non-defense and defense spending, with states like Virginia, heavily dependent on Pentagon contracts, expected to be hardest hit. -- PHOTO: REUTERS

Anti-Mursi protester Mohamed Atyan, 68, who said one of his sons was killed during the Egyptian uprising, speaks with schoolboys outside his tent while writing signs against Egyptian President Mohamed Mursi and the Muslim Brotherhood at Tahrir Square in Cairo on Feb 26, 2013. -- PHOTO: REUTERS

A protester is arrested during a demonstration following the Summit of Higher Education in Montreal, on Feb 26, 2013. -- PHOTO: REUTERS

A boy walks past metal doors and windows on a house in Gao on Feb 26, 2013. -- PHOTO: REUTERS

Mr Justo Gabarri reacts as he takes a break from moving his family's belongings the night before the demolition of an evangelical church, where they are living in, at the Spanish gypsy settlement of Puerta de Hierro in Madrid on  Feb 25, 2013. Mr Gabarri's parents were one of 54 families that settled on the banks of the Manzanares river, north of Madrid, in the 1960s. The dwellers were registered with the town hall and had access to public services. But for the past two years, they have been subjected to evictions under Madrid's town planning board orders, on the grounds that the dwellings are illegal. Mr Gabarri, his wife and three children had to move to what used to be the evangelical church of the settlement when their own house was demolished in January 2011. They were one of the two last families to live in what was left of the settlement, surrounded by the debris of the previously demolished homes. Picture taken on Feb 25, 2013. -- PHOTO: REUTERS

Golden State Warriors guard Jarrett Jack jumps in the air with the basketball guarded by Indiana Pacers center Ian Mahinmi (left) of France and Pacers forward David West (right) during the first quarter of an NBA basketball game in Indianapolis, Indiana on Feb 26, 2013. -- PHOTO: REUTERS

Workers clean the glass roof of the National Grand Theatre in Beijing on Feb 26, 2013. -- PHOTO: REUTERS

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un (left) inspects an artillery firing drill of the Korean People's Army units in an undisclosed location in this undated recent picture released by the North's official KCNA news agency in Pyongyang on Feb 26, 2013. -- PHOTO: REUTERS