Best pictures from February 11
A judge and handler feel the musculature of an English Bulldog during the 137th Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show in New York. More than 2,700 prized dogs will be on display at the annual canine competition. Two new breeds, the Russell terrier and the Treeing Walker coonhound, will be introduced in the contest.LUCAS JACKSON/Reuters
A model is made up before the KaufmanFranco Autumn/Winter 2013 collection during New York Fashion Week.ERIC THAYER/Reuters
Women pray at the Western Wall in Jerusalem's Old City. Israeli police detained 10 women at one of Judaism's most sacred sites on Monday for wearing prayer shawls, which Orthodox tradition sees as solely for men, a spokesman said.The incident at the Western Wall highlighted the divisions between the more liberal streams of Judaism and politically powerful Orthodox groups that traditionally limit the role of women in prayer.BAZ RATNER/Reuters
A woman with a shopping trolley feeds pigeons in Ljubljana.SRDJAN ZIVULOVIC/Reuters
Nepalese workers splash holy color offered by devotees on the Boudhanath Stupa on the first day of the New Year of the Sherpas, the Tamangs and the Tibetans in Katmandu, Nepal. Members of the three communities in Nepal are welcoming the year of the snake.Niranjan Shrestha/The Associated Press
Students wait on line to enter to their classroom on the first day of school in Managua. Around 1.6 million students are expected to start their new academic year, according to the Ministry of Education of Nicaragua.OSWALDO RIVAS/Reuters
Pope Benedict XVI leaves at the end of a consistory at the Vatican in this picture provided by Osservatore Romano. Pope Benedict said on Monday he will resign on Feb 28 because he no longer has the strength to fulfil the duties of his office, becoming the first pontiff since the Middle Ages to take such a step.OSSERVATORE ROMANO/Reuters
Workers remove a painting of Pope Benedict XVI from the press conference room after the head of Spain's Catholic Church and President of the Bishops' Conference Cardinal Antonio Maria Rouco Varela addressed a news conference in Madrid. Pope Benedict shocked the world on Monday by saying he no longer had the mental and physical strength to cope with his ministry, in an announcement that left his aides "incredulous" and will make him the first pontiff to step down since the Middle Ages.SUSANA VERA/Reuters
A carnival reveller celebrates at the traditional Rose Monday carnival parade in the western German city of Duesseldorf. The Rose Monday parades in Cologne, Mainz and Duesseldorf are the highlight of the German street carnival season.INA FASSBENDER/Reuters
Rowers are framed by a decorative seawall railing while paddling on Coal Harbour in Vancouver, B.C.. Monday is British Columbia's first Family Day holiday.DARRYL DYCK/The Canadian Press
Malian people mill through the heavily shelled police station in Gao, northern Mali, one day after Mujao fighters engaged in a firefight with Malian forces. French and Malian government forces have regained control of this northern city, after Islamic fighters fought a prolonged battle. Hospital officials and witnesses say three civilians died in the fighting Sunday. It is not known how many extremists and Malian troops died in the more than five hours of combat.Jerome Delay/The Associated Press
A protester, who opposes Egyptian President Mohamed Mursi, shouts slogans at riot police during clashes in front of the presidential palace in Cairo. Protesters demanding the departure of Egyptian President Mohamed Mursi clashed with police outside his palace on Monday on the second anniversary of the overthrow of veteran autocrat Hosni Mubarak.The words on the shirt reads, "Freedom or Death."AMR ABDALLAH DALSH/Reuters