Day in pictures

1 of 11 An Indian Hindu holy man prays as he bathes in the River Kshipra as part of a religious festival.

2 of 11 Advertising space: A promotion for a Beijing technology fair.

3 of 11 Eleven-year-old Afghan runner, Narges Kakar, is the youngest competitor at the South Asian Federation Games in Islamabad.

4 of 11 Japan's commandos stand to attention at Narita International Airport during an inspection tour by the country's Prime Minister, Junichiro Koizumi.

5 of 11 Orthodox Jews in Jerusalem burn bread as part of their preparations for Passover. All leavened food is forbidden during the festival.

6 of 11 A 1905 letter from Irish author James Joyce goes on display at Christie's auctioneers in London.

7 of 11 French President Jacques Chirac welcomes Britain's Queen Elizabeth II and his wife Bernadette to a dinner at the Elysee Palace in Paris.

8 of 11 Sri Lanka's Sinhalese Buddhist devotees pray at a temple in Kelaniya, near the capital Colombo.

9 of 11 US President George W Bush throws out the first pitch to kick-start America's 2004 baseball season in St. Louis.

10 of 11 A Russian man washes himself while standing on an ice-flow drifting in the Neva River in St. Petersburg.

11 of 11 Penitents carry the figure of Jesus Christ out of a church in southern Spain at the start of a Holy Week Procession.