Picture desk live: the day's best news images

This can't fail to make you smile. A researcher dressed in a panda costume closes the door of the cage of giant panda Tao Tao before he is transferred to a new living environment at the Hetaoping research and conservation centre in Wolong national nature reserve in Sichuan province. The panda, that is Photograph: Reuters

This heartbreaking picture of a malnourished refugee child reminds us of the little reported conflict in Mali. The child is being weighed at the Médecins Sans Frontières medical centre at the M'bere refugee camp in Mauritania, 37 miles from the border with Mali. The fighting in Mali has left more than 60,000 people internally displaced, and a similar number have fled to Mauritania and neighbouring countries Photograph: Abdelhak Senna/AFP/Getty Images

Antiwar protester Maria Gallastegui stands in her protest box on Parliament Square in London. A high court ruling has lifted an injunction that prevented Westminster council from clearing Parliament Square, meaning Gallastegui, who has been staging a 24-hour vigil on the east pavement of Parliament Square since 2006 has no option but to leave Photograph: Dan Kitwood/Getty Images

A giraffe is pictured near lesser flamingos at Lake Oloidien near Naivasha in Kenya. The lesser flamingos are currently in abundance in the country's drier regions after heavy rains nationwide altered the salinity of the water in many lakes making them less rich in phytoplankton, the flamingo's food, and forcing the birds to fly to drier regions Photograph: Carl De Souza/AFP/Getty Images

Women march to demand a trial for Yemen's former president, Ali Abdullah Saleh, in Sana'a Photograph: Khaled Abdullah/Reuters

There's a nice pattern to this picture. British soldiers from the Coldstream Guards remove their bearskin hats in honour of the Queen after she presented them with new colours. The Coldstream Guards, the oldest regiment in the British army, will form part of the guard for Trooping the Colour at the Queen's official birthday in June Photograph: Ben Stansall/AFP/Getty Images

We get very few photographs out of Syria and this is a strong portrait of Syrian rebels as they take position in the Khalidiya district of the central Syrian city of Homs. The UN admitted a shaky three-week-old truce in Syria is not holding but said the number of observers would be doubled within days Photograph: Joseph Eid/AFP/Getty Images

A slice of daily life from the always excellent Finbarr O'Reilly. Women sit on the porch in the back courtyard of a colonial-era board house, a traditional wooden structure dating back about a century, in the Congo Town neighbourhood of Sierra Leone's capital Freetown Photograph: Finbarr O'Reilly/Reuters

Police officers stand guard outside a European Central Bank meeting in Barcelona, Spain. Thousands of police officers have been drafted in to the area to strengthen security amid fears of violence from demonstrators protesting against unpopular austerity measures Photograph: Jasper Juinen/Getty Images

The Labour leader, Ed Miliband, looks like he's still campaigning right up to the door of the polling station. You wouldn't think his wife, Justine, needed such a hard sell. For more local elections pictures see our gallery Photograph: Stefan Rousseau/PA

The composition of this photograph makes you wonder exactly what this little girl has seen as she sits with her brother in a cave shelter in Tess village in the rebel-held territory of the Nuba mountains in Sudan. Fleeing aerial bombardment by the Sudanese air force, thousands of people have abandoned their homes and made makeshift shelters between the rocks and boulders Photograph: Goran Tomasevic/Reuters

The US secretary of state, Hillary Clinton, talks with China's minister of science and technology, Wan Gang, while on a visit to China. The Chinese dissident Chen Guangcheng has said this morning that he wants a seat on Clinton's plane back to the US and to seek exile there Photograph: Jason Lee/Reuters

Members of the 18th street gang in a cell of the Quezaltepeque jail in El Salvador. The gang announced an end to their recruitment of children and youth and declared schools off-limits for their activities. El Salvador has struggled with gang violence for many years but recently saw a drop in the murder rate and reported with some jubilation that on 14 April nobody was murdered Photograph: Jose Cabezas/AFP/Getty Images

David Cameron goes to vote in local elections with his wife, Samantha, in central London. Mr Cameron has only just noticed his wife's rather bold choice of trouser colour Photograph: Pool/Reuters

This all looks surprisingly low tech. Chinese investors rest at a securities firm as they monitor their stock prices in Hefei Photograph: AFP/Getty Images

Supporters of the Greek Communist party (KKE) listen to a pre-election speech by its general secretary, Aleka Papariga, in Athens. Photograph: Aris Messinis/AFP/Getty Images

Government supporters demonstrate outside Congress in Buenos Aires as the YPF bill is debated. The bill will see the nationalisation of Argentina's biggest oil company. President Cristina Fernandez has tightened state control of the economy six months after her landslide re-election Photograph: Natacha Pisarenko/AP

Supporters of the Greek conservative New Democracy party leader Antonis Samaras wave flags during a pre-election speech in Athens. Sunday's election is expected to see Greeks vote for parties that say they would scrap deals with the EU and IMF Photograph: Aris Messinis/AFP/Getty Images