World News in Pictures

[Mr Lick]

China-Shanghai-High Speed Railway-Open to Traffic

[Mr Lick]

Paraguay-Traffic Accident-Casualties



The wreckage of a bus is seen at the accident scene in Ypacarai, about 40 km south of Asuncion, Paraguay, June 28, 2011. At least 16 people were killed in a deadly accident when a bus crashed with a truck here.

[Mr Lick]

Public sector strike hits services and schools



Hundreds of thousands of public sector workers have gone on strike across the UK over planned pension changes.

Teachers from three unions have walked out and about 40% of state schools in England and Wales have been closed or partially shut.

The Public and Commercial Services union, which includes police support and border staff, are also on strike.

The government says the plans are "fair to taxpayers" and other unions are continuing with negotiations.

It has condemned the strike as has the opposition, although Labour leader Ed Miliband has accused ministers of mishandling negotiations with the unions.

The action by the National Union of Teachers (NUT), the Association of Teachers and Lecturers (ATL) and the University and College Union (UCU) affects England and Wales.

The unions say the proposals would mean more work and contributions for a reduced pension.

Department for Education data suggests that 11,114 of the 21,500 state schools in England were hit by the walkouts.

It said in total, 5,679 schools were shut, and another 4,999 were partially closed. Some 201 academies and city technology colleges were also shut, while 235 remained partially open. In Wales, according to local authority figures, more than 1,000 out of 1,800 schools were either closed or partially closed.

[Mr Lick]

Royal Ballet dancers rehearse in Taipei, Taiwan

[Mr Lick]

The aftermath of riots in Athens

[Mr Lick]

A Hindu holy man bathes in the River Ganges, India

[Mr Lick]

An Afghan man looks on as Canadian troops search his compound

[Mr Lick]

A boy and his sister stand outside a hut surrounded by floodwater on the outskirts of Rangoon, Myanmar

[Mr Lick]

Ministers to introduce emergency law after bail ruling



Emergency laws are to be brought forward to overturn a High Court ruling limiting police bail in England and Wales to a maximum of four days.

Policing Minister Nick Herbert told MPs the move was necessary to allow officers to do their jobs without "one hand tied behind their back".

He said there was not enough time to wait for a Supreme Court appeal.

Police had regularly released suspects on bail for weeks, or even months in some cases, while an inquiry continued.

Senior police officers are due to meet Home Secretary Theresa May later on Thursday to discuss the issue.

[Mr Lick]

Birmingham City's Carson Yeung on money-laundering charges



Birmingham City FC's president Carson Yeung has appeared in court in Hong Kong on money-laundering charges.

Mr Yeung was bailed by the Eastern Court in his home city after being charged with five counts.

BBC correspondent Annemarie Evans said he had been arrested by the narcotic bureau's financial investigations unit at his home.

Mr Yeung took control of the English football club, which was relegated to the Championship in May, in 2009.

'Tax issue' The trial has been adjourned until 11 August.

Ms Evans said all five charges related to money laundering with the amount involved being up to £59m.

She said Mr Yeung had not entered a plea and little about the details of the charges was known.

News agency Reuters reported Mr Yeung's lawyer, Daniel Marash, as saying that it seemed to be a tax issue.

"All they're saying is that he has got a lot of money, and he hasn't paid a lot of tax," he said.

[Mr Lick]

Three British students killed in Thailand coach crash



Three British students have been killed in a coach crash in Thailand.

The Evening Standard claimed the men, all on gap years, were travelling from Bangkok to Thailand's second city, Chiangmai, in the north.

The Foreign Office confirmed the incident and said two other Britons were also on board the coach.

The students, who were from London, were Conrad Hugo Quashie, Bruno Albert Melling-Firth and Maximilian Hugo Ulrich Boomgaarden-Cook.

One of the other British students was taken to hospital. Both have been given consular assistance by the Foreign Office.

The Evening Standard reported that the coach was hit from behind by another bus.

It claimed the boys had all been pupils at the Charter School in Dulwich, south London and had flown to Thailand last week to travel through south east Asia.

Mr Boomgaarden-Cook's father, Gerhard, told the Standard: "He was such an incredibly bright boy and was just about to go off and do his own thing. He was a very boisterous child and was really into his music. He had a great future."

[Mr Lick]

Danilo Restivo jailed for life for hair in hand murder



A fetishist who murdered and mutilated a Bournemouth mother before leaving someone else's hair in her hand will never be released from prison.

Italian national Danilo Restivo, 39, killed Heather Barnett, 48, in 2002 in a "depraved" attack then comforted her children after they found the body.

During the trial, Restivo was also linked to the murder of Elisa Claps, 16, who went missing in Italy in 1993.

A jury at Winchester Crown Court convicted Restivo on Wednesday.

They had heard that Restivo, of Chatsworth Road, Bournemouth, entered Ms Barnett's flat and bludgeoned her with a hammer before cutting her throat in November 2002.

Restivo, who admitted he had cut women's hair as he liked the touch and smell of it, put a clump of someone's hair in one of her hands and strands of her own hair under the other, the jury was told.

Sentencing Restivo, Mr Justice Burnett told him the murder was of "inhuman depravity" and so serious that no minimum term would be appropriate.

[Mr Lick]

Russian fighter jets perform air stunts during the 5th International Maritime Defence Show in St. Petersburg, Russia on June 30, 2011.

[Mr Lick]

Gesse fly with a yellow hang-glider on June 30, 2011 at the Grand Park of Puy-du-Fou, in the west coast city of Les Epesses, France

[Mr Lick]

Public sector workers take part in a marchl on June 30, 2011 in Bristol, England. Hundreds of thousands of public sector workers, including teachers and civil servants, across the UK are staging a mass strike today in protest at the governments planned cuts to pensions.



Members of the Solidarity trade union shout slogans during the biggest demonstration in three years against the government's economic policy in Warsaw on June 30, 2011. Several thousand union activists rallied in the Polish capital accusing the government of sidelining social and economic problems, as Poland braces to take the helm of the EU. Solidarity is best known internationally for having helped bring down Poland's communist regime in 1989.

[Mr Lick]

A view over the courts on the tenth day of Wimbledon at the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club on June 30 in London, England.



British player Andy Murray looks towards the media during a practice session at the Wimbledon Tennis Championships in London on June 30.

[Mr Lick]

A Department of Environment and Conservation (DEC) officer slits open a teddy bear. A Hong Kong couple have been arrested in Perth, Australia, for attempting to export reptiles concealed inside teddy bears



One of the bobtail lizards discovered after the arrest of two wildlife smugglers.

DEC senior wildlife investigator Rick Dawson said bobtail lizards were worth up to 7500 AUD ($8,000) on the Asian black market.

"While common in Western Australia, these lizards are highly sought after in Asia because they are easy to care for, attractive, and exotic," he said.

[Mr Lick]

Prince Albert II of Monaco and bride-to-be Charlene Wittstock attend to the St Jean Religious Parade , Thursday, June 23, 2011, in Monaco. Prince Albert II of Monaco and his fiancee Charlene Wittstock of South Africa, will wed on July 1 and 2.

[Mr Lick]

France 3 television journalists Herve Ghesquiere, right, and Stephane Taponier react during a news conference after their arrival at Villacoublay military airport near Paris on June 30. Ghesquiere and Taponier, held hostage in Afghanistan for a year and a half, were captured on December 29, 2009 in Kapisa province, northeast of the capital Kabul, along with their Afghan driver and translator.

[Mr Lick]

A wave of smoke billows and fills a canyon as the Las Conchas fire creeps into the canyon on June 29.

[Mr Lick]

Canton, Ill., High School graduate Wayne Decker, a specialist with the U.S. Army's 1st Battalion, 18th Infantry, lifts his one-year old son Ethan after he surprised his children on a return to Peoria, Ill. on June 29, after a deployment in Iraq.

[Mr Lick]

Wimbledon 2011 day 10 - in pictures




The weather at Wimbledon this year has taken its toll on the tournament ... and on Robert Redford's face by the look of it



Victoria Azarenka and Petra Kvitova are first up on Centre Court. Kvitova dominates the opening set, breaking her opponent in the fourth game and again in the fifth

[Mr Lick]

Azarenka of Belarus is the highest seeded female remaining in the women's draw, but she's lost that first set in less than 30 minutes. It's a dreadful start for her



Kvitova, who lost to Serena Williams at this stage last year, begins to pay the price for her attacking style. Her unforced errors help Azarenka to an early break in the second set

[Mr Lick]

Azarenka holds firm and wins the second set 6-3, despite spurning her first two set points



Get a grip Cliff. It's not that dull

[Mr Lick]

Kvitova's first service game of the third set is faultless. And she follows it by breaking Azarenka



Azarenka wastes two break points in game five as she struggles to fight back. Surely that's her chance gone?