World News in Pictures

[Mr Lick]

Turkish planes attack PKK bases in northern Iraq




Turkish aircraft have attacked 60 sites in northern Iraq used as bases by the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) in a "successful" operation, military headquarters said in a statement.

It followed an attack by the rebel group that killed nine Turkish troops.

The statement said the military would press ahead with strikes until the rebels were "rendered ineffective".

The aircraft involved in the operation all returned safely to their bases in Turkey, it added.

Fourteen soldiers were injured in the attack by the Kurdish separatist militants in the district of Cukurca, in Hakkari province close to the Iraqi border, on Wednesday.

Officials and Turkish media said the vehicle of the troops who died was hit by a roadside bomb or mine. There were also reports of a shoot-out.

The PKK said they had carried out the attack.

[Mr Lick]

Brad Pitt's World War Z turns Glasgow into zombie film set

[Mr Lick]

[Mr Lick]

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, center, meets with members of Palestinian factions that live in Lebanon during a visit to Beirut on August 17. Lebanon is home to tens of thousands of Palestinian refugees.

Calls for Palestinian protests to back a diplomatic push for statehood at the United Nations next month have put Israel on guard; the peace process in deep crisis, some see a violent September, inspired by the Arab Spring.

[Mr Lick]

A wave of violence killed 33 people in the last 24 hours in Pakistan's largest city, with many of the victims tortured, shot and stuffed in sacks that were dumped on the streets, officials said Thursday.

There has been a surge in killings in Karachi in recent weeks that many blame on gangs affiliated with the city's main political parties. Many of the victims were tortured, shot in the head and stuffed in burlap sacks, he said.

A resident in one of the neighborhoods that has experienced much of the violence said people were afraid to leave their homes for fear of being killed. He spoke on condition of anonymity because of the fear of being targeted






Mourners carry the coffin of Waja Karimdad, a former Member of Parliament from the ruling Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP), during his funeral ceremony in Karachi on August 18. Karimdad was among those killed in the fresh wave of violence in Karachi, where hundreds of additional police and paramilitary troops were deployed last month.

[Mr Lick]

Local residents run away from waves caused by a tidal bore surging past a barrier on the banks of the Qiantang River in Hangzhou, Zhejiang province, China, on August 17.

[Mr Lick]

Pope Benedict XV! on his way to Madrid where people are clashing with police over the cost of the event

[Mr Lick]

Miquel Angel Jimenez plays to the 12th green on the 1st day of the Czech Open

[Mr Lick]

Joe Biden chatting with Wu Bangguo over how to save the global economy

[Mr Lick]

Phone hacking: Reports of James Desborough arrest



James Desborough's exclusives include TV host Fern Britton getting a gastric band


A 38-year-old man has been arrested as part of the investigation into phone hacking, Scotland Yard has said.

The man, named by the Guardian as former News of the World journalist James Desborough, was arrested by officers from the Met Police's hacking investigation, Operation Weeting.

He attended a south London police station by appointment, where he is being held on suspicion of conspiring to intercept communications.

It is the 13th arrest police have made.

Mr Desborough, who joined the News of the World in 2005, was named showbiz writer of the year at the British Press Awards in April 2009, and later became the newspaper's Los Angeles-based US editor.

The judges said he "produced a series of uncompromising scoops which mean no celebrity with secrets can sleep easy".

[Mr Lick]

Depardieu has 'oui' problem on Dublin-bound flight




French actor Gerard Depardieu has been removed from a flight bound for Dublin.

The 62-year-old, star of Cyrano de Bergerac and Green Card, was on a flight from Paris when he urinated in front of fellow passengers.

The plane was still on the ground but was preparing for take-off when Mr Depardieu asked to use the lavatory.

When staff told him to stay in his seat, it is understood he stood in the aisle of the plane and urinated into a bottle.

A passenger on the CityJet plane contacted a French radio station on Wednesday and claimed the movie star had also urinated on the aisle.

The traveller claimed Mr Depardieu stood up minutes before take-off and declared in a loud voice: "Je veux pisser. Je veux pisser."

Following the incident, he said it was not alcohol related and was so desperate to use the facilities as he had drunk a litre bottle of water before boarding

[Mr Lick]

Pilgrims scream as Pope Benedict XVI arrives in the popemobile at the Nunciature in Madrid, on Thursday, Aug. 18. Pope Benedict XVI headed to Madrid for a million-strong Catholic youth festival after Spanish riot police swung batons in clashes with protesters over the cost of the six-day World Youth Day festival at a time of economic hardship.






I wasn't aware that Barry Humphries was a catholic

[Mr Lick]

A dabbawala (box-carrier) arranges tiffin lunch boxes on the roadside in Mumbai, India, on August 18. The dabbawalas have announced a one-day strike in support of Anna Hazare's anti-corruption movement

The dabbawalas, whose elaborate system delivers hundreds of thousands of lunches from workers' homes to their offices each day - reportedly making just one mistake in every six million deliveries - have been studied by Harvard academics and a slew of management consultants, according to The Economist.

An official from the Mumbai Tiffin Box Supplier Association told The Wall Street Journal that deliveries will be halted on Friday in support of Anna Hazare's fight against corruption.

Veteran campaigner Hazare, whose protest has hit a chord with Indians fed up with rampant corruption, has struck a deal with police to hold a 15-day hunger strike and is expected to leave prison on Friday, the AP reported.

It looks like he won't be the only one going hungry.

[Mr Lick]

Cape Town, South Africa: A dog takes a closer look at a beached Southern Right whale on Danger beach



New Delhi, India: Policemen stand near metal detectors as they prepare for a public protest due to be headed by anti-corruption activist Anna Hazare at a fairground

[Mr Lick]

Buenos Aires, Argentina: Former patrons of the Richmond bar stand outside the cafe which closed down on Monday. It opened in 1917 and became a favoured gathering place for writer Jorge Luis Borges and other intellectuals



Afghanistan: A US medic reads a medical report for a wounded Afghan border police official on a Medivac (medical evacuation) flight to Kandahar hospital

[Mr Lick]

Soma, Japan: Sumo wrestlers prepare a meal during a summer camp at their rebuilt stable in the tsunami-ravaged city



Berlin, Germany: Replicas of the bust of Nefertiti are placed on a radiator to dry at the the National Museums of Berlin's replica workshop. A limited special edition of 100 Nefertiti bust replicas were created with a mould made using high-end 3D scanning. The paint work for each piece – which will sell for €2,500 – takes one week

[Mr Lick]

Sana'a, Yemen: Soldiers loyal to anti-government protesters search opposition leaders and members going to convene to form a national council aiming to run the country



Thimphu, Bhutan: A Bhutanese child sits outside a roadside shop in the capital city

[Mr Lick]

Rebels return to Zawiyah



A rebel fighter gestures after rebels seized full control of the Zawiyah oil refinery, August 18, 2011.



Rebel fighters destroy posters of Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi which were found in the administrative center after rebels seized full control of the Zawiyah oil refinery, August 18, 2011.

[Mr Lick]

[Mr Lick]

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A doctor holds a bullet which was removed from the head of a female civilian who was shot by a sniper while riding in a car, at the Bir Muammar Hospital on the outskirts of Zawiyah, August 15, 2011

[Mr Lick]

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Men arrested on charges of being pro-Gaddafi soldiers are guarded by Libyan rebel fighters at a holding cell on the outskirts of Zawiyah, August 15, 2011.






A truck carrying Libyan rebel fighters drives towards the Zawiyah oil refinery in Zawiyah, August 17, 2011.

[Mr Lick]

Obama to Call for Syrian Leader's Exit, Officials Say
Amid Syria's internal crackdown on pro-reform demonstrations, President Obama will call on his counterpart there, Bashar al-Assad, to quit, U.S. officials say.



Never-Before-Seen Photos of Robert Redford Uncovered
To mark Robert Redford's 75th birthday on Thursday, LIFE.com dug into its archives and found never-before-seen photos (like the one above) of the Hollywood legend during a 1969 shoot. Click on the gallery, below, to check it out.

[Mr Lick]

She's Baaack!
Christine O'Donnell, the Tea Party darling whose Senate bid catapulted her onto the national stage, is making headlines again, this time for quitting an interview with Piers Morgan after being questioned about gay marriage