World News in Pictures

[Mr Lick]

Karachi base attack

[Mr Lick]

US tornado in Joplin, Missouri






A wrecked helicopter lies in front of the damaged hospital building

[Mr Lick]

Yemen unrest: Gulf states suspend transition deal



The Gulf Co-operation Council has suspended its effort to mediate in Yemen's political crisis, after President Ali Abdullah Saleh has refused to sign a deal to step down.

State TV said he would only sign in the presence of opposition leaders, who had signed the agreement on Saturday.

The deal would have seen him resign within 30 days and have immunity.

A statement from the GCC said it was suspending its initiative because of "a lack of the suitable conditions".

Meanwhile, foreign diplomats had to be airlifted out of the United Arab Emirates embassy in Sanaa, which was besieged by Saleh supporters.

On Sunday, anti-government protesters also staged demonstrations in the Yemeni capital.

[Mr Lick]

Italy toddler dies after being left in car for hours



An Italian toddler has died after being left in a hot car for five hours by her father who had forgotten to drop her off at day care.

Doctors in the city of Ancona declared the 22-month-old Elena dead - three days after the incident.

Father Lucio Petrizzi, a professor of veterinary medicine, said that he had inexplicably thought he had left her at a nursery on the way to work.

Prosecutors are due to decide whether to charge him with manslaughter.

[Mr Lick]

Chile prepares to exhume ex-President Salvador Allende



The remains of Chile's former President Salvador Allende are due to be exhumed in bid to determine whether the former leader killed himself or was murdered.

The official version is that Allende shot himself in the presidential palace as General Augusto Pinochet's forces closed in on him during the 1973 coup.

But as his death was never formally investigated, some believe the military killed him and covered up the crime.

The coup led to 17 years of military rule under Gen Pinochet.

More than 3,000 political opponents were killed or "disappeared" by the military and thousands more were imprisoned and tortured.

The Allende case is one of 726 alleged rights abuses that investigators are looking into.

[Mr Lick]

Syria: EU 'to impose sanctions on President Assad'



The EU is to impose sanctions on Syrian President Bashar al-Assad for the first time to pressure him to end his brutal crackdown on dissent, diplomats say.

Foreign ministers agreed at a meeting in Brussels to add Mr Assad and several officials to a list affected by travel bans and asset freezes, they add.

The EU has already imposed sanctions on the president's brother, four of his cousins and others in his inner circle.

Five people were shot dead at funerals in Homs on Saturday, activists say.

They were mourning some of the anti-government protesters killed by security forces after Friday prayers in the city, in central Syria.

At least 44 people are believed to have been shot dead during Friday's nationwide demonstrations. But the government said only 17 people had been killed by armed gangs at small gatherings.

Human rights activists say more than 850 people have been killed and thousands arrested since the operation to quell dissent began in March.

[Mr Lick]

Thousands attend state funeral for Garret FitzGerald



A state funeral for the former Irish Prime Minister Dr Garret FitzGerald has taken place in Dublin.

The 85-year-old died earlier this week after a short illness.

Thousands of mourners, including the President of Ireland, attended the service at the Sacred Heart Church in Donnybrook.

During his homily, Chief Celebrant Fr Enda McDonagh told the congregation Dr Fitzgerald was a "man of hope".

Fr McDonagh said that Dr Fitzgerald, who co-signed the Anglo-Irish agreement, had been able to watch part of the Queen's historic visit to the Republic.

"By some miracle of insight, grace or whatever we call it, he woke up in his final agony to see the Queen and the President on the television on that Tuesday night, 36 hours before he died.

"It was a culmination of what he had so long struggled for and we are grateful for it," he added.

[Mr Lick]

Ryan Giggs named by MP as injunction footballer



A married footballer named on Twitter as having an injunction over an alleged affair with a reality TV star has been named in Parliament by Lib Dem MP John Hemming as Ryan Giggs.

Mr Hemming named him during an urgent Commons question on privacy orders.

Using parliamentary privilege to break the court order, he said it would not be practical to imprison the 75,000 Twitter users who had named the player.

Earlier the High Court again ruled that the injunction should not be lifted.

Parliamentary privilege protects MPs and peers from prosecution for statements made in the House of Commons or House of Lords.

In court, Mr Justice Eady rejected a fresh application by Sun publisher News Group Newspapers to discharge the privacy injunction.

The judge said: "The court's duty remains to try and protect the claimant, and particularly his family, from intrusion and harassment so long as it can."

[Mr Lick]

Rosemary Nelson Inquiry: 'no collusion' in murder



A public inquiry has found that state agencies did not collude with loyalists who murdered Lurgan solicitor Rosemary Nelson in 1999.

It said that it could not exclude the possibility that a rogue member of the security forces had been involved.

Secretary of State Owen Paterson told the House of Commons that there were failings in the measures taken to protect the lawyer.

He said that the government was "profoundly sorry" for these failures.

"It is also deeply regrettable that despite a very thorough police investigation no-one has been charged for this terrible crime," Mr Paterson added.

Mrs Nelson represented several high profile clients including prominent republican Colin Duffy and the Garvaghy Road Residents Association.

Loyalist paramilitary group, the Red Hand Defenders, claimed responsibility for killing Mrs Nelson in a booby-trap bomb attack

[Mr Lick]

Libya: Benghazi rebel visit for senior US official



The most senior American diplomat yet to visit the rebels in Libya is holding talks in their Benghazi strongold.

US Assistant Secretary of State Jeffrey Feltman has met the Transitional National Council, which rules the east of the country.

Colonel Muammar Gaddafi must leave power, the US reiterated in a statement released during the visit.

The Libyan rebels failed to gain full recognition when they travelled to Washington a week ago.

[Mr Lick]

More devastation from the hospital site in #Joplin, MO

[Mr Lick]

The south side airlock double-entry doors are seen at Tokyo Electric Power Co. (TEPCO)'s Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant in this combination photo taken from the large equipment service entrance using a normal camera (top) and a gamma ray camera on May 20 and released by TEPCO on May 22. Gamma cameras are used to take images of gamma radiation.

[Mr Lick]

A rebel fighter gives water to one of Moammar Gadhafi's soldiers after he was wounded and then captured near the front line, 25 km west from Misrata, Libya on May 23.



Rebel fighters rest at the front line between the rebels and Moammar Gadhafi's forces, 25 km west of Misrata on May 23.



A family observe the destruction in Tripoli Street in Misrata, the center of fighting between the rebels and Moammar Gadhafi's forces in the city, on May 22.



A boy stands at the site where his father and others were killed during a fierce battle against forces loyal to Muammar Gaddafi in Tripoli street in central Misrata on May 22. The Arabic words read "Here martyrs fell''



A man walks along largely destroyed Tripoli street in central Misrata on May 22. The city sustained heavy damage in fierce fighting between rebels and Gadhafi's forces. Most shops are still closed and the streets are largely empty.

[Mr Lick]

People run as policemen arrive at the location of a pro-democracy demonstration organised by the "February 20 Movement", who are demanding political reforms, in Rabat, Morocco on May 22.



Police disperse protesters during a pro-democracy demonstration in Rabat on May 22.

[Mr Lick]

A family crosses a street amidst heavy rain which followed a storm in Allahabad, India on May 22.

[Mr Lick]

Wreckage of a P-3C Orion aircraft is seen at a major Pakistani naval air base following an attack by militants in Karachi on May 23. Taliban gunmen armed with rockets and explosives stormed a major naval air base in the heart of Pakistan's biggest city, destroying two US-made surveillance aircraft and killing 12 personnel.



Pakistan's Interior Minister Rehman Malik speaks to the media outside Mehran naval aviation base, which was attacked by militants, in Karachi on May 23.

[Mr Lick]

Deadly storms rake Midwest















A pool of blood remains on the floor of a business in Joplin, Mo., on Monday.




































Two rescuers try to pull a woman from a destroyed building in Joplin, Mo., after a tornado struck the city on May 22.

[Mr Lick]

Lucas Wickander, 13, shows off the skinned knuckles he received after diving under a porch to escape a tornado that struck northern Minneapolis, May 22.






Damage to the Reading, Kan., post office caused by a tornado is shown May 22.

[Mr Lick]

Madrid protests continue

Protesters continue to occupy Puerta del Sol after the Spanish local and regional elections







A demonstrator puts up banners on the square's main statue of a bear





















Demonstrators observe a minute of silence at the Puerta del Sol camp

[Mr Lick]

Tel Aviv, Israel: An Israeli rightwing activist holds a symbolic rope around his neck as he and others protest outside the US embassy



Mexico City, Mexico: People dressed as pirates participate in an unsuccessful attempt to break the world record for the most people dressed as pirates, during the premiere of Pirates of the Caribbean 4

[Mr Lick]

Burgos, Spain: People vote during Spain's regional and municipal elections



Sana'a, Yemen: An anti-government protester shouts slogans and flashes a victory sign during a huge celebration to mark the 21st anniversary of Yemen's unification

[Mr Lick]

Guadalajara, Mexico: A police officer stands next to a bullet-riddled car with evidence markers reading "impact" at a crime scene. A police officer was shot dead by hitmen while driving his car



Athens, Greece: An athlete dives during the Red Bull Cliff Diving World Series in the Vouligmeni lake

[Mr Lick]

Misrata, Libya: Children watch a cultural event organised by rebel forces, perched on a destroyed tank in Tripoli Street, the former centre of fighting between the rebels and Muammar Gaddafi's forces



Honghu, China: A fisherman tries to paddle his boat through a small stream amid the partially dried-up Honghu Lake

[Mr Lick]

Barack Obama visits Ireland











Barack Obama plants a tree while schoolchildren ring the peace bell in the company of the Irish president, Mary McAleese, and her husband at her official residence in Dublin











Obama shakes hands with Prime Minister Kenny



Watch out, the man means business!

[Mr Lick]

Tornado damage across US midwest - more pictures





Members of the Neodesha fire department look towards the sky as St John's regional medical centre











A man stands amid the remains of a Wal-Mart store, in Joplin, Missouri





A body is seen in a tornado-ravaged car while emergency workers wait for a medical team to arrive in Joplin