World News in Pictures

[Mr Lick]

Barack Obama's 'The Beast' incurs £10 London C-charge



The US government has been sent a London congestion charge bill for Barack Obama's convoy, including his limousine, nicknamed The Beast.

Mayor Boris Johnson said the motorcade was charged, unlike the Popemobile, because roads were not closed.

He and Mr Obama exchanged "points of view", he said, over £5.2m worth of unpaid congestion bills when they met.

The US Embassy said it was exempt from paying "direct taxes" but the mayor maintains the charge is not a tax.

Transport for London has confirmed that the Presidential convoy was charged but the bill has not been paid.

Mr Johnson said: "Unlike the Pope where we didn't charge the Popemobile because we closed the roads, when The Beast rolled through London that Beast paid a congestion charge.

[Mr Lick]

Man shot dead and another injured in Milton Keynes



A man has been shot dead and another has been injured in Milton Keynes, police have said.

The incident happened in Fishermead Boulevard just after 2200 BST on Thursday.
Police said a large area of the estate had been sealed off.

Det Supt Rob Mason, from Thames Valley Police, moved to reassure residents and said there was a large police presence in the area.

"Clearly we are at the very early stages of our investigation into this incident," he said.

"A large area of Fishermead is currently sealed off while officers carry out investigations and protect the scene.

"I can confirm that one man has died from his injuries and that another has been injured in the incident.

[Mr Lick]

Bomb kills seven US soldiers in southern Afghanistan



Seven US soldiers have been killed by a roadside bomb in southern Afghanistan, US officials say.

The incident is the deadliest single attack on foreign troops in a month. Nato initially confirmed the deaths but declined to disclose the nationalities.

Earlier, a Nato helicopter crashed in eastern Afghanistan, killing one soldier, officials said.

Almost 200 foreign troops have been killed by militants in Afghanistan so far this year.

[Mr Lick]

G8 summit: Sarkozy offers Libya's Gaddafi 'options'



French President Nicolas Sarkozy has urged Libya's Col Muammar Gaddafi to step down as "all options are open".

"We are not saying that Gaddafi needs to be exiled. He must leave power and the quicker he does it, the greater his choice," Mr Sarkozy told journalists.

He is hosting a meeting of leaders from the G8 group of wealthy nations in the northern French resort of Deauville.

The Arab uprisings, internet regulation and future of nuclear power are all being debated at the two-day summit.

The global economy and climate change are also being discussed at the gathering for the leaders of the US, Russia, the UK, France, Germany, Italy, Japan and Canada.

Thousands of police have been deployed as part of a huge security operation and checkpoints have been erected on all roads leading to Deauville.

[Mr Lick]

Rwanda: Bernard Munyagishari arrested for genocide



A Rwandan genocide suspect on the run for 17 years has been arrested in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo.

Bernard Munyagishari is accused of being a militia leader who masterminded the killing of Tutsis and moderate Hutus in Gisenyi in 1994.

He was caught in an operation mounted by the Congolese army in collaboration with a tracking team from the UN court trying genocide suspects.

Some 800,000 ethnic Tutsis and moderate Hutus died in the 100-day genocide.

Nine other Rwandans accused of being key perpetrators of the genocide are still at large.

[Mr Lick]

Battle for Libya



Libyan rebel fighters take cover after hearing shelling at Misrata's western front line, May 26,2011.









A Libyan woman mourns for her brother, a rebel fighter, during his funeral in Misrata, May 23, 2011.

[Mr Lick]

Chelsea flower show





















Worker Matt Attwood looks for stones on the floor of the pool in the Homebase garden display ahead of the Tuesday opening of the Chelsea Flower Show 2011, in London May 21, 2011.

[Mr Lick]

Aftermath in Missouri



A destroyed Wal Mart is seen in the foreground with Saint John's Hospital in the distance in Joplin, Missouri May 26, 2011.

[Mr Lick]

[Mr Lick]

[Mr Lick]

[Mr Lick]

[Mr Lick]

[Mr Lick]

[Mr Lick]

Yemen uprising



Yemeni army soldiers man a security point near a square, the site of an anti-government protest to demand the ouster of Yemen's President Ali Abdullah Saleh, in Sanaa May 25, 2011.







Armed tribesmen loyal to Yemeni tribal leader Sadiq al-Ahmar walk outside his house in Sanaa May 26, 2011.

[Mr Lick]

A damaged building of Yemen Airways and Felix Airways is seen during clashes between tribesmen loyal to tribal leader Sheikh Sadiq al-Ahmar and police forces in Sanaa





A still image taken from footage of Yemen's President Ali Abdullah Saleh giving a televised speech after refusing to sign a transition of power deal in Sanaa

[Mr Lick]

The protesters tank



A real tank

[Mr Lick]

A Helping Hand
Blanca Lopez holds her daughter, Bianca, on Thursday as they wait in line with others to receive food, clothes and other donated items for people whose Joplin, Missouri, homes were destroyed in the massive tornado



Collective Bargaining Law in Wisconsin Struck Down
On Thursday, a judge in Wisconsin voided a controversial law severely restricting the collective bargaining rights of most state employees.

[Mr Lick]

House GOP Leaders Unveil Job Plan
Seen on a video camera screen, Speaker of the House John Boehner, a Republican from Ohio, holds a news conference to announce his party's "pro-growth job creation agenda" in Washington, D.C., on Thursday



French Hospitality
French President Nicolas Sarkozy and pregnant wife Carla Bruni-Sarkozy greet leaders at the Group of Eight economic summit in Deauville, France, on Thursday.

[Mr Lick]

Executed in Iran
A shackle is seen dangling from the foot of convict Mahdi Faraji while he's being hanged in Qazvin, Iran, on Thursday. The country's official news agency said five inmates were hanged in public, including a serial killer.



Political Unrest in Nepal
Nepalese police charge Rastriya Prajatantra Party-Nepal supporters during a protest in Kathmandu on Thursday.

[Mr Lick]

Life in Prison for Elizabeth Smart's Kidnapper
Brian David Mitchell, the homeless street preacher who abducted Elizabeth Smart in 2002, was sentenced to life in prison on Wednesday in Salt Lake City, Utah. Here: Smart, now 23, and her father Ed Smart after the sentencing.



Protesters Clash With Riot Police in Georgia
Riot officers attack protesters demanding the resignation of Western-backed President Mikheil Saakashvili in front of the parliament building in Tbilisi late Wednesday.

[Mr Lick]

Singapore rejects British author Alan Shadrake's appeal



A British author of a book about the death penalty in Singapore, Alan Shadrake, has lost his appeal against a six-week jail sentence.

The 76-year-old, convicted of insulting the judiciary, will undergo medical tests before beginning his sentence.

His book, Once A Jolly Hangman: Singapore Justice in the Dock, alleges a lack of impartiality in the implementation of Singapore's laws.

Singapore has a history of sensitivity to how it is portrayed.

Mr Shadrake was sentenced by the High Court last November and was fined S$20,000 ($16,150; £9,900).

"We affirm the sentence imposed by the judge," said Justice Andrew Phang of the three-member Court of Appeal panel.

The New York-based Human Rights Watch said the ruling was a "major setback for free expression in Singapore".

The rights group said the charges should be dropped.

"The prosecution of Alan Shadrake for doing nothing more than calling for legal reform is a devastating blow to free speech in Singapore," said Phil Robertson, deputy Asia director at Human Rights Watch.

"More broadly, until the government releases its iron grip on basic freedoms, the Singaporean people will remain all the poorer."

The Singapore government says it has the right to ensure what it sees as accuracy in any reporting of the young state.

Malaysia-based Shadrake was arrested last July when he visited Singapore to launch his book.

[Mr Lick]

Surrealist artist Leonora Carrington dies



Sculptor Leonora Carrington, considered one of the last of the original surrealist artists, has died at the age of 94, Mexican officials have said.

British-born Carrington arrived in Mexico after she escaped from a mental hospital and fled Nazi Europe.

She settled in the country, becoming a national treasure, and creating works of art that depicted mythical worlds.

As well as sculptures, she wrote articles, novels, essays and poems exhibited around the world.

"She was the last great living surrealist," her friend, poet Homero Aridjis said. "She was a living legend."

She was famed for haunting, dreamlike works focusing on strange ritual-like scenes with birds, cats, unicorn-like creatures and other animals.

[Mr Lick]

Anti-Baath committee chief Ali al-Lami killed in Iraq



The head of the committee charged with purging Iraqi institutions of those linked to the regime of Saddam Hussein has been killed in the Iraqi capital Baghdad, officials said.

Ali al-Lami was shot dead at the wheel of his car in eastern Baghdad by unidentified gunmen, officials said.

Under the de-Baathification policy, Lami banned scores of Sunni candidates from parliamentary polls last year.

Correspondents say he had almost certainly made plenty of enemies.
'Intercepted'

Entifadah Qanbar, a politician and friend of Lami's, said he was shot dead driving home in what he described as a "well-planned operation".

"He was going from Palestine Street to his house in east Baghdad. His brother was driving. He was followed carefully by a car, then he was intercepted," Mr Qanbar told AFP news agency.

"He was shot in the head with silenced pistols, and pronounced dead in the hospital about 20 minutes after that, at 2000 (1700 GMT) tonight (Thursday)."

[Mr Lick]

Mohamed bin Hammam denies Fifa bribery allegations



Warner and Bin Hammam have been called to a hearing on 29 May



Fifa presidential candidate Mohamed bin Hammam has denied bribery allegations made against him by Fifa executive committee member Chuck Blazer.

The American claims Fifa's ethics code was violated at a meeting "organised" by Bin Hammam and Jack Warner.

Four officials, including Bin Hammam and Fifa vice-president Warner, face a Fifa ethics hearing on 29 May.

Bin Hammam has also asked that the investigation be extended to include Fifa president Sepp Blatter.

The Qatari says evidence submitted to Fifa suggests Blatter "was informed of, but did not oppose, payments allegedly made to members of the Caribbean Football Union."

The Press Association news agency says a file has been sent to world football's governing body which includes sworn affidavits by several Caribbean Football Union (CFU) members, who claim they were offered thousands of dollars in cash for "development projects" at the meeting earlier this month.

The file, which includes photographs, says some of the cash was accepted, but some of those who refused to take any money approached Blazer.

The Caribbean meeting, on 10 and 11 May, was in relation to the Fifa presidential election which takes place on 1 June.