World News in Pictures

[Mr Lick]

American Jeff Hubbard rides hs bodyboard durng the Shark Island Challenge in Sydney, Australia

[Mr Lick]

Pension age plans for women are 'unfair'



Plans to speed up increases in the state pension age for women are facing mounting pressure from backbenchers.

It is set to rise from 60 to 65 by 2018 - two years earlier than previously agreed - so the age for both sexes can then be increased to 66 by 2020.

It will mean about 330,000 women, in their late 50s, will have to work for up to two years longer than planned.

The Pensions Bill has its second reading on Monday and ministers insist it will go ahead without any changes.

[Mr Lick]

A part of the fun at the Isle of Wight pop festival



The trooping of the colour on the Queens offical birthday

[Mr Lick]

Libyian rebels enjoying some leisure time



A former congressman who found that having a fascination with his own wiener proved to be a wee bit unhealthy.

[Mr Lick]

Morocco: Protesters say king's reforms 'not enough'



Pro-democracy activists in Morocco have said constitutional reforms proposed by King Mohammed VI do not go far enough.

Members of the February 20 said they would still hold a planned protest on Sunday calling for greater changes to the country's political system.

The proposed reforms include giving the prime minister and parliament more executive authority and recognising the minority Berber language.

But King Mohammed will retain key powers and remains head of the army.

A new article within the constitution also formalised his role as the highest religious authority in the country.

In a television address on Friday, the king said the measures would entrench democratic institutions and protect rights.

The proposals will be put to a referendum on 1 July, but many activists have reacted with scepticism, saying Morocco's 400-year-old monarchy has a long history of enacting superficial reforms.

[Mr Lick]

Guatemala: Ex-armed forces chief Lopez Fuentes arrested



Guatemalan authorities have arrested a former armed forces chief accused of joining in massacres during the nation's civil war nearly 30 years ago.

Retired general Hector Mario Lopez Fuentes, 81, was detained in the capital, Guatemala City, on Friday.

Human rights groups have accused him of participating in genocide and crimes against humanity during the military government of Efrain Rios Montt.

It is not clear how Mr Lopez Fuentes is likely to plead to the charges.

Guatemala's office of public prosecutions said he was accused of being the intellectual author behind the killings of more than 300 indigenous Maya civilians from the Ixil region in 1982 and 1983.

It is the latest high-profile arrest linked to alleged crimes committed during the country's 36-year civil war.

More than 200,000 people were killed or disappeared during the conflict, the vast majority at the hands of the security forces.

The security forces at the time said they targeted left-wing guerrillas during counter-insurgency operations.

[Mr Lick]

Saudi Arabia women drive cars in protest at ban



Women in Saudi Arabia have been openly driving cars in defiance of an official ban on female drivers in the ultra-conservative kingdom.

The direct action has been organised on social network sites, where women have been posting images and videos of themselves behind the wheel.

The Women2Drive Facebook page said the direct action would continue until a royal decree reversed the ban.

Last month, a woman was arrested after uploading a video of herself driving.

[Mr Lick]

A bronze sculpture entitled "Maman," by French-born U.S. artist and sculptor Louise Bourgeois, is on display at Buerkli square in Zurich, Switzerland,

[Mr Lick]

Residents look over an area destroyed by a landslide in Yueyang of central China's Hunan Province. A new round of flooding across central China has killed dozens of people, state media said

[Mr Lick]

Sao Paulo, Brazil: Models wear creations by Lino Villaventura, during the Sao Paulo Fashion Week summer 2012 collection



Kandahar, Afghanistan: US Army private Shawn Williams of the 1st Stryker Brigade Combat Team, 25th Infantry Division, based in Fort Wainwright, Alaska, is taken to a military helicopter for evacuation after being injured by a roadside bomb

[Mr Lick]

Beijing, China: A child plays near polar bear specimens on display at a beach theme park



Villa La Angostura, Argentina: Inhabitants stand outside their home, which is covered with volcanic ash that has been spreading through the southern hemisphere causing flight disruptions in Australia, New Zealand and Argentina

[Mr Lick]

Western Libya: Rebels fire shots towards positions held by forces loyal to Colonel Gaddafi



Glitch That Halted Flights Fixed, Airline Says
United Airlines said on Saturday a "network connectivity issue" caused a computer glitch that canceled flights across the U.S. The company said the problem has been resolved. Here: Stranded passengers in Los Angeles on Friday.

[Mr Lick]

Amanda Knox 'innocent' says convicted child murderer




A convicted child murderer has told a court he has information which could clear Amanda Knox, who was found guilty of killing her British roommate.

American Knox, 23, is appealing against her murder conviction for killing 21-year-old Meredith Kercher in Italy.

Mario Alessi told the appeal of a prison confession made to him by Rudy Guede, who was also convicted, in a separate case, of killing Miss Kercher.

He said Guede confided Knox and Rafaelle Sollecito were innocent.

Sollecito, Knox's 26-year-old former boyfriend, is also appealing against his murder conviction.

Alessi is a Sicilian worker who was sentenced to life imprisonment for the murder of 18-month old Tommaso Onofri in 2006.

He told the court in the Italian town of Perugia that Guede made the claim in November 2009, during recreation time at the Viterbo prison.

Ivory Coast national Guede has denied the claim.

[Mr Lick]

'Barefoot bandit' Colton Harris-Moore pleads guilty



A US man dubbed the "Barefoot Bandit" for a string of robberies, thefts and assaults he committed as a teenager has pleaded guilty at his trial in Seattle.

Colton Harris-Moore gained cult status during his two years on the run, during which he stole cars and light aircraft to keep ahead of police.

He was finally arrested in the Bahamas in 2010 and deported to the US.

In addition to a jail term, the 20-year-old will forfeit any future earnings from selling his story.

Footprints left at some of the crime scenes indicated Harris-Moore had removed his shoes, earning him his nickname.

He will be sentenced in October but is expected to serve between five- and six-and-a-half years.

"The many years of Mr Harris-Moore avoiding responsibility for his criminal conduct have come to an end," said US Attorney Jenny Durkan in a statement at Friday's hearing.

"We have ensured he will not profit from his crimes, and that his victims will be compensated to the greatest extent possible.

"While we cannot stop him from telling his story, we can make sure he never sees a dime for his crimes."

[Mr Lick]

Jerusalem rabbis 'condemn dog to death by stoning'



A Jewish rabbinical court condemned to death by stoning a stray dog it feared was the reincarnation of a lawyer who insulted its judges, reports say.

The dog entered the Jerusalem financial court several weeks ago and would not leave, reports Israeli website Ynet

It reminded a judge of a curse passed on a now deceased secular lawyer about 20 years ago, when judges bid his spirit to enter the body of a dog.

The animal is said to have escaped before the sentence was carried out.

One of the judges at the court in the city's ultra-Orthodox Mea Shearim neighbourhood had reportedly asked local children to carry out the sentence.

An animal welfare organisation filed a complaint with the police against a court official, who denied reports that judges had ordered the dog's stoning, according to Ynet.

But a court manager told Israeli daily Yediot Aharonot the stoning had been ordered as "as an appropriate way to 'get back at' the spirit which entered the poor dog", according to Ynet.

Dogs are considered impure animals in traditional Judaism.

^Maybe they need to take a good look at themselves first.

[Albert Shagnasty]

Margaret Beckett, John Smith and Tony Blair at the Labour party conference, Blackpool, 1992



A child struggling home through winter snow after school in Watersheddings, near Oldham, in 1982

Is that Alan B'stard posing as Tony Blair?

[Mr Lick]

Obama and Boehner tee off in golf course talks



US President Barack Obama and Republican House Speaker John Boehner have teed off in a golfing head-to-head that is also likely to feature discussion about the federal budget.

The political rivals are playing at the Andrews military base in Maryland, with Vice President Joe Biden and Ohio's Republican Governor John Kasich.

The game was touted as an opportunity to socialise and discuss the budget.

Republicans want spending cuts with the deficit poised to hit $1.4tr (£865bn).
The group also teed off amid a dispute between the White House and Congress over the legality of the US role in the Nato-led mission in Libya.

This week, Mr Boehner told the White House the ongoing US support for Nato's mission in Libya violated a US war powers law limiting military action without congressional approval to 60 days.

The White House on Thursday responded with a letter to Congress insisting Mr Obama did not need congressional approval, because the military campaign was limited in scope.

More importantly

Mr Biden sank a 15ft (4.5m) putt at the first, prompting Mr Obama to call to reporters: "Did you all catch that?"

Mr Obama then drove Mr Boehner in a golf cart to the second tee.


Form guide

• Joe Biden: Handicap 6.3; Washington ranking 29
• John Boehner: Handicap 7.9; Ranking 43
• Barack Obama: Handicap 17; Ranking 108

[Mr Lick]

Two Britons die in south of France plane crash



A British couple have died in a light plane crash in the south of France.

James Balmer and his ex-stuntwoman wife Jacqueline are understood to have been flying from Italy to Troyes, 80 miles south-east of Paris, when they crashed.

Wreckage from the plane, which had been piloted by Mr Balmer, from Cirencester, Gloucestershire, was discovered on Mont Agel, north of Monaco, on Friday.

A Foreign office spokesman said next of kin had been informed and consular assistance was being provided.

High mountain patrol According to local reports, the twin engine Piper PA-39 had taken off just after 0900 BST (10am local time) on Friday but lost all radar contact at 1028 BST (1128 local time).

French news reports said a witness had reported a plane flying at "very low altitude" at around midday and alerted the emergency services.

The region was blanketed in fog at the time, which reports suggested could have forced the six-seater aircraft to fly "very low" before it crashed on private property at an altitude of 814m (2670ft).

[Mr Lick]

Police 'consider' Robert Cowie's Dignitas death



Police are trying to establish the circumstances surrounding the death of a Glasgow man whose mother took him to a Swiss clinic to die.

Helen Cowie told BBC Scotland's Call Kaye show she helped her son Robert, 33, commit suicide after he was left paralysed from the neck down.

Mrs Cowie, of Cardonald, Glasgow, said her son went to Dignitas in October and "had a very peaceful ending".

Strathclyde Police said they were not investigating the death at this time.

However, a spokesman added: "The matter is being given consideration in an effort to establish the circumstances."

Mrs Cowie said her son was paralysed in a swimming accident three years ago.

She told the radio programme: "His life was terrible, he was suffering every day.

"He was just a head, he didn't want to be there anymore. He had been a big, fit healthy boy.

"We asked him not to do it, but it was his decision."


Mrs Cowie said Robert had not been a burden to the family, but she agreed to help him because he was "really unhappy

[Mr Lick]

The Mauli Ola Foundation uses surfing as a natural treatment to those with genetic disorders. The foundation has focused on cystic fibrosis since 2007 but plans to grow is program in 2011 to help those with cancer and alpha 1 antitypsin



Volunteer surf instructors cheer as 9-year-old Morgan Farrier, who has cystic fibrosis, stands up on a surfboard during the Mauli Ola Foundation's Cystic Fibrosis Surf Experience Day in Redondo Beach, Calif., Saturday, June 18.



Polly Montelone applies sunblock for her 9-year-old son Michael, who is diagnosed with cystic fibrosis, during the Mauli Ola Foundation's Cystic Fibrosis Surf Experience Day in Redondo Beach, Calif., Saturday, June 18.

[Mr Lick]

A Dick Jones handout picture of the longest burning light bulb released by Livermore's Centennial Light taken Feb. 25, 2001, at the Livermore Fire Station #6 in Livermore, Calif., is the world's oldest lightbulb. It turns 110 years-old on June 18. The bulb first lit up in 1901 before the Titanic sank and before the San Francisco earthquake in 1906. The lightbulb has its own profile on Facebook and is watched over by a webcam which offers round-the-clock proof of its continued activity.

[Mr Lick]

A wave of flood water, created by a passing vehicle, flows past a man standing at the doorway of his closed shop after heavy rains in Kolkata, India, June 18.

[Mr Lick]

Royal Ascot 2011: day five

[Mr Lick]

The first race of the day is the Chesham Stakes which is won by Ryan Moore on Maybe, right

[Mr Lick]

The field in the Hardwick Stakes thunders past the grandstand ...



... and Await The Dawn pulls away to triumph and gives Moore his second win of the day