World News in Pictures

[Mr Lick]

Credit Suisse target of US probe into tax dodgers



US authorities are investigating whether banking giant Credit Suisse helped US citizens evade paying taxes.

The Swiss bank saidsaid it had been notified that it was a "target" for investigation, but argued that this was part of a "broader industry inquiry".

Credit Suisse said it would cooperate with the investigation "subject to Swiss legal obligations".

In February the US indicted four Credit Suisse bankers for helping taxpayers hide money in secret bank accounts.

At the time, Credit Suisse had said that it was not part of the investigation

[Mr Lick]

Charlie Gilmour jailed for student fees demo violence



Charlie Gilmour, son of Pink Floyd guitarist David Gilmour, has been jailed for 16 months for a rampage at a student fees protest in central London.

Gilmour, 21, was accused of throwing a bin at a convoy of cars containing Prince Charles, sitting on a protection officer's car and smashing a window.

The Cambridge University student, of Billinghurst, West Sussex, was bailed in May so he could finish his exams.

Kingston Crown Court heard he had taken LSD and valium before the incident.

Gilmour was among thousands of people who protested in Trafalgar Square and Parliament Square on 9 December 2010.

He was photographed hanging from a union flag on the Cenotaph during the march, an incident for which he later apologised.

He was also seen leaping on to the bonnet of a Jaguar car that formed part of a royal convoy containing the Prince of Wales and Duchess of Cornwall and hurling a rubbish bin at the vehicle.



The royal couple's car was not hit by the bin

The car carried royal protection officers accompanying the couple as they were chauffeured up Regent Street to a Royal Variety Performance.

Gilmour's barrister David Spens QC argued he was "thoroughly intoxicated" and had no recollection of throwing the bin.

He was filmed shouting: "They broke the moral law, we're going to break all the laws."

Gilmour entered a non-specific guilty plea during a hearing in May

[Mr Lick]

US extradites Telmo Hurtado to Peru over 1985 massacre



The US has extradited a Peruvian ex-army officer, Telmo Hurtado, over the killing 69 villagers during the war against Maoist guerrillas in the 1980s.

Hurtado is accused of commanding a patrol that killed the civilians, who included women and children.

He was included in an amnesty for officers in the 1990s, but lost his immunity from prosecution when Peru's Supreme Court later nullified the law.

He fled to the US, where he was arrested in 2007.

On Friday Hurtado is to appear before a Peruvian court that will decide where he will be held while prosecutors prepare the case, a lawyer for families of the victims told AFP news agency.

He is alleged to have taken part in the "Accomarca Massacre" in August 1985, when army units entered a village and killed dozens of residents.

Hurtado - who was known as the "butcher of the Andes - was originally convicted in 1993, but later included in a blanket amnesty for officers. The amnesty law was nullified in 2002.

[Mr Lick]

Spectators watch the 12th stage of the Tour de France



An Indian man shouts in protest over the bombings in Mumbai.

[Mr Lick]

Jets fly over the Arc de Triomphe during Bastille Day



Yachts take part in the Blue Ribbon Regatta around Lake Balaton in Hungary

[Mr Lick]

The gas platform that will be the world's biggest 'ship'



Shell has unveiled plans to build the world's first floating liquefied natural gas (FLNG) platform. The 600,000-tonne behemoth - the world's biggest "ship" - will be sited off the coast of Australia. But how will it work?



Deep beneath the world's oceans are huge reservoirs of natural gas. Some are hundreds or thousands of miles from land, or from the nearest pipeline.

Tapping into these "stranded gas" resources has been impossible - until now.

At Samsung Heavy Industries' shipyard on Geoje Island in South Korea, work is about to start on a "ship" that, when finished and fully loaded, will weigh 600,000 tonnes.

That is six times as much as the biggest US aircraft carrier.

By 2017 the vessel should be anchored off the north coast of Australia, where it will be used to harvest natural gas from Shell's Prelude field.

Once the gas is on board, it will be cooled it until it liquefies, and stored in vast tanks at -161C.

Every six or seven days a huge tanker will dock beside the platform and load up enough fuel to heat a city the size of London for a week.

The tankers will then sail to Japan, China, Korea or Thailand to offload their cargo.

"The traditional way of producing gas offshore was through pipelines. You brought gas up to a platform and piped it to the 'beach'. That is the way it's done in the North Sea," said Scotsman Neil Gilmour, Shell's general manager for FLNG.

[Mr Lick]

Google profits beat expectations



Internet giant Google has reported a large rise in profits and revenue, well ahead of market expectations.

Net profit for the three months to June rose 36% on the same period last year to $2.5bn (£1.5bn), while revenues rose 32% to $9bn.

Last month, Google launched its social networking site Google+, in an attempt to take on Facebook.

The results were the first under chief executive Larry Page, who replaced Eric Schmidt in April.

Mr Schmidt had held the role for 10 years. Analysts said the decision for Google co-founder Mr Page to take over was made because he now carries more weight with investors and could re-energise the search giant.

The results will help reassure investors that the company is still thriving under his leadership.

[Mr Lick]

Tom Watson of the United States takes a bow after his hole in one at the sixth hole during the second round of The 140th Open Championship at Royal St George's on July 15, in Sandwich, England.

Now this guy Tom knows how to play links courses. 5 TIMES the Open Champion and almost became the oldest player ever to win a major 2 years ago at the age of 59 when he bogeyed the last hole to go into a play-off won by Stewart Cink. Gutted for him! A true golfing hero.

Stewart Cink has since been labelled the man who shot Santa Claus!

Well done Tom and good luck for the weekend. Also another Tom (Lewis) from England and an amateur at 20 years old is going well and in the mix for the final days. A lad to watch.

[Mr Lick]

A long exposure photo shows the light trails of candles held by buddhists as they walk around a statue to give homage Buddha during Asaha Bucha Day at Buddhamonthon, a suburb of Bangkok on July 15. Asaha Bucha is one of the most important festivals in the Buddhist calendar and celebrates the occasion of the first sermon given by the Lord Buddha.



Afghanistan's president Hamid Karzai greets Commander of NATO forces in Afghanistan, U.S. General David Petraeus during a funeral ceremony for his brother, Ahmad Wali Karzai, at the presidential palace in Kabul on July 15, 2011. Afghanistan's officials, NATO, ISAF, UN ambassadors to Afghanistan, journalists and other people from diffrent tribes and religion took part in a funeral ceremony for Ahmad Wali Karzai who was shot dead on July 12 in his house in Kandahar.

[Mr Lick]

Paul French dressed as a stormtrooper from the movie Star Wars pauses on day 5 of his 2500 mile journey from Perth to Sydney to talk with a young Star Wars fan at Port Bouvard bridge, July 15, 2011 in Perth, Australia. French aims to walk 22-25 miles a day, 5 days a week, in costume. French is walking to raise money for the Starlight Foundation - an organization that aims to brighten the lives of ill and hostpitalised children in Australia.

[Mr Lick]

Bucharest, Romania: A boy jumps into the Dambovita river with empty plastic bottles around his waist



Sandwich, UK: Spectators in fancy dress watch play on the course during the first day of the British open golf championship at Royal St George's

[Mr Lick]

Allahabad, India: Hindu holy men take blessings by touching the feet of a young boy dressed as the Hindu god Rama



Tel Aviv, Israel: Prime minister Binyamin Netanyahu at the conference of the Federation of Jewish Communities

[Mr Lick]

Meco, Portugal: Festivalgoers shower at the camping park of the Super Bock Super Rock festival



Barcelona, Spain: Models wait backstage before the Montse Liarte catwalk show

[Mr Lick]

Santiago, Chile: A student dressed as a mime artist walks through teargas during a rally



Rafah, Gaza Strip: Palestinian refugee children set a world record for the largest number of footballs dribbled simultaneously



Taipei, Taiwan: A long-haired dachshund leaps through a race course at a pet show

[Mr Lick]

New York's 9/11 memorial expected to attract up to 10,000 visitors a day

Demand was so high when reservations for passes to visit New York's September 11 Memorial opened this week that the online box office temporarily crashed.






This is the south pool of the memorial. The site consists of two pools in the footprints of the twin towers, with cascading water and bronze parapets bearing the names of the 2,983 people who died in the attacks.



The Museum Pavilion stands between the two pools. Due to open in September 2012, it will feature mementos donated by victims' relatives, and tell their stories. Artefacts will be displayed in the foyer, including remnants of twisted steel from the Twin Towers.

[Mr Lick]

One of the two pools.



Aerial photo of the site, taken last month. The plaza will be filled with 400 oak trees, 250 of which will be planted by September 11 2011



View of the memorial's north pool looking south, with the museum pavilion building to the left, taken last month.

[Mr Lick]

The Eiffel Tower is illuminated during the traditional Bastille Day fireworks display in Paris July 14, 2011.



Libyan mourners gather around the coffins of eight rebels killed during clashes with loyalist troops the day before in the flashpoint hilltop town of Al-Qawalish, during a funeral in Zintan July 14, 2011.

[Mr Lick]

Bodies of two members of forces loyal to Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi, lie in a road east of the village of Al-Qawalish July 14, 2011. Rebel fighters were in firm control of the frontline village on Thursday after being overrun the previous day but recapturing it in a counter-attack.



Pedestrians walk past graffiti that was painted after the 2008 attacks, outside a Hindu crematorium in Mumbai July 14, 2011. Indian police sifted through forensic evidence and security camera footage and questioned members of a home-grown Islamist militant group for clues to the worst bomb blasts in Mumbai since Pakistan-based militants attacked the financial hub in 2008, officials said on Thursday.

[Mr Lick]

Ouch!!



A bomb dropped from a U.S. Air Force F-15 jet explodes during a firefight between Taliban fighters and the Afghan and U.S. soldiers from 2nd Platoon, Charlie company, 2nd battalion, 27th Infantry Regiment at Checkpoint Two Point Five in Kunar province, Afghanistan, July 14, 2011.

[Mr Lick]

A full moon rises over the Juscelino Kubitschek Memorial in Brasilia, July 14, 2011.



A family on a motorbike rides past a burning vehicle set ablaze by protesters in Karachi July 14, 2011. Hundreds of supporters of political party Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) marched on the streets to protest against the remarks of provincial minister Zulfikar Mirza, who recently made critical comments against the leaders of MQM. At least eight people, including a woman, were killed and several had been injured in the violence that erupted in reaction to the comments, local media reported.

[Mr Lick]

A scavenger wades through water hyacinth in the waters of Manila Bay while searching for recyclable materials to sell July 14, 2011

[Mr Lick]

A Watchful Eye in India
An policeman stands guard at the India Gate monument in New Delhi on Thursday -- a day after three bomb blasts rocked the commercial capital of Mumbai, killing 17 people and injured dozens more.

[Mr Lick]

The greenish glow of an auroral display sweeps around Earth's south polar region in this photo, captured from a vantage point on the International Space Station. The shuttle Atlantis and its robotic arm, as well as one of the station's solar arrays, loom up in the foreground.

[Mr Lick]

Kulsoom Abdullah, of Atlanta, competes during the national weightlifting championships on Friday, July 15, in Council Bluffs, Iowa. Abdullah is the first woman to compete in the championships while wearing clothing that covers her legs, arms and head, in keeping with her Muslim faith, after the International Weightlifting Federation ruled on her behalf that athletes could wear a full-body "unitard" under the customary weightlifting uniform.

[Mr Lick]

The Babylon Kino will show all 80 of Charlie Chaplin's films over 24 days. The Neues Orchester Potsdam will perform live music for 10 showings.

Most notably, Geraldine Chaplin, 67, will open the events on July 15th and give a talk the following day on "My Father Charlie Chaplin." The festival begins July 15th on Pariser Platz with "The Great Dictator."