World News in Pictures

[Mr Lick]

[Mr Lick]

Seen Better Days
A dead cow lies in the dirt near Kenya's Dadaab refugee settlement on Thursday. Violence and famine in neighboring Somalia have sent displaced people streaming over the border to the massive camp.



Even the Well-Heeled Can't Escape the Law
Actress Lindsay Lohan, who in May pleaded no contest to a misdemeanor count of theft involving a necklace taken from a Venice jewelry store

[Mr Lick]

He's Just Horsin' Around
A Comic-Con attendee in costume makes his way to the convention hall on Thursday in San Diego, California. The big pop-culture event runs through the weekend.



FEC: Edwards Owes Uncle Sam $2 Million-Plus
On Thursday, members of the Federal Election Commission voted 6-0 to approve an audit report saying that John Edwards' campaign owes the government $2,278,315.

[Mr Lick]

He's Ready for His Close-Up
In Kolkata on Thursday, a colorful activist poses with other demonstrators at a rally organized by the Trinamool Congress Party, whose recent election gains pushed out the communist government in India's West Bengal state.



Live by the Sword ...
Security officials and local residents gather beside the body of a suspected Taliban militant armed with a suicide-bomb vest after he was killed on the outskirts of Peshawar, Pakistan, on Thursday.

[Mr Lick]

A Locomotive Graveyard
Tourists walk in a "train cemetery" on the outskirts of Uyuni, Bolivia, on Wednesday.

[Mr Lick]

Painter Lucian Freud dies aged 88




Realist painter Lucian Freud, one of Britain's most distinguished and highly regarded artists, has died aged 88.

New York dealer William Acquavella said Freud had died at his London home on Wednesday after an unspecified illness.

Freud, a grandson of the psycho-analyst Sigmund Freud, was born in Berlin in 1922 and fled to Britain with his Jewish family in 1933, when he was 10.

Freud - particularly known for his paintings of nudes - became a British citizen in 1939.

His works have been increasingly sought after at recent auctions and his portrayal of an overweight nude woman sleeping on a couch sold in 2008 for $33.6m (£20.6m) - a world record for a work by a living artist.



Boy on a Sofa fetched £1.49m last year, a record price for a work on paper by Freud

[Mr Lick]

Linford Christie guilty over wrong-way taxi crash



Olympic gold medallist Linford Christie has been found guilty of careless driving after he crashed his car while driving on the wrong side of the road.

Christie, 51, of Twickenham, south-west London, was cleared of the more serious charge of dangerous driving.

Aylesbury Crown Court heard Christie had crashed head-on with a taxi carrying two newlyweds on the A413 in Buckinghamshire on 8 May 2010.

The former sprinter was disqualified from driving for 15 months.

He was also fined £5,000 and ordered to pay £1,000 prosecution costs.



Jurors heard that after the crash, Christie said: "I saw lights and 'bang'.

"I smelt this funny smell and thought: 'If I don't get out, I'm going to die'."

He acknowledged he had been driving on the wrong side for about 200 yards (182m) and said he believed he had experienced a "lapse", the court heard.

"I saw the lights on the car in front of me. I thought he was on the wrong side of the road," Mr Christie told the court.

"Then I realised it was me. I tried to turn."

[Mr Lick]

James Murdoch evidence questioned by former executives



Evidence on phone hacking given to MPs by News International chairman James Murdoch has been called into question by two former executives at the firm.

He told the media committee on Tuesday he had not been "aware" of an email suggesting the practice went wider than a "rogue" News of the World reporter.

But ex-NoW editor Colin Myler and ex-NI legal manager Tom Crone have now said they "did inform" him of the email.

Mr Murdoch later said he "stands by his testimony".

Meanwhile, the BBC has learned the FBI plans to contact actor Jude Law following claims his mobile phone was hacked during a visit to the US.

It is alleged a story published by the NoW in 2003 was based on information obtained from his voicemail which, if proved, could lead to charges in the US because his phone would have been operating on a US network. News International denies the claims.

In another development on Thursday, it emerged Sun features editor Matt Nixson had been sacked from the paper in relation to claims of phone hacking while he was at the News of the World.

The management and standards committee of News Corporation, the parent company of News International, confirmed it had "terminated the contract of a member of staff in relation to his previous work".

The committee said while it was authorised to co-operate fully with all investigations it was also conducting its own enquiries where relevant.

[Mr Lick]

Amnesty: Saudi terror law 'would strangle protest'



A secret new anti-terror law being drawn up by the Saudi authorities would "strangle peaceful protest", Amnesty International has said.

The BBC has been shown a classified copy of the draft law showing a number of measures Amnesty said would severely restrict human rights.

These include lengthy detention without trial, restricted legal access and increased use of the death penalty.

But a Saudi official said it was directed at terrorists, not dissidents.

The Saudi government has so far declined to comment, but the senior official, who did not want to be named, confirmed the existence of the draft law and did not dispute the clauses contained in it.

Amnesty International's Middle East press officer James Lynch told the BBC the draft law - a copy of which was leaked to the human rights group - "seeks to entrench some of the most repressive practices that Amnesty has been documenting for years".

Among the measures proposed is a broadening of the definition of a terrorist crime to include any action deemed to be "harming the reputation of the state" or "endangering national unity".

[Mr Lick]

Ottawa seeks 'war criminals' hiding in Canada



Thirty fugitives wanted for war crimes or crimes against humanity are believed to be hiding in Canada, Prime Minister Stephen Harper's government has said.
The country's Border Services Agency websitenamed the suspects, appealin
g for the public's help to find them.

The fugitives are listed as having come from regions including the Middle East, Africa and Latin America.

Public Safety Minister Vic Toews said the suspects should be tracked down and removed from Canada.

The website said the wanted men came from Afghanistan, Algeria, Angola, El Salvador, Ghana, Guatemala, Haiti, Honduras, Iraq, Nigeria, Pakistan, Peru, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Somalia, Sri Lanka, Sudan and the former Yugoslavia.

The Border Services Agency did not indicate any specific charges against the suspects, but asked anyone with information about them to call a hotline.

On Wednesday, Immigration Minister Jason Kenney said Canada planned to revoke the citizenship of 1,800 people suspected of obtaining their status fraudulently.

[Mr Lick]

Fake Apple stores found in Kunming city, China



An American blogger has discovered three fake Apple stores operating in Kunming city, China.

Pictures of the stores, their staff and a description of a stroll around them was posted on the BirdAbroad blog.

In the article, she writes about conversations with staff, many of whom were convinced that they were employed by the US electronics firm.

Apple has said it has no comment to make on the discovery of the counterfeit shops.

On her blog, BirdAbroad described the stores as a "beautiful ripoff - a brilliant one - the best ripoff store we had ever seen".

She describes how convincing the shop was at first glance because so much trouble had been taken to copy key elements of a real Apple store.

For instance, it has a winding staircase, upstairs seating area and employees wearing blue T-shirts and chunky ID lanyards.



Staff believe they are working in a real Apple store

[Mr Lick]

Prince Andrew to stand down as UK trade envoy



The Duke of York is to stand down as the UK's trade envoy.

Buckingham Palace has confirmed that Prince Andrew will give up his title as Britain's "special representative" for Trade and Investment.

The prince has been criticised over his friendship with controversial figures, including convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, an American financier.

The prince has held the role as UK envoy from 2001 - his remit was to promote UK business interests abroad.

His friendship with Mr Epstein, who was sentenced to 18 months in prison in 2008 for soliciting a minor for prostitution, led to calls for Prince Andrew to step down from his role in March, but Prime Minister David Cameron gave him his full backing.

The prince's judgement has also been questioned for holding meetings with Libyan leader Col Muammar Gaddafi's son Saif, and for entertaining the son-in-law of Tunisia's ousted president Zine El Abidine Ben Ali at Buckingham Palace

[Mr Lick]

Senegal's President Abdoulaye Wade bans demonstrations



Senegal has banned political demonstrations in central Dakar ahead of protests planned to oppose President Abdoulaye Wade's re-election bid.

His plans to seek a third term in office have sparked widespread criticism.

Mr Wade dropped proposed changes to the country's constitution after huge demonstrations last month.

The ban has been criticised but protests set for Saturday have been moved out of the capital's centre.

Human rights activist Alioune Tine, a leader of the June 23 Movement (M23) behind the demonstrations, said the switch was being done to "appease" the situation, reports the AFP news agency.

The march had been due to take place in Independence Square in central Dakar, which is near the presidential palace.

Announcing the ban "for reasons of security", Interior Minister Ousmane Ngom said political protests were banned in much of central Dakar, citing several government buildings.

The June 23 Movement was formed after last month's countrywide protests - the most violent protests of Mr Wade's 11-year rule.

They led Mr Wade to drop his plans to reduce the proportion of votes needed to win a presidential election, and avoid a run-off, from more than 50% to 25%.

He had also wanted to create an elected post of vice-president.

Mr Wade's critics accused him of planning to use the new post to hand power to his son, already a powerful minister.

Both men have denied the claims.

Mr Wade, a veteran opposition leader, first came to power in democratic polls in 2000.

[Mr Lick]

US sizzles in heat-wave - more pics






An Amazon parrot getting a refeshing spray of water.

[Mr Lick]

Nepal landslides kill Dutch trekker and 11 others



A Dutch trekker has been killed by a landslide in Nepal.

Another trekker and their guide were injured in the landslide in Langtang region north-west of Kathmandu.

The Dutchman is the 12th person to die this week in a series of landslides in the mountainous nation, officials say.

In one incident, a girl of 17 was killed when her home was buried in debris outside the capital, AFP news agency reported. Heavy monsoon rains trigger landslides every year in Nepal.

Analysts say the number of casualties has risen notably this year, and that the increase in landslides may be linked to changing weather patterns and deforestation.

[Mr Lick]

Stepping Hill Hospital: Two more patients die



The death of Derek Weaver is the fifth to be linked to the tampered saline containers


Two more patients have died at a Stockport hospital where a contaminated saline solution was found.

Police said 83-year-old Derek Weaver died on Thursday morning and a woman, 84, died on 14 July.

The deaths come after Tracey Arden, 44, Arnold Lancaster, 71, and George Keep, 84, all died at Stepping Hill Hospital.

Police, who think insulin was injected into saline containers, have been given more time to question nurse Rebecca Leighton on suspicion of murder.

The 27-year-old, of Heaviley in Stockport, was detained on Wednesday at her flat in Buxton Road and officers have now been granted a warrant of further detention to question her until 2105 BST on Friday.

Police said a 41-year-old man remained critically ill in hospital.

The five patients are among a total of 14 whose treatment since 7 July is being examined by police.



Rebecca Leighton was arrested at her home in Stockport

[Mr Lick]

Painter Lucian Freud in his studio in an undated photograph entitled Working at Night. Freud died at the age of 88 on July 21.

[Mr Lick]

A protester on the ground argues with Israeli soldiers during a demonstration of Palestinians, foreign protesters and leftwing Israeli peace activists against Israel's controversial separation barrier in the West Bank village of Beit Omar, near Hebron, on July 22. Israel says the barrier is designed to prevent attacks but the Palestinians view it as an 'apartheid wall' that carves off key parts of their promised state.

[Mr Lick]

Spain's Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero is seen before a cabinet meeting at Moncloa Palace in Madrid on July 22. Investors are easing pressure on Spanish markets in reaction to the European Union's new deal to help Greece with another bailout. After days of negative trading Madrid's stock exchange climbed 2 percent just 15 minutes after opening Friday.

[Mr Lick]

Vadim Kaptur, a diver from Belarus, is helped from the water after hitting his head on the 10m diving platform while training at the 2011 FINA World Swimming Championships in Shanghai, China, on July 22.

[Mr Lick]

A diver surrounded by sardines performs taekwondo during a promotional diving performance for summer vacation visitors at the Coex Aquarium in Seoul, South Korea, on July 22.

[Mr Lick]

Armed policemen aiming their weapons near a burning office as they try to rescue hostages in a police station during a clash in Hotan, in the Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region of China on July 18. China on Wednesday raised the death toll to 18 from the clash at the police station in the restive far western region of Xinjiang, saying that 14 "rioters" died along with two policemen and two hostages in the worst violence there in a year.



Police trying to rescue hostages at a police station during a clash in Hotan on July 18.

[Mr Lick]

Jenifer Schneider, "The Cannon Lady" is blasted out of the 27-foot barrel of a truck mounted cannon into the air some 40 feet landing in a safety net down the street in front of the Finlen Hotel on East Broadway during the opening day of Evel Knievel Days in uptown Butte, Mont., Thursday afternoon, July 21, 2011.

[Mr Lick]

Ferrari world design contest 2011

Three design students from Hongik University in Seoul, South Korea won the chance to help design the Ferrari of tomorrow after taking first prize in Ferrari's world design contest 2011 in Maranello, Italy




First place: Ferrari Eternity concept by design students Kim Cheon Ju, Ahn Dre and Lee Sahngseok from Hongik University in Seoul



Second place: Xezri by Samir Sadikhov of IED (Istituto Europeo di Design) in Turin



Third place: Cavallo Bianco by Henry Cloke and Qi Haitao from the Royal College of Arts, London

[Mr Lick]