World News in Pictures

[Mr Lick]

Gualish, Libya: Libyan rebels gather at the frontline as they prepare to repel an attack from forces loyal to Muammar Gaddafi



Dadaab, Kenya: Wristbands used to measure malnutrition levels at the Dagahaley refugee camp registration centre

[Mr Lick]

Cuxhaven, Germany: Trotters and their sulkies take part in the traditional Duhnen mudflat race



Chapada dos Veadeiros, Brazil: A member of the Kayapo indigenous group attends a meeting of traditional cultures

[Mr Lick]

Bitterfeld-Wolfen, Germany: A one-day-old albino donkey born at Greppin zoo



Sochi, Russia: A man dives into the Black Sea

[Mr Lick]

Taliban graffiti shows an AK-47 assault rifle and the word 'Allah' at left, along with Taliban fighters at right, decorating a wall in the Musa Qala district center and the current Battalion Command Headquarters for the U.S. Marine 3rd Battalion 2nd Marines based out of Camp Lejeune, N.C., Monday, July 25, 2011 in Helmand province, Afghanistan. The district center, once a large opium market under Taliban control also served as sleeping quarters for opium addicts. The graffiti, from that period, depicts Taliban fighters shooting down Russian, American or coalition planes, blowing up their tanks and taking their prisoners.

[Mr Lick]

Samuel Gottsegen, 17, recounts his experiences as one of the victims of a bear attack that occurred Saturday evening near Talkeenta, Alaska, as he recovers in an Anchorage, Alaska hospital on Monday, July 25. Gottsegen was taking part in an outdoor education course from the National Outdoor Leadership School.

Several teenagers were mauled by a bear in the Alaska wilderness over the weekend before being rescued on Sunday

[Mr Lick]

Executive director of the NFL Players Association DeMaurice Smith (L) and NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell (R) speak outside the NFL Players Association Headquarters in Washington July 25. The NFL and players have agreed to terms to end their four-month lockout and ensure America's most professional sport will go ahead as planned next season.



New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft (L) is embraced by Indianapolis Colts center Jeff Saturday during a news conference on July 25 in Washington, DC. The NFL players and owners are set to agree on a labor deal and end the current lockout.

[Mr Lick]

People pass a generator store on a street on July 25, 2011 in Baghdad, Iraq. Despite a recent doubling of the megawatts of electricity available to Iraqis, many people still only receive a few hours of electricity a day from the national grid and therefore have to depend on generators and other private sources of electricity. With more homes owning computers, televisions, refrigerators and air conditioners there is an increased demand for electricity, especially in the scorching summers. The lack of dependable electricity has been one of the main sources of demonstrations against the government. As the deadline for the departure of the remaining American forces in Iraq approaches, Iraqi politicians have been increasingly pressured to  give a final decision about extending the mandate for a small U.S. military presence beyond the end of the 2011 deadline.

[Mr Lick]

The Gemini Observatory's image of Kronberger 61 shows the shell of ionized gas surrounding a dying star.

Professional and amateur astronomers are teaming up to study a cosmic "soccer ball" with a tricky goal in mind: understanding how the death throes of a star are affected by the company it keeps.

The focus of this game is Kronberger 61, a planetary nebula discovered several months ago by Austrian amateur astronomer (and professional physicist) Matthias Kronberger. He belongs to a group called the "Deep Sky Hunters," which combs through imagery from the Digital Sky Survey and other sources looking for celestial objects worthy of further study. The hunters have found about 100 faint planetary nebulae, shells of glowing ionized gas that are thrown off by sunlike stars in the waning years of their lives.
Kronberger 61 is worth noting for aesthetic reasons alone: The image above, captured by the Gemini North telescope in Hawaii, highlights the nebula's emissions from twice-ionized oxygen. The dying star can be seen as a point of bluish light close to the center of the ball-shaped nebula.

But this soccer ball, also known as Kn 61, is also notable because of its location. It happens to be within the Kepler planet-hunting probe's field of view, an 105-square-degree area that takes up about as much of the sky as your hand held at arm's length. There's a chance that Kepler could determine whether there are planets or faint companion stars circling Kn 61's main star.

[Mr Lick]

Indian women stand near the stems of trees chopped for the proposed $12 billion steel plant by South Korean conglomerate Posco at Noliashai in Jagatsinghpur district of Orissa state, India, on Monday, July 25.

[Mr Lick]

People, including relatives of a victim in the center of the picture, gather to observe a minute's silence on a campsite jetty on the Norwegian mainland, across the water from Utoya island, where people have been placing floral tributes in memory of those killed in the shooting massacre on the island in Norway on Monday.

[Mr Lick]

Court officers observe a minute of silence outside court room 828, where Anders Behring Breivik was due to appear, at the central court in Oslo

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Anders Behring Breivik sits in the rear of a vehicle as he is transported away from court in a police convoy






Judge Kim Heger enters a courtroom before reading a statement to the press

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England v India: day five of the first Test



not only is there huge anticipation ahead of the final day's play, there's also a huge queue snaking down all the side streets around the home of cricket. The Lord's Twitter feed estimated 20,000 people are waiting in line

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Away from the crowds around the Nursery ground, this MCC member enjoys a cigar and a bit of peace and quiet ahead of the day's play

Now that's what you call a pair of pants!

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A huge poster on a wall inside the ground of Sachin Tendulkar and words from him saying it is a dream to make a century at Lords. As this test is likely to be his final test innings at Lord's, then today's the day if his dream is to come true



Dravid has a close shave in the 32nd over when Bell drops him at short leg. Just two overs later Dravid doesn't have such a lucky escape when he edges a short delivery from Anderson



and the ball finds it's way into the grateful gloves of Matt Prior

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Whoopeee!



Bye Bye!






Laxman makes his half century but just 6 runs later he flick-pulls a loosener from Anderson which Bell leaps towards and makes an awkward two handed catch look easy



England are on a roll, in the next over Swann traps Gambhir LBW

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That means that it's time for Sachin Tendulkar to enter the fray. There's a standing ovation for him as he comes onto the field and looks up at the sun to adjust his eyes to the bright light. At lunch India are on 142-4



As play resumes after lunch England's bowlers are managing to contain Tendulkar, it takes him 34 balls to increase his tally from 11 to 12 runs. Then in the 66th over Jimmy Anderson gets him LBW. The England bowler lays down an inswinger that slams into Tendulkar's pad and Umpire Bowden raises his finger



Tendulkar's tongue tells everyone what he thinks of that



He still hasn't lifted his Lord's curse, today's total is still way short of his best ever score of 37 at Lord's. Raina and Dhoni steady the ship after Tendulkar's dismissal and at tea India are on 218 for 5. There are 44 overs remaining and England need 5 wickets to win

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England are in danger of letting India get back in the game with Raina knocking Trott for a couple of boundries



Bell and Prior appeal for an LBW on Raina off bowling of Pietersen. It's a similar ball to the dismissal of Gambhir by Swann, in that it cannoned into the pad fractionally before the pad. However this time Umpire Rauf decides that the ball would have slid down leg. Not out. India are 213 for 5

[Mr Lick]

England are back in the drivers seat in the 85th over when the ball grazes the edge of Dhoni's bat on it's way through to Prior. Up goes Umpire Rauf's finger, as do the arms of the celebrating England fans packed in the upper Edrich stand



Raina flicks the ball round the corner off Swann. He's proving to be a thorn in England's side



but not anymore. After surviving a review in the 95th over, Jimmy Anderson gets Raina two balls later. He throws down a leg-cutter to the left-hander from around the wicket - Raina sticks out his bat but can only edge the ball to Prior. That's five wickets today for Anderson, so it's no wonder he and his team-mates are ecstatic

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Whereas Raina is anything but happy



In the next over it's game over as Broad traps Sharma LBW. Up goes Umpire Bowden's crooked finger and victory is England's



The England team celebrate their victory and rightly so. It's been an awesome display by the England players over the past five days



...and today especially by 5 wicket man Jimmy Anderson

[Mr Lick]

Egyptian protesters under fire

How a protest march towards army headquarters in Cairo ended in violence




The planned 23 July march on the headquarters of the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (SCAF) in Heliopolis started from Tahrir Square at about 5pm.



As we approached Abbassiya, we started receiving news that the military police and the army special forces had blocked the road by the Nour Mosque with machine gun-mounted armoured vehicles and barbed wire. We also received news there were “thugs” preparing Molotov cocktails and swords awaiting us.



The march was initially around 5,000 strong, but soon swelled to more than 20,000 protesters. Some put the figure at as many as 50,000.

[Mr Lick]

Protesters were chanting beautifully rhymed slogans against SCAF, its chairman Mohamed Hussein Tantawi Soliman and police torture. They were chanting for social justice, bread and civil liberties. As we entered Abbassiya and passed by the cathedral, the promised 'thugs' did not appear. On the contrary, residents from the windows were cheering us, and some threw water bottles at the request of thirsty protesters. The scene reminded me of the Day of Rage march, except on that day we were heading to Tahrir to topple Hosni Mubarak – now we were marching on the same route in the opposite direction, to overthrow Mubarak’s loyal generals



The army has been attacking our march for days on the state-run channels, accusing the Tahrir protesters of being 'thugs', 'foreign agents' etc. The army, according to Abbassiya residents I spoke to, had been going around the neighbourhood telling people that they 'will be attacked by foreign-paid thugs'. Those 'foreign-paid thugs' were of course, us.



As soon as we reached the Nour Mosque, we found rows of army soldiers and officers, with the interior ministry’s Central Security Forces lined behind them. We stood our ground, demanding they let us pass. We were refused. Chants started immediately against Tantawi. The attack started. Young men carrying swords and knives flocked to our right, while others were stoning us from the side streets. Army soldiers kept firing their machine guns into the air, to be followed later by a chopper circulating around our heads.



The army stood silent, watching the battleground, while the police threw rounds and rounds of teargas.



The clashes went on for hours. We were besieged: the army and the police on one side, with other people blocking our way back to Tahrir. Scores were injured and detained. I carried one protester whose left leg was dislocated to the nearby hospital, before my right leg was injured by some sort of projectile.



We managed to return to Tahrir in small groups late at night

[Mr Lick]

Animal smuggling in Bangkok

A man has been arrested in Thailand, attempting to smuggle 50 snakes onto a plane. It is only the latest in a series of exotic animal seizures at Bangkok international airport




Authorities at Bangkok's Suvarnabhumi Airport found this baby tiger cub stuffed among toy tigers in the suitcase of a woman flying to Iran



This three-month old white-cheeked gibbon was seized from one UAE citizen, who 'had a virtual zoo in his suitcase', anti-trafficking activists say

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And this leopard, also two-months old. Thailand's environmental crime unit claim animal trafficking is the country's second most lucrative illegal trade after drugs



The UAE man arrested was rumoured to be working for a Dubai prince. He has since fled the country, an option not available to this three-month old Malayan sun bear