World News in Pictures

[Mr Lick]

Mayan queens represent Guatemalan states at festival

Unlike traditional beauty pageants, these contestants at the Rabin Ajau national folkloric festival in Coban, Guatemala, are judged on their leadership skills and their commitment to the maintenance of Mayan values



Photographer Rodrigo Abd manipulates a 19th-century style wooden box camera to photograph a participant in the Rabin Ajau folkloric festival. They had to hold still for up to two minutes as Abd made exposures with light shining directly from the lens on to photo paper inside the box camera



Rodrigo Abd taking a picture of a negative print with the 19th-century style wooden box camera he bought in Afghanistan

[Mr Lick]

All the above ladies ages range from 16 -21 years.

[Mr Lick]

Pablo Delgado's small world


Tiny figures are popping up all over London's East End




Pablo Delgado's joggers, just inches high, run along the bottom of a wall

[Mr Lick]

[Mr Lick]

Delgado has recurring figures, not least the sex workers who lurk on the walls of Spitalfields.

[Mr Lick]

An Aymara woman participates in a march near Trinidad, Bolivia August 15, 2011. Amazonian ethnic groups which live in the Isiboro Secure territory, known by its Spanish acronym TIPNIS, held a 370-mile (595-km) march from Trinidad, in the northern Beni province to La Paz on Monday to protest against the 185-mile (298-km) long highway that bisects the protected park in the Amazon forest, activists leading the march said.



Bolivian indigenous people march in Trinidad August 15, 2011. The banner reads, "rights of indigenous from TIPNIS territory".



A worker of Brazil's construction company OAS is seen near San Ignacio de Moxos in the third stretch of the road project that will pass through the national park of the TIPNIS, August 13, 2011

[Mr Lick]

[Mr Lick]

A Fallen Soldier Comes Home
The transfer case of U.S. Army Sgt. Matthew A. Harmon, a Minnesota native who was killed while serving in Afghanistan, is carried away at Maryland's Dover Air Force Base on Wednesday.



Hurricanes in a Storm of Controversy
The University of Miami's football program has been rocked by a former booster's claims that he showered players with millions of dollars in gifts and favors. The NCAA is investigating. Here: Hurricane fans in 2010.

[Mr Lick]

Troop Transport
Soldiers with the Somali Transitional Federal Government (TFG) ride in the back of a truck on Wednesday as they make their way to the northern part of Mogadishu, a city that has been devastated by war and famine.



Biden Arrives in China
Vice President Joe Biden arrived in Beijing on Wednesday for a five-day visit, hoping to build a rapport with Xi Jinping, the man expected to be the rising Asian power's next leader.

[Mr Lick]

Something Caught Their Attention
Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin, front, and Commander-in-Chief of the Russian Air Force Alexander Zelin react as they watch an air show outside Moscow on Wednesday.



Help Is on the Way
Two Afghan soldiers, shot in their legs by suspected militants, lie in a Medevac helicopter on Wednesday during a flight to a hospital in Kandahar, a city situated in the heartland of the 10-year-old insurgency

[Mr Lick]

Gotta Get Back Up on That Horse
During a bareback riding competition in Siena, Italy, jockey Francesco Caria, right, falls from his horse on Tuesday. The contestants raced to win the Palio, a silk banner depicting the Madonna and child.



European Leaders Meet to Discuss Debt Crisis
On Tuesday in Paris, French President Nicolas Sarkozy met with German Chancellor Angela Merkel, who said the idea of issuing eurobonds to pool eurozone members' debts was not a solution for "today."

[Mr Lick]

Unfair Fare?
Possible plans to raise the cost of entering New York City via New Jersey have sparked an outcry from commuters who say officials are just trying to get the public to pay for post-9/11 security projects. Here: A PATH station.



Returning Back to Normal
A woman walks past the boarded-up Prince of Wales pub in Tottenham on Tuesday following last week's destructive riots, which started in London before spreading to a number of other British cities.

[Mr Lick]

Ramadan in Saudi Arabia
On Tuesday, Muslims gather around the Kaaba, which is located inside Mecca's Grand Mosque.

[Mr Lick]

India protests over campaigner's arrest

[Mr Lick]

German 'unfairly' sacked for marrying Chinese woman



An engineer in northern Germany who was sacked because he married a Chinese woman was unjustifiably dismissed, a court has ruled.

The man was declared a security risk by his employer after his marriage because of his new family ties.

The company acted as a supplier for the German armed forces and feared possible industrial espionage.

But the court said the engineer's employer had violated his right to marry whomever he chose.

The employment tribunal in Kiel in the German state of Schleswig-Holstein was told that the 47-year-old engineer had been employed at the firm on a temporary basis since May 2006.

Neither the engineer nor the firm was named in now-published reports of the case, whose verdict was pronounced in June.

[Mr Lick]

Blackminster Polish and Spanish road signs 'broke rules'



Foreign language signs advising migrant workers of a road diversion in Worcestershire have been removed for "health and safety" reasons.

Network Rail is carrying out work on a level crossing in Blackminster.

It was asked by Worcestershire County Council to provide diversion signs in Spanish, Polish and English.

However, they were removed by the Highways Agency which said they did "not meet the prescribed standards for such signs".

Evesham Vale is famous for its soft fruit production and attracts many migrant seasonal workers as fruit pickers, the county council said.

It added: "Local councils at district and parish level as well as businesses in the area requested the signs be put up due to a high number of Polish people living in the area and a number of Spanish businesses.

A spokesman for the Highways Agency said only road signs near ports were displayed in foreign languages in England and Wales.

It said these signs were restricted to speed limit information and drive on the left reminders.

The agency said it had removed the Blackminster diversion signs on Monday.

It said: "Unfortunately the [Blackminster diversion] signs did not meet the prescribed standards for such signs, as set out in the Traffic Signs Regulations and General Directions 2002.

[Mr Lick]

For sale in Sweden: Three-bed house, includes skeleton




An estate agent in Sweden is offering a house with the remains of a medieval resident included in the price.

The property, built in 1750 in Visby, on the Baltic Sea island of Gotland, has a tomb and skeleton in the cellar.

The starting price for the three-bedroomed house, where the skeleton is visible through glass in the cellar, is 4.1m Kronor ($640,000; 3287,000).

The property was built on the foundations of a Russian church, abandoned during the Middle Ages.

"It's harder to get closer to history," estate agent Leif Bertwig said of the house, according to Sweden's Helagotland website.

[Mr Lick]

Libya conflict: Rebels fight for Zawiya oil refinery




Libyan forces loyal to Col Muammar Gaddafi are fighting rebels for control of a coastal oil refinery in Zawiya, just 50km (30 miles) west of Tripoli.

Heavy gunfire was reported near the refinery complex, which supplies oil and gas to the Libyan capital.

Despite their recent gains, rebels face continued fire from rockets and snipers in a sixth day of fighting for Zawiya.

Control of the key town is seen as important because it straddles a major road linking Tripoli to Tunisia.

If opposition forces could maintain control of Zawiya, they would have Tripoli surrounded by land, with Nato - which has been enforcing a UN-mandated no-fly zone to protect civilians since March - blocking sea access.

[Mr Lick]

Australian sperm donor loses fight with lesbian couple




An Australian man who donated sperm to a lesbian couple has been told by a court that his name must be removed from the child's birth certificate.

A court in Sydney ruled that the birth mother's former partner had the right to have her name on the certificate, even though the couple split in 2006.

Expressing sympathy for the father, the judge said he had no contractual right to be registered on the certificate.

The man, who shares parenting, said it was "a very bad day for fathers".

Speaking outside the district court, the 58-year-old, who cannot be named for legal reasons, said he was devastated by the ruling.

"She's not my daughter as far as the law is concerned. The laws are totally inadequate, there are no laws to protect people like me," he said.

[Mr Lick]

Pakistan ex-MP Waja Karim Dad dies in Karachi violence



At least 13 people, including a former parliamentarian, have been killed in ongoing politically-motivated violence in Pakistan's southern port of Karachi.

Waja Karim Dad, a senior leader of Pakistan's ruling PPP political party, was shot in the Lyari neighbourhood.

The attacks happened as Karachi's main party, MQM, said it was rejoining the national PPP-led coalition government.

It had left after accusing the majority partner of not doing enough to stop violence in the business capital.

At least 300 people were killed in such attacks in Karachi in July.

Mr Karim Dad was sitting in a roadside cafe when gunmen on motorcycles sprayed it with bullets.

It was a busy time, with shops having opened late due to the daily fast for the Islamic month of Ramadan ending minutes earlier.

Several bystanders were also wounded in the attack, which killed the former parliamentarian instantly.

[Mr Lick]

Ex-student Jared Cano held for Tampa 'school bomb plot'



Jared Cano had previously been arrested multiple times on various charges


A "potentially catastrophic" bomb plot hatched by an expelled high-school student has been thwarted in the US city of Tampa, Florida, say police.

Jared Cano, 17, is accused of planning to plant a device at Freedom High School in north Tampa and detonate it as students returned on Tuesday.

Fuel, shrapnel and plastic tubing, along with timing and fusing devices were found at his home, police said.

The teenager had previously been arrested on several juvenile charges.

Mr Cano, who had been expelled from the school, was hoping to kill or injure more people than the 1999 shooting by two students at Columbine High School in Colorado, police chief June Castor said. That shooting killed 12 students and a teacher.


Mr Cano was arrested on Tuesday night after an unnamed individual "came forth with information" about the plot, said Ms Castor.





Chief of Police Jane Castor: "Material found include fuel sources, shrapnel, sharp, plastic tubing, and fusing devices"


"That's what we need in this community, to have the citizens involved in keeping this community safe," she added.

[Mr Lick]

Brazil corruption: President loses fourth minister





Brazil's Agriculture Minister Wagner Rossi has resigned amid a corruption scandal.

He is the fourth minister to leave office because of corruption allegations since President Dilma Rousseff came to power in January.

Mr Rossi said he had spent a month battling what he called "false accusations", and had had enough.

He is a member of the Democratic Movement Party of Brazil, President Rousseff's largest ally in Congress.

"Over the last 30 days, I have faced a daily barrage of false accusations without any proof," Mr Rossi wrote in a letter cited by Agencia Brasil.

He had been accused of accepting bribes and free air travel from agricultural companies, local media report.

Relations between the president and the PMDB have worsened, with the party leader in the lower house of Congress, Henrique Eduardo Alves, speaking of "protests ... until Congress gets the respect we want."

Defence Minister Nelson Jobim, Transport Minister Alfredo Nascimento and President Rousseff's chief of staff, Antonio Palocci, have all resigned since she took office.

[Mr Lick]

Spain 'foils gas attack on anti-Pope protesters'



Spanish police have arrested a Mexican chemistry student for allegedly plotting to gas anti-Pope protesters at Madrid's Catholic youth festival.

The suspect planned to attack a march with "asphyxiating gases and other chemical substances", police said.

At least a million people from across the world are in Madrid for a six-day Catholic youth festival.

With Pope Benedict XVI arriving on Thursday, the cost of the event has drawn protests from some.

Demonstrations called for Wednesday evening are due to feature both sections of the 15-M "indignant" movement protesting against the government's austerity drive, and gay rights groups and others campaigning against aspects of Catholic teaching.

[Mr Lick]

TalkTalk and Tiscali UK fined £3m by Ofcom




TalkTalk and its Tiscali UK subsidiary have been fined £3m for incorrectly billing more than 65,000 customers for services they had not received.

The fine by Ofcom follows an investigation into the two businesses that the telecoms regulator started in July 2010 as a result of more than 1,000 complaints.

Ofcom said the fine reflected "the seriousness" of their actions.

TalkTalk said it was "disappointed at the scale of the fine".

The company, which bought Tiscali UK in 2009, blamed the billing errors on the amalgamation of the Tiscali UK business.

It has since paid more than £2.5m in refunds and goodwill payments to affected customers.

As a result of this action, and other measures by TalkTalk to rectify the problems, Ofcom said the fine was less than otherwise might have been the case.

[Mr Lick]

North Korea 'art smugglers' charged in South Korea




Police in South Korea say they have charged four people with smuggling North Korean artwork into the country and selling it for profit.

They said the ringleader was an ethnic Korean woman from China who secured the paintings with the help of her husband, who has links in North Korea.

They said she had smuggled more than 1,000 paintings out of North Korea.

She sold them to customers in the South and in China, and made $30,000 (£18,200) in the process.

Several of the paintings are stylised landscapes, showing forested mountains and waterfalls.