World News in Pictures

[Mr Lick]

[Mr Lick]

Workers install a Benetton billboard advertisement showing a composite image of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (R) kissing Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas in Tel Aviv November 28, 2011. The image, part of a series of pictures of world leaders kissing each other on the lips, was Benetton's latest advertising campaign that went on display in their European stores two weeks ago.



Liquidators or emergency workers, who fought the blaze at the Chernobyl nuclear reactor, take part in a hunger strike in Donetsk November 28, 2011. Protesters took part in the hunger strike to demand the authorities to pay out their subsidies and benefits guaranteed by the law, according to local media. The bandage reads, "I am starving".

[Mr Lick]

A demonstrator sleeps in a hammock in the U.N. buffer zone dividing Cyprus, near tents pitched by Greek and Turkish Cypriots, during a protest against the island's continuous division November 28, 2011. The protest started on November 19, and demonstrators say they will not move away from the buffer zone until the island's division is resolved. Cyprus was split in a Turkish invasion in 1974 by a brief Greek-inspired coup.



A drug addict kicks a punching dummy to unleash pent-up anger during a psychological treatment at a compulsory drug rehabilitation center in Kunming, capital of southern China's Yunnan Province November 28, 2011.

[Mr Lick]

Denmark's Crown Prince Frederik (C) plays with children next to the Vietnam's Ministers for Labour, War Invalids and Social Affairs Pham Thi Hai Chuyen (R) while he visits Birla orphanage in Hanoi November 28, 2011. Crown Prince Frederik is in Hanoi from November 28 to December 1 for the 40th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between the two countries.



A woman leads student demonstrators as they lie across the Bruin Plaza walkway on the University of California Los Angeles (UCLA) campus as the UC Board of Regents meet in Los Angeles November 28, 2011. UCLA students are protesting against the possible increase of tuition fees, pepper-spraying of student protesters by University of California Davis police, and other issues related to the Occupy Wall Street protests



Kosovo Force (KFOR) soldiers from Germany and Austria spray tear gas towards Kosovo Serbs during clashes in the village of Jagnjenica near the town of Zubin Potok November 28, 2011. Two NATO soldiers were wounded by gunfire on Monday in clashes with demonstrators in north Kosovo, NATO said, in the latest spasm of violence in a months-long standoff with Serbs who reject the country's 2008 secession from Serbia



Farmers talk to their colleagues as they stand in the bucket of an excavator during a protest in the city of Plovdiv, some 120km east of Sofia November 28, 2011. Hundreds of Bulgarian farmers in tractors and harvesters blocked roads across the Balkan country on Monday to protest against the plans of the government to cut the size of agriculture subsidies for next year fearing a new economic slowdown.



People look at flames rising from blown pipelines at al-Sabeel, in the western al-Arish city in Sinai November 28, 2011. Saboteurs blew up Egypt's gas pipeline to Jordan and Israel on Monday, witnesses and security sources said, a few hours before the country holds its first free election since President Hosni Mubarak was toppled in February.The explosion was set off west of al-Arish in Sinai, witnesses said.

[Mr Lick]

Time to Go
Los Angeles police officers arrest a protester during the eviction of the Occupy L.A. tent encampment outside City Hall early on November 30, 2011. Many protesters went limp and had to be carried.



Early Lead for Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood
A man arrives at a polling station in Cairo. In early returns for Egypt's first post-revolution election, the fundamentalist group Muslim Brotherhood is leading, with particularly strong totals in cities.



Future King, Current Bartender
Prince Charles holds a pint of Newton's Drop beer he personally dispensed during a visit to the Cholmeley Arms pub in Burton-le-Coggles in Grantham, England.

[Mr Lick]

Cain Considering Response to Latest 'Cloud'
In the wake of allegations of a 13-year affair, Republican presidential candidate Herman Cain said he is assessing whether his campaign can continue or if there is simply "too much of a cloud.”



Murray Gets Four Years for Michael Jackson's Death
Dr. Conrad Murray is sentenced for the involuntary manslaughter of Michael Jackson at the Los Angeles Superior Court. The judge gave him the maximum sentence and denounced his "money for medicine madness."



Britain Outraged Over Iranians Storming Embassy
An Iranian protester breaks a security camera inside the British Embassy after entering the compound in Tehran on November 29, 2011. Britain has announced it will be withdrawing some of its embassy staff.



Biden Makes Surprise Iraq Visit
Vice President Joe Biden meets with General Lloyd Austin in Baghdad. In addition to seeing top Iraqi officials, Biden said he would attend an event honoring "the sacrifices and accomplishments of U.S. and Iraqi troops."



On His Way to Justice?
The former Ivory Coast president Laurent Gbagbo has reportedly been sent to the International Criminal Court at The Hague, which has investigated him for war crimes. Pictured: Gbagbo after his arrest on April 11, 2011.

[Mr Lick]

No Migration This Year
People pass by a beached whale at Pointe de la Torche, France on November 29, 2011. Whales in the region head south at the beginning of winter.



Comic Patrice O'Neal Dead at 41
Comedian Patrice O'Neal has died at the age of 41. O'Neal, who appeared on The Office and The Opie & Anthony Show, had struggled with diabetes. Pictured: O'Neal at the Roast of Charlie Sheen on September 10, 2011.



Coming Together for a Vital Cause
People hold hands to form a red ribbon during a flash mob in Bucharest to mark the upcoming World AIDS Day on December 1. An estimated 10,000 people in Romania are living with HIV.



Still More Grieving
The wives of Ukrainians who worked on the Chernobyl nuclear disaster cleanup weep during the symbolic funeral for Gennady Konoplyov in Donetsk. Konoplyov died on his way to the hospital after an encounter with police at a protest.



Close to Mom
The toque macaque monkey Safra holds her baby at the zoo in Berlin, Germany. Her offspring was born at the zoo on October 22, 2011.

[Mr Lick]

More Metropolitan Police to be trained in baton rounds

There was a "level of tension" that police may not have picked up on prior to the August riots

Scotland Yard is training more officers to use baton rounds, also known as plastic bullets, according to a police report into the August riots.

The Metropolitan Police force is also considering whether to buy water cannon to deal with large-scale disorder. CCTV with facial recognition could also be introduced.

Extra public order powers may also be requested from the government.

The report lists 10 main findings on the disorder from 6 to 9 August

[Mr Lick]

EU entering 'critical period' to resolve debt crisis

Olli Rehn said the EU needed to reinforce economic governance

EU finance ministers are meeting in Brussels after a top official said the region had just days to take decisive action to resolve the crisis.

EU Monetary Affairs Commissioner Olli Rehn said: "We are now entering the critical period of 10 days to complete and conclude the crisis response".

The meeting comes a day after eurozone ministers agreed measures to expand the region's bailout fund.

But they said it was unlikely to hit its 1tn euro ($1.3tn; £860bn) target.

European Council President Herman Van Rompuy also warned of the growing seriousness of the crisis.

"The trouble has become systemic. We are witnessing a full-blown confidence crisis," he said in the run-up to the finance ministers' meeting.

"Some may blame it on the irrationality of the market, but it's a fact and we need to confront it."

Meanwhile, the latest figures from the European Central Bank (ECB) show that eurozone banks are becoming increasingly nervous about lending to each other.

[Mr Lick]

India police target Uttar Pradesh courting couples

Public displays of affection are considered taboo in India

Police in the northern Indian state of Uttar Pradesh have launched a controversial campaign against couples displaying affection in public places.

Led by a female officer, police raided parks and handed out instant punishment, forcing the boys to do sit-ups, in Sahibabad, not far from Delhi.

Officials say their aim is to "save innocent girls being trapped by boys with evil motives".

Similar campaigns in Uttar Pradesh in the past have been denounced.

[Mr Lick]

Raphoe guilty of 'poor judgements' in managing sex abuse



Bishop Philip Boyce was speaking as a review of the County Donegal diocese found "a significant level" of clerical abuse cases in past decades


The Catholic bishop of Raphoe has apologised for "poor judgements" in managing priests accused of "horrific acts of abuse" against children.

Bishop Philip Boyce was speaking as a review of the County Donegal diocese found "a significant level" of clerical abuse cases in past decades.

The case of Father Eugene Greene, the convicted paedophile, stood out.

The review is one of six, including two from Northern Ireland dioceses, published on Wednesday.

A report for the Derry diocese said it had dealt with 23 allegations of sex abuse against its priests.

A total of 31 allegations had been reported to the police in Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland.

The report said 33 allegations had been made to social services.

A total of four priests against whom allegations were made had left the priesthood or were ''out of ministry".

The Derry report said: "Those who have suffered child abuse should receive a compassionate and just response and should be offered appropriate pastoral care to rebuild their lives.

"Those who have harmed others should be helped to face up to the reality of abuse, as well as being assisted in healing."

[Mr Lick]

Chile seeks Ray Davis extradition over 1973 coup murder

Chilean dictator Augusto Pinochet came to power in a coup in September 1973

US military attache in Chile, Ray Davis, who has been charged with the 1973 killing of a US journalist working in the country.

Reporter Charles Horman disappeared on 17 September 1973 - days after Gen Augusto Pinochet seized power in a coup - and was found shot a day later.

He was investigating links between the CIA and the Chilean military.

His death was the subject of the 1982 Oscar-winning film Missing.

Judge Jorge Zepeda asked the Chilean Supreme Court to authorise an extradition request, so Ray Davis can stand trial in Chile for the murder of Mr Horman and student Frank Teruggi.

The judge's investigation suggests Mr Horman was detained at his home on Chile's Pacific coast by Mr Davis, who allegedly took him to the capital, Santiago.

Mr Davis was the commander of the US military mission in Chile at the time.

[Mr Lick]

The White House Christmas Tree is seen during a press preview, Wednesday Nov. 30, 2011, in the Blue Room of the White House in Washington.



First lady Michelle Obama, and White House pastry chef Bill Yosses, left, join children from military families as they decorate cookies at the White House on Wednesday.



The Gold Star Families Tree stands in the East Landing at the White House. The tree pays tribute to military service men and women who gave their lives to the nation and to their families, who can inscribe a ceramic gold star to decorate the tree.



A replica of the White House made from 400-pounds of gingerbread, white chocolate and marzipan is on display in the State Dining Room on Wednesday



Handcrafted tabletop trees made from recycled aluminum decorate The Green Room of the White House

[Mr Lick]

Kristian Tarang, 1, wears a sailor costume as he waits with his mother, Genessis Tarang, alongside the USS Carl Vinson aircraft carrier as the ship is prepared for deployment Wednesday, Nov. 30, 2011, in Coronado, Calif. The aircraft carrier is scheduled to deploy Wednesday to the Western Pacific, along with the USS Bunker Hill and the USS Halsey. Tarang's husband, Petty Officer Third Class Eli Tarang, is onboard the aircraft carrier.

[Mr Lick]

Athletes from the United States swim team model highly technical swimsuits during a news conference debuting Speedo's new Fastskin 3 swimsuit in New York, Nov. 30, 2011. Olympic gold medalist Michael Phelps is shown, fifth from right.



NEW YORK - The bodysuit war that reduced the 2009 swimming world championships to farce and effectively turned the sport into a battle of technology could erupt again on Wednesday when Michael Phelps takes to the catwalk to launch a new outfit for next year's London Olympics.

Phelps was bitterly opposed to the now-banned swimsuits that were used in Rome two years ago, refusing to wear them because he believed they aided buoyancy, but he is getting ready to promote a new space-age suit

[Mr Lick]

People climb onto chairs and tables to defend themselves from snakes scattered in an office room in Basti, about 186 miles southeast of Lucknow, India, Wednesday, Nov. 30, 2011. Two farmers fed up with alleged bribery demands emptied three bags filled with slithering snakes in a busy tax office in northern India, an official said Wednesday. The 40 or so snakes of different sizes and species, including at least four deadly cobras, sent clerks and villagers climbing atop tables and scurrying out the door to escape the office.

[Mr Lick]

A worker installs a bullet resistant window on a brand new armored car in Cagua, Venezuela. According to Horacio Zuniga, business manager of the Bogota-based glass manufacturer Glassek, Venezuela is the Latin American country with the biggest growth in sales of bullet-resistant windows. Venezuelans are coping with increasing numbers of abductions, robberies and killings, driven at least in part by ineffective law enforcement that allows the vast majority of crimes to go unsolved and unpunished.






A worker cuts Kevlar, a bullet resistant material that will be used on a brand new armored car, in Cagua, Venezuela.

[Mr Lick]

A man accused of murder in Rumbek central prison wears padlocked chains around his ankles as his fellow prisoners look on in Rumbek, in Southern Sudan, on Nov. 14, 2011. The prison in Rumbek, the capital of Lakes State (center), dates from 1948, at the time of Anglo-Egyptian occupation (1899-1956). Despite its vast oil reserves, Southern Sudan is one of the poorest countries in the world.



A prisoner said to be mentally unsound is held in solitary confinement at Rumbek central prison with a padlocked chain around his ankle, on Nov. 14, 2011.

[Mr Lick]

A member of Socialist Students Union reacts as others cover their faces from tear gas fired by police during a protest in Colombo, Sri Lanka on Nov. 30. Police used tear gas and water canons to disperse a protest held by Socialist Students Union, a wing of Sri Lanka's Marxist political party People's Liberation Front, against the government's budget proposals.

[Mr Lick]

A plume of smoke comes out the Tungurahua volcano after it erupted as seen from Cotalo, Ecuador, Wednesday, Nov. 30, 2011. Ecuador's Geophysical Institute said the volcano's increased activity that began Sunday, is billowing columns of ash, sending superheated clouds of gas down the slopes and cascading hot rocks from the summit.

[Mr Lick]

A freeride skier carves his way down a steep slope of crushed rocks, in the western Austrian village of Haiming, about 28 miles west of Innsbruck on Nov. 30, 2011









Freeride skiers carve their way down a steep slope of crushed rocks, in the western Austrian village of Haiming, about 28 miles west of Innsbruck on Nov. 30, 2011.

[Mr Lick]

Children in Afghanistan will now have a "sunny day, sweepin' the clouds away," as Sesame Street begins broadcasting a locally produced version of the show tomorrow. "Baghch-e-Simsim" will be broadcast in Afghanistan's Dari language, and is intended to help the country's education levels. The project, funded by the U.S. embassy in Kabul, is a result of Sesame Street working with the Afghan ministry of education and two local television stations. With its arrival in Afghanistan, Sesame Street will now extend to 22 countries around the world, including China, Nigeria, Mexico and Israel.

[Mr Lick]

An image released by Pakistan's Inter Services Public Relations (ISPR) on Nov. 30 shows smoke rising apparently after a cross-border NATO air strike on Pakistani border posts on a mountain in the Mohmand tribal district on Nov. 26, 2011.



An image released by Pakistan's Inter Services Public Relations (ISPR) on Nov. 30, 2011 shows a Pakistani army post reportedly targeted by NATO helicopters resulting in the deaths of 24 Pakistani soldiers.

[Mr Lick]

Dandong, China: Paramilitary policemen about to retire bid farewell to their comrades at a train station



Siem Reap, Cambodia: Rag pickers search through rubbish as fires burn at the local dump



Cairo, Egypt: People cast their votes on the second day of voting in the country's landmark parliamentary elections



Burma: A girl walks between lanes of an empty highway connecting the former capital Rangoon and new capital, Naypyidaw

[Mr Lick]

Placards at the public sector strike protests - UK