World News in Pictures

[Mr Lick]

An armed Yemeni tribesman loyal to Sheik Sadeq al-Ahmar, head of the Hashid tribe, watches as a bulldozer carries away the sandbags set up by armed tribesmen loyal to al-Ahmar during months of deadly protests in Sanaa, Yemen, Dec. 28, 2011.

[Mr Lick]

Waves whipped up by high winds crash against Blackpool promenade on Dec. 28, in Blackpool, England. Most of the North West is bracing itself against high winds but the brunt of the gusts are hitting Scotland with road closures and sporting events being postponed.

[Mr Lick]

Rescuers work near an overturned Russian-made Tupolev 134 passenger jet at the airfield outside Osh, Kyrgyzstan on Dec. 28. The packed TU-134 flipped over and caught fire on landing in the southern Kyrgyz city today injuring at least six people, officials and witnesses said.

The Kyrgyz government says that 31 people have been injured in the crash-landing of a passenger jet.

Kyrgyzstan's Health Ministry said the Soviet-built Tu-134 jet was carrying 95 passengers and six crew when it crash-landed in deep fog Wednesday at the airport of the southern city of Osh.

Emergency Situations Minister Kubatbek Boronov said the plane flying from the Kyrgyz capital Bishkek was damaged when it made a rough landing in Osh. He didn't elaborate, but eyewitnesses said the jet rolled off the runway, broke its wing, overturned and caught fire.

Boronov said that 17 of the 31 injured were hospitalized.

The Tu-134 is a two-engine jet that has remained in service with many post-Soviet carriers.

[Mr Lick]

Two photographs of people gathered outside the trial of former President Hosni Mubarak at the Police Academy in Cairo, Egypt, on December 28, 2011.
Left: A relative holds a T-shirt belonging to a young boy who died in the clashes earlier this year, during a protest against Mubarak.

Right: A supporter of Mubarak holds his portrait as she joins others gathered outside the court.

[Mr Lick]

Australian super-maxi Investec Loyal, center, skippered by Anthony Bell, being escorted by a flotilla of boats to the finish line to take provisional line honours in the 67th Sydney to Hobart yacht race on Dec. 28, 2011.

HOBART, Australia (AP) -Supermaxi Investec Loyal was the provisional winner in the Sydney to Hobart yacht race on Wednesday, taking line honors ahead of favorite Wild Oats XI by just three minutes in the closest finish in 29 years in the classic ocean-racing event.

But the result was immediately placed under protest by the race committee, which alleged Investec Loyal had used a television helicopter pilot to spy on Wild Oats XI.

The protest under rule 41, which refers to the use of outside assistance, will be heard at the Royal Yacht Club of Tasmania at 10 a.m. Thursday AEDT (2300 Wednesday GMT).

The race committee, chaired by Tim Cox, alleges the incident occurred at 6.30 a.m. on Tuesday (7.30 p.m. Monday GMT), 30 nautical miles south of Merimbula on the south coast of New South Wales State.

The protest describes an "audio recording of (a) conversation between ABC helicopter and Investec Loyal. Crewman from Investec Loyal seeking information from the helicopter of the sail plan in use on Wild Oats XI."

Investec Loyal skipper Anthony Bell said he was confident the protest would be dismissed.

"We respect the fact that there's rules to yachting and we will of course oblige that," he said. "We are confident that the outcome will confirm our victory in the race."

Bell said the crewman who asked about Wild Oats' sails was tactician Michael Coxon, who was interested because he is chief executive of the company that supplied them.

The helicopter pilot will be called to give evidence.

In a dramatic final day, Investec Loyal overtook Wild Oats XI mid-afternoon and held on in a tight, tactical tussle to reverse last year's finishing order, crossing the line just ahead of its rival after 628 nautical miles of racing.

[Mr Lick]

A man yawns as he makes red lanterns with other workers for the upcoming Chinese Lunar New Year at a workshop in Yaxi village, in Xianju county in east China's Zhejiang province, on Dec. 27, 2011.



Chinese Lunar New Year will fall on January 23, 2012, marking the beginning of the Year of the Dragon.

[Mr Lick]

Military personnel place a flag on a submarine during the Velayat-90 war games by the Iranian navy in the Strait of Hormuz in southern Iran December 27, 2011. Iran threatened on Tuesday to stop the flow of oil through the Strait of Hormuz if foreign sanctions were imposed on its crude exports over its nuclear ambitions, a move that could trigger military conflict with economies dependent on Gulf oil.



A carpenter stops working as a train goes by in downtown Hanoi, Vietnam December 27, 2011. The Kham Thien railway hamlet, a 200-meter (656-ft) stretch of residences along the railway track in center Hanoi, is one of most dangerous traffic problems in the country. Despite the many accidents and deaths every year and warnings from authorities, people continue to live and make their livelihoods near the track.



An unidentified victim from the Christmas day bombing of a church near Nigeria's capital Abuja recovers in a hospital in Abuja December 27, 2011. Northern Nigerian Christians said on Tuesday they feared that a spate of Christmas Day bombings by Islamist militants that killed over two dozen people could lead to a religious war in Africa's most populous country.

[Mr Lick]

Morgue workers place a coffin holding an unidentified body into a grave at San Rafael cemetery on the outskirts of the border city of Ciudad Juarez, Mexico December 27, 2011. The bodies of 36 unidentified people, killed in drug-related incidents, were buried on Tuesday after being held in the city morgue for several months without being claimed by relatives.



A supporter of U.S. Republican presidential candidate and former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich waits for his arrival at a campaign stop at the Dubuque Golf and Country Club in Dubuque, Iowa, December 27, 2011.



Women chant anti-military council slogans and flash victory signs as they protest against military council violations and virginity tests against females outside the State Council court and in support of Samira Ibrahim in Cairo, December 27, 2011. An Egyptian court ordered on Tuesday that forced virginity tests be stopped on female detainees in military prisons. The case was filed by Samira Ibrahim, a woman who said the army forced her to undergo a virginity test in March after she was arrested during a protest in Cairo's Tahrir Square. The banners read "Want the rights of my sister" .



A man works at a Catholic church made of snow in the Bavarian village of Mitterfirmiansreut, near the German-Czech border, December 27, 2011. The snow church is to be unveiled during a ceremony on Wednesday and is likely to become a tourist attraction till the beginning of spring.



Palestinians watch a graduation ceremony for Hamas' security forces new recruits in Gaza City December 27, 2011



Russia's President Dmitry Medvedev (L) talks with Prime Minister Vladimir Putin during a government meeting in Moscow December 27, 2011.

''Vladimir, i have a plan, lets split everything 50/50 and run a few Go-Go bars on Walking Street, Pattaya, ok?''

[Mr Lick]

Venezuela sees 'record murder rate' in 2011

Giant portraits of the mothers of victims have highlighted the problem of violence in Caracas

A Venezuelan campaign group says the country has suffered a record number of murders in 2011.

The Venezuela Violence Observatory says at least 19,336 people have been killed this year, an average of 53 a day.

The figures suggest Venezuela's murder rate is the highest in South America and four times that of Mexico.

Criminal violence is set to be a major issue in next year's elections, when President Hugo Chavez is seeking another term in office.

"We must inform the nation that 2011 will end as the the most violent year in the nation's history," the Venezuela Violence Observatory (OVV) said in a news release.

Its figures - based on research by several Venezuelan universities - suggest that in 2011 Venezuela had a murder rate of 67 per 100,000 inhabitants.

That compares to 32 per 100,000 last year in neighbouring Colombia and 14 per 100,000 in Mexico, two countries suffering widespread drug-related violence.

The Venezuelan government has recognised the problem of violent crime, though its figures are much lower.

Last February, Interior Minister Tarek El Aissami told Congress the murder rate was 48 per 100,000 inhabitants.

[Mr Lick]

Mexico vote annulled over Juan Manuel Marquez shorts stunt

Marquez (left), with PRI's logo on his leg, narrowly lost on points to Pacquiao

A local election result in Mexico has been annulled, partly because a boxer wore the logo of the winning party on his trunks in a fight on the eve of the vote, breaking campaign rules.

Juan Manuel Marquez sported the tricolour symbol of the PRI during his clash with Filipino Manny Pacquiao.

The fight in Las Vegas on 12 November was watched by millions in Mexico.
A federal court decided it may have influenced voters in Morelia, the capital of Michoacan state.

In its ruling, the court also cited a television appearance by Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI) candidates after the official campaign period has closed.

The election for mayor of Morelia will now have to be held again within 150 days.

[Mr Lick]

British teenage designer of Summly app hits jackpot




Most teenagers will find any reason under the sun not to do their homework.

But 16-year-old South Londoner Nick D'Aloisio's excuse is better than most - he has been busy developing an app which has made international headlines and attracted a big investment from a Hong Kong-based billionaire.

Summly is an iPhone app which summarises and simplifies the content of web pages and search results. Currently it can condense reference pages, news articles and reviews but has the potential to go a lot further.

Mr D'Aloisio - the son of a lawyer and an investment banker - had the brainwave for it while studying.

"I was revising for a history exam and using Google, clicking in and out of search results, and it seemed quite inefficient. If I found myself on a site that was interesting I was reading it and that was wasting time," he said.

"I thought that what I needed was a way of simplifying and summarising these web searches. Google has Instant Preview but that is just an image of the page. What I wanted was a content preview," he says.

[Mr Lick]

King Juan Carlos attends the official opening of the new Spanish Parliament calling in his speech for decisive action to overcome the country's debt crisis

[Mr Lick]

Clashes occur between Ultra-Orthadox jews and secular Israeli's over plans by the Ultra-Orthodox jews to force segregation of men and women.

Finally announcing their gayness to the world.

[Mr Lick]

Greece jails Abbot Ephraim in Mount Athos fraud case

Mount Athos monks demonstrated against Abbot Ephraim's detention

The abbot of the prestigious Vatopedi monastery on Mount Athos in Greece has been jailed pending trial for alleged fraud and embezzlement.

Abbot Ephraim, 56, is accused of arranging land swaps between Vatopedi and the state which are thought to have cost the government millions of euros.

The abbot, now being held in Korydallos prison in Athens, denies wrongdoing. His arrest has triggered protests.

The property scandal contributed to the conservative government's fall in 2009.

Greek Orthodox monks rallied outside the prison in support of Abbot Ephraim on Wednesday.

Russia's foreign ministry and the Russian Orthodox Church also criticised the imprisonment of Abbot Ephraim.

No trial date has been set yet.

[Mr Lick]

Unrest continues in the Syrian city of Homs

[Mr Lick]

Fresh floods hit southern Philippines

[Mr Lick]

An Afghan border policewoman takes part in a live firing exercise in Herat

[Mr Lick]

Republican Ron Paul comes under attack for his view that the US should not react against Iran's suspected nuclear weapons programme

[Mr Lick]

UK news photos of the year 2011



The Scottish National Poultry Show



UK protests against public spending cuts













Rupert Murdoch phone hacking debacle



Summer riots across England



Dale Farm



Royal Wootton Bassett



Paul and Nancy the biped get wed

[Mr Lick]

World news pictures of the year 2011



Egypt's revolution began on January 25th



The party in Rio



Japan's Tsunami



Pretty good snap that!



The death of Bin Laden



Nato fuel tankers on fire in Pakistan



Nato helicopters were called to kill 3 Taliban militants to end a 5 hour attack by suicide bombers and gunmen on a hotel in Kabul



69 people were shot dead on the island of Utoeya, Norway



The US marked the 10th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks



Protests against austerity measures in Greece



The floods of Bangkok



A 2 week old baby is rescued following an earthquake in eastern Turkey

[Mr Lick]

Demonstrators hold a poster of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, right, shaking hands with Sudanese General Mustafa al-Dabi during an anti-Assad protest in Kafranbel, near Adlb, Syria, in a screengrab from a video made on Dec. 25, 2011 and made available by Reuters on Dec. 29. The sign reads: "Be careful military gangs".

[Mr Lick]

A masked Palestinian Islamic Jihad militant is seen through a tire as he surveys the damage at a training camp after an Israeli air strike in Gaza on Dec. 29, 2011. The Israeli army confirmed that it targeted two sites in Gaza, including the training camp, and added that the strikes were carried out in response to the firing of rockets from Gaza into Israel on Wednesday. No injures were reported in Gaza.

[Mr Lick]

Supporters of presidential hopeful U.S. Rep Ron Paul (R-TX) attempt to block Occupy Wall Street protesters who are disrupting a campaign event at the Iowa State Fairgrounds on Dec. 28, 2011 in Des Moines, Iowa. With less than one week to go before the Iowa caucuses, Ron Paul is trying to maintain his lead as he campaigns through Iowa.

[Mr Lick]

Changsha, China: People queue for train tickets at railway station



Uludere, Turkey: Locals gather in front of a truck carrying the bodies of people killed in an air strike by the Turkish military



Rangoon, Burma: Fire fighters continue to extinguish a blaze after an explosion in a warehouse



Ibi, Spain: Revelers take part in the annual festival of Els Enfarinats. For 200 years Ibi's citizens annually celebrate with a battle using flour, eggs and firecrackers outside the city town hall

[Mr Lick]

Police cordon off a crime scene where a man had been shot dead in Monterrey, Mexico December 27, 2011. The man was found dead with his hands cuffed and surrounded by empty bullet cases, according to local media.



Boxes of silicone gel breast implants manufactured by the now defunct French company Poly Implant Prothese (PIP) are seen inside an abandoned PIP building in La Seyne-sur-Mer near Toulon, France December 28, 2011. PIP company is accused of using sub-standard industrial silicone in some of its implants, which were sold globally before being taken off the market in 2010, the year the company shut its doors.



Mary Pam (L), mother of murdered Philip Francis, and family members gather to grieve at their home in Jos in Nigeria's Plateau state, December 28, 2011. Armed Fulani herdsmen shot dead three members of a family in an attack in Nigeria's ethnically and religiously mixed Plateau state Wednesday, witnesses and officials said. Plateau is a tinderbox of ethnic and religious rivalries over land and power between local people and migrants from other areas. These often take the form of sectarian strife between the state's Christian and Muslim communities.



Argentina's President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner gestures next to an image of former first lady Eva Peron during a ceremony at the Casa Rosada Presidential Palace in Buenos Aires, Argentina December 28, 2011. President Fernandez de Kirchner will be operated on for thyroid cancer in January, a government spokesman said on December 27, 2011. The carcinoma has not metastasized, the spokesman said at a news conference



Bindia Rana (L), 41, an eunuch locally referred to as hijra, laughs with a friend Rifee Khan, 34, at home in Karachi December 28, 2011. Orders went out from the Supreme Court to the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) to enrol eunuchs as voters, a development that accords the basic right to a much mistreated community, local media reported in November 2011. It is estimated there are between 80,000 and 300,000 members of the transgender community, locally referred to as hijras, in Pakistan.



A woman uses a mallet to destroy a computer mouse and seashells on "Good Riddance Day" in New York December 28, 2011. The annual "Good Riddance Day" event invites people to shred messages that represent memories or events that they want to forget as they enter the new year.