World News in Pictures

[Mr Lick]

Carriage restorer David Evans cleans the 1902 State Landau carriage at the Royal Mews in Buckingham Palace, as the horses and carriages are prepared for Queen Elizabeth II's Diamond Jubilee , on May 28 , in London, England.

[Mr Lick]

Halt Italian football for 2-3 years, says PM Monti



Stefano Mauri was arrested in a police raid on Monday



Professional football in Italy should be suspended for up to three years after a match-fixing row, Italian Prime Minister Mario Monti has suggested.

He said that the scandal had caused "profound sadness" across the country.

Mr Monti was speaking a day after a number of people - including Lazio's captain Stefano Mauri - were arrested.

Police are searching more than 30 homes, including those of players, trainers and administrators of clubs in Serie A, Serie B and lower divisions.

Juventus coach Antonio Conte, who just led the club to the Serie A title in his first season in charge, is among those being questioned by police.
Officers also visited Italy's pre-Euro 2012 training camp to question left-back Domenico Criscito.

The Italian football federation later announced that Criscito, who is now at Zenit St Petersburg in Russia, would not be selected for Euro 2012 in Poland and Ukraine "in order to clear his name".

Five people were also arrested in Hungary on suspicion of being part of an illegal international betting ring.

[Mr Lick]

Aung San Suu Kyi visits Thailand

Burma's most famous democracy activist visits Thailand, the first time she has left her home country in 24 years, ending an era of isolation and cementing her arrival on the global stage



Aung San Suu Kyi is surrounded by reporters as she arrives at Rangoon international airport prior to her departure to Thailand on her first trip abroad for 24 years



Aung San Suu Kyi greets migrant workers from Burma, as she visits them in Samut Sakhon province, Thailand

[Mr Lick]

Tiptoeing through the raindrops. This woman gingerly crosses a flooded street on a row of tables in Wuhan, in central China's Hubei province. China is hit by big summer rainfalls every year, with heavy downpours across large swaths of the country triggering flooding and landslides



Times are hard in Spain and this man is selling everything including the kitchen sink in the Malasaña district of Madrid. Spanish borrowing costs have increased after the government announced a rescue plan for Bankia involving more public debt



Chris Furlong is getting to some great locations following and photographing the Olympic torch procession, yesterday the top of Snowdon and today the Pontcysyllte aqueduct. Joanne Gregory carries the Olympic torch across the aqueduct on a hand-drawn canal boat

[Mr Lick]

Nuenen, The Netherlands: An aerial view shows a reproduction of the self-portrait of Duch painter Vincent van Gogh, made with wood chips and plants, in a field



Sidoarjo, East Java: A victim of the Lapindo mud volcano takes part in a theatrical performance on a retaining dyke. Six years after it erupted, the mud volcano known as 'Lusi' is still spewing toxic sludge over the countryside



Johannesburg, South Africa: Security guards clash with Greenpeace activists protesting against a nuclear energy conference outside the Industrial Development Corporation's headquarters



Karachi, Pakistan: A driver lights up a cigarette while standing beside a fuel tanker, which was used to carry fuel for Nato forces in Afghanistan

[Mr Lick]

A civil defence officer carries the body of a South African teenager during a funeral procession in Doha May 29, 2012. Thirteen expatriate children were among those killed in Monday's fire at the Villaggio Mall in Doha's west end, including two-year-old triplets from New Zealand



CSKA Moscow fans protect their faces from the smoke of the burning seats during the soccer match against Spartak Moscow at the Luzhniki stadium in Moscow March 19, 2012

[Mr Lick]

Somali government soldiers run to position during an ambush by al Shabaab rebels on the outskirts of Elasha town May 29, 2012



Damaged buildings are seen in Mirandola near Modena, Italy, May 29, 2012



A man stands drinking beer as he looks at the flooded streets in Montreal, Quebec May 29, 2012. Flash flooding occurred after heavy thunderstorms blew across the island on Tuesday afternoon.

[Mr Lick]

Demonstrating miners carry a tree trunk to be used in a barricade to block off the N66 national highway in Campomanes, near Oviedo in northern Spain on May 30. Eight Spanish coal miners are staging a protest underground as part of nationwide strike action by unions opposed to cuts in government subsidies to the sector. General Workers Union mining spokesman Victor Fernandez said some 8,000 workers took part in the third of four strike days this month to protest against subsidy reductions from euros 300 million to euros 110 million.

[Mr Lick]

Handout photograph released by Himex, the organizers of the Tenzing-Hillary Everest Marathon, participants of the marathon are flagged off at Everest Base Camp in Nepal's Solukhumbu district on Tuesday, May 29.



KATHMANDU — More than 150 hardy competitors braved the rarified air and bone-chilling temperatures of Mount Everest on Tuesday to take part in the world's highest marathon, organisers said.

The Tenzing-Hillary Everest Marathon is part of annual celebrations marking the first conquest of the 8,848-metre (29,029-foot) summit on May 29, 1953, by Sir Edmund Hillary and his sherpa Tenzing Norgay

[Mr Lick]

Liberia ex-leader Charles Taylor get 50 years in jail



Liberia's ex-President Charles Taylor has been sentenced to 50 years in jail by a UN-backed war crimes court.

Last month Taylor was found guilty of aiding and abetting rebels in Sierra Leone during the 1991-2002 civil war.

Special Court for Sierra Leone judges said the sentence reflected his status as head of state at the time and his betrayal of public trust.

Taylor, 64, insists he is innocent and his lawyer has told the BBC he will appeal against the sentence.

"The 50-year sentence pronounced today effectively is a life sentence for someone that age - the rules of the court prohibit expressly the imposition of a life sentence," defence counsel Morris Anyah told the BBC's Newshour programme.

The appeal process could last up to six months, the BBC's Anna Holligan in The Hague reports.

[Mr Lick]

Doctors target non-urgent care in industrial action



Doctors will stop providing non-urgent care for a day next month in the first industrial action by the profession for nearly 40 years.

The move comes after a majority of doctors voted in favour of action in a British Medical Association ballot of 104,000 members over pension changes.

The 24-hour day of action will take place on 21 June.

The union said emergency care would still take place, as doctors did not want to put patients at risk.

Of those balloted, half responded. Among the main groups of doctors the results were overwhelming.

Some 79% of GPs, 84% of hospital consultants and 92% of junior doctors who responded voted in favour

[Mr Lick]

Hindu devotees take a holy dip at the Sangam



Liz meets guests at a garden party at Buckingham Palace



A powerful earthquake hits northern Italy

[Mr Lick]

Six guilty of Nottingham police station firebomb riot




Six people have been found guilty of involvement in a firebomb attack on a Nottingham police station last summer.

Four Nottingham men and two teenage boys were found guilty of rioting after a trial at the city's Crown Court. A fifth man was acquitted.

One of the men, Lance Francis, 25, was also convicted of arson with intent to endanger life over the firebomb attack on Canning Circus police station.

The men will be sentenced on Friday and the teenagers at a later date.

Francis, of no fixed address, was also found guilty of perverting the course of justice.

[Mr Lick]

Leveson: Cable talks of 'veiled threats' against Lib Dems




Business Secretary Vince Cable has said "veiled threats" were made against the Liberal Democrats when he was assessing News Corporation's 2010 bid for BSkyB.

He told the Leveson Inquiry into media ethics his party was warned it would be "done over" in the firm's newspapers if he ruled against its takeover attempt.

Mr Cable was removed from his role after being secretly recorded saying he had "declared war" on Rupert Murdoch.

He put his comments on News Corp's boss down to "pent-up feelings".

Mr Cable's role was handed to Culture Secretary Jeremy Hunt, who has come under fire after it emerged he had expressed support for the bid.

In December 2010, the business secretary had told two undercover Daily Telegraph reporters he was seeking to block News Corp's attempt to buy the 61% of BSkyB shares it did not already own, by referring the bid to regulators Ofcom.

In his witness statement to the inquiry, Mr Cable says his references to a "war" were "making the point, no doubt rather hyperbolically, that l had no intention of being intimidated."

He told the inquiry his language was part of a longer conversation and influenced by the fact that he was in an "extremely tense and emotional frame of mind" after a protest took place outside his constituency office.

"I had heard directly and indirectly from colleagues that there had been veiled threats, that if I made the wrong decision from the point of view of the company, my party would be - I think somebody used the phrase - done over in the News International press," Mr Cable said.

"I took those things seriously. I was very concerned. I had myself tried to deal with the process entirely properly and impartially and I discovered that this was happening in the background.

"I frankly stored up my anger at what was taking place. But, in that very special and tense situation I rather offloaded my feelings."

Mr Cable said he believed the "threats" against his party came from conversations with News Corp lobbyist Frederic Michel but cross examined by Rhodri Davies QC, counsel for the company, refused to identify the person who informed him of the reports

[Mr Lick]

Julian Assange loses extradition appeal at Supreme Court



Wikileaks founder Julian Assange has lost his UK Supreme Court fight against extradition to Sweden to face accusations of sex offences.

Lord Phillips, the court's president, said a majority of five justices to two had ruled against Mr Assange.

The court ruled the extradition request had been "lawfully made".

However, Mr Assange has 14 days to challenge the ruling and his solicitor, Gareth Peirce, said his lawyers would be asking the court to reconsider.

Mr Assange, who has been on conditional bail in the UK, did not att
end the hearing in central London. His lawyer later told reporters he had been "stuck in traffic".

Following the hearing, he tweeted: "We got the news not hoped for."

The Wikileaks website published material from leaked diplomatic cables, embarrassing several governments

[Mr Lick]

Three women charged after Irish prostitution raids



Three women arrested as part of a cross-border police operation into organised prostitution, will appear in court in Belfast later.

The women, two aged 23 and one aged 27, have all been charged with brothel keeping and possession of criminal property.

Five people were arrested in Northern Ireland and three in the Republic of Ireland during a series of searches.

Three suspected victims of human trafficking were rescued.

The two other women arrested in Northern Ireland have been released on bail pending further enquiries.

The PSNI say they believe 10 out of 20 addresses they searched across Northern Ireland were being used as brothels.

A large amount of documents, cash, mobile phones and computers were seized by the PSNI and gardai.

The operation on Tuesday involved 170 police officers across Northern Ireland and more than 200 gardai, and had been planned for several weeks.

It is believed 114 properties were searched in the Republic

[Mr Lick]

Andy Coulson held in Tommy Sheridan trial perjury inquiry



Prime Minister David Cameron's former director of communications Andy Coulson has been detained by police investigating allegations of perjury.

Mr Coulson, 44, was detained at his home in the Dulwich area of London at 06:30 by seven officers from Strathclyde Police.

He arrived at a police station in Glasgow shortly before 15:30.

Mr Coulson is being held on suspicion of committing perjury at the trial of former MSP Tommy Sheridan in 2010.

A police spokeswoman said: "Officers from Strathclyde Police's Operation Rubicon team detained a 44-year-old man in London this morning under section 14 of the Criminal Procedure Scotland Act 1995 on suspicion of committing perjury before the High Court in Glasgow."

Mr Coulson has not been charged and is not under arrest.

In Scotland, a suspect is detained on suspicion of an offence, unlike in England and Wales where a suspect is arrested.

[BobR]

Mr lick does this every day and it's quite good and appears popular. Could we possibly put a permanent link to this from the home page so it's easier to find?

[peterpan]

Agree.Mr Lick does a great job

[Mr Lick]

Thanks for your positive comments guys. I'll PM DD to see if he can operate a faster link.

In the meantime here are some more pics of recent events










Olympic silver medalist Meb Keflezighi, 37, is the oldest American ever to qualify for the Olympic marathon. He trains at an altitude of around 9,000 feet in Mammoth to increase his red blood cells and boost his endurance

[Mr Lick]

Justin Bieber fans gather in the harbour prior to Justin Bieber's performance at the Opera House on May 30, in Oslo.






Justin Bieber performs live at the Norwegian Opera House

[Mr Lick]

Sean Farrell, 1, of San Diego, tries to sit on a section of the statue called, "Unconditional Surrender," as the artwork is dismantled from its' spot alongside the USS Midway aircraft carrier museum on May 30, in San Diego.




''Unconditional Surrender'' a 25-foot statue resembling the famous Alfred Eisenstaedt photo of an American sailor kissing a woman in a white dress on V-J Day in Time Square is leaving the San Diego waterfront for restoration in New Jersey.

[Mr Lick]

Darwin Barney of the Chicago Cubs gets ice water dumped on him by Matt Garza after hitting a walk off two run homer in the ninth inning against the San Diego Padres on May 30. The Cubs defeated the San Diego Padres 8-6.

[Mr Lick]

Police surround a house in the University district in Seattle near a cafe where a gunman killed several people. The shooting took place about 11 a.m. at Cafe Racer, a restaurant and music venue north of the University of Washington.






A picture taken by a surveillance camera shows the suspect in Wednesday's Seattle cafe shooting, according to police

[Mr Lick]

A Syrian woman, cries as she carries her injured son who was shot in his hand by the Syrian border guard when they were crossing a river from Syria to Lebanon, at the northern Lebanese-Syrian border town of Wadi Khaled, in Akkar, north Lebanon, Wednesday, May 30. U.N. observers have discovered 13 bound corpses in eastern Syria, many of them apparently shot execution-style, the monitoring mission said Wednesday. The announcement comes days after a massacre in Houla, in the central Homs province, which killed more than 100 people and prompted worldwide condemnation against the regime of President Bashar Assad