World News in Pictures

[Mr Lick]

Jordan Nolan of the Kings waves to fans in the midst of confetti falling down during the Los Angeles Kings Stanley Cup Victory Parade on June 14 in Los Angeles.

[Mr Lick]

People walk along a beach in Saint-Brevin-les-Pins, western France, next to the Chinese Huang Yong Ping's work, "Serpent d'ocean" (Ocean snake), one of the nine works of the art event "Estuaire" (estuary of the Loire river). "Estuaire" and "Le voyage a Nantes" (A journey to Nantes), two contemporary art events, the first along the estuary, the second in forty stages which runs along 8.5 km in Nantes' streets, take place from June 15 to August 19.



A work by Austrian artist Erwin Wurm: "Le bateau mou" (Misconceivable).



A work by US artist Sarah Sze: "The Settlers."



A man takes pictures of "La maison dans la Loire" (The house in the Loire river) by French artist Jean-Luc Courcoult.

[Mr Lick]

Hungarian Istvan Puskas poses with his wooden chopper in Tiszaors, 100 miles east of Budapest on Thursday. Puskas, a 52-year-old tractor driver, built his bike in two years from firewood.

[Mr Lick]

Syrian soldiers are seen near a burnt building in Haffa town near Latakia city on Thursday. A United Nations convoy arrived in the Syrian town of Haffeh on Thursday to find it almost deserted, with burnt down state buildings, abandoned shops and a corpse in the street.

[Mr Lick]

A U.S. Army soldier reacts inside an armored vehicle after his comrade was wounded at patrol by an improvised explosive device in southern Afghanistan on June 12



U.S. Army soldiers secure an area as a medic treats a comrade wounded by an improvised explosive device at a patrol in southern Afghanistan on June 12.

[Mr Lick]

Faces of fans at the Euro 2012 tournament

[Mr Lick]

A protester shouts as he stands on top of a barricade in front of soldiers outside the Supreme Constitutional Court in Cairo on June 14. Ex-military officer Ahmed Shafik was given the green light on Thursday to run for president when Egypt's constitutional court ruled against a law that would have thrown him out of the race, judicial sources said.






A protester covers his mouth with tape outside the Supreme Constitutional Court, where a decision is expected on the validity of the law passed by the Islamist-led parliament that sought to bar Ahmed Shafik, Hosni Mubarak's last prime minister, from the vote pitting him against the Muslim Brotherhood's Mohamed Morsy, in Cairo on June 14.






Egyptians protest outside the Supreme Constitutional Court in Cairo on June 14, as the court examines a law which threatens to bar presidential candidate and former premier Ahmed Shafiq from competing in this weekend's presidential runoff.

[Mr Lick]

France's President Francois Hollande, left, attends a funeral ceremony for four French soldiers killed in Afghanistan at Les Invalides in Paris on June 14, 2012.

France's President Francois Hollande paid his respects during a solemn funeral ceremony for four French soldiers killed in Afghanistan in Paris on Thursday.

In the courtyard of the site of Napoleon's grave, the domed Invalides, Hollande decorated each of the coffins with a starred medal on a red ribbon, honoring the four posthumously as Knights of the Legion of Honor, France's highest award.

[Mr Lick]

Looking like a yard sale, furniture and personal belongings sit in front of a house that appears to be abandoned in Antioch, California. May foreclosure filings surged 9% to 205,990, including default notices, scheduled auctions and bank repossessions. The spike is the first monthly increase since January



Stylish even when he's walking off the 17th green, here is Tiger Woods during the first round of the US Open golf tournament in San Francisco



Like a bat out of hell? Meat Loaf performs at the Songwriters Hall of Fame annual induction and awards ceremony in New York



The Burmese opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi gets a standing ovation in the Swiss parliament. She will visit Switzerland, Norway, Britain, France and Ireland on her two-week tour, which will also include a speech in Oslo to formally accept the Nobel peace prize



Marion Marechal-Le Pen, a National Front party candidate in the French legislative elections, does some touchy-feely campaigning in Carpentras. The second round of the elections takes place on Sunday



Des-res? Workers put the final touches to 'Le monte meubles l'ultime déménagement' art installation by Leandro Erlich in Nantes, France



Regent Street in London goes global, decorated with flags 'as it welcomes the world to celebrate the London 2012 Games' and spend a bit of cash while it's here, presumably



More colour in London. People walk past decorated replica traditional phoneboxes on display in Trafalgar Square, central London. The BT ArtBox campaign has brought together more than 80 artists, and the boxes will eventually be auctioned to raise money for the 25th anniversary of the children's protection charity ChildLine

[Mr Lick]

Dakar, Senegal: Models wait backstage during the 10th Dakar Fashion Week



Athens, Greece: A family beg on the street



Athens, Greece: Supporters of the Socialist Pasok party leader, Evangelos Venizelos, cheer during a pre-election rally



Manama, Bahrain: An anti-government protester gestures as she is detained by riot police



Srinagar, Kashmir: Indian police detain a government employee dyed with purple coloured water from a water canon during a protest

[Mr Lick]

Juxtaposition of Irish fans drinking beer and an elderly Polish lady sitting on a bench before the Euro 2012 match between Ireland and Spain in Gdansk, Poland



Norwegian rightwing extremist Anders Behring Breivik sits in the courtroom in Oslo. Foresenic psychiatrists said when Breivik was aged four, he was seen as being 'challenging, clinging, hyperactive and aggressive', adding that social workers considered removing him from his mother



This surreal and vaguely disturbing image shows fans riding in the paddock during the Day of Champions – Riders for a health charity auction, during the MotoGp at Silverstone circuit



Police try to detain a protesting garment worker who is demanding an increase in monthly wages in Dhaka, Bangladesh



A moment of motherly love here as a newborn calf is groomed by its mother Shahni at the zoo in Hanover. The young Rothschild giraffe was born earlier in June and now stands a paltry two metres tall



Injured Indonesian punk Arif, 16, is treated at hospital in Banda Aceh after villagers attacked a group of 15 punks gathered nearby. In December, more than 60 young punk fans were detained at a concert and forced to undergo a 10-day moral rehabilitation camp run by police

[Mr Lick]

An army soldier stands guard at a local authority compound damaged during recent fighting between the army and al Qaeda-linked militants in southern Yemeni city of Zinjibar June 14, 2012. Yemeni troops and tribesmen advanced on the southern coastal town of Shaqra on Thursday, driving out al-Qaeda linked militants in a U.S.-backed offensive to recapture territory, a local official and residents said



Soldiers patrol through a neighbourhood that was burnt during recent violence in Sittwe, Myanmar, June 14, 2012. The violence had killed 21 people as of Monday, state media said, but activists fear the death toll could be much higher. At least 1,600 houses have been burnt down. The army has taken hundreds of Rohingyas to Muslim villages outside Sittwe to ensure their safety. Places that were flashpoints earlier in the week, including the state capital Sittwe, were quiet as violence started to subside after days of arson attacks and killing that have presented reformist President Thein Sein with one of his biggest challenges since taking office last year.



Spain's Fernando Torres (top) jumps over Ireland's goalkeeper Shay Given during their Group C Euro 2012 match at the PGE Arena stadium in Gdansk, June 14, 2012.



Shams al-Mohamad, a 6-year-old Syrian girl, lies on a stretcher as she looks at her sister Marwa at a hospital in Tripoli, northern Lebanon, June 14, 2012. According to their mother, Shams and Marwa were wounded two days ago when a shell hit their house during fighting between Syrian troops and anti-government forces in the Syrian town of Qusair.



Daughters of the late Prince Tomohito, Princess Akiko (L) and Princess Yoko, attend the funeral of their father, a cousin of Emperor Akihito, at Toshimagaoka imperial cemetery in Tokyo June 14, 2012. Tomohito, who was sixth in line to the Chrysanthemum Throne, died of cancer at 66 on June 6.



Dr. Fatima Haji (R) hugs Nada Daif, wife of Dr. Ghassan Daif, after hearing the verdicts announced by a Bahraini court in Manama June 14, 2012. A Bahrain appeals court convicted nine medics on Thursday for their role in last year's pro-democracy uprising, and acquitted nine others, in a controversial case that has drawn international criticism of the U.S.-allied Gulf Arab state.

[Mr Lick]

Nik Wallenda, a member of the famed "Flying Wallendas" family of aerialists, completed a historic tightrope crossing through the mist over Niagara Falls Gorge on Friday, stepping from a two-inch (5 cm) cable onto safe ground in Canada to wild cheers from onlookers.

Wallenda made the walk from the U.S. side of the falls to the Canadian side, a journey of 1,800 feet (550 meters) over treacherous waters and rocks, in a little more than 25 minutes.

[Mr Lick]

Undocumented UCLA students stand in line at a graduation ceremony for UCLA "Dreamers", or Dream Act students, at a church near the campus in Los Angeles on Friday. Undocumented youths who came to the United States as children reacted with joy to an Obama administration rule change on Friday that could spare them deportation, although opponents slammed it as amnesty

The announcement represented a major policy shift, and its political implications will be significant.

Cesar Vargas, who started DRM Capitol Group, LLC, to advocate for people in his position -- he illegally entered the country from Mexico when he was 5 years old -- welcomed Obama’s announcement: “We’re speechless.”

“A lot of the work that dreamers have been doing … it’s showing fruit, so we’re a little bit shocked, a little surprised and definitely excited,” said Vargas, 28.

[Mr Lick]

Residents affected by the Belo Monte dam protest by spelling out "Pare Belo Monte," meaning "Stop Belo Monte," at the Belo Monte construction site on June 15, 2012. Activists, indigenous people, fishermen and coastal community members removed a strip of earth to restore the flow of the Xingu River as a protest against the construction near Altamira, Brazil.



Activists dig on the barrier of a construction site for the Belo Monte Dam project at Vitoria do Xingu, near Altamira Brazil on June 15, 2012.

[Mr Lick]

A pigeon sits on top of a tortoise in the National Garden on June 15, 2012 in Athens, Greece. - i wouldn't open my mouth if i were you young fellow!



Illusionists Cyril Takayama performs in Mumbai, India on June 15, 2012. Takayama is in India to promote his television show.

[Mr Lick]

Supporters of the Unified Communist Party Nepal (Maoist) arrive for a mass gathering in Kathmandu on June 15. According to local media reports, the party leaders of UCPN-Maoist organized the meeting to protest the obstructions presented by the Nepali Congress and the Communist Party of Nepal-Unified Marxist Leninist (CPN-UML) to the achievement of a constitution with federalism.






A Communist flag flutters as supporters of establishment faction of the Unified Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist) gather during the mass meeting in Katmandu, on June 15. The establishment faction of the Maoist party on Friday organized a grand mass rally of their supporters in an apparent show of strength and to protest the obstruction by the opposition party Nepali Congress and CPN-UML for federalism with identity and constitution with federalism, according to the local newspapers.

[Mr Lick]

Miners run from tear gas fired by riot police officers as they try to defend their position inside the mine "El Soton" during clashes in El Entrego near Oviedo, Spain, on June 15. Strikes, road blockades, and mine sit-ins continue as 8,000 mineworkers at over 40 coal mines in northern Spain continue their protests against government action to cut coal subsidies.












Miners fire handmade rockets at riot police officers, unseen, as they defend their positions near the mine "El Soton" during clashes in El Entrego near Oviedo, Spain, on June 15

[Mr Lick]

A researcher from the University of Bristol removes samples from Tito Bustillo Cave in Spain. The stalactite is painted with a red figure that dates back 29,000 to 36,000 years.

When archaeologists tried out a new technique to determine the age of Spain's most famous Paleolithic cave paintings, they were surprised to discover that the paintings were thousands of years older than previously thought — so old that it's conceivable they were painted by Neanderthals.

The technique just might change the way we think about the paintings, and the way we think about our long-extinct, long-maligned Neanderthal cousins as well






Six-foot (2-meter) paintings of horses in Spain's Tito Bustillo Cave overlay earlier red paintings that, from dating elsewhere in the cave, might be older than 29,000 years.



The "Corredor de los Puntos" lies within Spain's El Castillo cave. Red disks here have been dated to between 34,000 and 36,000 years ago, and elsewhere in the cave to 40,800 years ago, making them examples of Europe's earliest cave art.

[Mr Lick]

Greek health service in crisis

Greece's rundown state hospitals are cutting off vital drugs, limiting non-urgent operations and rationing even basic medical supplies for exhausted doctors as a combination of economic crisis and political stalemate strangle health funding






A man walks past graffiti depicting a patient on crutches holding a sign that reads 'Health Kaput' in Athens






A doctor of the Greek Delegation of the Doctors of the World stands among patients at the medical centre

[Mr Lick]

Cairo, Egypt: military police form a barricade during a protest outside the supreme constitutional court



London, UK: customised phoneboxes – part of the BT ArtBoxes project for the ChildLine charity



Rio de Janeiro, Brazil: the Amazonian Indian chief Raoni speaks to journalists at the Rio+20 environmental summit - Speak up man!!

[Mr Lick]

A masked Palestinian protester uses a sling to hurl a rock at Israeli soldiers (not pictured), near tyres set on fire by demonstrators during clashes at a protest against the nearby Jewish settlement of Kdumim, in the West Bank village of Kfar Kadum, near Nablus June 15, 2012



Presidential candidate Mohamed Morsy of the Muslim Brotherhood waves to a crowd outside a mosque after attending Friday Prayers in Cairo, June 15, 2012.



Former Goldman Sachs Group Inc board member Rajat Gupta leaves Manhattan Federal Court following a guilty verdict in his trial in New York June 15, 2012.



A tourist has her picture taken with a Royal Guard at the Royal Palace in central Oslo June 15, 2012



Sweden fans reacts to their team's loss against England after their Group D Euro 2012 soccer match at the Olympic stadium in KIev, June 15, 2012



An aerial view of Christ the Redeemer statue is lit up in green to celebrate the Rio 20 forum in Rio de Janeiro in this June 14, 2012 handout. The United Nations Rio 20 Conference on Sustainable Development summit will be held from 20 to 22 June.

[Mr Lick]

China has launched it's most ambitious space mission to date

[Mr Lick]

Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince Nayef dies



Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince Nayef bin Abdul Aziz Al Saud has died "outside the kingdom", state media say.

Prince Nayef, who was also deputy prime minister and interior minister, had left the country for a holiday and medical tests late last month.

On 3 June, the deputy interior minister said the prince, who was 77 or 78, was in good health and would return "soon".

He was named crown prince in October 2011 after the death of the previous crown prince, Sultan bin Abdul Aziz.

The succession in Saudi Arabia still passes among the sons of former King Abdul Aziz ibn Saud, who established the modern kingdom during his reign from 1932 to 1953.

Next in line is expected to be Crown Prince Nayef's 76-year-old brother, Prince Salman, who was appointed defence minister in November after spending five decades as governor of Riyadh.

King Abdullah, who is 89 years old, had a back operation last year.

[Mr Lick]

Uefa has opened disciplinary proceedings against the Croatian Football Federation following racist chanting during the Italy game.

It was investigating reports a banana was thrown on to the pitch during the Group C match with Italy on Thursday.

A photographer reportedly saw a steward retrieving a banana and heard monkey chants directed at Mario Balotelli.

The disciplinary proceedings are outlined for "racist chants, racist symbols" in the crowd.

"Uefa has opened disciplinary proceedings against the Croatian Football Federation for the setting-off and throwing of fireworks, and the improper conduct of supporters (racist chants, racist symbols) at the Uefa Euro 2012 Group C match against Italy in Poznan on Thursday," it said in a statement.

The Uefa Control and Disciplinary Body will deal with the case on Tuesday, 19 June.