World News in Pictures

[OhOh]

Summer arrives in Britain.

Nottingham City centre



A meadow near Horsham West Sussex.



A Norfolk woodland scene.



For the radio 4 comedy listeners Budleigh Salterton

[Mr Lick]

Rohan Ajit Kokane, an 11-year-old from India, performs in Hong Kong on July 25, 2012, flattening his body until none of it is higher than 6.75 inches off the ground. The event staged in a local shopping mall was aimed at encouraging participation in sports among the elderly

[Mr Lick]

Damaged vehicles after flooding in the town of Laishui in northern China's Hebei province, just north of capital Beijing, on July 24, 2012.






Water released from the Three Gorges Dam, a gigantic hydropower project on the Yangtze river, in Yichang, central China's Hubei province, on July 24, 2012 after heavy downpours in the upper reaches of the dam caused the highest flood peak of the year.



Beijing suffered through a 10-hour downpour over the weekend that dumped 6.7 inches of rain in parts of the city and as much as 18 inches in the worst hit parts on the outskirts of Beijing in what is being called the worst flooding to hit the Chinese capital in six decades.
The subsequent severe flooding killed at least 37 people in the country's capital and affected nearly two million people, sparking millions of angry messages and complaints on China’s Twitter-like service, Weibo, in recent days. Users posted countless home videos and pictures of cars struggling through wheel-deep water, waterfalls cascading down into Beijing's subway entrances and cars being swept away by the currents

[Mr Lick]

New Indian president Pranab Mukherjee, front in black coat, inspects a ceremonial guard of honor at the Presidential Palace after the oath taking ceremony, in New Delhi, India, on July 25, 2012.

Escorted by the president's bodyguards, in white uniforms, Mukherjee, 76, was sworn in Wednesday as India's 13th president in an elaborate ceremony in parliament.

[Mr Lick]

Police officers stand guard after protesters set fire to a nearby trash bin during a demonstration to show outrage at the fatal shooting of Manuel Angel Diaz, at Anaheim City Hall on July 24, 2012 in Anaheim, California. Diaz was fatally shot on July 21 by an Anaheim police officer and has sparked days of protests by the angered community.



Police officers take a man into custody after he refused to disperse during a demonstration at Anaheim City Hall on July 24, 2012.









Patrons huddle for cover as windows are broken by demonstrators with chairs as police officers from Orange County move protesters away from Anaheim City Hall on July 24, 2012



An injured pedestrian cries out to end the destruction of local properties after violence erupted between police officers and protesters at Anaheim City Hall on July 24, 2012

[Mr Lick]

Laser Radial class dinghies sail during a practice session ahead of the start of the London 2012 Olympic Games in Weymouth and Portland, southern England, July 24, 2012.

[Mr Lick]

Christian Bale visits Aurora to meet shooting survivors, mourners and hospital staff

Christian Bale, star of The Dark Knight Rises, and his wife, Sibi Blazic, have visited the Colorado town of Aurora where a gunman shot dead 12 people at a screening of the film



Christian Bale, star of The Dark Knight Rises, and his wife, Sibi Blazic, arrive at a memorial in Aurora to place flowers for victims of the Colorado shooting















Christian Bale with staff of the Medical Centre of Aurora where victims of the Colorado theatre shooting were treated

[Mr Lick]

Duisburg, Germany: A woman commemorates victims of the Love Parade stampede two years after the accident, when 21 young visitors were crushed to death as they desperately tried to escape from a narrow tunnel



Washington, DC, US: A security guard at an office building looks on as activists protest the social and economic costs of putting profit in front of the resources, rights and policies that can end HIV/Aids



Afgoye, Somalia: A man herds his camels



Rio de Janeiro, Brazil: A woman holds her child to the window as they observe a policeman patrolling the Alemao Complex shantytown during an operation to find drug dealers

[Mr Lick]

Put them down, someone might get hurt: Venezuelan President, Hugo Chávez, talks holding two pistols belonging to Simón Bolívar, during an official act where he unveiled a scanned image of the face of Bolívar after a three-dimensional facial reconstruction based on the skull structure of the man called 'Liberator,' to commemorate the 229th birthday of the national hero, in Miraflores Palace, Caracas, last night



Has he got a licence for that moustache? Participants take part in the annual Days of '47 Pioneer Day Parade, which honours the settling of Utah by the Mormon pioneers who arrived in the Salt Lake Valley on 24 July 1847



People sit on a set of Olympic Rings floating in the river Thames off Battersea Park during a hot night in London



A child cries after a fire breaks out at a refugee camp in the capital city of Podgorica in Montenegro, yesterday. The camp holds refugees from Kosovo and Metohija



Some actual atheletes here: Chinese swimmers perform strength exercises at the Aquatics Centre in the Olympic Park in Stratford in east London

[Mr Lick]

Sex workers march for rights and Aids awareness in Kolkata

Thousands of sex workers marched through the streets of Kolkata, India, with balloons and red umbrellas to demand the decriminalisation of sex work and prostitution worldwide, raise Aids awareness and protest against their exclusion because of visa restrictions from the International Aids Conference taking place in Washington DC this week



An estimated 5,000 sex workers and activists from across India and from more than 40 countries marched shoulder-to-shoulder through Kolkata. The march began in Sonagachi, or 'Golden Tree', in north Kolkata. Sonagachi is one of the oldest red-light districts in the city and one of the biggest in Asia






The rally was part of a week-long international Aids conference organised to protest against the US government's travel restrictions on sex workers wanting to attend an Aids conference in Washington. The words on umbrella say 'Sex workers have lust … for their rights!'












A local sex worker watches the rally. Hundreds of multi-storey brothels line Sonagachi's narrow streets studded with small shops and entries to alleyways. The Kolkata sex trade is mainly brothel-based, operating out of different red light districts. An estimated 11,000 sex workers operate out of Sonagachi. Although most live in the area, roughly 3,000 travel to the district from their homes, working as 'floating' sex workers

[Mr Lick]

Manta ray being driven to extinction by Chinese medicine demand

Demand for the gills of manta and mobula rays has risen dramatically in the past 10 years for use in traditional Chinese medicine. Practitioners say the rays can boost the immune system by reducing toxins and enhancing blood circulation. Other supposed medical benefits include curing cancer, chickenpox, throat and skin ailments, kidney issues and fertility issues






A large manta ray is speared for its gills and meat in Indonesia



The manta ray is pulled up alongside the boat






The manta ray's wings and head are cut off and its gills removed. A mature ray can yield up to 7kg of dried gills that retail for up to £300 per kilo in a market in China



These developments are especially troubling because manta rays grow slowly, take many years to mature, and typically produce only one pup per pregnancy









For years this trade has continued, largely undocumented and unregulated, with little known about its consequences



Mobula gills are layed out to dry in the hot Sri Lanka sun



Manta and mobula gills for sale in the dry seafood area of Guangzhou, China

[Mr Lick]

London 2012: David Beckham surprises shoppers in photobooth

Shoppers at Westfield shopping centre near the Olympic Park in east London were surprised when the footballer unexpectedly dropped in on their photobooth sessions

[Mr Lick]

Mrs. Kim Jong-un




North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un and an unidentified woman visit the Rungna People's Pleasure Ground in Pyongyang in this undated picture released by the North's KCNA on July 25, 2012. Kim Jong-un has married, state media say, putting an end to speculation over the relationship with a woman seen at his side recently.

[Mr Lick]

Bob Bowers of Madison, Wisconsin, weeps as names of AIDS victims are read aloud at the AIDS Memorial Quilt on the National Mall in Washington July 24, 2012. Bowers, who has been HIV positive for 30 years, has lost dozens of friends to AIDS. The international AIDS 2012 conference is currently being held in Washington.



A brassiere from the late Middle Ages is pictured at the University of Innsbruck, archaeology department July 24, 2012. The textiles date back to the year 1440-1485 and were discovered in 2008 during renovations of the castle Lengberg in East Tyrol, according to the university. The decayed finds were pieced together recently.



Public health workers shout slogans during a protest against government austerity measures in Madrid July 24, 2012. The sign reads "Hands up, this is a robbery".

[Mr Lick]

A member of the group Traffic Psychologists fixes his clown nose in a toilet of a petrol station in preparation for his performance at a traffic light in Sao Paulo July 23, 2012. Traffic Psychologists is a non-profit non-governmental organization which aims to humanize traffic and reduce the level of stress caused to drivers. Sao Paulo has more than 7 million vehicles, according to figures from the state transport authority Detran.



Artist Pyotr Pavlensky, a supporter of jailed members of female punk band "Pussy Riot", looks on with his mouth sewed up as he protests outside the Kazan Cathedral in St. Petersburg, July 23, 2012. A court on Monday rejected a request to call President Vladimir Putin and the head of the Russian Orthodox Church to testify in the trial of three female punk rockers who derided Putin in a protest in the country's main cathedral, their lawyer said.



Sailor Vu Van Ba (C) cries as he hugs his parents upon his arrival at Noi Bai airport in Hanoi July 24, 2012. Ba is one of 12 Vietnamese sailors who had been held by Somali pirates for more than 18 months. Their vessel was attacked in December 2010.



Ghana's Vice-President John Dramani Mahama (C) sits after taking the oath of office as head of state, hours after the announcement of the death of Ghana's President John Atta Mills, in the capital Accra, July 24, 2012. Mills, who won international praise for presiding over a stable model democracy in Africa, died suddenly on Tuesday and his vice-president was quickly sworn in to replace him at the helm of the oil, gold and cocoa producer. Mahama, 53, will serve as caretaker president until the elections at the end of the year.

[Mr Lick]

A city destroyed




Damaged buildings are seen at Juret al-Shayah in Homs, July 20, 2012.

[Mr Lick]

London 2012 Olympics preparations

[Mr Lick]

Christie brothers jailed for life for Brian Faulds murder



Brian Faulds's body was discovered on a walkway near Dalmarnock Bridge


Two brothers have been jailed for life for brutally murdering a man before dumping his burned body near a bridge over the River Clyde in Glasgow.

Paul Christie, 29, and Adam Christie, 27, admitted using axes, a knife and meat cleaver to kill Brian Faulds, 29, at a flat in Dalmarnock in September.

They have each been ordered to serve a minimum of 24 years in prison.

Sentence on their younger brother Bryan, 22, who admitted helping to move Mr Faulds's body, was deferred.

Paul and Adam Christie entered guilty pleas on Tuesday, during the second day of their trial at the High Court in Edinburgh.

[Mr Lick]

Former police inspector Richard Munro jailed




A former policeman has been jailed for five years for withholding evidence from prosecutors while investigating a murder in Fife 17 years ago.

Richard Munro, 53, was found guilty last month of attempting to defeat the ends of justice, after a trial at the High Court in Edinburgh.

As a detective inspector he led the investigation into the killing of Andrew Forsyth in Dunfermline in 1995.

Steven Johnston and Billy Allison were jailed for murder then later acquitted.

Munro was sentenced at the High Court in Aberdeen.

[Mr Lick]

Greek Olympian Papachristou expelled for 'racist tweet'




Greek triple jumper Voula Papachristou has been expelled from her country's Olympic team over comments she posted on Twitter which were deemed racist.

Papachristou was due to compete in the London 2012 Games, which officially start this Friday.

But the Hellenic Olympic Committee said her posts mocking African immigrants and expressing support for a far-right party went against the Olympic spirit.

Papachristou has apologised for the "unfortunate and tasteless joke".

As well as the comment on Monday referring to the West Nile virus and Africans living in Greece, Papachristou also reposted a tweet by Ilias Kasidiaris, a politician with the far-right Golden Dawn party, criticising Prime Minister Antonis Samaras's stance on immigration.

Her remarks had sparked calls from the public and within the Greek government for her to be thrown out of the team.

The head of the Greek committee, Isidoros Kouvelos, said the 23-year-old had "showed no respect for the basic Olympian value".

"She made a mistake and in life we pay for our mistakes," he told SKAI TV.

[Mr Lick]

Burma sentences Thai farmers for farming over border



The issue of the farmers was apparently raised during the Burmese president's trip to Thailand


A group of Thai farmers has been sentenced to jail for illegally farming in Burma, according to Thailand's foreign ministry.

Burma had accused the 92 men and women of running a rubber plantation on the wrong side of the border.

A court sentenced them to three years in jail for immigration offences and six months for cutting down forest.

News of the sentence comes after Burma's President Thein Sein's first official trip to Thailand.

The Burmese army arrested the Thai nationals for "illegally operating" 1,500 acres (607 hectares) of rubber plantations earlier this month.

Investigations are going on as to why the farmers had a large number of vehicles and a cache of weapons in their possession when they were arrested.

[Mr Lick]

Aurora shooting: Colorado gun sales up after cinema killings



Gun customer: "The incident opened up my eyes to what's going on out there"


The number of people seeking to buy guns in Colorado has soared since last week's mass shooting in the US state's town of Aurora, say law officials.

In the three days after the shooting, applications for the background checks needed to buy a gun legally were up 43% on the previous week.

The shooting at a cinema showing the new Batman movie left 12 people dead and 58 injured - 20 remain in hospital.

The suspected gunman appeared in court for the first time on Monday.

James Holmes, 24, is accused of throwing two canisters of gas into a busy midnight showing of the Batman film The Dark Knight Rises, before firing at random into the crowd.

Prosecutors say Mr Holmes had legally bought his weapons and the thousands of rounds of ammunition he had stockpiled in his apartment, which he had booby-trapped with explosives.

[Mr Lick]

London 2012: Selsouli to miss Games after failed drugs test




Moroccan 1500m runner Mariem Alaoui Selsouli has failed a drugs test and will miss the London Olympics.

Selsouli, 28, who won silver at the World Indoor Championships this year, tested positive for a banned diuretic in a sample taken in Paris on 6 July.

She has been banned for doping once before and now faces a lifetime ban.

"The prohibited substance furosemide was found," read an International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) statement.

"Alaoui Selsouli has waived her right to the B analysis, and as a result has now been provisionally suspended from all competition in athletics.

"In accordance with IAAF Rules, she still has the right to request a hearing which needs to be held by the Moroccan Athletic Federation within the next three months."

[Mr Lick]

US monsignor William Lynn sentenced for abuse cover-up



US Roman Catholic Monsignor William Lynn has been sentenced to three to six years in jail for covering up a sex abuse complaint against a priest.

Lynn supervised hundreds of priests in his role as secretary for clergy at the Archdiocese of Philadelphia.

Last month he became the most senior clergyman convicted in connection to the US Roman Catholic Church scandal.

Judge M Teresa Sarmina said Lynn enabled "monsters in clerical garb... to destroy the souls of children".

"You knew full well what was right, Monsignor Lynn, but you chose wrong," the judge said

Lynn was found guilty of endangering the victim of Edward Avery, a former priest convicted in 1999 of sexual assault.

He had declared Avery guilty of an earlier complaint by 1994, and helped steer him into a treatment programme. But he also knew that Avery was later sent to live in a new parish, where he assaulted an altar boy.

"I did not intend any harm to come to [Avery's victim]. The fact is, my best was not good enough to stop that harm," Lynn said. "I am a parish priest. I should have stayed [as one]."

The sentence handed down was less than the maximum seven-year penalty prosecutors had sought for Lynn's conviction on one count of child endangerment.

[Mr Lick]

Dog Day Afternoon writer Frank Pierson dies



Frank Pierson, who won an Oscar for his screenplay of the 1975 Al Pacino film Dog Day Afternoon, has died aged 87.

His family said he died of natural causes at a Los Angeles hospital after a short illness.

Pierson was also Oscar-nominated for his screenplays for the 1967 Paul Newman prison drama Cool Hand Luke and 1965 western Cat Ballou.

More recently, he worked as a writer and producer on TV shows Mad Men and The Good Wife.

After three seasons on Mad Men, he had been expected to return for the show's sixth run next year.

Best known for Dog Day Afternoon - based on a real-life bank heist in Brooklyn - Pierson penned the famous moment when Pacino shouted "Attica!" outside the bank in reference to the Attica prison riot in New York State in 1971.

He also wrote and directed Barbra Streisand and Kris Kristofferson's film musical, A Star Is Born, as well as a number of other TV movies.