World News in Pictures

[Mr Lick]

Margaret Moran took £53K in false MP expenses

Margaret Moran was accused of "flipping" her designated second home.

Ex-Labour Luton MP Margaret Moran falsely claimed more than £53,000 in expenses while in office, a jury has ruled.

The 57-year-old was tried in her absence at Southwark Crown Court after she was deemed unfit to stand trial.

She was accused of 15 counts of false accounting and six of using a false instrument over the claims.

The former Luton South MP, who lives in St Denys, Southampton, served in the Commons between 1997 and 2010.

Jurors were unable to return a guilty verdict because of Moran's illness but in a trial of issue, the jury found that she had committed 15 counts of false accounting and six counts of using a false instrument over the claims for parliamentary expenses.

The court had heard that she was able to make a dry rot claim of £22,500 by "flipping" her two homes - changing which property was her second home and therefore allowing her to claim expenses on it.

[Mr Lick]

Georgian Orthodox believers take part in a service in downtown Tbilisi, Georgia, Nov. 13, 2012. Every year people gather to attend a special service devoted to the memory of Georgian Christians who suffered and died for their beliefs.

[Mr Lick]

At right, Namiko Aoki, 84, from Tokyo, Japan, and companions Keiko Nakamura and Kisako Takahara. watch the moon eclipse the sun from Four Mile Beach in Port Douglas, Australia on Wednesday Nov. 14, 2012.



School kids watch the moon's disk begin to cover the sun between first and second contact during a total solar eclipse on June 21, 2001 in Lusaka, Zambia



From left to right, a crowd gathers for a solar eclipse, witnesses totality and leaves an ancient Roman amphitheater in Side, Turkey.

[Mr Lick]

Hobby shepherd, Wolfgang Grensens, decided to raise Wally, a six-weeks-old East-Prussian Skudde lamb, after its mother died.






Wolfgang Grensens goes for a walk with his lamb Wally and his three Australian shepherds in Luebeck, northern Germany

[Mr Lick]

Smoke billows from burning tires as a Syrian rebel of the Halab al-Shabah battalion under Al-Tawhid brigade fires towards regime forces during clashes in al-Amariya district of the northern city of Aleppo on Tuesday. Fierce battles and army shelling in and near Damascus killed at least 41 people, mostly civilians, the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said, as warplanes launched more air raids on a town on the Turkish border

[Mr Lick]

Kyrgyz couples take part in a mass wedding ceremony in the capital Bishkek on Nov. 13. Thirty-five couples took part in the mass wedding sponsored by a state company in Kyrgyzstan

[Mr Lick]

Novak Djokovic v Roger Federer



The O2 Arena in Greenwich, London, is the setting for the final match of the men's tennis season









Federer, who has won the last two end-of-season titles, starts the better



The set goes to a tie-break and despite Federer playing one of the shots of the set, a forehand winner, Djokovic emerges victorious



Djokovic, who has hardly had the upper hand in this match, keeps himself in contention and eventually earns match point on Federer's final service game



He wins the title with the sweetest of backhands



That's his 75th win from 87 matches this season






Federer, meanwhile, looks deflated



Djokovic still looks shocked as the trophy presentation begins

[Mr Lick]

The Prince of Wales met actors from the upcoming Hobbit movie, including Mark Hadlow who plays Dori the dwarf, during a visit to Peter Jackson's Weta Workshop in Wellington on Wednesday. Prince Charles is in New Zealand on the last leg of a Diamond Jubilee tour that has also taken in Papua New Guinea and Australia.



Prince Charles meets actor Peter Hambleton, who is dressed as Gloin the dwarf, during a visit to the makeup department of film maker Peter Jackson's Weta Workshop in Wellington November 14, 2012.

[Mr Lick]

Afghan women sit in a class and study using a mobile phone in Kabul on November 3, 2012. Afghanistan has launched a new literacy program that enables Afghan women mostly deprived from basic education during decades of war to learn to read and write using a mobile phone. The phone is called Ustad Mobile (Mobile Teacher) and provides courses in both national languages, Dari and Pashtu, as well as mathematics

[Mr Lick]

Workers from the phone company Telefonica take part in a demonstration blocking traffic and protesting against the unjustified dismissals at their company ahead of a general strike in Barcelona Spain, Nov. 13, 2012. Spain's main trade unions will stage a general strike, coinciding with similar work stoppages in Portugal and Greece, to protest government-imposed austerity measures and labor reforms. The strike will be the second in Spain this year. The masks read in Spanish: "I am a profitable person."

[Mr Lick]

Syrian rebel fighters



After several weeks of intense battles between rebel fighters and the Syrian army, many buildings in the Jedida district of Aleppo are damaged


















An eight-year-old Syrian girl struggles for life in hospital. She was badly injured in an aerial attack by government forces in the Bab al-Nayrab neighbourhood of Aleppo



Rebel fighters belonging to the Liwa al-Tawhid unit pose for a photo

[Mr Lick]

An artwork entitled Are you still mad at me ? by John Isaacs is displayed at the Death: A Self-portrait exhibition at the Wellcome Collection in London, England. The exhibition showcases 300 works from a unique collection by Richard Harris, a former antique print dealer from Chicago, devoted to the iconography of death



Demonstrators march in Rome during a protest against austerity measures by workers in southern Europe. Thousands of people took to the streets of major cities including Milan and Turin and around 100 towns and cities across the country



Police officers try to push protesters back onto the pavement after they blocked traffic on Oxford Street in London. The demonstration was held to coincide with planned European strikes and to protest over dismissals of 28 workers employed by the Crossrail transport project for being trade union members



Mother of Shabir Ahmed Mir, a suspected militant of Lashkar-e-Taiba, holds a glass of milk as she clings to the bed carrying his body during his funeral procession in Chingam in Srinagar, India. Thousands attended the funeral of Mir a day after he was killed in a gunbattle with government forces in the restive region

[Mr Lick]

A mailbox with a lighthouse design sits on the porch of a burned out home in the Breezy Point section of New York's Queens borough. More than 50 homes were lost in a fire that swept through the oceanside community when superstorm Sandy struck



Film fans queue in Leicester Square, London, after camping the night ahead of the UK premiere of The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn part 2.



Protesters at a general strike in Madrid, Spain. Strikes are taking place across Europe in protest at government-imposed austerity measures and labour reforms

[Mr Lick]

The woman at the centre of the scandal that has America gripped, Paula Broadwell, is visible through the window in the kitchen of her brother's house in Washington. Broadwell is CIA director David Petraeus's biographer, with whom he had an affair that led to his abrupt resignation last Friday. It was Broadwell's threatening emails to Jill Kelley, a Florida woman who is a Petraeus family friend, that led to the FBI's discovery of communications between Broadwell and Petraeus indicating they were having an affair



Zhang Wuyi sits in his newly made multi-seater submarine at his new workshop in Wuhan, China. Zhang, a local farmer, has made seven miniature submarines with several fellow engineers, one of which was sold to a businessman for $15,855. The submarines, mainly designed for harvesting aquatic products, such as sea cucumber, have a diving depth of 20-30 metres



Aung San Suu Kyi scatters rose petals at the memorial of India's first prime minister, Jawaharlal Nehru, in New Delhi, India. The Burmese opposition leader is on a six-day visit to India

[Mr Lick]

A girl practices a Mallakhamb pose while suspended from a rope at the Shree Samartha Vyayam Mandir in Mumbai, October 19, 2012. Mallakhamb is an ancient Indian sport which originated as a complementary exercise for wrestling, but is now practiced as a sport in itself. The name is a combination of the words "malla", which means athlete or strong man, and "khamba", which means pole. Athletes perform a variety of yogic and gymnastic poses while suspended from a rope or on a pole. Practitioners say that the sport not only develops a healthy and strong body, but also strengthens willpower and helps compose the mind



A tourist watches as the moon passing in front of the sun as it approaches a full solar eclipse in the northern Australian city of Cairns November 14, 2012.



A Free Syrian Army fighter fires an anti-aircraft artillery weapon during an air strike in the Syrian town of Ras al-Ain, as seen from the Turkish border town of Ceylanpinar, Sanliurfa province November 13, 2012. A Syrian warplane struck homes in the town of Ras al-Ain on Tuesday within sight of the Turkish border, pursuing an aerial bombardment to force out rebels, a Reuters witness and refugees said.The second day of jet strikes sent Syrians scurrying through the flimsy barbed-wire fence that divides Ras al-Ain from the Turkish settlement of Ceylanpinar, thick plumes of smoke rising above the town.

[Mr Lick]

The second floor of a home damaged by hurricane Sandy hangs to the first floor in the Brooklyn borough neighborhood of Seagate in New York November 13, 2012.



A man walks past empty stores in the deserted Carousel shopping mall in San Bernardino, California September 11, 2012. The city of about 210,000, some 65 miles (104 km) east of Los Angeles, filed for bankruptcy on August 1, joining the Bay Area city of Stockton as a test case for whether financially troubled municipalities can shed bond payments and possibly pension obligations via bankruptcy court



Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard meets with U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton in Perth, Australia, November 13, 2012. Clinton is in Australia to attend the annual Australia-United States Ministerial Consultations

[Mr Lick]

Europe protests against austerity



Spain



Belgium



Lisbon



Madrid

[Mr Lick]

solar eclipse




Oz



Darwin



NZ

[Mr Lick]

Farmers spray water as they try and save around 18,000 empty fruit containers from burning after being set alight by farm workers in Wolseley, South Africa, on Nov. 14. Violent protests by farm workers have erupted in South Africa after weeks of unrest in the country's mining industry. The workers have been protesting their wages, saying they want a minimum wage of $17 a day. Currently, workers make about half that amount a day.




Down a two-lane road, where slag heaps tower and miners' shack homes crowd against each other, the labor unrest now gripping South Africa first caught fire.
Mining companies here outside of Rustenburg, a city about 100 kilometers (60 miles) northwest of Johannesburg, saw workers walk off the job and continue to demand higher wages, even after violence during six weeks of strikes and a mass police shooting at one mine killed 46 people. The strikes recently spread to agriculture, South Africa's other major economic engine, as day laborers burned farms and fought with police Wednesday in violence that left at least one person dead and five others injured.

The unrest has shaken South Africa, a nation now free from apartheid-era laws, but not of its legacy of economic disparities between whites and blacks. And though the grip of the strikes appear to have loosened, the damage done to South Africa's anemic economy could last even longer.

Wednesday, their protest turned violent as workers set fire to some farms, overturned a police truck and confronted officers in riot gear in the country's Western Cape. The police fired tear gas to drive away protesters, as the sounds of gunshots could be heard in local television footage.

One man was killed in the violence "as a result of police action," police Lt. Col. Andre Traut told the South African Press Association. At least five other people were injured.






The remainder of 18,000 empty fruit containers after they were set alight by farm workers in Wolseley, South Africa, on Nov. 14.






Fruit bins burn at a packing store on Nov. 14, in Wolesley, South Africa. The fire, which burnt more than 15,000 wooden bins is thought to be connected to the farm workers strike

[Mr Lick]

Each year members of various major Nihang groups display their martial arts and horse riding skills during the Mohalla procession, the day after Diwali in Amritsar, India. The Sikh celebration of the return of the sixth Guru Hargobind from detention in the Gwalior Fort, known as Bandi Chhorh Divas, marks the day Guru Hargobind had agreed to his release on the condition that the other fifty-two vassal kings who were detainees would also be released.

[Mr Lick]

A police officer fires tear gas as police face demonstrators during a protest against Italian Government austerity measures in Turin, Italy, on Nov. 14. Workers across the European Union sought to present a united front against rampant unemployment and government spending cuts Wednesday with a string of strikes and demonstrations across the region. Protesters clashed with police in various demonstrations in Rome, Milan, Turin, Padua and Brescia.











Demonstrators set up a barricade of burning tires at the main entrance of Mercabarna, the biggest wholesale market in the city, at the beginning of a 24-hour strike on Nov. 14 in Barcelona, Spain. Spain's trade unions have called for today a general strike, the second of Mariano Rajoy's presidency. Protestors from social movements are expected to join striking public sector workers to demonstrate against austerity cuts, labour reforms and an unemployment rate of 25 percent.



Thousands of people from France and Belgium demonstrate during an anti-austerity protest in Lille on Nov. 14. Trade unions lead nationwide strikes and anti-austerity protests across Europe today.



Empty tracks at the Brussels South train station on Nov. 14. A 24-hour rail stoppage and scattered strikes through the south of the nation disrupted daily life. Both the Thalys and Eurostar high-speed rail services that connect Brussels with London and Paris were severely disrupted.

[Mr Lick]

Thousands of people turned out for the funeral of a suspected Lashkar-e-Taiba militant in Indian Kashmir on Wednesday. Shabir Ahmed Mir was killed in a gunbattle with government forces in the restive region on Tuesday, according to police.

[Mr Lick]

Dundee, Scotland: Emma Pead from 19th Regiment Royal Artillery the Highland Gunners takes part in the Homecoming Parade. The Regiment, which is based at Bhurtpore Barracks in Wiltshire, are taking part in two homecoming parades in Dundee and Inverness to mark their recent return from operations in Afghanistan



Milan, Italy: thousands of Italian students join a demonstration against the austerity policy. At least 100 demonstrations were scheduled around the country

[Mr Lick]

Hamas military chief killed in Israeli air strike

Ahmed al-Jaabari, head of Hamas's military wing, has died after his car was struck by a missile in Gaza City



Palestinians extinguish a fire in the car in which Ahmed al-Jaabari was travelling, which was hit by an Israeli missile















A man holds a damaged copy of the Qur'an after the Israeli air strike



Palestinian men react as security forces wheel Jaabari's body into a hospital



Smoke rises following an Israeli air strike in Khan Yunis in the southern Gaza Strip



Jaabari in 2011

[Mr Lick]

Barclays 2011-12 season Shot of the Season and Photographer of the Season

Barclays today announces the Guardian and Observer's Tom Jenkins as winner of Shot of the Season and the Press Association's Owen Humphreys as the winner of the Photographer of the Season. The awards honour the photographers who best captured the passion, excitement and drama that defined the 2011/12 Barclays Premier League season.



Arsenal v Swansea City 10/09/2011 The Swansea mascot looks fed up not to be included in the huddle before kick off. Tom Jenkins said “It is an honour to have won Barclays 2011/12 Shot of the Season, especially with an image that captures the quirky and fun side of football. I’ve worked hard over the years to capture iconic moments, so it’s great that this has been recognised by the judges.” Jenkins has previously said of the image "[It's] Probably my favourite picture I have shot this year ... It’s unusual but pleasing to be able to get a sweet, soft picture like this at a high-profile Premier League game



Newcastle United v Stoke City 21/04/2012 A general view of the action, taken using a tilt and shift lens. Owen Humphreys commented: “I’m delighted to receive this award from Barclays. Last season’s Barclays Premier League was one of the best I have witnessed and I feel privileged to have attended some of the best matches and have always tried to capture them in an imaginative way. Football photography continues to be such an important part of the sport, documenting stand-out moments for everyone to enjoy.”



Newcastle United v Bolton Wanderers 09/04/2012 Newcastle's Papiss Cisse celebrates after scoring



Newcastle United v Chelsea 13/12/2011 Chelsea Manager Andre Villas Boas and his backroom staff celebrates the Blues's second goal during their 3-0 victory



Newcastle United v Arsenal 13/08/2011 Arsenal's Alex Song, left, and Newcastle United's Shola Ameobi battle for the ball.



Sunderland v Chelsea 10/09/2011 Chelsea's Daniel Sturridge celebrates after equalising for Chelsea during their 2-1 win over the Black Cats