World News in Pictures

[Mr Lick]

An aerial view shows an illegal mine in the jungle in southern Venezuela.





Rough diamonds are seen on the desk of a trader in his office in Santa Elena de Uairen in the south of Venezuela.



Heavily armed guards hold their weapons outside a business licensed to buy rough diamonds and gold in Georgetown, the capital of Guyana.



A miner named Ramon flashes a gold letter 'R' on his tooth as he smiles after working in a mine in Bolivar.

[Mr Lick]

Workers throw out computers, monitors and other flood-damaged office equipment from businesses affected by Superstorm Sandy in South Street Seaport on Dec. 3 in New York City.



South Street Seaport, an area popular with tourists that was about to go through a major redevelopment, suffered severe damage from Superstorm Sandy. Most of the buildings and businesses, including the South Street Seaport Museum, were severely flooding and remain closed



Workers repair a flood damaged road affected by Superstorm Sandy in South Street Seaport on Dec. 3 in New York City.









A man stands in front of a closed business affected by Superstorm Sandy in the heavily damaged South Street Seaport area on Dec. 3 in New York City.

[Mr Lick]

A demonstrator holds safety flares while taking part in a protest against the construction of the trans-Alpine high-speed train tunnel link in Lyon during the Franco-Italian summit.



The waiting media outside King Edward VII Hospital in central London where the Duchess of Cambridge has been admitted following the announcement that she is expecting a baby. She is said to have a form of severe morning sickness



More primates: This is Jozef de Fraine's entry in the 2013 Sony World Photography Awards travel section. Jozef is from Belgium and the family of Black Macaques are in Indonesia



Blood stains are seen on the pavement after mortar shells landed near bread shop operated by the civilian arm of the Free Syrian Army in the Bustan Al-Qasr neighborhood of Aleppo. The United Nations is to pull non-essential staff out of Syria because of the growing conflict dangers and is restricting travel

[Mr Lick]

Loyalist protestors waving Union Jack flags as they block the back of the City Hall in Belfast where councilors are debating whether or not to keep the flag flying at City Hall. Nationalist councilors want it removed as they argue that this would create a more equal and neutral environment. Currently the flag is flown every day of the year at the building



Riot police officers stand in formation outside the city hall in Maribor, Slovenia. Anti government protests were held throughout Slovenia the day after the second round of presidential elections.



Eastern approaches: US President Barack Obama shares joke with Bulgarian Prime Minister Boyko Borissov in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington DC. President Obama and Prime Minister Borissov discussed Bulgaria's role in NATO and its contributions to NATO-led efforts in Afghanistan



People stand in front of riot police during a demonstration against the new LGV Lyon-Turin project on the sideline of the 30th France-Italy annual summit



The last stop: A subway employee is seen on an empty platform during a strike in Buenos Aires, Argentina. The Tramway and Motorized Drivers Union (UTA) decreed a total stoppage in the six subway lines and Premetro, according to local press

[Mr Lick]

Cairo roadblocks in Egypt protests



Sections of concrete blocks have been springing up in various parts of the city

[Mr Lick]

The Dandy: final edition goes on sale

Its publishers say The Dandy will live on in cyberspace, and as an app

The last-ever printed edition of one of the world's longest-running comics has gone on sale.

The Dandy, which features characters such as Desperate Dan and Korky the Kat, was first published 75 years ago.

But its circulation has plummeted to about 8,000 copies a week in recent years, from a peak of two million in the 1950s.

Publisher DC Thompson has now launched the comic online, and as a smartphone and tablet app.

The final print edition coincides with the title's 75th anniversary, and will include a pullout reprint of the very first edition of the comic from 4 December 1937.

[Mr Lick]

Dutch youth league football linesman dies after attack

Richard Nieuwenhuizen officiated as linesman each week at Buitenboys, the club said

A Dutch man has died after being kicked and punched by a group of teenage football players for whom he acted as linesman in a Sunday league match.

Richard Nieuwenhuizen collapsed and was taken to hospital hours after he was beaten by three players from Amsterdam club Nieuw Sloten. He died on Monday.

He had been officiating for Buitenboys club, in the town of Almere, and one of his own sons had been playing.

Three teenagers, aged between 15 and 16, have reportedly been arrested.

[Mr Lick]

Mexicans charged over Terrell Horne Coast Guard death

The team's commanding officer said Terrell Horne was the best shipmate he had ever known

Two Mexican men have been charged with killing a US federal officer after a suspected smuggler's vessel collided with a US Coast Guard boat.

Jose Meija Leyva and Manuel Beltran Higuera were indicted in Los Angeles, California, over the death of 34-year-old Chief Petty Officer Terrell Horne.

Two officers were thrown overboard off the southern California coast in the early hours of Sunday morning,

Horne suffered a serious head injury and was later pronounced dead

[Mr Lick]

US man shoots ex-wife at church organ

Police outside the church after the Sunday service shooting in Pennsylvania

A US music teacher has been charged with shooting dead his ex-wife while she played the organ in church.

Gregory Eldred, 52, is in custody accused of shooting dead Darlene Sitler about 20 minutes into the service on Sunday in Pennsylvania.

Court papers say he then threatened to shoot the pastor and two other worshippers who confronted him.

The 53-year-old victim was organist and choir director at the First United Presbyterian Church of Coudersport.

Mr Eldred has been a music teacher to young students in Coudersport since 1986.

His ex-wife also taught music at a primary school in a neighbouring district, Northern Potter, for 30 years.

The school superintendent there said the couple had been divorced for several years.

[Mr Lick]

Fort Hood Nidal Hasan shooting trial judge removed

Nidal Hasan is accused of opening fire on soldiers preparing for deployment at Fort Hood

The top US military court has removed the judge in a case of a man accused of killing 13 people at a Texas army base.

The US Court of Appeals for the Armed Forces said Col Gregory Gross had not appeared fully impartial in the case of Maj Nidal Hasan.

The court also overturned an order that the suspect have his beard forcibly shaved before his court martial.

Maj Hasan could face the death penalty if convicted over a 2009 shooting spree that wounded over two dozen people.

The court said Col Gross had "allowed the proceedings to become a duel of wills between himself and Major Nidal Hasan, rather than an adjudication of the serious offenses with which Hasan is charged".

Thirty-two people were injured in the attack. Maj Hasan, an army psychiatrist, faces 13 counts of pre-meditated murder and 32 counts of attempted pre-meditated murder.

[Mr Lick]

Palestinian security guards pray at a soccer stadium which witnesses said was destroyed in an Israeli air strike last month, in Gaza City on December 4, 2012.

Eight days of Israeli air strikes on Gaza and cross-border Palestinian rocket attacks ended in an Egyptian-brokered truce agreement last month, calling on Israel to ease restrictions on the territory.

[Mr Lick]

Spanish emergency services and the Moroccan navy intercepted three inflatable boats carrying sub-Saharan migrants across the Strait of Gibraltar on Monday, Agence France-Presse reports.

Thousands of Africans attempt to reach Europe from Morocco every year by crossing the narrow straits, often in leaky boats, with many dying

[Mr Lick]

Kuwaiti protesters clashed with riot police on Tuesday during a demonstration against the results of an election boycotted by the opposition, Reuters reports.

Kuwait's ruler accepted the government's resignation on Monday, the state news agency KUNA said, a step designed to make way for a new cabinet in the Gulf Arab state.

Kuwait to free politician on bail after arrest for insulting emir sparks protests

The newly elected parliament is expected to be more cooperative with the government than its predecessor because of the opposition boycott of the vote.






A demonstrator kicks a tear gas canister away during clashes with anti-riot police in Kuwait on December 4, 2012.

[Mr Lick]

The defense team for George Zimmerman on Monday posted a high-resolution color photo of the Florida neighborhood watch leader taken by police the night 17-year-old Trayvon Martin was fatally shot.

[Mr Lick]

Workers clear a road with a fallen tree after Typhoon Bopha hit the Filipino city of Tagum, Davao del Norter province, on the southern island of Mindanao on December 4, 2012

[Mr Lick]

A multi-family building, with a supermarket on the ground floor, burns as firefighters from North Hudson Regional Fire and Rescue and the Jersey City Fire Department fight the flames in Union City, N.J., Dec. 3, 2012. Smoke from the fire, located at the corner of Fifth street and Bergenline avenue, could be seen for miles.

[Mr Lick]

Disabled people take part in a demonstration against the government's cuts in social services in Barcelona on Dec. 3, during the International Day of People with Disabilities. The placards read: "This time it is enough."

[Mr Lick]

A dog is chained near a damaged house after Typhoon Bopha made landfall in Compostela Valley in southeastern Philippines. Torrents of water dropped by the powerful typhoon rushed down a mountain, engulfing victims and bringing the death toll from the storm to about 40



Activists from Bangladesh's largest Islamic party Jamaat-e-Islami block a road with burning tyres during a nationwide strike on the outskirts of Dhaka



Meanwhile, editors are meeting the Prime Minister David Cameron and culture secretary Maria Miller to discuss ideas for a new system of press regulation. Tony Gallagher, left, the editor of The Telegraph and Chris Blackhurst, the editor of The Independent arrive at Downing Street

[Mr Lick]

Health workers of San Juan de Dios hospital are protesting against austerity measures in Pamplona, northern Spain. The number of people officially registered as unemployed in Spain has edged up towards five million as the country's recession shows few signs of abating and its struggling banks await crucial bailout cash according to Spain's Labor Ministry



He's not a hot dog...photographed during a snowfall on the outskirts of Russia's Siberian city, Krasnoyarsk



Police officers move forward to protect Belfast City Hall as crowd of loyalists approach, in Northern Ireland. The loyalists stormed into the grounds of Belfast City Hall last night after the council voted to remove the British flag from the building for most of the year

[Mr Lick]

A protester throws fireworks during clashes in Maribor, Slovenia, December 3, 2012. Protesters clashed with police in Slovenia's second largest city Maribor in a demonstration against budget cuts in the financially troubled Alpine state



A Free Syrian Army fighter cleans a tank which the group says was captured from the Syrian army loyal to President Bashar al-Assad, at a base in Bab al-Hawa, near the Syrian-Turkish border, November 28, 2012.

[Mr Lick]

Elections are due in Ghana on 7th December



4 Afghan National Police Officers have been injured in a roadside bombing

[Mr Lick]

Norway court jails Indian parents in 'child abuse' case

Chandrasekhar Vallabhaneni and his wife Anupama have denied accusations of child abuse

A court in Norway has convicted an Indian couple for abusing their seven-year-old son.

Chandrasekhar Vallabhaneni, a software professional, was sentenced to 18 months in jail. His wife Anupama was sent to jail for 15 months.

The couple were charged with "gross or repeated maltreatment" of their son and found guilty of burning and hitting the child with a belt.

The couple and their family have denied the charges and said they would appeal.

Some reports said Mr Vallabhaneni had "threatened" to send the child to India for wetting his pants in the school bus.

But, the Norwegian authorities said the child had burn marks and scars on his body.

The couple's children are with their grandparents in the southern Indian city of Hyderabad.

India has said the incident relates to a private citizen and Norway's local laws, but added that its Norway mission will do whatever is "appropriate" in the case.

Indians have recently fallen foul of Norway's parenting laws.

In April, two Indian children who were taken away from their parents finally returned to India after a Norwegian court agreed to hand them over to their uncle.

[Boon Mee]

Any y'all keeping track of what is going on in Egypt?



Chickens coming home to roost or what?

[Mr Lick]

Egyptian police battled thousands of protesters outside President Mohamed Morsi's palace in Cairo on Tuesday, prompting the Islamist leader to leave the building, presidency sources said.

Officers fired teargas at up to 10,000 demonstrators angered by Morsi's drive to hold a referendum on a new constitution on December 15. Some broke through police lines around his palace and protested next to the perimeter wall.

The crowds had gathered nearby in what organizers had dubbed "last warning" protests against Morsi, who infuriated opponents with a November 22 decree that expanded his powers. "The people want the downfall of the regime," the demonstrators chanted



A protester carries a shield belonging to a riot police member who ran away as protesters clash briefly with riot police during a protest in front of the presidential palace in Cairo, Dec. 4






An anti-Morsi protester sprays paint reading "Control by Revolution" on a riot police vehicle during clashes in front of the presidential palace in Cairo, Dec. 4.

[Mr Lick]

Farmers from the Brazilian northeast carry out a demonstration holding cattle skulls in front of the Planalto Palace in Brasilia, on Dec. 4



Brazilian farmers demand that the government cancels their debt and gives them additional assistance to help offset the effects of a devastating drought that hit the region this year