World News in Pictures

[Mr Lick]

Sébastien Squilllaci Arsenal, defender

Age 30

The hapless Frenchman arrived at Arsenal from Sevilla last summer, but has failed to impress in defence. He made several costly mistakes as Arsenal finished fourth and has been unable to hold down a regular place in the side

[Mr Lick]

Nicklas Bendtner Arsenal, striker

Age 23

If there’s one man who rates Nicklas Bendtner, it’s Nicklas Bendtner. Unfortunately, his manager, Arsène Wenger, is less impressed and Bendtner has spoken of his willingness to leave Arsenal. He has been linked with a move to Bayern Munich



Wayne Bridge Manchester City, left-back

Age 30

Bridge signed a four-and-a-half year contract when he joined Manchester City for £10m in 2009: he’s unlikely to see out that term. City showed they were willing to do without him in the 2010-11 season when they loaned him out to West Ham. Unlikely to make a return to his former club Chelsea

[Mr Lick]

Shaun Wright-Phillips Manchester City, right winger

Age 29

The pint-sized winger has found opportunities limited under Roberto Mancini, but so far offers for a move elsewhere have not been forthcoming

[Mr Lick]

Jermaine Jenas Tottenham, midfielder

Age 28

The former Newcastle midfielder has plenty of natural talent, but has often frustrated the White Hart Lane crowd by disappearing during matches. Luka Modric, Tom Huddlestone, Wilson Palacios and Sandro were preferred last season and with Scott Parker possibly arriving, Jenas may have to leave Spurs



Paul Konchesky Liverpool, left-back

Age 30

Many Fulham fans rubbed their hands with glee when Liverpool gave them £4m for the left-back last summer. Found out to be slow on the turn, prone to a long ball when a short pass would do and with a mouthy mum to boot, Konchesky was loaned out to Nottingham Forest when Kenny Dalglish took over. At 30 years old, Liverpool will do well to find a suitor

[Mr Lick]

David Bentley Tottenham, right winger

Age 26

This isn’t the first-time Bentley finds himself out of the picture at a club. Despite his natural talent, he left his original club Arsenal before finding his way – via Blackburn and a loan spell at Norwich – to their fierce rivals Tottenham. Spurs then loaned him out to Birmingham City, where he failed to impress



Gabriel Obertan Manchester United, left winger

Age 22

After a fairly promising first season at Old Trafford, Obertan's second year at United was something of a disappointment. He was largely restricted to appearances in the Carling Cup and hasn't played a minute since the victory over Crawley Town in the fifth round of the FA Cup in February

[Mr Lick]

El-Hadji Diouf Blackburn Rovers, striker/winger

Age 30

Can alienate fans at will, including those of his own team. Spent much of last season on loan at Rangers, where he won a title-winners medal. Has spoken of his desire to work with Sam Allardyce at West Ham



Greg Halford Wolves, defender

Age 26

Halford was snapped up by Wolves when they were promoted in 2009. However he has struggled at Premier League level and was loaned out to Portsmouth last season. He may well get a permanent move there in the near future

[Mr Lick]

Massimo Maccarone Sampdoria, striker

Age 31

The former Middlesbrough striker found himself in an unenviable position following his move to Sampdoria in January – tasked with replacing both Antonio Cassano and Giampaolo Pazzini. Nevertheless, a total of just three goals in 17 games – supplemented with a woeful missed penalty in a crucial home game against Parma – spoke to how just how far the one-time Wunderkind's stock has now fallen.



Milan Jovanovic Liverpool, winger

Age 30

If the left-winger-cum-striker’s £120,000-per-week wages don’t detract those who come sniffing, his heavy first touch and poor positioning almost certainly will

[Mr Lick]

Robbie Keane Tottenham, striker

Age 30

The Tottenham striker has been out of favour at White Hart Lane since returning from Liverpool in 2008 and is behind Peter Crouch, Jermain Defoe and Roman Pavlyuchenko in the pecking order. He spent the second half of last season on loan at West Ham, but was unable to prevent their relegation



Hans-Jörg Butt Bayern Munich, goalkeeper

Age 37

Most famous for being a keeper who takes penalties, Butt's days at Bayern look numbered after the arrival of Manuel Neuer. At 37, Butt may be happy to act as a back-up before retiring

[Mr Lick]

Jonny Evans Manchester United, defender

Age 23

Has gone from first-choice deputy to Nemanja Vidic and Rio Ferdinand to third – after Chris Smalling’s impressive debut season and the expected arrival of Phil Jones. Sir Alex Ferguson berated him at half-time last year during Manchester United’s Champions League tie against Milan, yelling at him to “fucking wake up”, and his critics note that he remains prone to lapses of concentration and lackadaisical distribution. Still, Ferdinand could lack focus at Evans’s age, but Ferguson would not be stockpiling central defensive options if he was wholly convinced that Evans could eradicate the flaws in his game



Paulo Ferreira Chelsea, defender

Age 32

Chelsea are paying the price for giving the Portuguese a new five-year contract in the summer of 2008 when he had already been overtaken as first-choice right-back. Since then he’s dropped down to third in the list behind Branislav Ivanovic and José Bosingwa, one a far better defender than Ferreira, the other an infinitely better attacker. Started 12 Premier League games last season, and opponents have exploited his lack of pace. Huge salary means Chelsea will have to give him a golden handshake to leave

[Mr Lick]

John Carew Aston Villa, striker

Age 31

'Oh John Carew, Carew. He’s bigger than me and you. He’s gonna score one or two, John Carew, Carew.' Villa fans were pretty taken by the Norway centre-forward and his first three seasons at the club saw him strike up a productive partnership with Gabriel Agbonlahor. He is adept at linking the play and can terrorise defenders with his heading ability but he scored only once in 20 games for Villa and Stoke last season and fell out of favour with Gérard Houllier, who swapped him for Milan Baros in 2007, when he was the Lyon manager. Out of contract and needs to stop relying on his size to find a way back from turning himself into Carsten Jancker



Alan Smith Newcastle United, midfielder

Age 30

West Ham want him and the Leeds chairman, Ken Bates said if the club’s former forward, who alienated most of his home-town club’s supporters when joining Manchester United after categorically saying he would never move to Old Trafford, was fit and willing to take a huge pay cut then a return to Elland Road was possible. Could probably do a job as a Dickson Etuhu-lite for a Championship club

[genghis61]

Australians Tim Chappel and Lizzy Gardiner have won the Tony Award for best costume design of a musical for Priscilla Queen of the Desert.

[Mr Lick]

Albert Streit Schalke, midfielder

Age 31

Romania-born defensive midfielder who has fallen so far out of favour in Gelsenkirchen that he has been sent out on loan to Hamburg and then demoted to Schalke B in the regional leagues since signing a four-year contract in 2008. He has been dropped in his career twice – at Eintracht Frankfurt and Schalke, where he was spat at by fans – for a poor attitude in training. He says the former Schalke manager Felix Magath 'ruined my career' and the memories of his firm tackling, decent control and tempo-setting have long been banished to be replaced by the view that a manager would be crazy to take on a 31-year-old who has exasperated his coaches and has barely played first-team football for three years



Marko Arnautovic Werder Bremen, striker

Age 22

While on loan from Twente to Internazionale, José Mourinho said the striker 'has the attitude of a child'. Little wonder Inter pulled out of the proposed deal to give him a long-term contract and instead the Dutch side sold him to Werder. The German club are keen to get shot of 'the new Zlatan Ibrahimovic', a tall centre-forward with wonderful touch, because of numerous strops over the course of the season in which he only scored three goals.

[Mr Lick]

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is in Italy to rally opposition to Palestinian plans to have the U.N. recognize a Palestinian state in September.

Italy is one of Israel's closest friends in Europe, and last month Berlusconi said Italy would only recognize a Palestinian unity government that renounces terrorism and recognizes Israel's right to exist

[Mr Lick]

A man standing at the foot of a mountain damaged by a landslide which hit Linxiang, in central China's Hunan province, in a picture taken on June 12. China's weather authorities warned Monday torrential rain that has triggered deadly floods and landslides would continue, as experts said a recent drought was making the situation worse.



A girl sits on the rubble after a massive landslide in Guanshan village in Linxiang, in a picture taken on June 12.

[Mr Lick]

The remains of a damaged house at Shag Rock near Sumner after the cliff fell away during two magnitude 6.0 and 5.5 earthquakes struck on June 13 in Christchurch, New Zealand. The aftershocks came four months after the major eathquake which hit the city on February 22, resulting in the deaths of 181 people.

[Mr Lick]

Two workers, right, from the Struitsbuild Care Centre in Springs, east of Johannesburg, stand in shock following a fire which killed 12 of the patients at the home for the elderly and mentally challenged in South Africa on June 13. 27 people were injured in the fire, municipal emergency spokesman Rogers Mamaila said

[Mr Lick]

Battling the Blaze
In Big Lake, Arizona, on Sunday, smoke rises during a back burn operation as the massive Wallow wildfire, which has charred hundreds of square miles and forced residents to flee their homes, continues to torch parts of the state.



Riding High
Rebel fighters headed to the front lines to battle troops loyal to the Gaddafi regime flash the victory sign in Ajdabiya, Libya, on Saturday.

[Mr Lick]

U.S. Army soldiers from the 2nd Platoon, B battery 2-8 field artillery, fire a howitzer artillery piece at Seprwan Ghar forward fire base in Panjwai district, Kandahar province southern Afghanistan, June 12, 2011.




Skater "Cherry D'vine" from the Stockholm Roller Derby shows the tattoos on her hands before a women's flat track roller derby bout against the Kallio Rolling Rainbow in Huddinge June 11, 2011

[Mr Lick]

A general view of Crescent Moon Spring surrounded by sand dunes on the outskirts of Dunhuang, Gansu province June 9, 2011. About 200 meters long and 50 meters wide, the Crescent Moon Spring sits near the Mingsha Mountain.



A competitor poses during the Fitness and Bodybuilding European Championships in Budaors,10 km west of Budapest, June 12, 2011.

[Mr Lick]

People sunbathe at an art installation during the "Pustiye Holmi" (Empty Hills) open-air non-format art and music festival outside the village of Gorokhovka, 250 km (154 miles) south of Moscow, June 11, 2011.



A member of the Samaritan sect sits on a rock atop Mount Gerizim during the traditional pilgrimage marking the holiday of Shavuot, near the West Bank city of Nablus early June 12, 2011.

[Mr Lick]

Philadelphia Phillies' Raul Ibanez loses his helmet while swinging at a pitch from the Chicago Cubs during the fourth inning of their National League MLB baseball game in Philadelphia, June 11, 2011.



A leaflet is placed on a beggar as supporters of the yellow-shirted People's Alliance for Democracy (PAD) protest in Bangkok's financial district June 10, 2011.

[Mr Lick]

Armed tribesmen keep watch as they secure a street in Sanaa, Yemen, June 11, 2011.



Russian President Dmitry Medvedev (L) and Prime Minister Vladimir Putin chat during an informal meeting at the presidential residence at Gorki outside Moscow June 11, 2011.

[Mr Lick]

Smoke and ash rise from Puyehue-Cordon Caulle volcano, June 10, 2011. Puyehue volcano, dormant for decades, erupted in south-central Chile during the weekend, belching an ash cloud that blew over the Andes and has been disrupting air traffic in South America for days.



Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords (R) smiling at TIRR Memorial Hermann Hospital in Houston in a May 17, 2011 photo released on her Facebook page June 12, 2011 and another during an appearance in Tucson, Arizona in 2010.

[Mr Lick]

Yae Kubota (R) and her grandson pray for the victims of the March 11 earthquake and tsunami in Miyako, Iwate Prefecture, June 11, 2011. Her son, a local firefighter, was killed by the tsunami, according to Kyodo news agency.



Solar Impulse's Chief Executive Officer and pilot Andre Borschberg takes off with the solar-powered HB-SIA prototype aircraft during a flight from Brussels to Paris, June 11, 2011.

[Mr Lick]

A Somali demonstrator runs during a street protest in the capital Mogadishu, June 10, 2011.



A college student chants slogans as he is detained into a police bus by the police after he and his fellow college students held a sudden demonstration to demand tuition fees cuts, near the presidential Blue House in Seoul June 10, 2011.