World News in Pictures

[Mr Lick]

Royal Ascot 2011 Ladies' Day



A handy multi-purpose hat: you can wear it, and when you get peckish, grab a strawberry liquorice bootlace for a snack



Not a good day for sandals at Royal Ascot today



Insert your own birds of a feather gag here

[Mr Lick]

The rush hour on South West trains does not usually look quite so glamorous






An excellent plan to save time queuing for a cuppa and a cake

[Mr Lick]

This hat was commissioned by the Malaria Awareness Campaign to raise awareness of malaria amongst UK travellers. Serious issue, somewhat lost in millinery translation?



Milliner David Shilling proves that gents can look as daft in giant stuffed birds as the ladies



And you thought they just put the horses in blinkers

[Mr Lick]

Odds on this picture appearing in a tabloid, with a caption involving fillies/pairs of legs/ankles have now shortened to 2-1



It's just been too long since you saw a Middleton, no? So here's Carole arriving as part of the royal carriage procession



Rainy day. Lots of posh people. Titantic-themed hat. Surely asking for disaster?

[Mr Lick]

Dafniya, Libya: A rebel fighter fires a rocket-propelled grenade towards pro-Gaddafi forces



Monterrey, Mexico: A girl looks at blood stains and graffiti left by Gulf cartel gunmen at a crime scene after members of the Zetas gang were assassinated

[Mr Lick]

Jakarta, Indonesia: Supporters of Muslim cleric Abu Bakar Bashir gather after he was found guilty and sentenced to 15 years in prison on terrorism charges



Taree, Australia: Oil floats on floodwaters in front of a house in New South Wales

[Mr Lick]

Prague, Czech Republic: A pigeon walks on an empty platform of a railway station during a public transport strike

[Mr Lick]

Gang warfare kills 33 in Monterrey, Mexico



Mexican officials say 33 people have been killed in the space of 24 hours in Mexico's industrial capital, Monterrey.

Security officials in the northern state of Nuevo Leon, where Monterrey is located, said most of those killed had links to the country's drug cartels.

But two of the victims were identified as bodyguards of the governor of Nuevo Leon, Rodrigo Medina.

Police said a threatening message addressed to Mr Medina had been found next to the bodies.

Mr Medina said the threats would not stop his determination to beat organised crime.

A spokesman for the Nuevo Leon Security Council, Jorge Domene Zambrano, said the killings were almost all connected to a deadly battle for control of the region between rival drug cartels.

"Only five have links to the authorities - the two bodyguards, and three guards from Cadereyta prison," he explained.

According to the authorities, five presumed gang members were killed in a battle with the army and 10 people died in a confrontation between rival gangs.

The bodies of the remaining victims were found dumped in various parts of the city and, in some cases, hanged from bridges.

The state is the stronghold of the Zetas, thought to be one of Mexico's most violent drug cartels.

They are engaged in a deadly battle with the Gulf, Sinaloa, and La Familia gangs.

[Mr Lick]

Dominique Strauss-Kahn 'claimed diplomatic immunity'



The morning after his arrest, Mr Strauss-Kahn asked for a breakfast of eggs


Former IMF chief Dominique Strauss-Kahn claimed diplomatic immunity and complained about being handcuffed as he was arrested for sexual assault in New York, official documents reveal.

Transcripts released by prosecutors in New York reveal the detail of the day Mr Strauss-Kahn was arrested at the city's JFK airport.

He has since resigned from the IMF and is living on bail in New York.

He has pleaded not guilty to charges of sexual assault on a hotel chambermaid.

The transcripts detail how hotel staff and police investigators managed to detain Mr Strauss-Kahn as he attempted to leave the country on an Air France jet.

As has previously been reported, Mr Strauss-Kahn phoned the Sofitel Hotel about 1530 local time (1930 GMT), saying he had left his mobile phone.

While police listened in, hotel promised to return it to him at the Air France terminal at JFK International Airport. Instead, police arrived to arrest him.

I need to make a call and let them know I won't be at my meeting tomorrow. These handcuffs are tight” Dominique Strauss-Kahn

At the airport police station, detectives ordered Mr Strauss-Kahn to empty his pockets, the documents show.

"Is that necessary?" he asked when handcuffs were produced.

"Yes it is," said Detective Diwan Maharaj of the New York Port Authority Police.

Mr Strauss-Kahn then asserted he had diplomatic immunity, and asked to speak to the French consulate.

Ten minutes later, Mr Strauss-Kahn asked if he could be handcuffed "in the front", and five minutes after that, he said, "I need to make a call and let them know I won't be at my meeting tomorrow. These handcuffs are tight."

About 2045 local time, Mr Strauss-Kahn was at a detective's office in Manhattan, and asked if he could have coffee.

[Mr Lick]

Powerful cosmic blast as black hole shreds star



Ten percent of the infalling star's mass is turned into energy and radiated as X-rays from the black hole


Astronomers have spied a star's swan song as it is shredded by a black hole.

Researchers suspect that the star wandered too close to the black hole and got sucked in by the huge gravitational forces.

The star's final moments sent a flash of radiation hurtling towards Earth.

The energy burst is still visible by telescope more than two-and-a-half months later, the researchers report in the journal Science.

The Swift spacecraft constantly scans the skies for bursts of radiation, notifying astronomers when it locates a potential flare.

These bursts usually indicate the implosion of an aging star, which produces a single, quick blast of energy.

But this event, first spotted on 28 March 2011 and designated Sw 1644+57, does not have the marks of an imploding sun.

What intrigued the researchers about this gamma ray burst is that it flared up four times over a period of four hours.

Astrophysicist Dr Andrew Levan from the University of Warwick, and his colleagues suspected that they were looking at a very different sort of galactic event; one where a passing star got sucked into a black hole.

The energy bursts matched nicely with what you might expect when you "throw a star into a black hole", Dr Levan told BBC News.

[Mr Lick]

Syria crisis: Troops move into towns in north



Syrian troops travelling on tanks, armoured personnel carriers and buses have moved into two northern towns.

Security forces were gathering in Khan Sheikhun and Maarat al-Numan, a town of 90,000 between Damascus and Aleppo.

UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon has urged Syria to halt the bloodshed and "stop killing people".

The UN says that at least 1,100 people have died as the government has violently sought to quash protests over the past three months.

State television said late on Thursday that President Bashar al-Assad's cousin, Rami Makhlouf, intends to give up his business interests - which span telecommunications, construction and oil - and donate his profits to charity.

"As for his businesses, they will be directed so that they [...] create jobs and support the national economy. He will not enter into any new project that (brings) him personal gain," the television said of the tycoon.

[Mr Lick]

People attend the White Dinner event in front of the Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris June 16, 2011. Participants attend the dinner, which takes place at a different place in Paris every year, are required to be dressed in white, bring their own food, drink and cutlery to the event.

[Mr Lick]

A woman relaxes underneath a photo displaying Turkmenistan's President Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov at the resort of Avaza June 8, 2011. Turkmenistan's all-powerful leader promises that, one day soon, he will build a Las Vegas on the windswept shores of the Caspian Sea.



A general view shows the resort of Avaza June 8, 2011.




Turkmenistan's all-powerful leader promises that, one day soon, he will build a Las Vegas on the windswept shores of the Caspian Sea.

Illuminated by distant gas flares, thousands of construction workers toil through the night to build the next stage of Avaza: a fantasy resort built on the reclusive Central Asian nation's fabulous energy riches.

Seven colossal, marble-fronted hotels ordered by President Kurbanguly Berdymukhamedov line the coast.

At least another 23 are planned in a project which some say could divert up to $5 billion from Turkmenistan's state coffers.

But state publicity and lavish spending cannot hide the fact that Turkmenistan is one of the world's most authoritarian and secretive nations, where Berdymukhamedov's word is final and opposition among the 5.4 million population is non-existent.

[Mr Lick]

People enjoy the sunny weather at the Olympic Park in Munich, southern Germany, on Thursday, June 16.

[Mr Lick]

A man, left, dressed up as the fictional character Gargamel, an enemy of the smurfs, stands near a smurf statue during a promotional event in the Andalusian village of Juzcar, near Malaga, southern Spain, on Thursday, June 16. The facades of the houses were painted blue as part of a global promotion for the Sony Picture film "The Smurfs."

[Mr Lick]

A woman wears a mask during a demonstration of Hungarian police officers, firemen and prison guards near the Parliament building in Budapest, Hungary on June 16. Thousands of Hungarian police and firefighters protested against government plans to end early retirement, while unions disrupted traffic with a convoy of cars driving around the center of the Hungarian capital. Under the banner "Clowns' Revolution" a ballot box was set up near the parliament building, where people could "take back" votes they cast for Prime Minister Viktor Orban's conservative party Fidesz in elections last year.

[Mr Lick]

Luke Donald of England plays a shot on the 18th hole during the first round of the 111th U.S. Open at Congressional Country Club on June 16 in Bethesda, Maryland.

[Mr Lick]

A couple kisses while police walk in the streets during riots following the Stanley Cup finals in Vancouver, Canada, on Wednesday, June 15. Vancouver broke out in riots after their hockey team, the Vancouver Canucks, lost in Game Seven of the Stanley Cup Finals.

[Mr Lick]

Members of the emergency services work at the scene of an explosion at a police station after a suspected suicide bomber was killed and many vehicles were destroyed in Nigeria's capital Abuja on Thursday, June 16. A suicide bomber died in the incident and many vehicles were destroyed," a spokesman for NEMA told Reuters

[Mr Lick]

Chile's Puyehue-Cordon Caulle volcano ash cloud



Local residents wear protective masks while walking in the outskirts of Villa La Angostura in Neuquen


















Men remove ash from the roof of a restaurant in Villa La Angostura






Sheep covered with ash roam the fields in southern Argentina

[Mr Lick]

Strange and unusual



A policeman (L) pretends to administer an anaesthetic shot to "Tigger" during a drill of tigers escaping at Chengdu Zoo in Chengdu, Sichuan province June 2, 2011. A zoo staff member dressed as cartoon character Tigger performs in a mock drill of tigers escaping in the zoo in order to enhance emergency responses and enforce security measures, local media reported.



Fishermen skin a sea snake belonging to the species which they identified as "kallis" in the Marathi language on the shores of Girgaum beach in Mumbai June 3, 2011.

[Mr Lick]

A drummer with the British Army's 1st Battalion Irish Guards rehearses with bandmates on Horse Guards Parade ground in London June 6, 2011.



A U.S. participant attends the opening of the first Jordanian International Horseback Archery competition, also known as the Al Faris competition and organized by the Public Security, to mark the country's 65th Independence Day in Amman June 9, 2011. The Al Faris competition involves showcasing different archery styles and competitors from more than fifteen countries will participate.

[Mr Lick]

A woman demonstrates riding a zebra model of a "Rangs Eco Pony" at the International Tokyo Toy Show 2011, in Tokyo June 16, 2011. The pony does not require batteries to move as it relies on the momentum of the rider bouncing up and down. Each "Rangs Eco Pony" price is 92,400 Yen.



A worker waters life-sized giraffe topiaries in the centre of the Siberian city of Krasnoyarsk, June 7, 2011. Krasnoyarsk will celebrate the 383rd anniversary of its founding as well as Day of Russia on June 12.

[Mr Lick]

An "adults only" replica doll of U.S. Representative Anthony Weiner is seen here in this undated handout photo from Herobuilders.com. The Connecticut-based toy company is marketing two types of Weiner dolls wearing gym clothes, each with shorts reading "Tweet this". One model of the action figure runs for $39.95 and resembles G.I. Joe beneath his underpants. The "adults only" doll with representation of his manhood has a price tag of$49.95.

[Mr Lick]

Two women in their underwear search for clothes at a clothing store in Berlin June 16, 2011. Spanish fashion brand Desigual started a special sale in Berlin on Thursday by offering the first 100 customers two clothes for free as long as they show up in the shop dressed in their underwear only.



Former world's shortest living man, Khagendra Thapa Magar, holds the hand of his caretaker while he makes his way to visit Nepalese Prime Minister Jhala Nath Khanal in Kathmandu June 13, 2011. Magar, measuring 67.08 centimetres (26.4 inches), lost his title when Junrey Balawing was declared the "World's Shortest Living Man" by the Guinness World Records in Sindangan, Zamboanga del Norte in southern Philippines. Magar was visiting the Prime Minister to hand over a memorandum demanding the government to provide some basic facility to him.