World News in Pictures

[Mr Lick]

Israelis and Palestinians train together at Jerusalem boxing gym

Boxers put aside political differences at an underground club in Jerusalem converted from a bomb shelter







Ismail Jafrei, 37, a Palestinian truck driver from East Jerusalem, fights Yehuda Luxemburg, 23, an officer in the IDF, at the Jerusalem Boxing Club

[Mr Lick]

Battle for Libya



Rebels carry out their training with a captured Gaddafi armored vehicle in the city of Zintan June 25, 2011.










Libyan passengers, onboard a Red Cross ship returning from Benghazi, wave as they dock at Tripoli Port June 26, 2011. The trip was organized by the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) to evacuate some 120 people from Benghazi to Tripoli

[Mr Lick]

Rebels and supporters celebrate the arrival of a bus carrying footballers in the city of Zintan June 25, 2011. Four members of Libya's national football team and 13 other Libyan football figures have defected to rebels, in a propaganda blow to Muammar Gaddafi, the BBC reported on Saturday.

[Mr Lick]

[Mr Lick]

[Mr Lick]

Citigroup banker pleads not guilty to $19.2m theft




A former Citigroup banker has pleaded not guilty to charges that he stole $19.2m in the "ultimate inside job".

Prosecutors say Gary Foster, a 35-year old former vice president at Citigroup, moved the money from two separate accounts at the bank to his own account at JP Morgan Chase.

The offence is said to have taken place between May 2009 and December 2010.
Mr Foster, who left the bank in January this year, faces 30 years in prison if convicted.

The alleged 18-month fraud went unnoticed until a recent internal audit at the treasury department of the bank.

A Citigroup investigator then alerted the authorities, according to an affidavit from the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

Mr Foster is said to have made eight separate transfers of up to $3.9m (£2.5m) by putting in fake contract and deal account numbers before transferring them to his personal account.

US attorney for the Eastern District of New York, Loretta Lynch, said in a statement: "The defendant allegedly used his knowledge of bank operations to commit the ultimate inside job."

Citigroup said in a statement: "We are co-operating fully to ensure Mr Foster is prosecuted to the full extent of the law."

No date has been set for the next hearing in the case. Mr Foster has been released on $800,000 bail.

[Mr Lick]

Officer treated in hospital after police dog deaths



An officer has been treated in hospital following the deaths of two police dogs who were left in a car on one of the hottest days of the year.

The animals were found collapsed in an unventilated vehicle at the Met Police's training centre in Keston, south-east London, on Sunday.

An officer was later found by colleagues in the Newham area suffering a hand injury.

The Directorate of Professional Standards has begun an inquiry.

Officers forced their way into the car after being alerted.

The working Belgian Malinois and a German Shepherd puppy were taken from the dog training centre to an emergency vets, where both later died.

Police have not named the officer linked to the incident, but confirmed a policeman was found with injuries following the discovery of the dead canines.

It is not known if they were self-inflicted.

The Met Police spokesman added: "The officer was located in Newham borough suffering a hand injury.

"He was taken to an east London hospital as a precaution and is currently receiving medical treatment."

The RSPCA, which is also investigating the incident near Bromley, where temperatures reached almost 30C on Sunday, advised people not to leave dogs in vehicles "for any length of time" during hot weather.

The Independent Police Complaints Commission has been made aware of the incident and the subsequent investigation.

[Mr Lick]

Nimrod R1 aircraft in final flight for RAF



The Nimrod aircraft has made its final flight for the RAF during a ceremony at a Lincolnshire air base.

The R1 model, used for reconnaissance and gathering electronic intelligence, made a flypast at RAF Waddington.

Chief of the Air Staff Sir Stephen Dalton attended the retirement ceremony and there was also a parade.

Three new Rivet-Joint aircraft will replace the R1 in 2014. Until then, the RAF is sharing - or "co-manning" - the plane with the US Air Force.

'Scrapped' The MR2 version of the Nimrod finished service in 2010, while its replacement the MRA4 was scrapped in the defence review.

51 Squadron operated the two Nimrod R1s, with the aircraft using a team of 24 reconnaissance equipment operators, four flight crew and a mission supervisor.

The Nimrod MR4A, a slightly different plane - used mainly for maritime patrol - was due to come into service in 2012 to replace the older MR2.

However, the strategic defence and security review (SDSR) scrapped and dismantled the aircraft.

It was decided that £2bn could be saved over 10 years by not operating the nine aircraft, despite the programme already costing taxpayers £4bn.

Nimrod R1 v RC-135 Rivet Joint

[Mr Lick]

Monty Pythons members reunite for Graham Chapman film



Monty Python members have reunited to voice a 3D animated film based on the memoirs of the late Graham Chapman.

A Liar's Autobiography will feature recordings that Chapman, who died in 1989 aged 48, made of his 1980 book.

John Cleese, Terry Gilliam, Michael Palin and Terry Jones have all signed up while Eric Idle is not involved. The film is due out in spring next year.

Jones joked he had "no idea" until recently that Chapman was dead and "thought he was just being lazy".

"However, I am now delighted to find myself working with him again on this exciting project," he added.

Co-director Jeff Simpson said producers had worked closely with the Chapman estate and the Pythons to "get this exactly right". Chapman died after battling cancer.

He said the comic would be pleased "his work is being re-imagined in glorious 3D - he always loved wearing silly glasses".

Cult TV series Monty Python's Flying Circus was first broadcast in the UK in 1969.
The team also brought films including Holy Grail and Life of Brian to the big screen.

[Mr Lick]

'Tau day' marked by opponents of maths constant pi



Fans of tau suggest it makes more sense than pi when describing fractions of a circle

The mathematical constant pi is under threat from a group of detractors who will be marking "Tau Day" on Tuesday.

Tau Day revellers suggest a constant called tau should take its place: twice as large as pi, or about 6.28 - hence the 28 June celebration.

Tau proponents say that for many problems in maths, tau makes more sense and makes calculations easier.

Not all fans of maths agree, however, and pi's rich history means it will be a difficult number to unseat.

"I like to describe myself as the world's leading anti-pi propagandist," said Michael Hartl, an educator and former theoretical physicist.

"When I say pi is wrong, it doesn't have any flaws in its definition - it is what you think it is, a ratio of circumference to diameter. But circles are not about diameters, they're about radii; circles are the set of all the points a given distance - a radius - from the centre," Dr Hartl explained to BBC News.

By defining pi in terms of diameter, he said, "what you're really doing is defining it as the ratio of the circumference to twice the radius, and that factor of two haunts you throughout mathematics."

The discrepancy is most noticeable when circles are defined not as a number of degrees, but as what are known as radians - of which there are two times pi in a full circle. With tau, half a circle is one-half tau.

[Mr Lick]

New Orleans police go on trial over Katrina shooting



Five police officers charged over a fatal shooting in the chaotic aftermath of Hurricane Katrina in August 2005 have gone on trial in New Orleans.

Two unarmed residents were killed and four others wounded in the incident on the Danziger Bridge.

Prosecutors say the officers decided to "shoot first and ask questions later" and then tried to cover up the crimes.

Defence lawyers say their clients feared for their lives and were justified in using deadly force.

Most of New Orleans was flooded by the hurricane and there was widespread looting and violence in the storm's aftermath.

Prosecutor Bobbi Bernstein said police plotted to plant a gun, fabricate witnesses and falsify reports to cover up what they had done.

He said they tried to use the chaotic conditions created by the hurricane as an excuse for gaps in their investigation.

"They lied because they knew they committed a crime," Mr Bernstein said.

"They lied because they knew police officers were not allowed to shoot first and ask questions later."

[Mr Lick]

Liverpool store chain TJ Hughes to call in administrator



Department store chain TJ Hughes has said it is planning to appoint an administrator after reporting a downturn in trade.

The Liverpool-based firm employs more than 4,000 people at its 57 stores across England and Wales.

The homewares, menswear and beauty retailer said it would bring in the administrator over the next 10 days.

It was bought out by its management team in March following the withdrawal of credit insurance for its suppliers.

The buy-out was funded by Leeds-based turnaround specialist Endless.

It is not yet known what long-term impact the move will have on jobs at the company, which was founded in Liverpool in 1912 by Thomas Hughes.

A TJ Hughes spokesman said the shops would remain open and staff would continue to work for the time being and that a potential buyer was being sought.

[Mr Lick]

Somalia fleeing to Kenya in large numbers



War and drought in Somalia are leading an unprecedented number of people to flee across the border into Kenya, an aid agency says.

Save the Children is reporting that every day, about 1,300 people - at least 800 of them children - are arriving at the Dadaab refugee camp.

The monthly number of new arrivals has more than doubled in a year, it says.
Aid workers at the camp say the children are exhausted, malnourished and severely dehydrated.

The situation in Somalia is exacerbated by the conflict between Islamists of al-Shabab and Somalia's transitional government, backed by African Union peacekeepers.

The United Nations refugee agency says there are 117,497 Somalis who have also crossed into Ethiopia - 31,000 in the past five months fleeing from drought and conflict.

[Mr Lick]

A model sports glittery make-up at the China 2011 Hair and Beauty exhibition in Beijing

[Mr Lick]

Doves being released in front of the Chinese Consulate in Manila, Philippines. Demonstrators were calling for a negotiated settlement of the territorial dispute with China over the Spratly Islands

[Mr Lick]

The motorcade of China's Premier Wen sweeps past protesters in Berlin, Germany

[Mr Lick]

Children push a giant football outside the Polish PM's office in Warsaw as part of a Greenpeace rally to encourage the government to support environmental issues

[Mr Lick]

Michelle Yeoh blacklisted in Burma after Suu Kyi film



The actress who plays the part of Burma's pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi in a forthcoming film has been barred from entering Burma.

Michelle Yeoh, a former Bond girl, tried to enter the country on 22 June but was deported on the same day.

An official told reporters that Michelle Yeoh was now blacklisted and would not be able to enter Burma.

She has visited Burma before - in December, she met the Nobel Peace Prize winner Aung San Suu Kyi.

"She did not have the chance to enter Myanmar (Burma) again. She was deported straight away on the first flight after arriving at Yangon (Rangoon) International Airport," a Burmese official said.

Ms Yeoh has previously travelled to Burma with Aung San Suu Kyi's son, Kim Aris, who was allowed into the country earlier this month to mark his mother's 66th birthday.

[Mr Lick]

Uruguay: President Mujica backs military rule inquiries



Officials in Uruguay say the country's President, Jose Mujica, will remove obstacles that have prevented courts from investigating alleged human rights abuses committed under military rule.

A government official said Mr Mujica would sign a decree later this week.

This will enable the courts to look into more than 80 cases previously blocked under an amnesty law.

Some 200 people were kidnapped and killed by the security forces during the 1973-1985 period of military rule.

An amnesty law providing a broad level of protection for members of the military and police was passed in 1985.

It is still in force, despite numerous challenges. In May, an attempt to annul it in congress narrowly failed.

The law has been ruled unconstitutional in the Supreme Court, but it has survived two national referendums, in 1989 and 2009.

[Mr Lick]

Venezuela confirms arrest of siege prison governors



Venezuelan authorities have confirmed that two high-ranking officers at a jail near Caracas have been arrested on suspicion of arms and drugs-smuggling.

The men, along with a National Guard captain, are accused of smuggling weapons into El Rodeo prison.

Twenty people died when rioting broke out in the prison earlier this month, leading to an ongoing stand-off between prisoners and security forces.

Armed inmates are holding some 1,000 other prisoners hostage, officials say.

Prosecutors said the men being held are Luis Rafael Aranguren, the governor of El Rodeo II, one wing in the prison complex, and the deputy governor of El Rodeo I, Ruben Jose Gonzalez Heredia.

Authorities also arrested Capt Jose Camargo Gomez.

They are suspected of belonging to a ring that smuggled weapons into the prison.

[Mr Lick]

Ultra-Orthodox Jewish youths peer from a window as thousands gather next to the body of Rabbi Michel Yehuda Lefkowitz, Lithuanian-Orthodox leader, head of the Ponevezh yeshiva, during his funeral, Tuesday, June 28, 2011 in Bnei Brak, Israel. Lefkowitz died at the Shaare Zedek Medical Center in Jerusalem on Monday night, two days after collapsing, He was 97.

[Mr Lick]

A rainbow of light can be seen at the base of the over 300 foot tall Yellowstone River Lower Falls in Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming, on June 21

[Mr Lick]

Sushi chefs pose for photographs as they try to lift a 772 pound, 9 foot long bluefin tuna during an event promoting a restaurant in Seoul on June 28th

[Mr Lick]

A demonstrator stands on a fake gallows set in front of the Greek parliament in Athens on June 28.

[Mr Lick]

China's Premier Wen Jiabao leaves after attending an economic forum meeting in Berlin, Germany, on June 28. German Chancellor Angela Merkel said at a meeting with Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao on Tuesday she expected trade between their two countries to reach 200 billion euros in the next five years, from about 130 billion