World News in Pictures

[Mr Lick]

A firefighter walks through a burnt area after a fire in a rural area of Brazil, Sept. 3, 2012. Drought, high temperatures and low humidity have caused fires to start in several places of Brazil, according to officials.

[Mr Lick]

Kashmiri women row their boats after collecting lotus leaves for their cattle from the water of Dal Lake in Srinagar, India, on Sept. 3, 2012. The lake is a popular destination for both Indian and foreign tourists.

The New York Times reported in June on efforts to restore the legendary natural beauty of Dal Lake, which is plagued by algae and weeds due to pollution.

[Mr Lick]

China's Liu Fuliang competes in the Men's Long Jump F46 classification final at the Olympic Stadium during the London 2012 Paralympic Games on September 3, 2012.



US athlete Tobi Fawehinmi takes part in the men's long jump F46 final. He finished tenth.



France's Arnaud Assoumani, who took silver, competes in the men's long jump F46 final.



Malaysia's Eryanto Bahtiar competes in the Men's Long Jump F46 classification final. He finished in seventh place.

[Mr Lick]

German Chancellor Angela Merkel drinks beer in a beer tent during a fair in Abensberg, southern Germany, on Sept. 3, 2012. Merkel and her government have insisted that the key to resolving the eurozone's debt crisis is for struggling countries to cut their budget deficits and pursue structural reforms such as liberalizing labor markets.



It is somewhat reassuring for europeans to know that the lady tasked with resolving the eurozone problems is currently intoxicated.

[Mr Lick]

Addis Ababa, Ethiopia: soldiers react as the body of the late prime minister Meles Zenawi arrives at Meskel Square for a public funeral ceremony



Azaz, Syria: boys play on a Syrian military vehicle destroyed during fighting with rebels on the outskirts of Aleppo



New Delhi, India: Tibetan exiles protest against the Chinese defence minister General Liang Guanglie's visit to India



Newcastle upon Tyne, England: a Newcastle United fan shows his support



Hong Kong, China: students gather in front of the Central Government Offices during a protest against the government's plan to introduce Chinese patriotism classes

[Mr Lick]

Berlin, Germany: Aries Merritt from the US takes the start position before winning the men's 110m hurdles race at the ISTAF athletics meeting



Thames Estuary, England: men dive from an 18-metre winching boom on the second world war Maunsell Forts in the build-up to the sixth stop of the Red Bull cliff-diving world series

[Mr Lick]

Battle for Aleppo


















Free Syrian Army fighters run for cover after Syrian forces fired a mortar in the El Amreeyeh neighborhood of Syria's northwestern city of Aleppo

[Mr Lick]

Jaume Plensa at Yorkshire Sculpture Park



The Spanish artist has opened his first major exhibition in the UK, near Wakefield

[Mr Lick]

Firefighters find themselves in a life-threatening situation as they use hoses to fight a forest fire in Quinta da Sobreira, central Portugal, on Sept. 4.

[Mr Lick]

Venezuala's Jesus Aguilar holds up his wheelchair after crashing just before the finish line of the men's 800m T53 round 1 heat 2 at the London 2012 Paralympic Games on Sept. 4.

[Mr Lick]

Pro-Telangana and India's main opposition Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) supporters are hit by a police water cannon as they try to climb over a barricade during a protest in New Delhi on September 4, 2012.

[Mr Lick]

Thousands of protesters surrounded Hong Kong's government headquarters on Monday over a plan to introduce a pro-China school curriculum that they describe as an attempt to brainwash students



Chanting "No to brainwashing education. Withdraw national education", some 8000 people denounced a Hong Kong government-funded booklet entitled "The China Model" they say glorifies China's single Communist party rule while glossing over more brutal aspects of its rule and political controversies

[Mr Lick]

A wildfire burns the hillside during sunset in the Angeles National Forest near Glendora, California, on September 3, 2012.






NBC News staff and news services report — A wildfire in Southern California's Angeles National Forest that cut short weekend holiday plans for hikers and campers grew to 4,000 acres on Monday.

The Williams fire prompted the evacuation of about 12,000 visitors who had flocked to campgrounds for the holiday weekend, The Associated Press reported.

It sent a towering plume of smoke that could be seen from many parts of the Los Angeles basin

[Mr Lick]

NEW ORLEANS, La. – At the end of a four-day trip filled with campaign events, President Barack Obama put politics aside to visit a Louisiana town hit by Hurricane Isaac and talk with local officials about the recovery effort.

In brief remarks after touring part of the town of LaPlace in St. John the Baptist Parish, the president said he was impressed by the resiliency of the residents.

“There is enormous faith here, enormous strength here you can see it in these families,” he said. “They were just devastated a few days ago and they're already smiling and laughing,” he said.



A coffin is washed up onto a front lawn due to Hurricane Isaac flooding in Plaquemines Parish on Sept. 3, in Braithwaite, Louisiana. Damage totals from the storm could top $2 billion and more than 125,000 customers are still without power six days after the storm made landfall.






A dead horse and other debris from Hurricane Isaac flooding are washed up onto a levee in Plaquemines Parish on Sept. 3.

[Mr Lick]

Kolkata, India: a health official sprays pesticides to kill mosquitoes with a portable smoke fogger as the city faces a dengue outbreak



Mexico City, Mexico: competitors wait to participate in the Mr Mexico and Miss Perfection bodybuilding contest



Birkirkara, Malta: a heavily damaged car rests against a bridge after being carried away by flash floods



Penshurt, Costa Rica: a baby Hoffmann's two-toed sloth (Choloepus hoffmanni) at a sloth sanctuary

[Mr Lick]

Mbabane, Swaziland: girls and young women sing during a reed dance at Queen Mother's royal palace. The annual event brings unmarried girls from all over Swaziland to pay homage to the Swazi Queen Mother, Ntombi Thwala



Seoul, South Korea: Unification Church followers mourn the death of their leader, Sun Myung Moon



New Delhi, India: supporters of India's main opposition Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) shout slogans as police use water cannon to disperse them during a demonstration in favour of carving a separate state of Telangana from Andhra Pradesh state



Rio de Janeiro, Brazil: children play near a sculpture by Spanish artist Jaume Plensa on Botafogo beach

[Mr Lick]

The mother of Ehab Abu Nada, 18, holds a photograph of her son as she reads the Koran at her house in Gaza City September 3, 2012. The young man died after setting himself on fire in the Gaza Strip, apparently in protest at economic hardship in the Palestinian enclave, the man's family and police said on Monday



The DC-10 super tanker flies over the hills above San Gabriel mountains in the Angeles National Forest, California, along Highway 39 on Azusa Canyon September 2, 2012. Evacuations have been ordered in the surrounding areas as the fire has burned more than 3,600 acres with only 5 percent containment as of 9:00 pm (PST), according to the Angeles National Forest Department.



A man walks pass a 6.8-metre-tall (22-feet-tall) and 7.7-metre-wide (25-feet-wide) sofa chair at a shopping mall in Shanghai, September 3, 2012. The sofa has been approved as the biggest sofa chair in the world by the World Record Association, based in Hong Kong



Baltimore Orioles Mark Reynolds breaks his bat against the Toronto Blue Jays during the third inning of their MLB American League baseball game in Toronto, September 3, 2012



A man rows a makeshift raft over a flooded road as he helps to transport a girl in Fengtai District, Beijing, September 2, 2012. China's top meteorological authority has forecast that heavy rain or storms will hit most parts of Beijing and the northern provinces of Hebei, Shaanxi, and Shanxi on Saturday. Parts of the Chinese capital have begun seeing heavy rain in the afternoon, Xinhua News Agency reported



Britain's Prince Harry laughs during the WellChild awards ceremony at the InterContinental Hotel in London September 3, 2012. Prince Harry was happy to poke fun at himself on Monday when he made his first official public appearance since pictures of him cavorting naked while on holiday in Las Vegas were published.

[Mr Lick]

A man in costume takes a drink during the annual West Indian Day parade in Brooklyn, New York, September 3, 2012. The parade celebrates Caribbean culture, though it has been marred by violence in past years, causing a greater police presence this year.



A general view of the newly built bridge across the Golden Horn bay in Russia's far-eastern port of Vladivostok August 5, 2012. Vladimir Lenin's vision of developing Russia's far east would not be out of place in President Vladimir Putin's talking points for the Asia-Pacific summit he is hosting this week in the Pacific port of Vladivostok



Poland's Lukasz Mamczarz competes in the men's High Jump Final F42 during the London 2012 Paralympic Games at the Olympic Stadium in London, September 3, 2012.



Poland's Lukasz Mamczarz starts his run up during the men's high jump F42 final at the London 2012 Paralympic Games at the Olympic Stadium in London September 3, 2012.



A protestor with the Inleague Press brushes his teeth at Marshall Park prior to the start of the Democratic National Convention in Charlotte, North Carolina September 3, 2012. The convention officially starts in Charlotte this week.



Gold medallist Brazil's Alan Oliveira (R) poses next to silver medallist South Africa's Oscar Pistorius on the podium during the victory ceremony for the Men's 200m T44 classification at the Olympic Stadium during the London 2012 Paralympic Games September 3, 2012. Pistorius complained vociferously about the length of his opponent's blades after he was beaten into second by Brazil's Oliveira in the men's 200 metres final at the London Paralympic Games on Sunday.

[Mr Lick]

West Indian Day Parade in NY

[Mr Lick]

Newcastle United striker Demba Ba banned from driving



Newcastle United striker Demba Ba has been banned from driving after his car was twice seen speeding.

The Senegal international was charged with failing to supply information on who was driving on both occasions.

South East Northumberland Magistrates Court banned the 27-year-old for six months in his absence.

Police would not release details of the vehicle involved, locations or speed, but did confirm that there had been two "speeding offences".

The court was told the player had failed to attend two previous hearings and ignored police letters sent in November 2011 asking him to confirm who was driving his car on the two occasions in question.

The former West Ham player, who lives in Ponteland, Newcastle, was also fined £1,000, told to pay £85 costs and a £15 victim surcharge.

Newcastle United declined to comment on the case

[Mr Lick]

Morocco bus crash leaves many dead



At least 42 people died when a bus plunged into a ravine in southern Morocco, officials say.

More than 20 others are reported to have been injured, some seriously.

The bus, travelling between the cities of Marrakesh and Zagora, left the road near the town of Zerkten in Haouz province and fell 150m (490ft), local officials said.

Most of the passengers are believed to be Moroccan. It is not clear if any foreigners are among the casualties.

"We are still in the process of identifying the bodies, as well as the injured," a local official told AFP news agency.



The accident happened in a mountainous area in the early hours of Tuesday, the official news agency Map reported. The cause is not yet known but an official in Haouz said an inquiry had been launched.

At least 24 people were said to be injured, 21 of whom were taken to a hospital in Marrakesh and the rest to a hospital in nearby Ouarzazate.

[Mr Lick]

A man wounded by shelling sits on a chair outside a closed shop in the Al-Muasalat area of Aleppo, Syria on September 4, 2012.

Life returned to central Aleppo, an Agence France Presse reporter said, in stark contrast with the Syrian city's rebel-held outskirts where activists reported renewed bombardment and food shortages

[Mr Lick]

A Greenpeace activist, dressed as a polar bear, sits inside a police car after being detained outside Gazprom's headquarters in Moscow, Russia, on Sept. 5, 2012. Russian and international environmentalists are protesting against Gazprom's plans to pioneer oil drilling in the Arctic.

[Mr Lick]

A Los Angeles County Firefighter helicopter drops water on a wildfire burning through 3,600 acres of the Angeles National Forest on Tuesday Sept. 4, 2012 near Glendora, Calif.

[Mr Lick]

Protesters face off with law enforcement officers and block the road during a march outside the Charlotte Convention Center on Sept. 4, in Charlotte, North Carolina. Protesters marched through the streets of Charlotte, North Carolina on the opening day of the Democratic National Convention.







Dozens of protesters clogged streets and blocked traffic Tuesday outside the Democratic National Convention on its opening day, making for some tense moments that ultimately brought more theater than violence.

Just five blocks from Time Warner Cable Arena, where delegates are meeting this week, protesters took over an intersection for about two hours, attracting hundreds of police officers who swooped in to surround them and try to funnel them to more secure areas.

Officers took two protesters away in handcuffs, other demonstrators got into shouting matches with delegates and their standoff cut off a route used by buses bringing delegates to the area. Still, no violence or significant damage occurred even after the protesters were eventually allowed to march into the heart of Charlotte's central business district.

It was by far the most vigorous protest since both parties began meeting to formally nominate their presidential candidates. Republicans gathered last week in Tampa, where just two people were arrested by the end of the three-day affair.