World News in Pictures

[Mr Lick]

President Barack Obama (R) embraces former President Bill Clinton onstage after Clinton nominated Obama for re-election during the second session of the Democratic National Convention in Charlotte, North Carolina, September 5, 2012.



Shoppers walk past protesters dressed as prisoners and carrying signs reading "Condemned to precariousness and poverty. Megapark" and "Social Cuts bury our Rights", during a demonstration at the opening of an electrical goods store at the Megapark shopping complex in Barakaldo September 5, 2012. Members of the Berri-Otxoak social rights collective staged the protest to draw attention to the low wages and short-term contracts of workers at the complex.



An Israeli border police officer stands in front of a truck lifting a structure during its removal from the Migron outpost near the West Bank city of Ramallah September 5, 2012. Israeli settler families were on Sunday evicted from the outpost in the occupied West Bank after a court ruled that it had been built illegally on Palestinian land.



Visitors view guns on display during the first day of the Abu Dhabi International Hunting and Equestrian exhibition in Abu Dhabi, September 5, 2012. The 10th Abu Dhabi International Hunting and Equestrian Exhibition features several festivities and live performances such as equestrian shows, falcon & saluki beauty contests, camel auctions, art competitions and traditional hunting activities, and will run until September



Riot police officers help a protester after she was hit by an improvised bomb thrown by demonstrating students during a march in Bogota September 5, 2012. Thousands of students and teachers marched in a nation-wide protest against the government's education reforms for public universities, student organizations reported.



The damaged Im Al-Zinar church is seen in the old city of Homs September 4, 2012



A demonstrator taking part in a street protest lies near a line of police in uptown Charlotte, the site of the Democratic National Convention in North Carolina on September 5, 2012. Forecasts of thunderstorms put a crimp on U.S. President Barack Obama's nomination party, forcing Democrats on Wednesday to move his planned acceptance speech from a 74,000-seat outdoor football stadium to a much smaller indoor venue.

[Mr Lick]

A long filament of solar material that had been hovering in the Sun's atmosphere, the corona, erupts out into space at 4:36 p.m. EDT on August 31, 2012. The coronal mass ejection, or CME, traveled at over 900 miles per second. The CME did not travel directly toward Earth, but did connect with Earth's magnetic environment, causing aurora to appear on the night of September 3, 2012.

[Mr Lick]

People covered in black grease celebrate the traditional festivities of Cascamorras in Baza, Spain, Sept. 6.



Every year on Sept. 6 a villager from Guadix dresses as an oddball character called 'Cascamorras' and travels 1.8 miles to the village of Baza, accompanied by a team of representatives, to stage an attempt to recapture the statue of the Virgen de la Piedad. The people of Baza dirty their faces and wait with colored water and eggs to pelt the intruders, thus staining the clothes of Cascamorras and ensuring his failure

[Mr Lick]

Britain's Jonnie Peacock, second from left, wins the men's 100m T-44 final ahead of South Africa's Amu Fourie, left, Richard Browne of the U.S. and South Africa's Oscar Pistorius, right, at the London 2012 Paralympic Games on Sept. 6.



Jonny Peacock of Britain won the showpiece race in 10.90 seconds Thursday to loud cheers from the home crowd. Pistorius, the defending champion, had a time of 11.17.

[Mr Lick]

France's David Labarre, center, vies for the ball against Spain's Youssef El Haddaoui Rabii, left, and Marcelo Rosado Carrasco during the men's 5-a-side soccer semifinal match between Spain and France at the London 2012 Paralympic Games on Sept. 6. France won 2-0.



France's sighted goalkeeper Frederic Jannas, left, leads his team into the stadium past Spain's supporters after halftime during the men's 5-a-side soccer semifinal match between Spain and France on Sept. 6. Paralympic 5-a-side soccer is contested by teams made up of four visually impaired outfield players wearing blindfolds with a goalkeeper who may be fully sighted. The ball they play with contains ball bearings to produce a noise when it moves.









Spectators were warned not to call the referee ' a blind bastard' during the match

[Mr Lick]

Boys pose for a photo at the Los Angeles County Fair in Pomona, Calif. on Sept. 5. The nation's largest county fair, running from Aug. 31 to Sept. 30, is celebrating its 90th anniversary.



No donuts? Well maybe just one!

[Mr Lick]

Many people are unhappy at the removal of 400 mature trees from a boulevard to facilitate the journey of the space shuttle Endeavor's to it's new home in Los Angeles.



A gendarme block the roadway to the scene in the French Alps where 4 british citizens were killed. A 4 year old girl was found hiding in the car several hours after the scene was discovered.

[Mr Lick]

Fort Hood accused Nidal Hasan 'must shave off beard'



A man accused of killing 13 people at a Texas army base in 2009 has been told to shave his beard before his murder trial, or have it forcibly removed.

Major Nidal Hasan argued he had grown it in compliance with his Muslim faith.

But a military judge said the 41-year-old had failed to prove sincere religious reasons for wearing the beard, which is against army rules.

The army psychiatrist is accused of opening fire on soldiers preparing for deployment at Fort Hood, Texas.

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

The rampage was the worst of its type at a US military base and Maj Hasan could face the death penalty if convicted.

[Mr Lick]

Burmese MPs force out constitutional court judges



MPs in Burma have forced out all nine judges of the constitutional court, in a row pitting the government against the parliament created as part of political reforms.

State media said that President Thein Sein had accepted the resignations.

The impeachment was supported by the governing USDP - which has close ties to the military - as well as opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi's NLD party.

Thein Sein's government took office in 2011 after the military ceded power.

The current row erupted in March when the court issued an order limiting the power of parliamentary committees and commissions to summon ministers for questioning.

President Thein Sein had asked it to study the issue.

However, the order enraged MPs.

More than two-thirds of the lower house backed the impeachment, which was approved by the upper house last month.

Soe Win Than of the BBC's Burmese Service says this standoff is the first of its kind in Burma since the recent reform process began.

Tensions have been brewing for some time between the government and parliament, he says, and in this showdown parliament won, underlining its growing importance.

The situation also highlights how the democratic institutions are still defining their roles in the new Burma after years of military rule, our correspondent adds.

[OhOh]

[I]"A terrorist booby-trapped car on Tuesday blew up during the escorting of Monday's martyrs in Jaramana city in Damascus countryside, state-run SANA news agency reported.

A car exploded during the funeral killing twelve people and injuring 48 others, State television said without giving further details. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights confirmed the blast in Jaramana suburb and said it was caused by a car bomb.

[Mr Lick]

Six-year-old quadruplets from Shenzhen in southern China had their hair shaved into various numbers before they went to school for the first time, Agence France Presse reports.

Their parents decided to mark them with 1, 2, 3, 4 on their heads — in the order that they were born — to make it easier for teachers and classmates to tell them apart.

[Mr Lick]

Olympic Park, London: Brazil take on Argentina in the five-a-side football semi-finals at the Paralympic Games



Athens, Greece: A firefighter stands in a mock noose outside parliament during a protest against budget cuts



Panan, China: A man walks barefoot on burning embers during a firewalking ceremony



Chongqing, China: A ship sails across the confluence of the Yangtze and Jialin rivers. Officials are investigating why this section of waterway has turned red

[Mr Lick]

A boy looks at an artwork made of unwanted toys at the solo exhibition of Japanese artist Hiroshi Fuji, known for his creations that recycle unwanted toys and waste materials, in Tokyo, September 6, 2012. More than 100,000 unwanted toys collected by social groups across Japan for the past 13 years were used in the exhibition



A student affiliated with the All Nepal National Free Students Union (ANNFSU), a student wing of the Communist Party of Nepal Unified Marxist Leninist (CPN-UML), is carried to hospital by his friend after his face accidentally caught fire while burning an effigy of Prime Minister Baburam Bhattarai, during their protest against the Nepal Oil Corporation (NOC)'s decision to hike prices on petroleum products and liquefied petroleum gas cylinders in Kathmandu, September 6, 2012



Brazil's Luciano dos Santos Pereira knocks over an official as he competes in the men's triple jump - F11 final in the Olympic Stadium at the London 2012 Paralympic Games, September 6, 2012



Police wield their batons against a supporter of India's ruling Congress party during a protest outside Odisha state legislative assembly in the eastern Indian city of Bhubaneswar, September 6, 2012



Onlookers stand next to an overturned passenger bus that was washed away by flash floods in Bankura district of the eastern Indian state of West Bengal, September 6, 2012

[Mr Lick]

Stoke City's Andrew Hall admits murdering girlfriend



An ex-Premier League academy footballer has been jailed for life with a minimum term of 10 years for killing his girlfriend.

Andrew Hall, 18, released by Stoke City in May, pleaded guilty to murdering Megan-Leigh Peat, 15, at a house in Ampthill, Bedfordshire, on 9 June.

Ms Peat, of Westoning, suffered at least 60 stab wounds in the attack.

Judge Richard Foster, sentencing at Luton Crown Court, said Hall was jealous of her other friendships.

Hall, of Flitwick, admitted stabbing Ms Peat in the head and body at the house which belongs to a mutual friend.

She died from her injuries and severe blood loss after being treated by emergency services.



Andrew Hall was said to be jealous of his girlfriend's innocent relationships


Judge Foster told Hall: "Megan Peat will never experience the thrill and success of exam results, going on to higher education, or perhaps being a bridesmaid at a best friend's wedding or an 18th birthday party.

"Her life ended in your hands at 15 years old.

"Only you know why you did what you did that night and what the catalyst was for such a ferocious attack.

"It is clear you were jealous of her innocent friendships with others."

Hall stabbed her 60 times in the head, neck and upper chest.

Two knives, including a serrated bread knife, were found next to her body.

[Mr Lick]

A series of earthquakes in China leave at least 50 dead and 150 injured

[Mr Lick]

A man gets caught in a cloud of tear gas fired by police, in background, as they raid a market place in search of suspected protesters in Manama, Bahrain, Sept. 7, 2012







MANAMA (Reuters) — Police fired tear gas and stun grenades at dozens of anti-government protesters who defied a ban on unauthorized demonstrations and marched in the center of Bahraini capital Manama on Friday.

Bahrain, where the U.S. Fifth Fleet is based, has been in political turmoil since a protest movement dominated by majority Shi'ite Muslims erupted in February 2011 during a wave of revolts against authoritarian governments across the Arab world.

The Sunni Muslim ruling Al Khalifa family put down the uprising with martial law, troops from Saudi Arabia and police from the United Arab Emirates, but unrest has resumed, with almost daily clashes between Shi'ites and police

[Mr Lick]

A series of earthquakes collapsed houses and triggered landslides Friday in a remote mountainous part of southwestern China where damage was preventing rescues and communications were disrupted. At least 64 deaths have been reported.

[Mr Lick]

Thousands of protesters turn out outside the government headquarters in Hong Kong, on Sept. 7. Parents, teachers and pupils along with activists in the former British colony continued their protest against the government's plan to introduce a new subject "Moral and National Education" into a new curriculum, starting from new school year.









Mother ties a black ribbon on her son's arm to demand withdrawal of the national education plan at a primary school in Hong Kong, on Sept. 7.



Protests in Hong Kong ahead of an election on Sunday are posing a major test for the city's new leader as voter discontent fueled by anger over perceived meddling by Beijing threatens to shake up the political landscape.

This time round, Hong Kong's legislature will have a more democratic flavor - it has been expanded from 60 to 70 seats, with just over half of them to be directly elected.

But the results are likely to reflect a recent upsurge in anti-China sentiment, which has been exacerbated by a plan for a school curriculum extolling the achievements of the Chinese Communist Party.

Thousands of people have demonstrated outside government headquarters for the past week demanding the school program be scrapped, forcing Leung Chun-ying to cancel what was to have been his first major international engagement as Hong Kong's leader at an Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum in Russia.

On Friday evening, the crowds swelled further as tens of thousands of ordinary citizens, many dressed in black, denounced the curriculum as Communist Party propaganda which glossed over the darker aspects of Chinese rule, hitting a nerve in the former British colony that remains proud of its freedoms 15 years after London handed it over to Beijing.

"I am really scared (about) this national education," said a retired fireman in the crowd with his five-year-old grandson. "They really aren't talking the truth. They are telling a lie to the children."

The protests have included hunger strikes and the parading of a replica of the Goddess of Democracy statue which was erected in Beijing's Tiananmen Square during the 1989 demonstrations and crackdown.

[Mr Lick]

Ahmed Naas of Iraq embraces Wildan Nukhailawi of Iraq after the end of the Men's F40 classification Javelin final at the Olympic Stadium in Olympic Park at the London 2012 Paralympic Games on Sept. 7. Naas won silver, Nukhailawi the bronze.



Bronze medalist Wildan Nukhailawi of Iraq and silver medallist Ahmed Naas of Iraq celebrate following the Men's Javelin Throw F40 final on day 9 of the London 2012 Paralympic Games at Olympic Stadium on Sept. 7, in London, England.

[Mr Lick]

South China earthquakes - more pics

[Mr Lick]

Aleppo, Syria: A rebel Free Syrian Army soldier helps a comrade treat his hand that was wounded by a sniper in the Izaa district



Ramallah, Palestinian territories: A boy uses a slingshot to hurl a stone during a protest against the confiscation of Palestinian land to expand Jewish settlements in the West Bank village of Nabi Saleh



Dakar, Senegal: The ticket office in the Cinema Libert. Faded movie posters peel off the walls and the big screen, lit only by sunbeams, pushes through the broken roof of the musty, abandoned cinema, a symbol to many of the death of Senegal's film industry

[Mr Lick]

Geneva, Switzerland: Yves 'Jetman' Rossy takes to the skies with fellow Breitling Flyer pilot, Nigel Lamb, in the renowned Spitfire MH434



Yunnan province, China: Residents cross a bridge with their blankets and pillows after sleeping outside for a night following an earthquake in Yiliang



Police officers detain a protester in support of women's rights group Femen, during a civic-military parade commemorating the Independence Day of Brazil in Brasilia September 7, 2012



A member of an art gallery covers an art piece by Beijing-based artist Chi Peng with paper after government officials from the cultural bureau deemed it unfit for display before the inauguration of the SH Contemporary Art Fair at the Shanghai Exhibition Center September 6, 2012



Bob (R) and Mike Bryan of the U.S. celebrate after defeating Leander Paes of India and Radek Stepanek of the Czech Republic in their men's doubles finals match at the U.S. Open tennis tournament in New York September 7, 2012



Press photographers take pictures as protesters run for cover from tear-gas fired by riot police during an anti-government march in downtown Manama September 7, 2012.

[Mr Lick]

Villagers stand on a damaged bridge over the flooded river Mahisagar after heavy rains at Udalpur village in Panchmahal district of the western Indian state of Gujarat September 7, 2012



Army soldiers sit atop an armed personnel carrier securing a road where protesters rallied to demand that Yemen's former President Ali Abdullah Saleh be put on trial in Sanaa September 7, 2012.

[Mr Lick]

Suicide attack in Kabul



A suicide bomber has killed at least 6 people in Kabul, some of the victims were children.

[Mr Lick]

Alps shooting investigation






The hospital in Grenoble where the 7 year old girl is recovering



Police are examining the family's house in Surrey