A human tower, phone-hacking trial verdict, a biting controversy | June 24
Sant Joan festival revelers in Spain start to form a human tower, a jury finds former editor of News of the World Andy Coulson guilty of conspiring to intercept message while clearing former News International chief executive Rebekah Brooks of all charges, World Cup fans await FIFA’s decision on Uruguayan player Luis Suarez’s apparent bite on an Italian player en route to Uruguay’s victory, and more in today’s daily brief.
- Castellers Colla Joves Xiquets de Valls start to form a human tower called “castells” during the Sant Joan festival at Plaza del Blat square in Valls, south of Barcelona June 24, 2014. (REUTERS/Albert Gea)
- Britain’s Queen Elizabeth looks at the Iron Throne as she meets members of the cast on the set of the television show Game of Thrones in the Titanic Quarter of Belfast, Northern Ireland, June 24, 2014. (REUTERS/Phil Noble)
- Former News International chief executive Rebekah Brooks and her husband Charlie leave the Old Bailey courthouse in London June 24, 2014. Rebekah Brooks, the former boss of Rupert Murdoch’s British newspaper arm, was acquitted on Tuesday of orchestrating a campaign to hack into phones and bribe officials in the hunt for exclusive news. (REUTERS/Neil Hall)
- BBC staff and colleagues from other news organisations take part in a one-minute silent protest outside New Broadcasting House against the seven-year jail terms given to three al-Jazeera journalists in Egypt on June 24, 2014 in London, England. A court in Cairo found al-Jazeera’s Cairo bureau chief, Mohamed Fahmy, who is Canadian-Egyptian, Egyptian producer Baher Mohamed and Australian correspondent Peter Greste guilty of spreading false news. (Getty Images/Rob Stothard)
- A couple embraces during a party held on the night of the San Juan bonfire on the beach of Playa de Poniente in Gijon early June 24, 2014. Fires formed by burning unwanted furniture, old school books, wood and effigies of malign spirits are seen across Spain as people celebrate the night of San Juan, a purification ceremony coinciding with the summer solstice. (REUTERS/Eloy Alonso)
- Uruguay’s Luis Suarez (R) reacts after clashing with Italy’s Giorgio Chiellini during their 2014 World Cup Group D soccer match at the Dunas arena in Natal June 24, 2014. (REUTERS/Tony Gentile)
- Rafael Nadal of Spain stretches to hit a return to Martin Klizan of Slovakia during their men’s singles tennis match at the Wimbledon Tennis Championships, in London June 24, 2014. (REUTERS/Suzanne Plunkett)
- Serena Williams of the United States in action during her Ladies’ Singles first round match against Anna Tatishvili of the United States on day two of the Wimbledon Lawn Tennis Championships at the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club at Wimbledon on June 24, 2014 in London, England. (Getty Images/Al Bello)
- Maria Sharapova of Russia serves to Samantha Murray of Britain in their women’s singles tennis match at the Wimbledon Tennis Championships, in London June 24, 2014. (REUTERS/Stefan Wermuth)
- Children learn how to shoot a bow and arrow during an event marking the holiday of Lag Ba’Omer in the West Bank Jewish settlement of Maon, south of Hebron May 19, 2014. Israeli lawmakers are pressing Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to lift what they call unjustified secrecy over opaque – and rising – funding for settlements on West Bank land Palestinians want for a state. Picture taken May 19, 2014. (REUTERS/Amir Cohen)
- Residents, covered with dried banana leaves and mud, light candles as they take part in a religious ritual known locally as “Taong Putik” (Mud People), while celebrating the Catholic feast day of Saint John the Baptist in the village of Bibiclat, Nueva Ecija, north of Manila, June 24, 2014. According to Saint John the Baptist parish church, hundreds of devotees participated in this year’s feast day, which has been observed in the village since 1945, to seek blessings and bountiful harvests. (REUTERS/Erik De Castro)
- Moon Chang-keuk, a nominee for South Korea’s Prime minister, bows during a news conference to withdraw his candidacy at a government complex in Seoul June 24, 2014. The second nominee for South Korea’s prime minister withdrew his name on Tuesday over controversial comments he made about the country’s troubled past with Japan in the latest political setback for President Park Geun-hye. (REUTERS/Heo Kyeong/News1)
- A rider rears up on his horse while surrounded by a cheering crowd during the traditional Fiesta of San Joan (Saint John) in downtown Ciutadella, on the Spanish Balearic Island of Menorca, June 23, 2014. The riders of the horses are representatives of ancient Ciutadella society – nobility, clergy, craftsmen and farmers. (REUTERS/Enrique Calvo)
- A member of the “Donbass” self-defence battalion swears the oath to be officially included into the reserve battalion of the National Guard of Ukraine near Kiev June 23, 2014. (REUTERS/Valentyn Ogirenko)
- A restorer works on a fresco at the western window of the Orthodox Metropolitan Cathedral of Athens June 24, 2014. The church, built in 1862, is undergoing a major artistic restoration since April and is expected to be completed by the end of 2015. (REUTERS/Alkis Konstantinidis)