Picture desk live: the day's best news images

Michael Gove attempts to high-five waiting photographers as he arrives at the Leveson inquiry. At least we think it's a high-five … Photograph: Graeme Robertson for the Guardian

Elderly patients wait outside a hospital after an earthquake near Modena in Italy. The earthquake came just a week after another tremor killed at least 10 people and damaged many buildings Photograph: Reuters

Walls (or hedges) have ears? The clever composition of this photograph makes something out of nothing. Italian Prime Minister Mario Monti readies for an Italy-Poland summit at Villa Madama in Rome Photograph: Andreas Solaro/AFP/Getty Images

This photograph could have been taken 100 years ago. The Last Bell marks the graduation from high school and is part of a longstanding Russian tradition. The girls wear black-and-white uniforms representing the attire of pre-Soviet schoolchildren, while the boys wear Tsarist-era military uniforms
Photograph: Smirnov Vladimir/ITAR-TASS/Corbis

If you think it's a bit hot out there, give India pause for thought - parts of the country registered a record high for May of 44.4 degrees Celsius. These children are cooling off in a fountain near the India Gate monument, New Delhi Photograph: Manish Swarup/AP

His expression says it all. A volunteer and ear specialist from the International Children's Safety Service examines a boy's ear at a school in Transylvania, Romania. Volunteer doctors from the service travel around the country twice a year to examine and treat children in need at local hospitals and educational institutes Photograph: Balazs Mohai/EPA

In this triumphant photograph, Sir Chris Bonington holds the Olympic torch on the summit of Mount Snowdon. The legendary mountaineer, 77, was given the honour of carrying the torch to the summit of Wales's highest mountain, where his climbing career began 61 years ago Photograph: Christopher Furlong/Getty Images

The home secretary, Theresa May, arrives at the Royal Courts of Justice to give evidence to the Leveson inquiry. May said she was not briefed about phone hacking until September 2010 Photograph: Oli Scarff/Getty Images

Crowds gather again in Tahrir Square, in scenes reminiscent of the Egyptian uprising, during a protest against presidential candidates. A group of Egyptian protesters set fire to the campaign headquarters of the candidate Ahmed Shafiq in Cairo on Monday, the state news agency reported, after the ex-prime minister made it into the second round of the vote Photograph: Mohamed Abd El Ghany/Reuters

A woman lies on the floor of her home, a tent provided by the United Nations in Mbera refugee camp in Mauritania that has become home to 64,000 Malians who have fled violence in their home country. Since Tuareg and Salafist rebels began their campaign in January for an independent state called Azawad in northern Mali, more than 320,000 people have fled their homes and about half of them have sought asylum in refugee camps in neighbouring states Photograph: Reuters

A volunteer helps people evacuate the Tesoreria Comunale and Marino Palace offices in downtown Milan, Italy. Several people were killed when a powerful aftershock hit areas of northern Italy that had been rocked earlier this month by another devastating earthquake Photograph: Salmoirago Paolo/EPA

A child looks at the prosthetic legs of Wounded Warrior Amputee Softball team members during a Memorial Day Parade in Binghamton, New York. The team is made up of US veterans of the Iraq and Afghanistan wars who lost limbs during their service Photograph: Gary Cameron/Reuters

A newlywed couple pose for a wedding photo in Shanghai, China. Western style weddings are becoming more common for affluent Chinese couples Photograph: Eugene Hoshiko/AP