Picture desk live: the day's best news images

A young man throws a chair over a burning car towards police in the nationalist Ardoyne area of Belfast, Northern Ireland. Trouble broke out between nationalist residents and riot police along the Crumlin Road with police deploying water cannon Photograph: Peter Muhly/AFP/Getty Images

A photograph taken by mountain guide Klemen Gričar twenty minutes after the avalanche on Mont Maudit Photograph: Klemen Gricar/Mountain Tracks

A helicopter takes off to continue the search for victims of an avalanche in the French Alps. The avalanche killed at least nine people and injured eight on Mont Maudit, a mountain in the Mont Blanc range. Local authorities said the avalanche was 'the most deadly of recent years' Photograph: Jean-pierre Clatot/AFP/Getty Images

Australian fans wearing just their 'budgie smugglers' wave national flags as the pack rides in the eleventh stage of the Tour de France, starting in Albertville and finishing in La Toussuire-Les Sybelles Photograph: Joel Saget/AFP/Getty Images

A child plays with Olafur Eliasson's new work Little Sun at the Tate Modern Photograph: Merklit Mersha/Tate

A beautifully composed photograph of a baby gorilla as it sleeps on its mother, Rebecca, at a zoo in Frankfurt Photograph: Fredrik Von Erichsen/AFP/Getty Images

Tulisa Contostavlos leaves the Royal Courts of Justice after settling her legal action over the publication of a private video tape by former boyfriend Justin Edwards Photograph: Peter Macdiarmid/Getty Images

The Queen experiences some of the highs and lows of her diamond jubilee tour as she views a public table tennis table in Victoria Square, Birmingham, accompanied by the lord mayor of Birmingham Photograph: Tim Ireland/PA

Boris Johnson appears to be enjoying the pampering as he meets a hair stylist during the opening of the P&G Salon in the Olympic Village
Photograph: Tom Dulat/Getty Images

The end of an era for the BBC as news reader Iain Purdon reads the last ever World Service radio bulletin from Bush House in London. Bush House has been the home to World Service radio for 70 years and has now closed Photograph: Peter Macdiarmid/Getty Images

Indians seem undaunted by a spell of heavy monsoon rain in New Delhi. The monsoons, which usually hit India from June to September, are crucial for farmers whose crops feed hundreds of millions of people Photograph: Saurabh Das/AP

The Olympic flame makes it to the top of the famous Gold Hill, more commonly known as 'Hovis Hill' in Shaftesbury, Dorset Photograph: Danny Lawson/PA

Meanwhile, earlier in the day the torch visited Stonehenge and caused some excitement among the schoolgirls from Leadenhall School Photograph: LOCOG via Getty Images

And in more Olympic news passengers arriving at Terminal 5 of Heathrow airport are greeted by a wax figure of Jamaican sprinter Usain Bolt, which was officially unveiled at the airport before it goes on display at Madame Tussauds on Monday Photograph: Steve Parsons/PA

Protestants throw an Irish flag onto a massive bonfire in the Shankill estate, west Belfast. Thousands of bonfires are lit in Protestant areas across Northern Ireland for the annual 12 July celebrations commemorate the 1690 Battle of the Boyne Photograph: Peter Morrison/AP

Protesters scuffle with police as Orange Order marchers make their way past the nationalist Ardoyne shops in north Belfast Photograph: Paul Faith/PA

In this video grab from Al-Jazeera television, the Syrian Ambassador to Iraq, Nawaf Fares, reads a statement in which he announces his defection to the Syrian opposition. Fares urged the army to turn its guns on the regime, becoming the most senior diplomat to abandon Bashar al-Assad Photograph: AFP/Getty Images

A Chinese couple who have resorted to sleeping outside due to the ongoing heatwave in Hefei, China. The Chinese National Meteorological Centre issued heat warnings for the southern areas forecasting that temperatures could reach 37-38C Photograph: AFP/AFP/Getty Images

Hillary Clinton shakes hands with her counterparts Pham Binh Minh, right, of Vietnam, and Surapong Tovichakchaikul, left, of Thailand during the photo session of the Asean-US ministerial meeting in Phnom Penh, Cambodia Photograph: Heng Sinith/AP