Picture desk live: the day's best news images

Syrian rebels hunt for snipers after attacking a government building in the centre of Selehattin, near Aleppo, during fighting between rebels and Syrian troops Photograph: Bulent Kilic/AFP/Getty Images

Crowds leave the Olympic stadium at the Olympic Park in Stratford, east London, following the dress rehearsal for the opening ceremony of the London 2012 Games. They have been sworn to secrecy so they don't spoil the show for the rest of us Photograph: John Giles/PA

Reinaldo, the son of the Cuban dissident Oswaldo Payá, is accompanied by relatives during his father's wake at a church where approximately 400 people paid their respects in Havana Photograph: STR/EPA

He ain't heavy: a young Chinese boy training at a weightlifting school in Xiamen in south-east China's Fujian province
Photograph: AFP//Getty Images

Rescuers help an elderly woman escape from her flooded home in Chongqing, south-west China. At least 37 people have died in the floods this week Photograph: AFP/Getty Images

Looking like a still from the skyscraper building boom in the 30s, construction workers are seen working at the World Trade Centre construction site. Twenty-first-century health and safety means that they are wearing safety harnesses Photograph: Rex Features/Sipa USA

Where sheep may safely graze: a flock of sheep kitted out with GPS tracking devices. Sheep do not behave 'like sheep' in the way most people imagine, research suggests. When they follow the flock, they are not so much copying each other as acting on their own out of a sense of survival. Scientists tested the 'selfish herd' hypothesis by strapping the satellite tracking devices to the backs of animals being rounded up by a sheepdog Photograph: Current Biology/PA

Passengers sleep near their luggage after typhoon Vicente stopped flights out of Hong Kong this morning. Planes grounded at the airport were buffeted by the high winds. Passengers were told the conditions were expected to last several hours Photograph: Ng Han Guan/AP

A tiny, orphaned red squirrel, named Squirrelly, which was the 1,000th animal to be rescued, rehabilitated and released back into the wild by the Scottish SPCA this year Photograph: Scottish SPCA/PA

How many people does it take to clean the inside of the lantern above No 10 Downing Street? One and a policeman to hold the ladder Photograph: Oli Scarff/Getty Images

Prime Minister David Cameron and his wife Samantha welcome the Queen and Prince Philip to Downing Street where they are hosting a lunch for them together with past Prime Ministers. It may prove to be a tricky seating plan but at least the Queen and Samantha Cameron have beautifully co-ordinated outfits Photograph: Oli Scarff/Getty Images

What's the collective noun for a a group of former Prime Ministers? Sir John Major, Tony Blair and Gordon Brown chat before posing for a formal photograph with the Queen and David Cameron, ahead of a Diamond Jubilee lunch Photograph: WPA Pool/Getty Images

A historic portrait with a touch of hysterics: The Queen laughs with Prime Ministers past and present, (left to right) David Cameron, Sir John Major, Tony Blair and Gordon Brown Photograph: Stefan Rousseau/PA

Today's the last opportunity to use the Olympic lanes unless you happen to be an Olympic VIP so members of the Household Cavalry are taking full advantage on a ride through London Photograph: Luke Macgregor/Reuters

Shooting victim Gordon Cowden's family gather at the makeshift memorial across the street from the Century 16 theatre in Aurora, Colorado. Two of Cowden's teenage daughters were with him in the theatre when he was killed. James Holmes is suspected of killing 12 and injuring 58 others during at a screening of 'The Dark Knight Rises' Photograph: Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images

Former prime minister Gordon Brown and his wife Sarah leave after a jubilee celebration with the Queen at Downing Street. Hopefully he enjoyed the lunch Photograph: Luke Macgregor/Reuters

Andy Coulson makes a statement to the press outside his home in Dulwich, London. Coulson and former News International executive Rebekah Brooks are to be charged with phone-hacking offences. Vikram Dodd reports Photograph: Paul Hackett/Reuters

Prince Charles has had a day out at the seaside with a view of Bamburgh Castle, where he met volunteers to talk about a litter survey project on the beach Photograph: Scott Heppell/AP

An enthusiastic crowd mob tennis player Oli Golding as he arrives with the Olympic flame in the sunshine at Kew Gardens Photograph: Peter Macdiarmid/Getty Images

The people of Dimol village wait to leave their homes following ethnic violence in Kokrajhar, Assam, India. Paramilitary troops are said to have opened fire on rioters in the north-eastern state after 21 people were found killed in clashes over land rights. Read our report Photograph: AP