Aerial shots of London and 2012 venues

The recent clear days in London have provided an opportunity to see how the city and its Olympic venues are being finalised for the Games, now less than a month away. Here the giant Olympic rings can be seen on Tower Bridge. 

The Olympic rings are also lit 183m up on the top of Tower 42, perhaps better known as the Nat West Tower. To the front and left is the 202m high Heron Tower. At over 300m, the newly built Shard, seen in the background, dwarfs them both. 

Further west along the river, this shot shows Horse Guards Parade being prepared to host beach volleyball matches, with the Houses of Parliament to the right and the London Eye wheel behind. The fountains of Trafalgar Square and Nelson's Column are bottom left. 

More than 2,000 tonnes of sand will be used on the main beach volleyball court and practice areas. 

The venue will be able to seat 15,000 spectators when it opens for action which runs from 28 July - 9 August. GB is entering its first team since beach volleyball was featured at the Olympics in 1996. 

Horses will feature at Greenwich Park as it is the site of the equestrian events. The beige square in the middle of this shot is the dressage and jumping arena. The cross country part of eventing takes place through the park. 

Over on the Olympic Park, final touches are being made to the brightly coloured Hockey Arena.

The spiralling Orbit tower is newly finished. The structure will provide visitors with panoramic views of the park for a £15 fee. 

The Olympic Park will host its first action on Saturday 28 July when women's basketball tips off in the Basketball Arena. It is the white temporary venue, likened by some to a mattress, and seen here just above the Velodrome on the left.

  

Siachen, the world's highest battlefield

The Siachen glacier is regarded as the world's highest battlefield. Pakistan and India  both claim the area and have thousands of soldiers stationed there. The glacier has been in the news recently with the deaths in April of about 140 people, most of them soldiers, on the Pakistani side in an avalanche. Soon after, Pakistan's army chief said Pakistan favoured talks with India to demilitarise Siachen. The two countries have already held 12 rounds of talks over the disputed glacier.

Weather is the biggest foe. Bone-chilling winds whip the landscape and avalanches sweep soldiers into crevasses. The harsh sun burns the skin and, combined with the thin air and sub-zero temperatures, can induce acute depression.  Pakistan and India agreed to a ceasefire over the Siachen glacier in 2003 but thousands of troops are still deployed in the region.

Supplies must be flown in to the Forward Logistics Base by helicopter. India believes that the glacier is of great strategic and diplomatic value. Soldiers adjust to the high altitude by training on an ice wall at the snout of the Siachen glacier. A sign at the snout of the glacier declares it to be the world's highest battlefield.

It started in 1984 with Indian army seized control of the glacier, an area not demarcated by the Line of Control through divided Kashmir. Many more soldiers have died from the harsh conditions in Siachen than in combat. There is a famous local saying: "The land is so barren and the passes so high that only the best of friends and fiercest of enemies come by.''

'Lost' penguins turn up south of Brazil beaches

Dozens of young penguins who lost their way during their annual migration have ended up on the tropical beaches of Rio de Janeiro to the south of Brazil.

The animals became something of a tourist attraction but are not suited to such warm waters. A rescue mission has been launched to return them to their natural habitat.