World News in Pictures

[Mr Lick]

[Mr Lick]

Scottish model railway exhibition

Model Rail Scotland 2014 – the biggest model railway show held in Scotland

[Mr Lick]

Circa's jaw-dropping circus tricks

In their new show, Opus, the Australian troupe Circa combine staggering acrobatics with Shostakovich string quartets. Take a whirl through some of the other surprises in the company's colourful past





















Circa are on tour throughout Australia in 2014

[Mr Lick]

A dragon's head appears in the Northern Lights over Greenland



A dragon's head appears on the horizon as the Northern Lights dance magical shapes across the night sky. The mythical creature formed in swathes of green light as particles bombard the Earth's atmosphere above the Arctic

[Mr Lick]

Visitors feed rabbits at Okunoshima Island in Takehara, Japan. The island - often called Usagi Jima or "Rabbit Island" - is famous for its large rabbit population which has taken over the island and become a tourist attraction .



China's National Meteorological Centre issued a "yellow" smog alert for much of the country's north, on the fifth consecutive day of heavy pollution.

[Mr Lick]

Models show creations by Anne Avantie during Indonesia Fashion Week 2014 in Jakarta, Indonesia



Italy's Prime Minister Matteo Renzi talks during a confidence vote at the Senate in Rome. The centre-left politician was sworn in as prime minister on Saturday, becoming Italy's youngest ever PM.

[Mr Lick]

A Belarus Interior Ministry special forces soldier demonstrates his ability to sustain a blow during a competition to mark the Defenders of the Fatherland Day at their training centre outside Minsk. Belarus celebrates the Soviet holiday on February 23 each year alongside Russia and other countries of the former USSR. Following the fall of the Soviet Union in 1991, the holiday was given its current name in 2002 by Russian President Vladimir Putin



Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, Colonel of the Grenadier Guards, and Life Member of the Grenadier Guards Association, visits the 1st Battalion of the Grenadier Guards in Aldershot, Hampshire

[Mr Lick]

The US state of Georgia's supreme court has dismissed an obscenity case against a man who sent a woman an unsolicited photo of his tattooed penis in a text message.
The court ruled unanimously that the 1970 law applied only to "tangible" material sent through the post.
Charles Lee Warren faced up to three years in prison.
Mr Warren was arrested after he texted the photo in October 2012 and the woman went to the police.
The obscenity law under which he was prosecuted makes it a felony to send unsolicited material depicting nudity or sexual conduct unless the "envelope or container" in which it is sent bears a warning in "at least eight-point boldface type".
The arguments in the case were heard in front of the Georgia high court in November.

[Mr Lick]

This pensioner fell into a manure pit at the side of the road after being hit by a motorbike in Suining, China. When firemen arrived, the man was unconscious in the pit, with his face immersed in the manure. The unfortunate pensioner was pulled to safety by firemen



Si Bao (Four Treasure) is a two-legged dog living in Datong, China, pictured here taking her puppies for a walk in the railway station. Si Bao is a stray dog,' said Mr. Fan, a railway worker living nearby. Fan said Si Bao used to have a family. 'Her name was picked by its former owner. Two years ago, its owner moved from a bungalow to a building apartment, and they didn't take Si Bao with them, which made Si Bao a stray dog in the neighborhood.' Si Bao didn't attract people's attention until an accident two years ago when her two hind legs were crushed by a fast moving train

[Mr Lick]

A camera captured the moment when a bird crashed through a pilot's windscreen at 1,000 feet, breaking the cockpit glass and smashing directly into his face. Shocked Robert Webber, 53, was left bleeding as the glass from the windscreen flew into his face, but managed to safely land the plane after the collision happened at about 170 mph. Pilot Robert, who was alone in the six-seater plane, said that the midair collision with the bird, which took place 10 miles away from his final destination, felt like he had suddenly been slapped across the face



Pulling their hair out: Members of protest group Femen whip plaits resembling the hairstytle of Ukrainian politician Yulia Tymoshenko, near the Eiffel Tower in Paris, France

[Mr Lick]

Tommy Ton carries a Barbie doll on the head outside the Giorgio Armani show in Milan, Italy.



Demonstrators protest against the use of fur on the opening day of the Hong Kong International Fur & Fashion Fair



Newly appointed Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi (R) and Economy and Finance Minister Pier Carlo Padoan at the Italian Parliament during the second day of a debate for a confidence vote on in Rome

[Mr Lick]

Barton Moss anti-fracking protesters

Plans to evict up to 60 activists, who have been camped outside the Barton Moss gas fracking exploration facility since November last year, are on hold while their lawyers make a legal challenge in the courts



















Police escort anti-fracking protesters as they walk in front of trucks leaving the Barton Moss gas fracking facility

[Mr Lick]

It was fifty years ago today when Cassius Clay, better known as Muhammad Ali, became the world heavyweight champion. The 22-year-old challenger from of Louisville, Ky., defeated Charles "Sonny" Liston in a technical knockout after six rounds at Convention Hall in Miami Beach, Fla. on Feb. 25, 1964.

In the photo above Clay throws a straight left to the face of Liston in third round, in a fight known then as one of the biggest upsets in championship boxing, and one of the most important fights in history

[Mr Lick]

Masked Ukrainians and journalists gained access to the extravagant house belonging to the nation's former prosecutor general, Viktor Pshonka, outside of Kiev on Monday. An order had been issued to arrest Pshonka, according to Reuters, but local media reported that he escaped detention on Saturday



A painting depicts Ukraine's former prosecutor general Viktor Pshonka as French Emperor Napoleon, in Pshonka's house in the village of Gorenichy outside Kiev, on Feb. 24

[Mr Lick]

[Mr Lick]

Demonstrators join hands to block a highway in the Altamira neighborhood of Caracas, Venezuela on Monday. The banner over their heads reads in Spanish "We are all Venezuela.”

Traffic has come to a halt in parts of the Venezuelan capital because of barricades set up by opposition protesters across major thoroughfares. The protests are part of a wave of anti-government demonstrations that have swept Venezuela since Feb. 12 and have resulted in at least 10 deaths



An elderly woman sits on tires at a barricade in Independence Square on Sunday, in Kiev, Ukraine. Acting President Oleksander Turchinov addressed the nation on Sunday, saying the country would seek a return to European integration after Russian-leaning Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovich fled the capital on Friday

[Mr Lick]

The body of one of the siblings killed in a bomb blast near an anti-government protest site on Sunday is prepared for a funeral at a Buddhist temple in Bangkok February 24, 2014



A NASA image released on February 24, 2014 shows a photo taken by the Expedition 38 crew aboard the International Space Station on January 30, 2014 of the night view of the Korean Peninsula, and North Korea in the middle is almost completely dark compared to neighboring South Korea and China. The photograph was cropped and enhanced to improve contrast, and lens artifacts have been removed at source.

[Mr Lick]

Local riot police kneel as they apologize to Lviv residents for taking part in an operation against anti-government protesters in Kiev but said that they did not beat protesters, during a rally in central Lviv, Ukraine February 24, 2014



Uganda President Yoweri Museveni signs an anti-homosexual bill into law at the state house in Entebbe, 36 km (22 miles) south west of capital Kampala February 24, 2014



Ukrainians look at a "Wanted" notice for fugitive Ukrainian President Victor Yanukovich, plastered on the window of a car used as a barricade, near Kiev's Independent Square February 24, 2014.



Former Radio 1 DJ Dave Lee Travis, whose real name is David Patrick Griffin arrives at Southwark Crown Court in London February 24, 2014

[Mr Lick]

Protests flare in Venezuela




Motorcyclists supporting Venezuela's President Nicolas Maduro ride on the main highway during a rally for peace in Caracas February 24, 2014. Anti-government demonstrators set up barricades and started fires in Venezuela's capital despite calls from within the opposition to rein in protests in which at least 12 people have died in the OPEC nation






A protester throws stones at a motorcycle after the rider tried to past a barricade in Caracas February 24, 2014

[Mr Lick]

[Mr Lick]

Smog hits Beijing







Particulate readings in Beijing soared to 15 times WHO-recommended safe limits on Friday - reaching "orange" levels, the second-highest possible.















High levels of smog can be harmful to health, the WHO has warned, causing respiratory illness in vulnerable people.

[Mr Lick]

Thailand's political crisis has become increasingly violent since mass protests began in November. But on Monday, army chief Prayuth Chan-ocha said that the military would not intervene with force. Instead, it would deploy troops to provide protection to people. Here an anti-government protester keeps watch at a campsite in Lumpini Park, Bangkok.



A man performs as a living statue in the passageway to the Times Square shuttle in the Manhattan borough of New York.



A sign placed by anti-fracking campaigners lies next to the road near the IGas Barton Moss exploration facility in Salford, England. Plans to evict the activists camped outside the facility have been put on hold while their lawyers make a legal challenge in the courts.

[Mr Lick]

Moroccan protesters hold a giant national flag during a demonstration outside the French embassy in Rabat, following diplomatic tensions raised by civil lawsuits filed in Paris accusing Morocco's intelligence chief of "complicity in torture."



Members of the media take photographs as Indian cricketer Pragyan Ojha poses inside a cage during The People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) shoot to protest zoo cruelty in Hyderabad



Members of the National Guard stand outside the Cuban embassy during a protest against the government of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro in Caracas. Angry Venezuelan students geared up to stage a fresh rally, the latest in three weeks of anti-government protests that have left at least 14 people dead

[Mr Lick]

A visitor poses for photos next to a stereoscopic painting of a shark at a 3D art exhibtion in Chengde, Hebei Province, China



A cherry-crowned mangabey cub sits in the arms of its mother and next to the father inside the monkey house at the Tierpark zoo in Berlin



A praying mantis crawls through water droplets on the stem of a plant in photographer Nordin Seruyan's garden in Borneo, Indonesia



Britain's Olympic 2014 winter games gold medal winner Lizzie Yarnold (centre) smiles as she poses for the media by the doorstep of 10 Downing Street in London. Yarnold won gold in the women's skeleton competition. She is standing between members of the men's and women's curling teams who won silver and bronze medals at the games

[Mr Lick]

Retired electrical engineer Ming Shijie tries out his newly-invented balance bike in Weihai, Shandong Province, China. 62-year-old Ming spent two months making the balance bike which can rotate 360 degrees and run at 20 kilometers per hour



Freediver Amanda Cotton, 31, took this unusual phtograph while swimming with sperm whales in Dominica earlier this month. The experienced freediver from Florida, runs underwater photo tours in a bid to educate the public on marine life and conservation. Amanda came incredibly close to a sperm whale during on of her most recent dives and couldn't resist taking a cheeky selfie



Johari Saad from Malaysia has specialised in photographing various species of jumping spider from close range in various parts of Malaysia. The jumping spiders, also known as Portia, are known for their hunting instincts. They mostly feed on other smaller spiders. There are around 17 species of this kind, found in Africa, Australia, China, Malaysia, Myanmar, Nepal, India, Sri Lanka, the Philippines, and Vietnam



A polar bear stretches out on the ice in Hudson Bay, Canada, raising his arms above his head and lying flat on his back. The polar bears gather on the west side of Hudson Bay, Canada during October and November, in anticipation of the freeze-up of the Bay



A group of designers have created a contender for the world's best jungle gym: a giant inflatable bubble which has endless lengths of string inside. The unusual project called String Prototype has lengths of string cables threaded inside the bubble which can take the weight of a person and users can climb around and explore. The designers behind the unique project are Croatian and Austrian collective, Numen, founded by Sven Jonke, Christoph Katzler and Nikola Radeljkovic who specialise in large-scale interactive projects. When the inflatable cube deflates the ropes get loose and lie on the ground which means it can be easily packed away