World News in Pictures

[Mr Lick]

Robotic cheetah 'breaks speed record for legged robots'



A headless robot dubbed "Cheetah" has set a new world speed record, according to its owners.
The US Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency said the four-legged machine achieved 18mph (29km/h) on a laboratory treadmill.

The agency said the previous land speed record by a legged robot was 13.1mph.

Darpa said that the project was part of efforts to develop robots designed to "more effectively assist war fighters across a greater range of missions".

Darpa - which is run by the Pentagon - funded the Massachusetts robotics company Boston Dynamics to build the machine.
"We plan to get off the treadmill and into the field as soon as possible," said the firm's chief robotics scientist, Alfred Rizzi, in a statement.

"We really want to understand what is possible for fast-moving robots."

[OhOh]

Russia's Foreign Ministry stressed that Moscow's stance towards the situation in Syria is not temporal, rather it is based on the principle of inadmissibility of force interference in Syria's affairs.

In a statement issued on Tuesday, the Russian Foreign Ministry said that "Russia's stance on the Syrian settlement has never been subject to any short-term considerations and hasn't formed under the influence of elections, unlike that of some of Western countries, calling upon the American and the Europeans not to indulge in wishful thinking.

[OhOh]

Chinese Foreign Minister's envoy Li Huaxin on Tuesday reiterated his country's opposition to interference in the Syrian internal affairs under whatsoever name, during his meeting with Syrian Deputy Foreign Minister Ahmad Arnous.

Huaxin considered dialogue as the only way out of the crisis in Syria, saying it is essential that the international community respect Syria's sovereignty, independence, unity and territorial integrity.

For his part, Arnous explained to the Chinese envoy the reality of the situation in Syria and what it is undergoing of misleading and the media attack led by some media and known satellite channels.

[Mr Lick]

Singer PJ Proby 'cheated benefits system out of £47,000'

PJ Proby had several hits in the early 1960s

Pop star PJ Proby cheated the benefits system out of more than £47,000 while claiming he had only £5 in his bank account, a court has heard.

The 73-year-old singer, from Twyford, near Evesham in Worcestershire, appeared at Worcester Crown Court under his real name of James Marcus Smith.

He denies nine charges relating to benefit payments in the period between November 2002 and March 2008.

The court heard he was being paid for concert tours but said he had no work.

Prosecutor Nicholas Smith said the singer told the Department of Work and Pensions he was "effectively homeless" when he first claimed income support.

He told the court: "What the Department of Work and Pensions alleges is that, far from being out of work and having no money or income, he in fact was in receipt of undeclared income from various concert tours around the world and from royalty payments."

The court was told documentation showed that hundreds of thousands of pounds had passed through one of the singer's accounts between January 2004 and February 2008.

Tour contracts

A bank statement that revealed a balance of about £23,000 from April 2006 was among the documents.

The jury also heard that there were details of offers of work and various tours, including a deal worth £5,000 in cash to perform in Berlin in 2001.

The singer claimed that a two-month engagement with The Searchers had been a "form of therapy"

The singer claimed that a two-month engagement alongside The Searchers had been a form of therapy advised by his doctor.

He conceded that he had received expenses but denied receiving pay-slips.

The lawyer told the jury: "The essence of this case is that he had income and savings that he should have declared.

"The Crown say this was not just therapeutic... standing on stage for 10 minutes or so - it was a lot more than that."

During two interviews with investigators in 2007, the accused was taken through documentation relating to his claims. He admitted much of what was put to him.

But the prosecutor added that the singer had maintained that he was "doing rather less" than investigators thought he had been doing and that money he had been getting was used for expenses.

"Basically he denied that he was dishonest," Mr Smith concluded.

The singer denies two counts of cheating the public revenue, four of failing to notify the authorities of a change of circumstances and three of making false representations.

[Mr Lick]

Allen Stanford convicted of Ponzi fraud

The Texan financier has been found guilty of conspiracy and fraud charges by a federal jury for leading a $7bn Ponzi scheme from his offshore bank in Antigua.

The England and Wales Cricket Board signed a five-year deal with Stanford in 2008 for a series of matches between England and an all-star West Indies team



Stanford waiting to enter the federal courthouse in Houston, Texas, as the jury deliberated in his criminal trial



James Eccles holds up certificates of deposit from the Stanford International Bank as other victims of the Ponzi scheme gathered outside the federal courthouse last month

[Mr Lick]

Minamisanriku, Japan: a woman holds her son in front of the town hospital, where a boat still perches on the five-storey building. The baby was born at the Ishinomaki Red Cross hospital on 11 March 2011, the day the earthquake struck



Chiba city, Japan: visitors look at an advertisement for seasoning at the US pavilion during the 37th international food and beverage exhibition, FoodEx



Madrid, Spain: a woman reacts as a digger demolishes a shack in the shanty town settlement of El Gallinero on the outskirts of the city



Wagga Wagga, Australia: thousands of spiders build new webs after floodwater forced them to move to higher ground - quite incredible.

[Mr Lick]

Prince Harry races Usain Bolt

Prince Harry races the Olympic sprint champion Usain Bolt – and wins. The prince is in Jamaica as part of a Diamond Jubilee tour, representing the Queen, which will also take in Belize, the Bahamas and Brazil



The prince and the sprinter strike Bolt's signature pose on the Usain Bolt track at the University of the West Indies in Kingston, Jamaica















The prince celebrates his victory over the fastest man on the planet

[Mr Lick]

Champions League: Arsenal v Milan

The best images from the Emirates where Arsenal needed to overcome a four goal deficit from a humiliating first leg in order to qualify for the Champions League quarter-finals



"There is maybe a 2% or 5% chance statistically, but realistically we are out of this competition," said Arsène Wenger after Arsenal were beaten 4-0 by Milan in the first leg



They're fielding a strong side, considering what little chance Wenger has given them. Evidently Wenger doesn't think this tie is quite so dead and buried after all - not after seing his side put five past Tottenham and come from behind to beat Liverpool recently



As luck would have it, Milan are as hopeless defensiveley as Arsenal were in the first leg. They allow Laurent Koscielny to ghost in at the front post and score a header in only the seventh minute to put Arsenal one up



Rosicky slams home a second goal when a loose ball lands at his feet inside the penalty box. He slots it crisply into the bottom corner



So, 25 minutes gone and already Arsenal are closing in on their target. No wonder Rosicky is going mental



Arsenal's charge continues apace. A phenomenal run from Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain completely bamboozles Mesbah and Antonio Nocerino, casuing them to sandwich him in calamitous fashion. The referee takes an enternity before awarding a penalty to Arsenal



Tension grows as Van Persie is forced to re-position the ball on the spot, but he then calmly sends the keeper the wrong way. 3-0!



Christian Abbiati looks desperate. And as the teams wander off at half-time, so too do his team-mates

[Mr Lick]

Milan use the interval to re-group, but still one or two chances break Arsenal's way in the second half. The best of them falls to Van Persie, a man with 36 goals to his name this season ... but with only the keeper to beat, he dinks the ball into the air and is denied by Abbiati's raised arm



If nothing else, Milan know how to play keep ball. They're successfully winding down the clock



Wenger urges his side forward. But with every attack, Arsenal expose themselves at the back. Milan should score when Nocerinio clumsily pokes the ball straight at the feet of Arsenal's goalkeeper Wojciech Szczesny from two yards out



But Arsenal can't create another significant opportunity of their own and the final whistle brings their courageous effort to an end. They've fallen marginally short, but boy was it close

[Mr Lick]

Geneva Auto Show



A man looks under the bonnet of a Volkswagen car during the first media day of the Geneva Auto Show at the Palexpo in Geneva, March 6, 2012






Models surround the new Volkswagen Golf GTI Cabriolet car during the first media day of the Geneva Auto Show at the Palexpo in Geneva, March 6, 2012.



A Koenigsegg Agera 2 car is displayed on the car maker's booth during the first media day of the Geneva Auto Show at the Palexpo in Geneva, March 6, 2012.

[Mr Lick]

A visitor looks under a Honda Civic model displayed on the car maker's booth during the first media day of the Geneva Auto Show at the Palexpo in Geneva, March 6, 2012.



Ferrari CEO Luca Cordero di Montezemolo waves from inside the new Ferrari F12 Berlinetta during the first media day of the Geneva Auto Show at the Palexpo in Geneva, March 6, 2012.



A new Nissan Invitation concept car is displayed on the Nissan booth during the first media day of the Geneva Auto Show at the Palexpo in Geneva, March 6, 2012.

[Mr Lick]

Models pose in front of the new BMW 6 Series Gran Coupe cars during the first media day of the Geneva Auto Show at the Palexpo in Geneva, March 6, 2012



A Bentley EXP 9 F concept car is displayed on the car maker's booth during the first media day of the Geneva Auto Show at the Palexpo in Geneva, March 6, 2012.






Tata Motors' Chairman Ratan Tata (L) poses in front of the Megapixel model car during the first media day of the Geneva Auto Show at the Palexpo in Geneva, March 6, 2012.

[Mr Lick]

A Bentley EXP 9 F concept car is displayed on the car maker's booth during the first media day of the Geneva Auto Show at the Palexpo in Geneva, March 6, 2012.



The new Lamborghini Aventador model car is displayed during the first media day of the Geneva Auto Show at the Palexpo in Geneva, March 6, 2012

[Mr Lick]

The new Peugeot 208 model car is displayed during the first media day of the Geneva Auto Show at the Palexpo in Geneva, March 6, 2012.



A new V12 Zagato model car is displayed on the Aston Martin booth during the first media day of the Geneva Auto Show at the Palexpo in Geneva, March 6, 2012.






The Opel Ampera is shown to the media after it was elected "Car of the Year 2012", by 59 motoring journalists, ahead of the 82nd Geneva Car Show at the Palexpo Arena in Geneva March 5, 2012.

[Mr Lick]

The sun unleashed one of the biggest flares ever seen during its current activity cycle late Tuesday — an X5.4-class outburst strong enough to trigger aradio blackout. This extreme-ultraviolet image of the sun's disk, captured by NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory, shows the flare shining like a bright flame.

[Mr Lick]

Children and parents are dwarfed by a whale shark as it passes by inside a tank March 6, 2012 at the Georgia Aquarium in Atlanta, Georgia. The whale shark is the largest living fish species.



A 30-foot replica of Michelangelo's David is parked in front of the Storefront for Art and Architecture on March 6 in the Soho area of New York

[Mr Lick]

Suman, a 25-year-old pregnant woman, lies on an examination table as a nurse places her hands on her stomach during a check up at a community health center in the remote village of Chharchh, in the central Indian state of Madhya Pradesh.



In rural Madhya Pradesh, an innovative free maternity ambulance service called "Janani Express", which runs in partnership between the state government and the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF), is trying to increase the number of babies born in clinics where proper care can be provided to the mothers and newborn children, and infant mortality can be decreased

[Mr Lick]

Kristopher Gilchrist of Britain competes in the men's 200m breaststroke semifinals, March 6, 2012, at the British Gas Swimming Championships 2012 at the Olympic Aquatics Centre in London

[Mr Lick]

Graves of British soldiers who fought and died during the North African desert battles of WWII were recently desecrated by a mob of angry Libyans. Local reports claimed that Islamists, angered by the recent burning of a Quran at a NATO military base in Afghanistan, are to blame. Libya's national transitional government has apologized for the attacks and local authorities have detained several suspects.



The headstone of A.J. M. Barbe, a soldier of pioneer corps who died Jan. 25, 1943 is seen broken at the Commonwealth Benghazi War Cemetery

[Mr Lick]

An art installation called "Salvation Mountain" is seen in Slab City just outside Niland, Calif., on Feb. 15. A former military base that was closed after World War II, Slab City is a place on the fringe both geographically and philosophically and attracts a variety of people, including jobless and financially struggling recession refugees who can no longer pay for food and housing



Rob Walker kisses Dayna Lambert as Walker's son Andy walks toward their campsite in Slab City just outside Niland, Calif., on Feb. 16. Walker said he retired and bought a motor home, and has mixed Slab City into his traveling destinations.



An art installation is seen in Slab City just outside Niland, Calif



People eat lunch in Slab City just outside Niland, Calif.,

[Mr Lick]

LA Nightlight's Thomas Taylor (2nd right) runs to head a goal as Philadelphia Killawatts' team members chase him with stun guns during an Ultimate Tak Ball (UTB) game in Bangkok on March 2, 2012.



Philadelphia Killawatts' players select their stun guns before the game.

Each game consists of three periods that last for 7 minutes each, with two teams of four players each. Any player in possession of the 24-inch medicine ball is open to unlimited shocking by the players on the opposite team.

The stun guns pack 3 to 5 milliamps of electricity, which is only about 10 percent of the power of the taser stun guns used by police. Fired on contact with an opponent, the guns produce a twitching feeling, according to players.

"It never gets better, you just get less afraid of the stun," a smiling Damien Ryan, 24, said during a break in a match in Bangkok. "But it's one of the best feelings ever."



Any player in possession of the ball is open to unlimited shocking by the players on the opposite team.

[Mr Lick]

Geneva motor show



The Bentley EXP 9 F concept car



The Opel Astra OPC makes its world premiere



The Toyota Diji prototype

[Mr Lick]

A Maserati GranTurismo Sport makes its premiere



The new A-Class Mercedes

[Mr Lick]

Syrian refugees and local residents shout slogans during a demonstration against Syria's President Bashar Al-Assad near the Syrian embassy in Amman March 6, 2012.



Chang Yu-wen, 30, who is dressed up as Zhongkui, the traditional Chinese masculine deity who captures evil spirits in temple festivals, poses for a photograph in Taitung county, eastern Taiwan, March 4, 2012. Chang, who is known as the first and only female who dresses up as Zhongkui in Taiwan, started performing at temple festivals in 2010 in her free time because she wanted to attempt something that no one had done before. International Women's Day falls on March 8. Picture taken March 4, 2012.

[Mr Lick]

Citibank's Malinda Dee: Eight years for Indonesia fraud

Malinda Dee's lavish lifestyle included extensive plastic surgery

A former executive at Citibank in Indonesia has been jailed for eight years for stealing more than $4m (£2.5m) to fund a lavish lifestyle.

The South Jakarta District Court found customer relationship manager Malinda Dee guilty of embezzling money from customers' accounts and banking fraud.

The money was used to finance a lifestyle that included luxury cars and cosmetic surgery.

Bank regulators imposed sanctions for a year on Citibank following the case.

The BBC's Karishma Vaswani in Jakarta says the case also prompted an inquiry into banking fraud in the country.

Indonesia is home to some of the richest people in Asia but it is also regularly ranked as one of the most corrupt nations in the world.