A Japanese machinery maker employee, working for Japan Logic Machine, demonstrates a bed shaped care-robot, "Yurina", which can be transformed between a bed and a wheelchair for elderly and disabled people at the International Robot Exhibition in Tokyo. Some 200 robot makers and institutes exhibit their latest robot technology during a four-day exhibition. -- PHOTO: AFP
Military personnel inspect rifles confiscated from members of a militia, controlled by Andal Ampatuan Jr, part of the powerful Ampatuan clan, in Sharif Aguak, Maguindanao province. Several gunmen linked to him were arrested over the election-related massacre of 57 people and Andal Ampatuan Jr himself is being accused of masterminding Monday's massacre. -- PHOTO: AFP
Women light candles in front of policemen on the perimeter of the Brazilian Embassy during a vigil in honour of Olga Isiris Ucles, 27, and Wendy Elizabeth Avila, 29, who died from gas tear during marches for the return of ousted Honduran president Manuel Zelaya, in Tegucigalpa. -- PHOTO: AFP
A pure gold statue of Buddha is displayed at the Ginza Tanaka store in Tokyo. Gold hit a record high above $1,192 on Thursday as sentiment remained solid on expectations of more central bank buying of bullion and further dollar weakness. -- PHOTO: REUTERS
A man walks past the cooling towers of a power plant in Yingtan, Jiangxi province. China will rate the success of the Copenhagen climate summit by the actual content of any deal reached, a top negotiator said on Wednesday, in Beijing's first hint it accepts there will not be a legally binding pact. -- PHOTO: REUTERS
A woman sleeps on the floor at the Villa Mujeres shelter in Mexico City. At least 400 women live at the shelter, most of them having been abandoned by their families due to mental health problems and the global economic crisis. -- PHOTO: REUTERS
A man walks with the Indian national flag in front of the Taj Mahal hotel, one of the sites of last year's militant attacks, in Mumbai. Thursday marks the first year anniversary of the Mumbai attacks. -- PHOTO: REUTERS
Tonnes of dead fish are seen on the banks of the Solimoes River due to the water's low level near Manaquiri, 120km from Manaus. The dry season, affected by the weather phenomenon EL Nino, is worse this year. According a study from Brazil's universities USP,UNICAMP,UFRJ and Embrapa, the country could lose some US$3.6 billion over the next 40 years. -- PHOTO: AFP
Iraqi Roma girls, locally known as ghajar, make a fire in the rubble of a destroyed house in the village of al-Zuhur, 160 kms south of Baghdad. For centuries, the Roma have lived in the Middle East. Following the US-led invasion of Iraq in 2003 and the increase in religious fervour, they have been marginalised and threatened by radical Islamists who consider their way of life deviant of Islam. As a result most of them live in dire poverty. -- PHOTO: AFP
A woman carries a mock coffin during a march to mark the International Day for Elimination of Violence against Women in Lima. -- PHOTO: REUTERS
