Nov. 2 Photo Brief: Trans beauty queens, Russian soldiers, Shaolin monks and pampered pets
Kevin Balot from the Philippines takes the crown at the Miss International Queen 2012 transgender/transsexual beauty pageant, Russian soldiers rehearsal for a military parade in Red Square, Shaolin monks perform qigong, pet owners show off their furry (and fur-challenged) friends and more in today’s daily brief.
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- A street artist blows soap bubbles at the Old Town Square in Prague. (David W Cerny/Reuters)
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- Boys play with a balloon at a slum on the outskirts of Islamabad. (Faisal Mahmood/Reuters)
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- The wreckage of the Jordanian ship Farah-3, which ran aground after being captured by Tamil Tiger rebels in December 2006, is seen in the background as unseen Sri Lankan troops uncover a cache of weapons exposed by recent storm surges and heavy rains near the north-eastern town of Vellamullivaikkal in the Mullaittivu district. A storm surge in Sri Lanka’s northeast has exposed buried artillery guns of Tamil Tiger rebels in a region where the final battles of the country’s 37-year conflict were fought, the army said. (Ishara S. Kodikara/AFP/Getty Images)
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- Sri Lankan army soldiers dig out heavy weapons, which they said were buried by the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) at the end of the three-decade war against Sri Lanka troops in 2009, from the sand on Vellamullivaikkal beach in Mullaitivu, northern Sri Lanka. The soldiers recovered four 152mm artillery guns, one 130mm artillery gun and two 120 horsepower engines from the beach. (Stringer/Reuters)
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- Sunny Dee-Lite, a contestant from the U.S., gets her picture taken before the start of the final night of Miss International Queen 2012 transgender/transsexual beauty pageant in Pattaya, Thailand. (Damir Sagolj/Reuters)
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- Tukishima Beni, a contestant from Japan, gets her make-up done before the start of the final night of Miss International Queen 2012 transgender/transsexual beauty pageant in Pattaya, Thailand. Some 21 contestants from 15 countries, all of them born male, compete in the week-long event for the crown of Miss International Queen 2012. (Damir Sagolj/Reuters)
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- Kevin Balot, a contestant from the Philippines, reacts after being crowned the winner at the Miss International Queen 2012 transgender/transsexual beauty pageant in Pattaya, Thailand. (Damir Sagolj/Reuters)
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- The space shuttle Atlantis leaves the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida heading towards its new home at the privately operated Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex adjacent to the NASA spaceport. NASA’s third and last surviving space shuttle moved to its retirement home on Friday after a 10-mile (16 km) road trip from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Atlantis, which ended the 30-year-old space shuttle program with a final flight last year, will be the star attraction of a new $100 million exhibit at the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex. (Joe Skipper/Reuters)
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- Asian elephant Koshik puts his trunk into his mouth as he produces sounds at South Korea’s largest amusement park Everland in Yongin, about 50 km (31 miles) south of Seoul. The 22-year-old Asian elephant named Koshik can imitate human speech, saying words in Korean that can be understood by speakers of the language, researchers from the University of Vienna say. Koshik was the only elephant living at the Everland Zoo in South Korea for about five years in his youth, with only people for company during an important phase for bonding and development. (Kim Hong-Ji/Reuters)
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- A worker’s hands are covered with gunpowder as he makes fire crackers at a factory in Kolkata. Firecrackers are in great demand ahead of Diwali, the Hindu festival of lights, which will be celebrated across the country on November 13. (Rupak De Chowdhuri/Reuters)
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- Russian soldiers take part in a rehearsal of a military parade at Red Square in Moscow. The event will take place on November 7, marking the 71th anniversary of a historical parade of 1941, when soldiers left for a front line just after marching here, as Nazi German troops were fighting with Soviet soldiers a few kilometers from Moscow. (Natalia Kolesnikova/AFP/Getty Images)
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- Russian soldiers participate at the rehearsal of a military parade on Red Square in Moscow. (Natalia Kolesnikova/AFP/Getty Images)
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- Russian servicemen hold flags during a military parade rehearsal in Red Square in Moscow. (Maxim Shemetov /Reuters)
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- Shaolin monks perform qigong, a type of traditional Chinese martial arts, during the opening ceremony of the fourth Southern Shaolin Martial Arts Cultural Festival in Putian city, Fujian province, November 1, 2012. (China Daily/Reuters)
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- Practitioners perform qigong, a type of traditional Chinese martial arts, during the opening ceremony of the fourth Southern Shaolin Martial Arts Cultural Festival in Putian city, Fujian province, November 1, 2012. (China Daily/Reuters)
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- Iranian students show their palms, which read in Persian ‘Crazy of martyrdom’ (bottom, L) and ‘Nuclear scientist’ (bottom R) outside the former US embassy in Tehran, during a rally to mark the 33rd anniversary of seizure of the US embassy which saw Islamist students hold 52 diplomats hostage for 444 days. This year’s rally came just days before US presidential election in which Republican challenger Mitt Romney has made Iran’s controversial nuclear programme a top foreign policy issue. (Atta Kenare/AFP/Getty Images)
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- Summit, an Australian shepherd, makes a leaping catch of a frisbee while jumping off the back of dog trainer Juergen Bartz at the pet trade fair (Heimtiermesse) at Velodrom in Berlin, Germany. (Sean Gallup/Getty Images)
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- Petra Rudolph cuddles with her devon rexe cat named Pepita at the pet trade fair (Heimtiermesse) at Velodrom in Berlin, Germany. Exhibitors are showing the latest trends in collars, snacks and other accessories for cats, dogs and other household pets. (Sean Gallup/Getty Images)
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- Tizian, a persian cat, gets a last-minute brushing before judging at a cat competition at the pet trade fair (Heimtiermesse) at Velodrom in Berlin, Germany. (Sean Gallup/Getty Images)
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- Hippie, a kind of nearly-hairless dog called a Chinese Crested, stands next to its owner at the pet trade fair (Heimtiermesse) at Velodrom in Berlin, Germany. (Sean Gallup/Getty Images)
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- A rabbit jumps at the Pet Fair in Berlin. The Pet Fair will be held on November 2- 4. (Robert Schlesinger/AFP/Getty Images)
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- People gather in Bua bar, lit only by candles, in Manhattan’s East Village following Superstorm Sandy on November 1, 2012 in New York City. East Village residents are still without power and some of the public housing buildings in the area flooded during the storm. (Mario Tama/Getty Images)
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- A woman looks at a sculpture ‘D’une fleche mon coeur perce’ (R) by French artist Martial Raysse at the exhibition ‘La Belle et la Bête’ at the Institut Culturel Bernard Magrez in Bordeaux, southwestern, France on November, 1, 2012. At left, a sculpture ‘Taxidermia’ by Algerian artist Adel Abdessemed. (Nicolas Tucat/AFP/Getty Images)
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- An Afghan boy stands next to his donkey cart outside a timber market in Kabul. (Adnan Abidi/Reuters)
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- U.S. soldiers aim their weapons as they expect a Taliban attack near the town of Walli Was in Paktika province, near the border with Pakistan. (Goran Tomasevic/Reuters)
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