Dec. 14 Photo Brief: North Koreans celebrate launch, topless Italians protest fur, Belarusian ecologist tames wolves, Chinese swimmers brave the ice
North Korea sends out images from their satellite launch celebration and the memorial exhibition entitled “The great leader Kim Jong-il comrade is with us forever,” Italian animal rights activists paint “Fur death” on their chests and carry a skinned fox prop to protest fur in the fashion market, ecologist Dmitry Shamovich plays with tamed wolves in a remote village in Belarus and much more in today’s daily brief.
- North Koreans look display at an art exhibition titled, ‘The great leader Kim Jong-il comrade is with us forever’ which was held to honor the memory of North Korea’s late leader Kim Jong-il in Pyongyang December 14, 2012 in this picture released by the North’s KCNA on Friday. The first anniversary of Kim Jong-il’s death is on December 17. (KCNA/Reuters)
- North Koreans attend a rally to celebrate the successful launch of the Unha-3 (Milky Way 3) rocket, which carried the second version of the Kwangmyongsong-3 satellite, at the Kim Il Sung square in Pyongyang in this picture released by the North’s KCNA news agency on Friday. (KCNA/Reuters)
- North Koreans attend a rally to celebrate the successful launch of the Unha-3 (Milky Way 3) rocket, which carried the second version of the Kwangmyongsong-3 satellite, at the Kim Il Sung square in Pyongyang in this picture released by the North’s KCNA news agency on Friday. The sign reads: ‘Let’s glorify dignity and honor of great people of Kim Il Sung and of Korea of Kim Jong Il in the world!’ (KCNA/Reuters)
- A member of the Italian group Animalisti Italiani wears a fur coat as he holds a mock figure representing a skinned fox during a protest in Rome. The protest is part of the campaign ‘Fur, no thanks’ to protest agains the use of fur in the fashion market. (Max Rossi/Reuters)
- Members of the Italian group Animalisti Italiani has the words ‘Fur death’ painted on their chests as they perform during a protest in Rome. The protest is part of the campaign ‘Fur, no thanks’ to protest agains the use of fur in the fashion market. (Max Rossi/Reuters)
- A person swims as people walk on the partially frozen Houhai Lake during winter in central Beijing. (Jason Lee/Reuters)
- Ecologist Dmitry Shamovich plays with a tamed wolf at his house in the remote village of Sosnovy Bor, some 270 km (168 miles) northeast of Minsk, Belarus. (Vasily Fedosenko/Reuters)
- Tamed wolves play in a field near the remote village of Sosnovy Bor, some 270 km (168 miles) northeast of Minsk, Belarus. (Vasily Fedosenko/Reuters)
- An Aldabra giant tortoise feasts on food treats at the Taronga Zoo in Sydney. Animals at the Taronga Zoo were given food treats as part of their Christmas celebrations. (Daniel Munoz/Reuters)
- A Sun Bear receives a Christmas treat at Taronga Zoo in Sydney, Australia. Taronga Zoo celebrated Christmas early giving Christmas-themed environmental activities to the zoo’s Giraffes, Sun Bears, Meerkats, Aldabra Tortoise and Cockatoos providing a wonderful natural display for zoo visitors. (Lisa Maree Williams/Getty Images)
- Christmas lights light up the Capilano Suspension Bridge Park in Vancouver. (Courtesy of Capilano Suspension Bridge Park/MCT)
- Frank Hudak walks through the front lawn of his home, known as the ‘Christmas House’ which is decorated with approximately 65,000 lights using about four miles (6km) of wiring December 13, 2012 in Richmond, Virginia. People tour Richmond area homes in cars, busses and limousines to view the home’s elaborate displays of holiday lights. (Brendan Smialowski/AFP/Getty Images)
- A supporter of the opposition to Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi plays football next to a Republican Guard tank deployed outside the presidential palace in Cairo. Egypt’s 51 million voters are being called to vote over the next two weekends in a referendum on a draft constitution backed by Islamists, including Morsi, but denounced by the secular opposition. (Patrick Baz/AFP/Getty Images)
- This combo shows the handout reproduction made available by the Reiss-Engelhorn-Museum shows the photograph ‘View from the Window at Le Gras’ (L) by French inventor Joseph Nicephore Niepce from the year 1826, which was the first successful permanent photograph known in the world and the plate used to make it (R). The photograph is on display at an exhibition ‘The Birth of Photography’ taking place from September 9, 2012 to January 6, 2013 at the Reiss-Engelhorn-Museum in Mannheim, southern Germany. (HO/Reiss-Engelhorn-Museen/Joseph Nicephore Niepce (Reproduction by Helmut Gernsheim)/AFP/Getty Images)
- A group of masked fraternity members (C) in the state-run University of the Philippines runs naked through campus during the annual Oblation Run, handing out roses to female students as part of their tradition in Manila. This year’s run was dedicated to the holding of free and clean elections next year in a country known for violence and voter fraud during polls. (Jay Directo/AFP/Getty Images)
- Radiologist Anthony Fischetti gives an ultrasound to a sick dog at the Animal Medical Center on December 12, 2012 in New York City. The American Pet Products Association estimates that Americans would spend more than $50 billion on their pets in 2012, $14 billion of that in veterinary care alone. (John Moore/Getty Images)
- Veterinarian Jennifer Frohlich prepares a pet rabbit for a CT scan at the Animal Medical Center on December 12, 2012 in New York City. The non-profit Animal Medical Center, established in 1910, has 80 veterinarians in 17 specialty services that treat up to 40,000 animal visits annually. Clients bring in their pets from around the country and world to the teaching hospital on Manhattan’s Upper East Side for specialized high tech treatment. (John Moore/Getty Images)
- A handhout photo taken on December 13, 2012 and provided by the Ecomare seacentre shows a humpback whale stranded on a sandbank near the island of Texel, northern Netherlands. (ANP/ECOMARE/HO/Salko de Wolf/AFP/Getty Images)
- A humpback whale is stranded on a sandbank near the island of Texel, northern Netherlands on December 13, 2012. Dutch animal rescuers have given up hope of saving a stranded 12-metre (32-foot) humpback whale on a northern Frisian island after a final attempt to pull it to sea failed, a rescue spokeswoman said on December 14. (ANP/ECOMARE/HO/Salko de Wolf/AFP/Getty Images)
- A Palestinian boy is thrown in the air as Hamas supporters wave flags during a rally in the West Bank city of Hebron, marking the 25th anniversary of the founding of the Islamist militant group. It was one of the first rallies Western-backed Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas allowed to take place in the West Bank since 2007, when his Islamist rivals Hamas seized control of the Gaza Strip. (Ammar Awad/Reuters)