Dec. 20 Photo Brief: Snow in the Midwest, high stepping in Afghanistan, window washing Santas and Senator Inouye’s last trip to the Capitol
Senator Daniel Inouye’s casket is brought to the Capitol to lie in state, Santas do some window washing in Tokyo, more Afghans finish police training, Kansas gets hits with a snowstorm and more in today’s Daily Brief.
- Miss USA Olivia Culpo (L) is congratulated by Miss Universe 2011 Leila Lopes of Angola (C) during the Miss Universe pageant at Planet Hollywood Resort and Casino in Las Vegas, Nevada. Miss Teen USA 2012 Logan West is seen at right. (Steve Marcus/Reuters photo)
- A military honour guard carries the casket of Senator Daniel Inouye (D-HI) on the steps of U.S. Capitol in Washington. Democratic Senator Inouye, a decorated World War Two veteran who lost an arm in battle and represented Hawaii in Congress since its statehood more than a half century ago, died on Monday at age 88. (Yuri Gripas/Reuters photo)
- Free Syrian Army fighters take their positions as one of them fires during clashes with forces loyal to Syria’s President Bashar al-Assad in Qastal Harami area in Aleppo. (Saad Al-Jabri/Reuters photo)
- An unexploded ordnance is seen in the Ain Terma area in Ghouta, east of Damascus. (Karm Seif/Shaam News Network/via Reuters)
- Palestinians surround a cart carrying a wooden statue of Baby Jesus before a march in the West Bank town of Bethlehem ahead of Christmas. (Mohamad Torokman/Reuters photo)
- Malaysian authority personnel collect bodies on the beach in Bandar Penawar. Malaysia’s marine police have recovered at least 11 bodies, believed to be Indonesians, that were washed ashore in the southern coast of Malaysian peninsular, as reported by The Star daily. (Stringer/Reuters photo)
- Heavy traffic fills the streets in downtown Beirut ahead of Christmas week. (Hasan Shaaban/Reuters photo)
- Window cleaners dressed as Santa Claus work during an event promoting Christmas at a hotel in the business district of Tokyo. (Kim Kyung-Hoon/Reuters photo)
- Pedestrians cast shadows on the sidewalk near the headquarters of the Bank of Japan in Tokyo. The Bank of Japan eased monetary policy by expanding its asset-buying and lending program, a widely expected move in response to intensifying pressure from incoming premier Shinzo Abe to confront chronic deflation. (Kim Kyung-Hoon/Reuters photo)
- A woman raises her arms on a windy day at the beach in the southern Israeli city of Ashkelon. Winds reached speeds of up to 35 knots along the coast in Israel. (Amir Cohen/Reuters photo)
- Orangutan Rosa carries her cub Sayang in their enclosure at the zoo in Frankfurt. The cub of orangutangs Rosa and Charly were born late night on November, 29 in the zoo. (Lisi Niesner/Reuters photo)
- Locals take pictures in front of a Santa Claus figure outside a shopping mall ahead of Christmas in Dongguan, Guangdong province. (China Daily/via Reuters)
- Amy Freemire shovels the sidewalk outside of work at AAA Insurance and Travel offices, 10600 Metcalf Avenue, during snowstorm in Overland Park, Kansas. (John Sleezer/Kansas City Star/MCT)
- Norway’s Nina Loeseth competes during the first run of the FIS Alpine Ski World Cup women’s slalom in Are, Sweden. (Jonathan Nackstrand/Getty Images)
- A Sri Lankan flood affected victim washes in a flooded village in the north Western Province town of Chilaw. Flash floods have killed at least 25 people in Sri Lanka and left more than a quarter of a million marooned in their homes, disaster officials said. (Ishara S. Kokikar/ Getty Images)
- Russia’s President Vladimir Putin holds the first major press conference of his third term in power in Moscow. Putin denied playing a role in the surprise reduction in the jail sentence of former oil tycoon and opposition leader Mikhail Khodorkovsky. (Natalia Kolesnikova/Getty Images)
- Afghan National Police (ANP) march during a graduation ceremony at a police training centre in Herat. Four Afghan policemen were shot dead and three wounded after their colleague poisoned them in southern Afghanistan on December 19, officials said. (Aref KarimiAref Karimi/Getty Images)
- People fishing in front of a Russian border patrol boat in the Black Sea resort of Sochi. Sochi will host the 2014 Winter Olympics that start on February 7, 2014 . (Mikhail Mordasov/Getty Images)
- A Bangladeshi labourer pulls a cart full of empty drums during a nationwide strike in Dhaka. Twelve like-minded Islamic parties called an eight-hour general strike in the capital Dhaka and a dawn-to-dusk general strike across the country as they seek a ban on left-wing political parties. (Munir uz Zaman/Getty images)
- Boy scouts salute as a funeral procession for Benjamin Wheeler, 6, enters the Trinity Episcopal Church on December 20, 2012 in Newtown, Connecticut. Benjamin, a member of Tiger Scout Den 6, was killed when 20 children and six adults were massacred at Sandy Hook Elementary School last Friday. (John Moore/Getty Images)
Senator Inouye lies in state at U.S. Capitol in rare honor
Alina Selyukh | Reuters
3:56 p.m. EST, December 20, 2012
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Scores of members of the U.S. Congress put aside partisan fights on Thursday to gather in solemn tribute to Senator Daniel Inouye, who represented Hawaii in Congress since its statehood and received the rare honor of lying in state in the Capitol Rotunda.
A highly decorated World War Two veteran who lost an arm in battle, the Democrat who led the powerful Appropriations Committee was remembered as quiet, unassuming and genuine.
“Lord, we’re grateful for the excellence that distinguished his significant career, the quiet grace and dignity with which he represented the Aloha State,” Senate Chaplain Barry Black prayed as nearly every member of the U.S. Senate and many U.S. representatives gathered around the flag-draped casket.
Inouye died on Monday at the age of 88. He was chairman of the Appropriations Committee, the second-longest serving senator ever and third in the line of presidential succession as the Senate’s senior member.
Inouye became Hawaii’s first full-fledged member of the U.S. House of Representatives on August 21, 1959, when Hawaii became the 50th state. He was elected to the U.S. Senate in 1962.
After nine consecutive Senate terms, he was the only member of Hawaii’s original congressional delegation still serving on Capitol Hill. He was the highest-ranking elected Asian-American official in U.S. politics.
“He leaves behind a legacy of public leadership and private kindness that will not be forgotten as long as these walls stand,” Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, a Democrat, said.
In what Republican House Speaker John Boehner called “a quiet ceremony for a quiet man,” members of the U.S. armed services carried in and saluted Inouye’s casket as many of his friends and colleagues placed their hands on their hearts.
Congressional leaders and Vice President Joe Biden, who served in the Senate with Inouye, later placed three wreaths around the casket.
The last U.S. dignitary to lie in state in the Rotunda was former U.S. President Gerald Ford, in 2006.
BIPARTISAN SHOW
In a rare show of bipartsanship, Reid, Boehner and Biden recounted stories from Inouye’s career in the military and in Congress, echoing each other in recalling his loyalty to the United States, genuineness and quiet presence that inspired respect.
“No one, no one, in the 40 years I served with him, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever once doubted he would do what he said,” Biden said. “No one ever doubted his motive.”
Inouye enlisted in the U.S. Army at age 17, shortly after the 1941 Japanese attack at Pearl Harbor. A son of a Japanese immigrant, Inouye had to petition the government for the right to serve in the U.S. military because he was declared an “enemy alien” for his Japanese heritage.
Inouye lost his right arm in battle in Italy in 1945, earning a Purple Heart. He also received the Medal of Honor, the highest award for military valor.
“Danny had the most fulsome embrace of life with one arm as any man could have with two,” Biden said.
“He was, in every sense, the quintessential American.”
Under Hawaii law, Democratic Governor Neil Abercrombie will name a successor to fill Inouye’s seat until a new senator is chosen in the 2014 general election.
Inouye will lie in state at the National Cathedral in Washington on Friday, and at Hawaii’s state capitol in Honolulu on Saturday before a final memorial service at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific on Sunday.
(Reporting by Alina Selyukh; Editing by Vicki Allen)