Jan. 11 Photo Brief: A panda in Snow World, Golden Power acrobats, a wolf man in London and Kate Middelton’s natural painting
Kate and Will think her new official portrait is beautiful but critics disagree, the Circus of Horrors rehearses in London, the Harbin International Ice and Snow World festival draws a crowd in China, the Hungarian ‘Golden Power’ acrobats rehearse for the Grand Circus of Budapest and more in today’s daily brief.
- An employee wearing a panda costume slides down from an ice sculpture during the Harbin International Ice and Snow World festival in Harbin, Heilongjiang province, China. (Sheng Li/Reuters)
- Performer Jesus Aceves (also known as Chuy), who has hypertrichosis, which is a skin condition where an abnormal amount of hair growth is present on the body, poses before a rehearsal for the Circus of Horrors at the Churchill Theatre in Bromley, south east London January 10, 2013. (Luke MacGregor/Reuters)
- Circus of Horrors, former finalists on television program “Britain’s Got Talent”, have advertised for a wolf man or woman on government jobs website Directgov. The circus have a Mexican wolf man (who is Aceves), but new UK Border Agency rules meant that before a worker can be granted a certificate of sponsorship, the company must advertise the job in Britain. Picture taken January 10, 2013. (Luke MacGregor/Reuters)
- A member of the crowd, who ran onto the pitch, bowls a tennis ball on the pitch as Sri Lanka’s Thisara Perera looks on during the one-day international cricket match between Australia and Sri Lanka at the Melbourne Cricket Ground. (David Gray/Reuters)
- A zoo keeper holds the head of the 13-year old Boa ‘Charlotte’ during the annual stock take at the zoo in Duisburg, Germany. (Ina Fassbender/Reuters)
- A man transports garlands of marigold flowers on a trishaw along the banks of the Ganges river ahead of the ‘Kumbh Mela’ (Pitcher Festival), in the northern Indian city of Allahabad, India. During the festival, Hindus take part in a religious gathering on the banks of the river Ganges. ‘Kumbh Mela’ will return to Allahabad in 12 years. (Ahmad Masood/Reuters)
- LEFT This handout, posted by Perth Weather Live, shows a towering red dust storm over the ocean ahead of the cyclone approaching Onslow on the West Australian coast on January 9, 2013. Tug boat worker Brett Martin, who captured the fearsome pictures 25 nautical miles from the town of Onslow, reported conditions were glassy and flat before the storm hit late int he day. But when the wild weather arrived, the swell lifted to two metres, winds increased to 40 knots and visibility was reduced to 100 metres. (Perth Weather Live/Brett Martin/AFP/Getty Images) RIGHT: A cloud formation tinged with red dust travels across the Indian Ocean near Onslow on the Western Australia coast in this handout image distributed by fishwrecked.com and taken January 9, 2013. (Brett Martin/fishwrecked.com/Handout/Reuters)
- Puppies sit in kennel at a frontier guards’ cynology centre near the town of Smorgon, some 140 km (87 miles) northwest of Minsk. The centre prepares instructors with trained dogs for guarding Belarus’ border and also sells puppies and dogs, which are not fit for service at the border, to civilians in the country. (Vasily Fedosenko/Reuters)
- A member of staff holds a handfull of butterflies at The Glasshouse at RHS Wisley Gardens near Woking, England. Rare and exotic butterflies have been placed in The Glasshouse for visitors from January 12 to February 24, 2013. (Peter Macdiarmid/Getty Images)
- A contestant works on an ice sculpture at The London Ice Sculpting Festival at Canary Wharf in London, England. Timed competitions between ice sculpting teams from Africa, France, Hungary, Netherlands, Portugal and the United Kingdom are taking place over the three day event. (Dan Kitwood/Getty Images)
- A Greek Orthodox priest sits on a bench in an Athens metro station. (Aris Messinis/AFP/Getty Images)
- Russian President Vladimir Putin (C) speaks with the Zagursky family in their new flat during a visit to the town of Krymsk in the southern Russian Krasnodar region. The country’s worst flooding disaster of recent history killed at least 171 people while nearly 35,000 people lost part or all of their belongings in the flooding on July 7, 2012. (Mikhail Klimentyev/AFP/Getty Images)
- Acrobats of the Hungarian ‘Golden Power’ team perform on the circus floor of the Grand Circus of Budapest during a rehearsal of the of a new production, title the ‘Hungarian circus stars’. The premiere will be held on January 12. (Attila Kisbenedek/AFP/Getty Images)
- Acrobats of the Hungarian ‘Golden Power’ team perform on the circus floor of the Grand Circus of Budapest during a rehearsal of the of a new production, title the ‘Hungarian circus stars’. The premiere will be held on January 12. (Attila Kisbenedek/AFP/Getty Images)
- A woman holds kittens in a private volunteer animal shelter, Totoshka, in the southern Russian city of Rostov-on-Don. The shelter, operated on charity, has treated and found new owners for more than 500 stray cats and dogs since it was established by a group of enthusiasts in 2011. (Vladimir Konstantinov/Reuters)
- Journalists crowd around a newly-commissioned official painting of Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge at the National Portrait Gallery in London. The oil on canvas by Glasgow-born artist Paul Emsley was done in two sittings. (Andrew Winning/Reuters)