Jan. 18 Photo Brief: Freezing dips, mushing dogs, Carnival royalty and Green Week costumes
Devoties of Jesus and exercise take cold plunges, the annual Green Week agricultural fair of food stuffs and agricultural products begins in Berlin, dancers compete to be royalty for this year’s Carnival in Sao Paulo, the Grande Odyssee dog sledding race continues and more in today’s daily brief.
- 77-year-old retired teacher Gao Yinyu exercises in his underwear at a snow-covered bathing spot in Jilin, in northeastern China’s Jilin province, in a temperature of minus 25 degrees Celsius on January 17, 2013. Gao has been exercising in only his underwear every morning for more than the past decade and has rarely caught a cold ever since retirement. (STR/AFP/Getty Images)
- 77-year-old retired teacher Gao Yinyu prepares to go for a swin in the nude at a snow-covered bathing spot in Jilin, in northeastern China’s Jilin province, in a temperature of minus 25 degrees Celsius on January 17, 2013. (STR/AFP/Getty Images)
- Visitors carrying umbrellas look at the newly unveiled creation of British artist Marc Quinn, a 9m (30 feet) long painted bronze sculpture entitled ‘Planet’ at Gardens by the Bay in Singapore. (Edgar Su/Reuters)
- A man wears a potato hat during the opening of the Gruene Woche (Green Week) Agricultural Fair in Berlin. This year the official partner country of the fair is The Netherlands. (Johannes Eisele/AFP/Getty Images)
- A man wearing the costume of Tony the Tiger, a mascot of Kellogg’s Frosted Flakes, takes a rest outside a pavilion at the Green Week agricultural fair in Berlin. The annual exhibition of food stuffs and agricultural products is one of the world’s largest of its kind. (Thomas Peter/Reuters)
- A disguised man drinks wine during the opening of the Gruene Woche (Green Week) Agricultural Fair in Berlin. (Johannes Eisele/AFP/Getty Images)
- The first group of US National Guard Soldiers and Airmen from more than 25 US States, wait in line as they take a legal oath to officially make them deputized ‘special police officers’ for the 57th Presidential Inauguration, during ‘in-processing’ at the DC National Guard Armory in Washington, DC. The National Guard will provide a myriad of support to civil authorities. (Paul J. Richards/AFP/Getty Images)
- A Belarus Orthodox believer plunges into icy waters as a priest blesses him on the eve of the Epiphany holiday in Pilnitsa some 30 km outside Minsk. Thousands of believers jumpe into holes cut in ice, braving freezing temperatures, on January 18 and early on January 19 to mark Epiphany, when they take part in a baptism ceremony. (Viktor Drachev/AFP/Getty Images)
- A Christian Orthodox nun plunges into the waters of the Jordan River during a ceremony marking the Orthodox Feast of the Epiphany at the Qasr al-Yahud baptismal site in the West Bank by the Jordan River. Greek Orthodox Patriarch of Jerusalem Theophilos III led the ceremony during which thousands of Orthodox Christians braved rain to plunge into plastic tubs filled with its murky water to celebrate Jesus’s baptism. (Menahem Kahana/AFP/Getty Images)
- Horse carriages wait in front of the Colosseum in Rome. Traces of decorations in blue, red and greenwere found in a corridor currently closed to the public while archaeologists were working to restore an area between the second and third floor of the Colosseum, which has fallen into disrepair in recent years. (Gabriel Bouys/AFP/Getty Images)
- The new first Princess of Sao Paulo’s Carnival, Kimberlyn Muriel Adabe Santos, dances during the competition for new King, Queen and Princess of the Carnival parade in Sao Paulo, Brazil, late on January 17, 2013. Sao Paulo’s carnival is scheduled for February 8 and 9. (Yasuyoshi Chiba/AFP/Getty Images)
- Ariellen da Silva Domiciano (C), new Queen of Sao Paulo’s Carnival, dances during the competition for new King, Queen and Princess of the Carnival parade in Sao Paulo, Brazil, late on January 17, 2013. (Yasuyoshi Chiba/AFP/Getty Images)
- F5 Tiger fighter jets of the Swiss Air Force fly before the Men’s Combined race at the FIS Alpine Skiing World Cup in Wengen. (Olivier Morin/AFP/Getty Images
- A Free Syrian Army fighter aims his rifle before opening fire at Syrian Army soldiers in the Arabeen neighbourhood of Damascus. (Goran Tomasevic/Reuters)
- Mushers compete in Megeve during the departure of a stage of the Grande Odyssee sledding race. (Jeff Pachoud/AFP/Getty Images)
- Dogs pull a sledge in Megeve during the departure of a stage of the Grande Odyssee sledding race. (Jeff Pachoud/AFP/Getty Images)
- Deer stand in the snow in Richmond Park, London. A band of heavy snow affected most of Britain on Friday, bringing chaos to roads, and causing power cuts and school closures. (Andrew Winning/Reuters)
- Students perform in a street dance competition during the 15th Sikhyana festival in Santa Rosa city, Laguna province, south of Manila. Locals celebrate the Sikhayan festival, a contraction of Filipino words ‘Sikhay’ meaning diligence and ‘Kabuhayan’ for livelihood, to recognize the spirit of enterprise, ingenuity and craftmanship of their people. (Romeo Ranoco/Reuters)