Feb. 14 Photo Brief: Valentine’s Day, One Billion Rising rally, Carnival Cruise Ship Triumph gets a tow
Valentine’s Day around the world (including the marriage of two Shetland ponies), One Billion Rising rally, Carnival Cruise Ship Triumph gets a tow and more in today’s daily brief.
- Protesters wearing masks depicting Spain’s Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy (2nd L) and Basque premier Inigo Urkullu (2nd R) carry scissors, beside a man dressed as Cupid during a Valentine’s Day themed demonstration against central and Basque regional government cuts in Bilbao February 14, 2013. Stickers on protesters coats read, “I love Social cuts”. (Vincent West/Reuters)
- Couples take part in a mass wedding in Manila on February 14, 2013. Some 400 couples exchanged vows inside a packed gymnasium on the outskirts of Manila’s Makati financial district, as a school band played love songs that drowned out the heavy traffic outside. (Jay Directo/AFP/Getty Images)
- A couple stand in front the ‘I love You : The Wall’ art work by Frederic Baron and Claire Kito on Saint Valentine’s Day in Paris February 14, 2013. (Charles Platiau/Reuters)
- Male Shetland pony, Silver (L), and female, Zorka, are seen dressed up as a groom and bride at the Royev Ruchey Zoo, on the suburbs of Russia’s Siberian city of Krasnoyarsk, February 14, 2013. Employees of the zoo arranged a wedding between the ponies to mark Valentine’s day. (Ilya Naymushin/Reuters)
- Camels watch as an employee of Royev Ruchey Zoo feeds treats to male Shetland pony, Silver (L), and female, Zorka, dressed up as a groom and bride at the suburbs of Russia’s Siberian city of Krasnoyarsk, February 14, 2013. Employees of the zoo arranged a wedding between the ponies to mark Valentine’s day. (Ilya Naymushin/Reuters)
- A huge banner is seen on a construction building in celebration of Valentine’s Day in downtown Beirut, February 14, 2013. (Jamal Saidi/Reuters)
- Jamie Blood and Bridget Foster pose on their wedding day at the Gretna Green Famous Blacksmiths Shop as a piper plays the bagpipes on Valentine’s day on February 14, 2013 in Gretna, Scotland. Gretna Green is one of the most popular wedding destinations in Scotland hosting thousands of weddings each year with a particular rise on St Valentine’s Day. Gretna Green has been hosting marriages in the blacksmiths shop since 1754. (Jeff J Mitchell/Getty Images)
- A man holds heart-shaped balloons while riding on a motorcycle along a road on Valentine’s Day in Lahore February 14, 2013. (Mohsin Raza/Reuters)
- Congolese women cheer during the global rally “One Billion Rising”, which is part of the V-Day event calling for an end to gender-based violence, in Bukavu February 14, 2013. V-Day is a global activist movement to end violence against women and girls. (Jana Asenbrennerova/Reuters)
- Millions attend a mass candlelight vigil around a portrait of Jahanara Imam, a late political activist pioneer widely known to bring the accused of committing war crimes in the Bangladesh Liberation War to trial, at Shahbagh intersection in Dhaka February 14, 2013. (Andrew Biraj/Reuters)
- Denis Mukwege, a Congolese doctor who founded the Panzi Hospital and specialises in treating victims of sexual violence, raises his hand as he addresses a global rally “One Billion Rising”, which is a part of a V-Day event calling for an end to gender-based violence, in Bukavu February 14, 2013. V-Day is a global activist movement to end violence against women and girls. (Jana Asenbrennerova/Reuters)
- This U.S. Coast Guard photo released on February 14, 2013 shows the Carnival Cruise Ship Triumph as it is towed by the tug vessels Pioneer and Roland Falgout toward Mobile, Alabama, on February 13, 2013. The Triumph reported lost power due to an electical fire in the engine room, on Februry 10, 2013 and has received assistance from the Coast Guard and sister cruise ships. Passengers on the stricken cruise ship in the Gulf of Mexico are enduring a nightmare after days without power, waiting hours for sparse meals and relieving themselves in plastic bags, according to sources. The ship carries more than 4,000 people. It is being towed to Mobile, Alabama and is to arrive Thursday afternoon. (Paul McConnell/AFP/Getty Images)
- South African “Blade Runner” Oscar Pistorius is escorted by police at a Pretoria police station February 14, 2013. Pistorius, a double amputee who became one of the biggest names in world athletics, was charged on Thursday with shooting dead his girlfriend, model Reeva Steenkamp, at his upscale home in Pretoria. (Reuters)
- Russian painter Natalia Tsarkova poses with her owl in downtown Rome February 14, 2013. Tsarkova painted the official portrait of Pope Benedict in 2007 and the official portrait of Pope John Paul II for the 2000 Jubilee. (Max Rossi/Reuters)
- A man dressed up as the devil ‘tortures’ a participant with a whip during the ‘Congos y Diablos’ or Congos and Devils ritual celebration in Nombre de Dios, 81 miles from Panama City February 13, 2013. The Congos symbolize the black slaves while the Devils represent the Spanish colonizers. During Ash Wednesday annually, Congos, descendants of Africans who escaped slavery after their arrival in Panama during the Spanish colonization, would celebrate the triumph of good over evil with a wild mix of music and dance all along Panama’s Caribbean coast. (Carlos Jasso/Reuters)
- Physical anthropologist Liliana Dorantes holds a skull of a male found in the desert at a forensic laboratory in Ciudad Juarez February 13, 2013. The remains of 11 women who disappeared and were then murdered have been found in the Valley of Juarez since 2011. Due to the pressure from the mothers of the missing women, the forensic lab opened its doors to the media to show how they work with the remains and how they will analyze the remains of more than 14 young people found in the Valley of Juarez, local media reported. (Tomas Bravo/Reuters)
- A model presents a creation of Auguste Soesastro during Indonesia Fashion Week 2013 in Jakarta February 14, 2013. Around 208 Indonesian fashion designers participated in the four day event, which ends on February 17. (Beawiharta/Reuters)
- A laboratory worker prepares beef burger for DNA extraction testing at Staffordshire Scientific Services in Stafford, central England, February 14, 2013. Discoveries so far of horsemeat in products sold as beef are likely to be the “tip of the iceberg”, a British parliamentary report into the scandal said on Thursday. (Darren Staples/Reuters)
- A board with butchers horsemeat cuts hangs on the wall at Le Taxi Jaune restaurant in Paris, February 14, 2013. If the thought of having eaten Romanian cart horses in mislabelled frozen lasagne is making Britons choke, a loyal minority in France laments a dwindling appetite for a meat they say is a tastier and healthier alternative to beef. The French now consume less than 300 grams (0.66 lbs) per person per year, a fifth of what they ate 30 years ago and less than 1 percent of the total meat they consume. (Christian Hartmann/Reuters)
- Horsemeat ham, wurst and sausage lie on display at the Schlemmer Hansel stand at the weekly open-air market in Hohenschoenhausen district on February 14, 2013 in Berlin, Germany. While authorites arcoss Europe investigate the origin of ready-made lasgne that was labeled to contain only beef when it in fact also contained horsemeat, fans of horsemeat are pointing to its good taste and its health benefits. Horsemeat contains significantly less fat than beef and has slightly higher protein. (Sean Gallup/Getty Images)
- Some 4,000 people spun the hoops at venues across Thailand to break the Guinness World Record, with 2 minutes of continuous hula. The event was organized by Thailand’s Public Health Ministry to promote exercise. (Thai Public Health Ministry HO via AFP/Getty Images)
- Chris P. Bacon, pictured February 12, 2013, at Eastside Veterinary Hospital in Clermont, Florida, was born without the use of his hind legs. Last month, the pig’s owner turned the piglet over to a Clermont vet who decided to help the little guy. Dr. Len Lucero took the pig home and made a wheelchair for him using toy parts. (Tom Benitez/Orlando Sentinel/MCT)
New delay possible for Carnival cruise ship as relatives wait
By Molly Hennessy-Fiske, Los Angeles Times
11:41 a.m. EST, February 14, 2013
MOBILE, Ala. — Relatives descended on the port’s cruise ship terminal here Thursday morning at daybreak, prepared to greet the 4,200 passengers and crew members trapped aboard a Carnival cruise ship being slowly towed to harbor by several tug boats.
As of 8:20 a.m. Central time, the Triumph still was about 25 miles from port, moving at a speed of 4 knots, according to U.S. Coast Guard Petty Officer 3rd Class Ryan Tippets.
A Carnival spokeswoman said Thursday morning that the ship was not expected to arrive until evening. That, local officials said, could pose a problem since ships are not supposed to be towed into the port after dark, potentially delaying the Carnival Triumph’s arrival overnight.
Joyce Oliva, a spokeswoman at Carnival headquarters in Miami, told the Los Angeles Times that an additional tugboat had been added to the three already towing the ship, but that progress was still slow.
“The operation is taking longer than we had anticipated but based on current conditions, the ship is expected to be alongside the Mobile Cruise Terminal between 8 and 11 p.m. this evening,” Oliva said.
Such a late arrival could pose problems said David Randel, president and chief executive of the Mobile Bay Convention & Visitors Bureau.
“They can’t be towed in the dark. So if they’re not in port by dark, they’re going to have to spend another night on board,” he said.
Randel said a local pilot and customs officials boarded the ship at about 5 a.m. Central time, when it was about 100 miles offshore. Passengers will be processed by customs before they leave the ship, speeding the process of reuniting with loved ones in the cruise terminal, he said. At least 100 relatives had already arrived to greet passengers, he said.
One family who drove from Indianapolis and Lake Charles, La., had a banner made and draped it across the front of the van where they were waiting, “Thank God it’s over! We love u Julie, Robin, Brianna, Brooklyn and Julianna!”