Dec. 11 Daily Brief: Swimming Santa, snow in Syria, protests in Ukraine, London fog, Mandela funeral moves to Pretoria, showgirl Danica Patrick
Swimming Santa, snow in Syria, protests in Ukraine, London fog, Mandela funeral moves to Pretoria, showgirl Danica Patrick and more in today’s daily brief.
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- A diver wearing a Santa Claus costume swims among fish at the aquarium of Palma de Mallorca in Spain. (Jaime Reina/Getty Images)
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- An Indian gay-rights activist gestures behind a flag during a protest against the Supreme Court ruling reinstating a ban on gay sex in Bangalore. India’s Supreme Court reinstated a colonial-era ban on gay sex on that could see homosexuals jailed for up to ten years in a major setback for rights campaigners in the world’s biggest democracy. (Manjunath Kiran/Getty Images)
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- NASCAR driver Danica Patrick performs dressed as a showgirl from the “Jubilee!” show as she co-hosts the American Country Awards 2013 at the Mandalay Bay Events Center in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Ethan Miller/Getty Images)
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- The Canary Wharf business district of east London taken from the Metropolitan Police helicopter is seen during a foggy morning in this photograph received via the Metropolitan Police in London. (Reuters)
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- A bride poses for a photograph on Westminster Bridge as the fog clears in central London. (Olivia Harris/Reuters)
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- An ultra-Orthodox Jewish man looks out from a condensation-covered window of a bus in Jerusalem. High winds and heavy rain showers poured across Israel on Wednesday with local media reporting by mid-morning 45 mm of rain in a central town near Tel Aviv, and snow had covered Mount Hermon near Israel’s border with Syria. (Ammar Awad/Reuters)
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- People walk past a monument to Russian poet Mikhail Lermontov during a major snowfall in the southern Russian city of Stavropol, on December 11, 2013. Snow fell today across Stavropol, while temperatures dropped to -10 C (14 F), but due to high humidity and wind, weather experts said it would feel more like – 18 C (-1 F). (Danil Semyonov/Getty Images)
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- Syrian refugees play with snow during a winter storm in Zahle town, in the Bekaa Valley. The worst of winter is yet to come for 2.2 million refugees living outside Syria and millions more displaced inside the country. A storm named Alexa is sweeping across Syria and Lebanon, bringing with it high winds and freezing temperatures – and marking the beginning of the third winter since the Syrian conflict began in March 2011. In the tented settlement a few kilometres from the border in Lebanon’s Bekaa Valley, more than 1,000 people live in rudimentary shelters. (Mohamed Azakir/Reuters)
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- A rebel fighter aims his weapon as he stands amidst snow during clashes with Syrian pro-government forces in the Salaheddin neighbourhood of Syria’s northern city of Aleppo. Gulf Arab states called for the withdrawal of “all foreign forces” from Syria, where Iran-backed Shiite militias from Iraq and Lebanon are supporting regime troops against mostly-Sunni rebels. (Medo Halb/Getty Images)
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- Myanmar’s athletes take part in a parade during the opening ceremony of the 27th SEA Games in Naypyitaw December 11, 2013. Myanmar is hosting the games for the first time in over 40 years. (Soe Zeya Tun/Reuters)
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- Fireworks are released during the opening ceremony of the 27th SEA Games in Naypyitaw. Myanmar is hosting the games for the first time in over 40 years. (Soe Zeya Tun/Reuters)
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- A solider salutes as the funeral cortege of South African former president Nelson Mandela leaves the Military Hospital in Pretoria to the Union Buildings marking the start of a three-day lying in state. Mandela, the revered icon of the anti-apartheid struggle in South Africa and one of the towering political figures of the 20th century, died in Johannesburg on December 5 at age 95. (Alexander Joe/Getty Images)
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- Military personnel carry the remains of the late Nelson Mandela at the Union Buildings in Pretoria where it will lie in state for three days. (Marco Longari/Reuters)
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- Musician Bono (2nd R) stands between his wife Ali Hewson (2nd L) and Zelda La Grange (R), former assistant of former South African President Nelson Mandela, during a visit to view Mandela’s coffin as the anti-apartheid hero lies in state at the Union Buildings in Pretoria in this still image taken from video. (South Africa Broadcasting Corporation (SABC)/Reuters)
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- People pray as they bury 16 coffins in the muslim cemetery of the PK16 district of Bangui. The father of a slain French soldier has described how disarmed Muslim fighters in the Central African Republic were lynched by a Christian mob in harrowing testimony that raised the spectre of a new wave of sectarian killing in the troubled state. (Fred Dufour/Getty Images)
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- Participants wearing zebra head masks wander down a street as part of an artistic performance ahead of the Year of the Horse in Chinese zodiac in Chongqing Municipality. The performance aims to bring good luck to everyone for the upcoming year, according to local media.(Reuters)
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- Riot police clash with pro-EU protesors on Independence Square in Kiev early on December 11,2013. Ukrainian security forces stormed Kiev’s Independence Square which protesters have occupied for over a week but the demonstrators defiantly refused to leave and resisted the police in a tense standoff. Eite Berkut anti-riot police and interior ministry special forces moved against the protestors at around 2:00 am (midnight GMT) in a move that prompted US Secretary of State John Kerry to express “disgust” over the crackdown. (Volodymyr Shuvayev/Getty Images)
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- A protester stands next to riot policemen getting ready to launch an assault to a barricade held by protesters on Independence Square in Kiev late on December 11, 2013. Ukrainian security forces on Wednesday stormed Kiev’s Independence Square which protesters have occupied for over a week but the demonstrators defiantly refused to leave and resisted the police in a tense standoff. Eite Berkut anti-riot police and interior ministry special forces moved against the protestors at around 2:00 am (midnight GMT) in a move that prompted US Secretary of State John Kerry to express “disgust” over the crackdown. (Dmitry Serebryakov/Getty Images)
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- Anti-Yanukovych protesters defend their barricades in front of anti-riot police on Independence Square in Kiev, early. Ukrainian security forces pulled out of the epicentre of mass protests in Kiev today after a nine hour standoff with thousands of demonstrators, in a major boost for the opposition to President Viktor Yanukovych. (Viktor Drachev/Getty Images)
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- Sri Lankan police block a road leading to President Mahinda Rajapakses office during a demonstration held by the opposition Peoples Liberation Front party (JVP) in Colombo. The JVP is protesting high living costs and demanding higher government spending on education. (Ishara S.Kodikasra/Getty Images)
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- Actress Susan Sarandon attends Artists for Peace and Justice NYC Holiday Benefit presented by Bovet 1822 in New York City. (Bryan Bedder/Getty Images)
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