Dec. 19 Daily Brief: Santa washes windows, improvised street theater, Christian refugee camp in Central African Republic
Santa spends time washing windows and hanging out in zoos, waves crash onto Viavelez’s seafront, Brazil celebrates a goal and more in today’s daily brief.
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- French President Francois Hollande welcomes German chancellor Angela Merkel as she arrives at the Elysee presidential palace on December 18, 2013 in Paris. Fresh from her expected re-election as chancellor, Merkel headed to Paris for talks ahead of an EU leaders summit that will focus on joint defense policy. (Alain Jocard/AFP/Getty Images )
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- A girl poses in the Christian camp for internally displaced people (IDP) in Bossangoa on December 18, 2013. The Central African Republic’s interim president and prime minister were to hold talks on December 18 in a bid to end a political rift, as several European countries offered to help quell deadly sectarian violence in the country. Around 600 people have been killed in less than two weeks, according to the United Nations, while some 210,000 people have been forced from their homes in the capital alone. (Fred Dufour/AFP/Getty Images)
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- Young Indian Gujjar nomads walk with their flock through thick fog on the outskirts of Jammu on December 19, 2013. Northern India continues to face below average temperatures with dense fog affecting flights and trains. (Strstrdel/AFP/Getty Images)
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- Afghan residents walk to receive winter blankets during a relief distribution programme in Herat on December 18, 2013. Decades of conflict have left Afghanistan with one of the highest internally displaced populations in the world. The UN refugee agency estimates it at 450,000 but Amnesty International has said the actual number is likely to be much higher. (Aref KarimiAref Karimi/AFP/Getty Images)
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- Brazil Atletico Mineiro’s forward Ronaldinho (L) celebrates with his teammate Brazilian forward Jo after scoring a goal during their semi-final football match against Morocco’s Raja Casablanca, as part of the 2013 FIFA Club World Cup, in the Moroccan city of Marrakesh, on December 18, 2013. The regional champions from each of the FIFA regions are gathering in the north African country of Morocco to decide which is the best domestic team in the world. (Eric Ferferberg/AFP/Getty Images)
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- People gather in the Christian refugee camp in Bossangoa, Central African Republic, on December 18, 2013. The Christian camp is on one side, the Muslim camp on another, separated by a red dirt road littered with abandoned homes, a no man’s land swirling with bitterness, rumours and accusations. (Fred Dufour/AFP/Getty Images)
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- A woman stands in a corridor of a building in the Christian camp for internally displaced people (IDP) in Bossangoa on December 18, 2013. The Central African Republic’s interim president and prime minister were to hold talks on December 18 in a bid to end a political rift, as several European countries offered to help quell deadly sectarian violence in the country. Around 600 people have been killed in less than two weeks, according to the United Nations, while some 210,000 people have been forced from their homes in the capital alone. (Fred Dufour/AFP/Getty Images)
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- People wave at a helicopter in a village area on the outskirts of Bangui on December 19, 2013. Amnesty International said today the Central African Republic’s mostly Muslim ex-rebels killed nearly 1,000 people in the capital Bangui two weeks ago in a rampage avenging deadly Christian militia attacks. Communal violence exploded in Bangui after silently terrorizing more remote parts of the country since a March coup made enemies out of Muslims and Christians who had long lived together in harmony. (Fred Dufour/AFP/Getty Images)
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- German Chancellor Angela Merkel (L) talks to European Parliament President Martin Schulz during an EU summit focused on the common security, Defence policy and Economic and Monetary union, in Brussels on December 19, 2013. The European Union took a historic leap towards greater integration just hours ahead of a summit today, with a deal on a banking union to prevent a re-run of the eurozone’s recent crisis. (Lionel Bonaventure/AFP/Getty Images)
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- Austria’s Andrea Fischbacher competes during a second training of the Women World Cup Downhill on December 19, 2013 in Val dIsère, French Alps. Switzerland’s Dominique Gisin clocked the best time, followed by USA’s Lindsey Vonn and Slovenian Tina Maze. (Franck Fife/AFP/Getty Images)
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- A Pakistani family ride on a motorbike along a road during a foggy day in Peshawar on December 19, 2013. The ongoing spell of dense fog weather has continued to disturb the scheduled arrival and departure of flights and trains in Pakistan’s Punjab and northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province. (A Majeed/AFP/Getty Images)
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- A portrait of late South African former president Nelson Mandela, made from some 3,700 Rubiks cubes, is seen on display at the High Street Phoenix Mall in Mumbai on December 19, 2013. Students from India’s Veermata Jijabai Technological Institute (VJTI) displayed the portrait as part of their ‘Technovanza 2013’ show. (Punit Paranjpe/AFP/Getty Images)
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- Students hold each other for warmth as they sleep during a break in between high intensity training at Tianjiao Special Guard/Security Consultant camp on the outskirts of Beijing December 1, 2013. Former Chinese soldier Chen Yongqing has big ambitions for his bodyguard training school Tianjiao, which he says is China’s first professional academy to train former soldiers and others as personal security guards. Chen charges 500,000 yuan ($82,400) a year for each protector as China’s rich and famous look to bolster their safety and sense of importance. Picture taken December 1, 2013. (REUTERS/Jason Lee)
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- Instructors kick a trainee because he wants to give up during high intensity training at Tianjiao Special Guard/Security Consultant camp on the outskirts of Beijing December 1, 2013. Former Chinese soldier Chen Yongqing has big ambitions for his bodyguard training school Tianjiao, which he says is China’s first professional academy to train former soldiers and others as personal security guards. Chen charges 500,000 yuan ($82,400) a year for each protector as China’s rich and famous look to bolster their safety and sense of importance. Picture taken on December 1, 2013. (REUTERS/Jason Lee)
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- A man dressed as Santa Claus poses in a cage during a performance at Prague Zoo in Prague December 19, 2013. The traditional belief in the Czech Republic is that the Baby Jesus, Jezisek, brought children gifts. The zoo held a performance to deride the increasingly popular “American” image of the red-robed jolly Santa. (REUTERS/David W Cerny)
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- Window cleaners dressed as Santa Claus and a reindeer pose for photographers during an event to celebrate Christmas at a shopping mall in Tokyo December 19, 2013. (REUTERS/Yuya Shino)
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- Huge waves crash onto Viavelez’s seafront in the northern Spanish region of Asturias December 19, 2013. (REUTERS/Eloy Alonso)
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- Antonia Mendez de Sangroni, 63, who came from Venezuela, cries before learning that her eviction had been suspended in Madrid December 19, 2013. The house where Mendez de Sangroni lives was bought by her son, Sandy Villal, six years ago. After becoming unemployed, he stopped making his mortgage payments and left for the U.S. in search for work, leaving his mother behind. Mendez de Sangroni, who suffers from arthrosis, does not hold a steady job and tries to get by, by selling clothes from a whole supplier. Her eviction has been postponed indefinitely due to ongoing negotiations with Spanish nationalized lender Bankia. (REUTERS/Susana Vera)
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- Actors take part in street theatre organized by the Coordinator of NGOs of the Basque Country in Bilbao December 19, 2013. The organization, an umbrella group for 84 Basque NGOs, performed Quien es Quien (Who’s Who), an improvised theatrical piece, dressed as bankers, the wealthy and military personnel, handing out fake money to motorists and passers-by. The action was designed to draw attention to what the coordinator claims are the causes of poverty and inequality in the world. (REUTERS/Vincent West)
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- A New York Police Department bomb squad officer places a red container into a bomb disposal truck at the scene of a suspicious package in New York December 19, 2013. (REUTERS/Lucas Jackson)
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