Feb 18, 2014

Feb. 18 Daily Brief: Libyans celebrate three years since Kadhafi’s fall, Italians protest economic policy

Libyans celebrate three years since Kadhafi’s fall, clashes continue in Ukraine, Italians protest economic policy and more in today’s daily brief.

: Libyan youths release lanterns into the sky as they celebrate the third anniversary of the popular revolt that overthrew dictator Moamer Kadhafi, on February 17, 2014 in the eastern city of Benghazi. The anniversary of the uprising that ended with Kadhafi’s killing in October 2011 comes as Libya’s new rulers battle critics calling for a “new revolution” and accusing them of failing to usher in much-needed reforms. (Abdullah Doma /AFP/Getty Images)

: French troops of the “Operation Sangaris” man a position at a checkpoint in Bangui’s PK12 area, Central African Republic, on February 18, 2014. Eight people, including six civilians, have been killed in a firefight between African peacekeepers and fighters from the mainly Christian “anti-balaka” militia, a police source said on February 18. (Fred Dufour/AFP/Getty Images)

: An Afghan woman takes a photograph with her mobile phone as she and supporters attend the election rally of Afghan presidential candidate Abdullah Abdullah in Jalalabad on February 18, 2014. Afghanistan’s April 5 election is the third presidential poll since the fall of the Taliban with 11 candidates contesting the polls. (Shah Marai/AFP/Getty Images)

: Anti-government demonstrators stand on barricades during clashes with riot police in Kiev on February 18, 2014. Opposition leader Vitali Klitschko on February 18 urged women and children to leave the opposition’s main protest camp on Kiev’s Independence Square, known as Maidan, as riot police massed nearby. “We ask women and children to quit Maidan as we cannot rule out the possibility that they will storm (the camp),” the former heavyweight boxing champion told protestors on the square. (Maddalena Sandro/AFP/Getty Images)

: Riot police officers and a woman take cover behind shields during clashes between anti-government protesters with police in Kiev, February 18, 2014. Ukrainian riot police advanced on the heart of 12-week-old protests against President Viktor Yanukovich on Tuesday and security forces set a deadline to end disturbances after at least five protesters were reported killed in a day of clashes. (Maks Levin/Reuters)

: Burnt bushes smoke after a fire in Taman Bukit Melawati park in Kuala Lumpur on February 18, 2014. There were 312 bush fires reported nationwide on February 12 in just 24 hours during a dry spell this month in Malaysia, local media reported. (Mohd Rasfan/AFP/Getty Images)

: NASA’s Solar Dynamics Observatory image in extreme ultraviolet light shows an active region of the sun’s coronal loops taken over about a two-day period, from February 8 – 10, 2014 and released on February 18, 2014. Coronal loops are found around sunspots and in active regions. These structures are associated with the closed magnetic field lines that connect magnetic regions on the solar surface. Many coronal loops last for days or weeks, but most change quite rapidly. (Solar Dynamics Observatory/NASA/Handout via Reuters)

: A protestor with his head and hands trapped in pillory bearing the colours of the Italian flag takes part in a demonstration in downtown Rome’s Piazza del Popolo on February 18, 2014. Artisans and merchants from all over Italy arrived in Rome to demand that Parliament the new government in the midst of being formed make an urgent breakthrough in economic policy after the economic crisis shut down more than 372 000 businesses in 2013. (Filippo Monteforte /AFP/Getty Images)

: Cyclists ride through the desert during the first stage of the Tour of Oman, 168.5 km from al-Suwaiq Fort to al-Naseem Park in the North Batna province, north of the capital Muscat, on February 18, 2014. The fifth edition of the Tour of Oman is a hilly six-stage event, with the main climb coming on the weekend which has a steep mountaintop finish. (mohammed MahjoubAFP/Getty Images)