First day of spring, extreme calisthenics team, Afghanistan presidential election | March 20
Two boys play with a broken bicycle near the United Nations Mission in South Sudan, a man plays with his dog on a sunny spring day in the ‘Englischer Garten’ in Munich on the first day of Spring and more in today’s photo brief.
- Two boys play with a broken bicycle near the United Nations Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS) base in Malakal on March 20, 2014. Malakal is a key city in an oil-producing region in the country’s northeast, 497km north of Juba. South Sudan’s government has been at war with rebel groups since December 15, when a clash between troops loyal to President Salva Kiir and those loyal to sacked vice president Riek Machar snowballed into full-scale fighting. Thousands have died in more than three months fo fighting and over 930,000 civilians have fled their homes, including over a quarter of a million leaving for neighbouring nations as refugees, according to the United Nations. (Ivan Lieman/AFP/Getty Images)
- A Ukrainian soldier closes an entrance gate at the airforce base in the Crimean town of Belbek March 20, 2014. The United States warned Moscow it was on a “dark path” to isolation on Wednesday as Russian troops seized two Ukrainian naval bases, including a headquarters in the Crimean port of Sevastopol where they raised their flag. (REUTERS/Shamil Zhumatov)
- African migrants stand next to support tents mounted on Tuesday, outside a refugee centre in Spain’s north African enclave Melilla March 20, 2014. Spain has more than doubled the strength of security forces at its North African enclave of Melilla, after about 500 people stormed its fences in the biggest border rush for years. Madrid sent 100 more police on Tuesday and Wednesday, raising the total to 150, a source at the Interior Ministry said, and will reinforce the rapid response unit with 20 more personnel, bringing the total to 80. In February, the European Union asked Spain to explain why police had fired rubber bullets in warning when a group of African migrants tried to wade and swim to Ceuta. Fifteen died drowning and the shots could have caused panic among the migrants, according to Cecilia Malmstrom, the European Commissioner for Home Affairs. (REUTERS/Juan Medina)
- A security guard stands on the road near the hotel where family members of missing Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 passengers gather for a briefing on the current situation in Cyberjaya, outside Kuala Lumpur March 20, 2014. Aircraft and ships ploughed through dire weather on Thursday in search of objects floating in remote seas off Australia that Malaysia’s government called a “credible lead” in the trans-continental hunt for a jetliner missing for nearly two weeks. (REUTERS/Damir Sagolj)
- An artist walks across the roof of his house while carrying paintings to be dried at Jelekong village near Bandung, in Indonesia’s West Java province, March 20, 2014. The people of Jelekong village earn their living by selling their paintings. Around 300 painters live in the village, producing about 1,000 paintings a month, each priced between 50,000 rupiah to 11,000,000 rupiah ($4.50 to $1000), according to villager Asep Sancang, who works as a high school art teacher and painter. (REUTERS/Beawihart)
- A man plays with his dog on a sunny spring day in the ‘Englischer Garten’ in Munich March 20, 2014. Spring officially began on Wednesday in the northern hemisphere, and is known as both the spring or vernal equinox. (REUTERS/Michaela Rehle)
- Colombian police commanders carry the casket of Major German Mendez of the Colombian police force during his funeral at a religious center in Bogota March 20, 2014. Mendez and patrol officer Edilmer Ortiz were killed on Tuesday by the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) in the province of Tumaco, according to local media. (REUTERS/ John Vizcaino)
- A police helicopter drops water on a forest fire on Runstboden mountain in the western Austrian village of Absam March 20, 2014. Police and fire fighters have been battling the fire since it broke on Thursday police reported. The cause the the blaze is still unknown. (REUTERS/Dominic Ebenbichler)
- Supporters of Afghan presidential candidate Abdullah Abdullah hold posters of him during an election rally in Parwan province, northern Afghanistan March 20, 2014. Afghanistan’s presidential election will be held on April 5, 2014. (REUTERS/Ahmad Masood)
- Jennifer Abel and Pamela Ware of Canada dive in the Women’s 3m Synchro Springboard Final during day one of the FINA/NVA Diving World Series 2014 at the Hamdan Sports Complex on March 20, 2014 in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. (Photo by Warren Little/Getty Images)
- A Palestinian man and his daughter are seen amongst wild mustard flowers which grow in the fields across the Gaza Strip, on March 20, 2014, as the official start of spring is marked by the by the Vernal Equinox. (Mohammed Abed/AFP/Getty Images)
- Tania Cagnotto and Francesca Dallape of Italy dive in the Women’s 3M Synchro Springboard Final during the FINA/NVC Diving World Series 2014 at the Hamdan Sports Complex on March 20, 2014 in Dubai. (Karim Sahib/AFP/Getty Images)
- Russian soldiers patrol the area surrounding the Ukrainian military unit in Perevalnoye, outside Simferopol, on March 20, 2014. Kiev will never recognize Russia’s annexation of Crimea and will fight for the “liberation” of the strategic Black Sea peninsula, Ukraine’s parliament said in a resolution adopted on March 20. (Filippo Monteforte/AFP/Getty Images)
- A Russian sailor walks in front of the Slavutych Ukrainian navy ship moored in Sevastopol bay on March 20, 2014. Ukraine’s ambassador to the United Nations in Geneva warned Thursday there were signs that Moscow was preparing to launch a large-scale assault in southern and eastern parts of his crisis-hit country. (Viktor Drachev/AFP/Getty Images)
- Afghan security personnel drag and kick the body of a militant at the scene of an attack on a police station in Jalalabad on March 20, 2014. At least six Taliban suicide attackers stormed a police station in the centre of the eastern Afghan city of Jalalabad, killing three people in a major assault ahead of the presidential election.The target of the complex assault was a police station close to the governor’s house in Jalalabad city, which has been the scene of repeated militant attacks in recent years. (Noorullah Shirzada/AFP/Getty Images)
- A man carries a bag on his shoulder at the Internally Displaced People (IDP) camp at the United Nations Mission in the Republic of South Sudan (UNMISS) base in Malakal early on March 19, 2014. The Sudan People’s Liberation Army (SPLA) claimed on March 19 that they had recaptured Malakal from rebel forces. The northeastern town of Malakal, capital of oil-producing Upper Nile state, has been one of the hardest fought battlegrounds in the conflict, in which thousands have been killed. South Sudan’s government has been at war with rebel groups since December 15, when a clash between troops loyal to President Salva Kiir and those loyal to sacked vice president Riek Machar snowballed into full-scale fighting across the world’s newest nation. (Ivan Lieman/AFP/Getty Images)
- Members of “Team S3lfish” – an extreme calisthenics team – practice on pull-up bars in Central Park on March 20, 2014 in New York, United States. Today marks the first official day of Spring – the spring equinox occurred at 12:57PM today. (Photo by Andrew Burton/Getty Images)