March 5 Daily Brief: Worlds oldest woman celebrates 116, National People’s Congress in China, small-clawed otters, Oscar Pistorius trial, Ukraine, Venezuela protests
Worlds oldest woman celebrates 116, National People’s Congress in China, small-clawed otters, Oscar Pistorius trial, Ukraine, Venezuela protests and more in today’s daily brief.
- Chinese hostesses jump for photographers before the start of the National People’s Congress (NPC) at the Great Hall of the People (back) in Beijing. China’s annual show of political theater, the NPC is the first under the new Communist Party leadership and is facing intractable problems including endemic corruption, slowing economic growth and tensions with neighboring countries. (Mark Ralston/Getty Images)
- A group of Nepalese Buddhist boys pose as they attend Bratabandha, a coming-of-age ceremony in Kathmandu. In Newari culture of the Shakya caste, the heads of young boys are shaved and they wear a dress of a monk during the Bratabandha ceremony, which combines chudakarma and upanayana, among the hill communities of Nepal. (Prakash Mathema/Getty Images)
- A Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) officer practices to conduct the military band before the opening session of the 12th National People’s Congress (NPC) at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing. China’s annual show of political theatre, the National People’s Congress, opens this week — the first under a new Communist Party leadership facing intractable problems including endemic corruption, slowing economic growth and tensions with neighboring countries. (Wang Zhao/Getty Images)
- Misao Okawa, the world’s oldest Japanese woman looks on before her 116th birthday celebrations at Kurenai Nursing Home on March 5, 2014 in Osaka, Japan. Okawa, born in Tenma, Osaka, on March 5, 1898 to a family of Kimono merchants, married in 1919 and had three children, of which a daughter and a son are still alive, and has four grandchildren and six great-grandchildren. (Buddhika Weerasinghe/Getty Images)
- Japanese Misao Okawa, the world’s oldest woman, poses for a photo next to her birthday cake as she celebrates her 116th birthday in Osaka, western Japan, in this photo taken by Kyodo. Okawa celebrated her 116th birthday on Wednesday. (Kyodo/Reuters)
- A frontier soldier from the People’s Liberation Army jumps through a ring of fire as part of training in Heihe, Heilongjiang province. (China Daily)
- Syrians from a neighborhood in the northern city of Aleppo search for survivors under the rubble of a collapsed building after a barrel bomb was reportedly dropped by Syrian government forces. Syrian government forces are waging a campaign of siege warfare and starvation against civilians as part of its military strategy, a UN-mandated probe said. The commission, which includes legendary former war crimes prosecutor Carla del Ponte, stressed that more than 250,000 people remain besieged in war-ravaged country. (Baraa Al-Halabi/Getty Images)
- A model presents a creation by Italian designer Giambattista Valli from his Fall/Winter 2014-2015 women’s ready-to-wear collection for fashion house Moncler Gamme Rouge during Paris Fashion Week. (Gonzalo Fuentes/Reuters)
- Local women watch armed men, believed to be Russian soldiers, assemble near a Ukrainian military base in Perevalnoe. (Thomas Peter/Reuters)
- An elderly pro-Russian activist cries as Urkainian riot police officers stand guard in front of the regional state administration building in the eastern Ukrainian city of Donetsk. The Pro-Russian self-proclaimed governor of the region Paul Gubarev called on “thousands” of pro-Russian supporters to be ready to storm the building again. Meanwhile Russian forces seized partial control of two Ukrainian missile bases in Crimea today as Western and Russian leaders stepped up efforts to defuse the region’s worst crisis since the Cold War. (Alexander Khudoteply/Getty Images)
- Ukrainian soldiers stand guard on board the navy corvette Ternopil as Russian forces patrol nearby in the harbor of the Ukrainian city of Sevastopol. The Ukrainian soldiers hung matresses on the edge of the navy ship’s railing to prevent Russian forces from forcefully boarding the ship with grappling hooks. Russian forces seized partial control of two Ukrainian missile bases in Crimea today as Western and Russian leaders stepped up efforts to defuse the region’s worst crisis since the Cold War. (Filippo Monteforte/Getty Images)
- Actress Eva Green attends the premiere of Warner Bros. Pictures and Legendary Pictures’ “300: Rise Of An Empire” at TCL Chinese Theatre in Hollywood, California. (Kevin Winter/Getty Images)
- A young small-clawed otter is pictured on March 5, 2014 at the Tierpark zoo in Neumuenster, northwestern Germany. Six small-clawed otter babies were born at the zoo on December 7, 2013. (Maja Hitij/Getty Images)
- A young small-clawed otter is pictured at the Tierpark zoo in Neumuenster, northwestern Germany. Six small-clawed otter babies were born at the zoo on December 7, 2013. (Maja Hitij/Getty Images)
- Small-clawed otters walk through their enclosure on March 5, 2014 at the Tierpark zoo in Neumuenster, northwestern Germany. Six small-clawed otter babies were born at the zoo on December 7, 2013. (Maja Hitij/Getty Images)
- Protesters sling stones at Venezuelan national guard troops during an anti-government demonstration in Caracas, Venezuela. Wednesday marks the first anniversary of Hugo Chavez’ death. For three weeks protesters have blocked roads throughout the country and clashed with security forces of the government of Chavez’ chosen successor President Nicolas Maduro. (John Moore/Getty Images)
- Opposition demonstrators protest against the government of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro in Caracas. Thousands of flag-waving protesters took to the streets in Venezuela Tuesday to keep the pressure on the government on the eve of the anniversary of the death of late Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez. At least 18 people have been killed and 250 were injured since a wave of protests began on February 4. (Juan Barreto/Getty Images)
- Actor Steve Buscemi (L) and choreographer/filmmaker Jo Andres attend the fifth annual Two Boots Mardi Gras ball at Le Poisson Rouge in New York City. (Ben Gabbe/Getty Images)
- Olympic and Paralympic track star Oscar Pistorius speaks to members of his legal team on the third day of his trial for the murder of his girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp at the North Gauteng High Court in Pretoria. (Alon Skuy/Reuters)
- South African Paralympic athlete Oscar Pistorius, accused of murdering his girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp waits prior to a hearing of his trial at the North Gauteng High Court in Pretoria. (Siphiwe Sibeko/Getty Images)
- A Syrian refugee woman looks out from a window with no glass, in a house in the Kucukpazar area of Istanbul. Syrian government forces are waging a campaign of siege warfare and starvation against civilians as part of its military strategy, a UN-mandated probe said on March 5. Syria’s war has since March 2011 killed more than 140,000 people and forced millions more to flee. (Gurcan Ozturk/Getty Images)
- Supporters of Aam Aadmi (Common Man) Party (AAP) and India’s main opposition Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) clash during a protest outside the office of BJP in the northern Indian city of Lucknow. Street clashes marred an announcement on Wednesday that India’s general election will start on April 7 as passions run high in a race that pits Hindu nationalist Narendra Modi against the unpopular Nehru-Gandhi family’s ruling party. (Reuters)
- Wayne Garrett of Canada makes final touches to his art installation “CLOUD” ,made up of 5000 new and recycled lightbulbs, along the Marina Bay in Singapore. Garrett and compatriot Caitlind Brown are part of the 28 groups of local and international artists who are taking part in the i Light Marina Bay biennial sustainable light art festival which will run from Friday to March 30 along the Marina Bay. (Edgar Su/Reuters)
- A NASA-funded sounding rocket launches into an aurora over Venetie, Alaska. The Ground-to-Rocket Electrodynamics – Electron Correlative Experiment (GREECE) sounding rocket mission, which launched from Poker Flat Research Range in Poker Flat, Alaska, will study classic curls in the aurora in the night sky. (NASA/Christopher Perry)