Talks over Ukraine, British worries of an independent Scotland, smog in Paris | March 14
Friday’s photo brief includes a migration of Ukraine protests to London, a smog warning in Paris and a speech by David Cameron protesting Scots’ desire for independence.
- Ukrainian troops gather in their base where they are being blocked from leaving by Russians just outside of the wall on March 14, 2014 in Bakhchysarai, Ukraine. Hundreds of ethnic Tatars, a Crimean minority with deep roots in the area and who have long suffered under the Russians, held demonstrations throughout Crimea today against the Crimean peninsula becoming part of Russia. As the standoff between the Russian military and Ukrainian forces continues in Ukraine’s Crimean peninsula, world leaders are pushing for a diplomatic solution to the escalating situation. Crimean citizens will vote in a referendum on March 16 on whether to become part of the Russian federation. (Photo by Spencer Platt/Getty Images)
- A protester holds a Ukrainian flag outside Winfield House, the residence of the US Ambassador to the UK, where talks are taking place between US Secretary of State John Kerry and his Russian counterpart, Sergei Lavrov on March 14, 2014 in London, England. Mr Kerry has met with his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov to discuss the Ukrainian crisis situation in London ahead of a disputed referendum in Crimea on Sunday. (Photo by Oli Scarff/Getty Images)
- Jockeys and mounts ride in the Gold Cup race at the Cheltenham Festival horse racing meet in Gloucestershire, western England March 14, 2014. The four-day Cheltenham Festival is a highlight of the annual jump racing calendar. (REUTERS/Toby Melville)
- Jockey Ruby Walsh lies injured after falling from Abbyssial during the The JCB Triumph Hurdle race on the final day of the Cheltenham Festival horse racing meeting at Cheltenham Racecourse in Gloucestershire, South West England, on March 14, 2014. Leading Irish jockey Ruby Walsh’s Cheltenham Festival campaign suffered a premature end when he was taken to hospital with a suspected broken arm after falling in The Triumph Hurdle. (Adrian Dennis/AFP/Getty Images)
- Silver medalist Cecile Hernandez Cervellon of France, gold medalist Bibian Mentel-Spee of Netherlands and bronze medalist Amy Purdy of the United States celebrate during the medal ceremony for Women’s Snowboard Cross Standing on day seven of the Sochi 2014 Paralympic Winter Games on March 14, 2014 in Sochi, Russia. (Photo by Dennis Grombkowski/Getty Images)
- Supporters of Afghan presidential candidate and former Mujahideen leader and hardline Islamist Abdul Rasul Sayyaf record footage on their mobile phones during an election rally in Shakardara district of Kabul province on March 14. Afghanistan’s April 5 election is the third presidential poll since the fall of the Taliban with 11 candidates contesting the polls. (Wakil Kohsar/AFP/Getty Images)
- Irish Prime Minister Enda Kenny (L) is seated next to US President Barack Obama during a meeting in the Oval Office of the White House on March 14 in Washington, DC. (Mandel Ngan/AFP/Getty Images)
- British Prime Minister David Cameron gives his speech to the Scottish Conservative party conference on March 14, in Edinburgh, Scotland. The prime minister opened his party’s Scottish conference by warning delegates that a yes vote in Scotland’s September independence referendum would tear apart the existing UK family of “nations.” (Photo by Jeff J Mitchell/Getty Images)
- Parti Quebecois leader Pauline Marois gestures as she speaks to the press during a campaign stop at a trade school in Montreal, Quebec, March 14. Quebec voters will go to the polls in a provincial election on April 7. (Christinne Muschi/Reuters)
- A woman, who is a former scavenger, watches with her face smeared with coloured powder during the Holi celebrations organised by non-governmental organisation Sulabh International at a widows’ ashram in Vrindavan in the northern Indian state of Uttar Pradesh March 14, 2014. Holi, also known as the Festival of Colours, heralds the beginning of spring and is celebrated all over India. (REUTERS/Ahmad Masood)
- Protesters step on an Israeli flag, which has words that read “Death to Israel”, near the Israeli embassy in Amman March 14, 2014. Jordanians demonstrated on Friday to urge the government to shut the Israeli embassy and scrap its unpopular peace treaty with the Jewish state after a Jordanian judge was shot dead by an Israeli soldier at a border crossing. (REUTERS/Muhammad Hamed)
- A car drives near the Eiffel tower in Paris, March 14, 2014. Residents and visitors to Paris basking in a streak of unseasonable sunshine were also being treated with a dangerous dose of particles from car fumes that pushed air pollution to levels above other northern European capitals this week. Swathes of France, including the French capital, were on maximum alert over air pollution, prompting Paris authorities to render some public transport free for the day. (REUTERS/Charles Platiau)