Mar 19, 2014

Twin polar bear cubs, million dollar dogs, activists take over Taiwan’s parliament, an Easter apple tree | March 19

Jerry Jackson 0 Comment Daily Brief Afghanistan, China, Germany, India, Israel, Philippines, Russia, Taiwan, Ukraine

Twin polar bear cubs, million dollar dogs, activists take over Taiwan’s parliament, an Easter apple tree and more in today’s daily brief.

: 14 week-old twin polar bear cubs play during their first presentation to the media in Hellabrunn zoo in Munich, Germany. The male and female twins were born on December 9, 2013 in the zoo. (Alexandra Beier/Getty Images)

: The 14 week old polar bear twins play with their mother in their enclosure during the first outside excursion in the zoo in Munich Hellabrunn, southern Germany. (Christof Stache/Getty Images)

: A man walks on a sand dune with his camels in Mhamid el-Ghizlane, in the Moroccan southern Sahara desert. (Fadel Senna/Getty Images)

: German pensioner Volker Kraft uses a step ladder as he decorates an apple tree with Easter eggs in the garden of his summerhouse, in the eastern German town of Saalfeld. Each year since 1965 Volker and his wife Christa spend up to two weeks decorating the tree with their collection of 10,000 colorful hand-painted Easter eggs in time for Easter celebrations. (Fabrizio Bensch/Reuters)

: Egg boxes for storing Easter eggs are stacked in a room of German pensioners Christa and Volker Kraft’s summerhouse in the eastern German town of Saalfeld. Each year since 1965 Volker and his wife Christa spend up to two weeks decorating the tree with their collection of 10,000 colorful hand-painted Easter eggs in time for Easter celebrations. (Fabrizio Bensch/Reuters)

: Indian laborers wait at a fruit stall prior to a watermelon auction at the Gaddiannaram wholesale fruit market on the outskirts of Hyderabad. India’s inflation hit a nine-month low in February data showed, but analysts saw little chance of any immediate interest rate cut. Slowing inflation may also have come too late for the embattled Congress-led government which faces elections in April and trails in opinion polls. (Noah Seelam/Getty Images)

: An unidentified man poses for a photo with two Tibetan mastiffs after they were sold at a “luxury pet” fair in Hangzhou, in eastern China’s Zhejiang province. One of the Tibetan mastiff puppies (L) was sold in China for almost two million USD, a report said on March 19, in what could be the most expensive dog sale ever. (Getty Images)

: A worker prepares a dragon statue before the season four premiere of the HBO series “Game of Thrones” in New York. (Lucas Jackson/Reuters)

: Pro-Russian protesters remove the gate of Ukrainian navy headquarters as Russian troops stand guard in Crimean city of Sevastopol. Pro-Russian protesters seized Ukraine’s Crimean naval headquarters and captured its commander on Wednesday after Moscow claimed the peninsula and the first casualties ratcheted up stakes in the worst East-West standoff since the Cold War. (Vasiliy Batanov/Getty Images)

: Pro-Russian supporters walk after breaking into the territory of the naval headquarters in Sevastopol. Around a dozen Ukrainian servicemen, unarmed and in civilian clothes, walked out of the Ukrainian naval headquarters in the Crimean port of Sevastopol on Wednesday after it was taken over by pro-Russian forces, a Reuters witness said. (Baz Ratner/Reuters)

: A Ukrainian soldier jumps off an Armored Personnel Carrier (APC) parked at a military camp the Ukrainian Army forces have set up close to the Russian border in east Ukraine. (Yannis Behrakis/Reuters)

: People crowd onto a bridge during the annual Caiqiaohui event in Mianyang, Sichuan province. People believe that by stepping onto the bridge during the three-day spring event can help them escape tribulations and illnesses. (Reuters)

: Police officers try to enter the Taiwanese Parliament which is occupied by activists to protest against moves by the ruling Kuomintang party to ratify a contentious trade agreement with China, in Taipei. Late on March 18 around 200 students and activists broke through a security barrier and took over the main chamber in Taiwan’s parliament, singing and dancing in protest against the trade agreement. (Sam Yeh/Getty Images)

: A protester shouts as police officers try to remove the chairs displayed to block the entrance of the Taiwanese Parliament which is occupied by activists to protest against moves by the ruling Kuomintang party to ratify a contentious trade agreement with Chinain, in Taipei. Late on March 18 around 200 students and activists broke through a security barrier and took over the main chamber in Taiwan’s parliament, singing and dancing in protest against the trade agreement. (Sam Yeh/Getty Images)

: Palestinians collect their belongings after their house was demolished by Israeli bulldozers in the Arab east Jerusalem neighborhood of Beit Hanina on the grounds that it was built without a construction permit. Israeli authorities ordered the demolition of two Palestinian houses built without permits in the Arab quarters of Beit Hanina. (Ahmad Gharabli/Getty Images)

: Supporters of Afghan presidential candidate Ashraf Ghani Ahmadzai attend an election campaign in Kunduz province, northern Afghanistan. The Afghan presidential elections will be held on April 5. (Ahmad Masood/Reuters)

: Displaced children stand at the UNAMID base for displaced people in Saraf Omra, North Darfur. Although the situation in Saraf Omra and neighboring villages has stabilized after feuding tribes Gimir and Abbala signed a cessation-of-hostilies agreement on March 12, a few thousand of the 55,000 people who were displaced by the conflict have still not been able to return to their homes. (Albert Gonzalez Farran/Getty Images)

: A woman carries produce from her farm across a river in Yirol. Over 10,000 people have died and nearly a million have been displaced after violence broke out in South Sudan in December 2014. An additional 190,000 people have also reportedly fled the country to neighboring Uganda, Ethiopia, Kenya and Sudan. (Charles Lomodong/Getty Images)

: A Chinese family member of a passenger onboard the missing Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370 screams as she is being brought into a room outside the media conference area at a hotel in Kuala Lumpur International Airport. Investigators probing the disappearance of Flight MH370 with 239 people on board believe it most likely flew into the southern Indian Ocean, a source close to the investigation said on Wednesday. (Edgar Su/Reuters)

: A worker places sheets of finished gold leaf between tissue paper at Erich Dungl’s gold leaf workshop in Schwechat March 4, 2014. Each handmade sheet of gold leaf is produced by squeezing and hammering gold to a thickness of some 0.0001 mm (0.000004 in). One kilo of gold produces some 70,000 pieces of gold leaf sized 8 x 8 cm (3.1 x 3.1 in). Depending on the current price of gold, one leaf sells for approximately one euro. The gold leaf is used globally for restoration works, adornments and even culinary purposes. (Heinz-Peter Bader/Reuters)

: Students of Bagong Silangan Elementary school cover their head during an earthquake drill in Manila. The students participated in a national emergency earthquake drill that aims to generate awareness on disaster risk reduction and assess their capacity level to respond during a disaster. (Noel Celis/Getty Images)

: A pilgrim throws a cap to Pope Francis during his general audience at St Peter’s square at the Vatican. (Vincenzo Pinto/Getty Images)

: An Afghan child separates loose husk from their basil harvest on the outskirts of Jalalabad, Nangarhar province. Only about 15 percent of Afghanistan’s land, mostly in scattered valleys, is suitable for farming with about 6 percent of the land actually cultivated with wheat being the most important crop. (Noorullah Shirzada/Getty Images)

: One of the 14 week-old twin polar bear cubs plays with her mother Giovanna during their first presentation to the media in Hellabrunn zoo in Munich, Germany. The male and female twins were born on December 9, 2013 in the zoo. (Alexandra Beier/Getty Images)

: Twin polar bear cubs lie on their mother Giovanna outside in their enclosure at Tierpark Hellabrunn in Munich. The 14 week-old cubs, who made their first public appearance on Wednesday, have yet to be named. (Michael Dalder/Reuters)