Mar 17, 2014

A very wet protest in Venezuela, Purim revelers in Jerusalem and a cancer event in Paris are among the news in today’s daily brief.

: The national guard disperses water cannons on anti-government protesters during a protest against Nicolas Maduro’s government at Altamira square in Caracas March 16. Venezuela’s President Nicolas Maduro warned protesters in Caracas on Saturday to clear a square they have made their stronghold, or face eviction by security forces. Plaza Altamira, in upscale east Caracas, has been a focus of anti-government protests and violence during six weeks of unrest around Venezuela that has killed 28 people.
|| PHOTO CREDIT: TOMAS BRAVO – REUTERS

: Patrick Drahi, Franco-Israeli businessman, Executice Chairman of cable and mobile telecoms company Altice and founder of Numericable, poses prior to a news conference in Paris, March 17. Numericable backer Patrick Drahi promised to create a national champion, and a leader in fixed and mobile bundled offers by marrying his French cable company with Vivendi’s SFR telecom unit. Speaking for the first time since winning a takeover battle for SFR against Bouygues Telecom, Drahi cast the deal as a sign of “convergence” between fixed and mobile, on the day that Vodafone also unveiled its 7.2 billion euro ($10 billion) purchase of Spanish cable operator Ono.
|| PHOTO CREDIT: PHILIPPE WOJAZER – REUTERS

: Ultra-Orthodox Jewish men dance on a table as they celebrate the holiday of Purim in Jerusalem’s Mea Shearim neighbourhood March 17.
|| PHOTO CREDIT: RONEN ZVULUN – REUTERS

: Ultra-Orthodox Jewish men wearing costumes celebrate the holiday of Purim in Jerusalem’s Mea Shearim neighbourhood March 17.
|| PHOTO CREDIT: RONEN ZVULUN – REUTERS

: An ultra-Orthodox Jewish boy wearing a costume walks on a trash-strewn street in Jerusalem on March 16, during the feast of Purim.
|| CREDIT: MENAHEM KAHANA – AFP/GETTY IMAGES

: Workers in the public sector scuffle with police during the arrival of a team of inspectors from the IMF, the European Commission and the European Central Bank, at the Finance Ministry in Athens March 17.
|| PHOTO CREDIT: ALKIS KONSTANTINIDIS – REUTERS

: Police officers in Paris control cars with even-numbered licence plates near the Arc de Triomphe March 17. France deployed hundreds of police in Paris on Monday to enforce the most drastic curbs on car use in 20 years as authorities sought to reduce health-endangering pollution days before town hall elections. Amid concerns of a worsening air quality after a week when unseasonally balmy weather boosted pollution, public transport was free of charge while drivers with even-numbered licence plates were told to leave their cars at home or face fines.
|| PHOTO CREDIT: PHILIPPE WOJAZER – REUTERS

: Hindu priest Babulal jumps out of a fire to signify the burning of the demon Holika during a ritual to mark the first day of the Holi spring festival, also known as the Festival of Colours, at village Phalen near the northern Indian city of Mathura March 17. Holi in Phalen starts on the first day of the full moon where a Hindu mythological story will be re-enacted to symbolize the victory of good over evil, according to local media.
|| PHOTO CREDIT: ADNAN ABIDI – REUTERS

: A man takes part in Holi celebrations organised by members of South Korea’s Indian community at Haeundae beach in the southeastern city of Busan on March 16. Holi, the popular Hindu spring festival of colours, is observed in India at the end of the winter season on the last full moon of the lunar month.
|| CREDIT: ED JONES – AFP/GETTY IMAGES

: A worker uses a tractor with a snow brush to clear the walkways in Lafayette Park in Washington, DC on Monday, the morning after another snow storm. With spring less than a week away, winter is not releasing its grip as another 5-10 inches of snow fell in the Baltimore-Washington area overnight.
|| CREDIT: KAREN BLEIER – AFP/GETTY IMAGES

: A labourer works at an upside-down house under construction at Fengjing Ancient Town, Jinshan District, south of Shanghai, March 17. Workers are putting the final touches on this eccentric tourist attraction built at the “China Folk Painting Village”. Furniture will also be placed upside down in the house, which is expected to open the public in April, according to local media.
|| PHOTO CREDIT: CARLOS BARRIA – REUTERS

: Banners depicting Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas hang over the crowd during a rally in the West Bank city of Ramallah March 17. Thousands of Palestinians took to the streets on Monday to show their support for Abbas, who is under heavy pressure as he prepares to meet U.S. President Barack Obama.
|| PHOTO CREDIT: MOHAMAD TOROKMAN – REUTERS

: Pope Francis and Argentina’s President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner exchange gifts during a private audience at the Vatican on March 17.
|| CREDIT: ALBERTO PIZZOLI – AFP/GETTY IMAGES

: A pro-Russian activist holds a flag during a rally as police forces stand guard in front of the regional state administration building in Donetsk, eastern Ukraine, on March 17. The United States on March 17 imposed financial sanctions on seven top Russian government officials and lawmakers to punish Russia’s incursion into Crimea. The list of officials who will see any property, assets and interests blocked in the United States includes Dmitry Rogozin, deputy prime minister, and several senior members of the Duma and advisors to President Vladimir Putin.
|| CREDIT: ALEXANDER KHUDOTEPLY – AFP/GETTY IMAGES

: People hold Ukrainian flags as they gather in front of the parliament in Kiev on March 17, 2014. Ukrainian troops will remain in Crimea, the country’s defence minister said that day even as media reported the separatist peninsula planned to disband Ukrainian units there. The day before Crimeans voted overwhelmingly to join former political master Russia as tensions soared in the east of the splintered ex-Soviet nation amid the worst East-West crisis since the Cold War.
|| CREDIT: SERGEI SUPINSKY – AFP/GETTY IMAGES

: A former soldier of the Armed Forces of the Central African Republic (FACA) lifts weights in the crumbling former palace of the late self-proclaimed Emperor Jean-Bedel Bokassa near the village of Barengo, south of the capital Bangui March 17.
|| PHOTO CREDIT: SIEGFRIED MODOLA – REUTERS

: Cambodian residents of a community light candles as they pray for the missing Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 at their village in Phnom Penh on March 17. An investigation into the pilots of missing Malaysia Airlines flight 370 intensified on March 17 after officials confirmed that the last words spoken from the cockpit came after a key signalling system was manually disabled.
|| CREDIT: TANG CHHIN SOTHY – AFP/GETTY IMAGES

: Selamat Omar shows a picture of his son, flight engineer Mohd Khairul Amri Selamat who was onboard the missing Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370, in Putrajaya. Malaysian police are investigating the aviation engineer who was among the passengers on the missing Malaysia Airlines plane as they focus on the pilots and anyone else on board who had technical flying knowledge, a senior police official said. Khairul, 29, is a Malaysian who has said on social media he had worked for a private jet charter company. Picture taken March 16, 2014.
|| PHOTO CREDIT: REUTERS

: A performer poses in front of messages expressing prayers and well-wishes for passengers onboard missing Malaysia Airlines (MAS) flight MH370 at Kuala Lumpur International Airport in Sepang on March 17. An investigation into the pilots of missing Malaysia Airlines flight 370 intensified on March 17 after officials confirmed that the last words spoken from the cockpit came after a key signalling system was manually disabled.
|| CREDIT: MANAN VATSYAYANA – AFP/GETTY IMAGES

: A supporter painted as the bull mascot of Indonesia’s main opposition party Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) shouts slogans in a rally during the first week of the campaign for the legislative election in Surabaya, eastern Java island on March 17. Indonesia, the world’s biggest Muslim-majority nation with 250 million people, will hold legislative polls in April and elect a new president in July, with some 180 million voters eligible to take part.
|| CREDIT: JUNI KRISWANTO – AFP/GETTY IMAGES

: Austria’s Marcel Hirscher reacts after winning the FIS Men’s alpine skiing World Cup Slalom finals, on March 16 in Lenzerheide.
|| CREDIT: FABRICE COFFRINI – AFP/GETTY IMAGES

: Dozens of women throw their bras in the air during the 5th edition of the rally organized by Pink Bra Bazaar, a charitable organization dedicated to the education for breast health and support of women with breast cancer, on March 15 in Paris.
|| CREDIT: FRANCK FIFE – AFP/GETTY IMAGES

CARACAS (Reuters) – A National Guard captain who was shot in the head during a demonstration in Venezuela died on Monday, the military said, becoming the 29th fatality from weeks of clashes between protesters and the security forces.

General Padrino Lopez, head of the armed forces’ strategic operational command, said the captain was shot late on Sunday at a street barricade set up by demonstrators in the central city of Maracay, in Aragua state.

“He was another victim of terrorist violence,” Lopez said on Twitter, calling for an end to the confrontations.

Water cannons, fire dancing, table dancing and a bra toss | March 17

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