Wednesday: The day in photos

Workers for a rice exporter in Bang Pakong, Thailand, load a ship with 1,000 tons of the grain bound for Africa. Orders from Africa and the Mideast have enabled the company to weather tough times that have led to a huge drop in rice exports from Thailand.  (Paula Bronstein / Getty Images)

‘Gulal’ or colored powder is thrown on a woman during Holi celebrations held for the Bollywood fraternity in Mumbai, India. Holi, also called the Festival of Colors, marks the arrival of spring.  (Gautam Singh / Associated Press)

Ultra-Orthodox Jewish men dance at a yeshiva, a rabbinical seminary, during Purim celebrations in Jerusalem. The festival of Purim commemorates the rescue of Jews from genocide in ancient Persia.  (Sebastian Scheiner / Associated Press)

Malaysians walk in front of a billboard of faces decorated in the country’s colors promoting Malaysia’s ethnic diversity in downtown Kuala Lumpur.  (Vincent Thian / Associated Press)

Saleswomen trade coca leaves at a legal coca market in La Paz, Bolivia.  (Juan Karita / Associated Press)

A student from Gower Primary school sweeps outside the giraffe enclosure at London Zoo in England. A group of children from the school were given the opportunity to be zookeepers for the day before putting the finishing touches on Animal Adventure, the zoo’s new exhibit designed by the children.  (Dan Kitwood / Getty Images)

A Buddhist nun prays at the Tsuglakhang temple in Dharmsala, India.  (Altaf Qadri / Associated Press)

British police remove a protester from Whitehall Road in London, where protesters were demonstrating over a proposed government welfare reform bill with regard to disabled people.  (Shaun Curry / AFP/Getty Images)

Iraqi Kurds commemorate the 19th anniversary of an uprising against the regime of toppled dictator Saddam Hussein in the northern Kurdish city of Arbil.  (Safin Hamed / AFP/Getty Images)

Horses and riders clear an obstacle during the 139th year of the National Hunt Steeple Chase Challenge Cup on the second day of the Cheltenham festival in Cheltenham, England.  (Gyln Kirk / AFP/Getty Images)

The moon is seen near the Space Shuttle Discovery STS-119 as it sits on the launch pad while it is prepared for launch in Cape Canaveral, Fla. The Discovery is being prepared for a mission to the international space station.  (Eliot J. Schechter / Getty Images)