The Empty Stools of Rural Village Life in China
Tian Yunxiu, 67, and his 65-year-old wife named Liu Dezhen, sit beside a buckwheat field in Mawan town of Northwest China’s Shaanxi province with six stools for their six children, who left the village to work. In the process of urbanization, more rural people in China leave villages to work in cities with most working as migrant workers. The statistics of National Bureau of Statistics shows that China already had a total of 230 million migrant workers in 2009. As it is not easy to take families to settle down in cities, the migrant workers from rural areas have to leave their kids, wives and parents in their rural home, which makes the population of some rural areas mainly made up of women, kids and elderly people. A survey conducted by China Agriculture University shows that there are about 87 million people left behind in rural area, comprised of 20 million kids, 20 million elderly people and 47 million women. (Xinhua) Continue reading »
Drive Through
Hollywood stuntman Rocky Taylor breaks a Guinness world record in London on Sept. 13 by jumping a speeding BMW through the largest sheet of breakaway glass ever smashed by a car. The feat marked ‘Remember a Charity’ week, aimed at convincing more people to leave things to charity organizations in their will. Working with the charity behind the campaign, the 64-year-old stuntman has performed a series of live stunts since August, including a re-enactment of the stunt from the 1985 action film “Death Wish 3” that nearly killed him. During the filming, the exploding building he was supposed to jump from blew up too early, causing Taylor to fall and break his back.
Spoof Entry Wins American Apparel’s Plus-size Model Search – but Furious Brand Awards Prize to Someone Else
A spoof photo shoot entered into American Apparel’s plus-size model search has controversially won the competition. Continue reading »
Photo of the Day: Heavy Rains Fall over Bangkok
Heavy rain falls over the city of Bangkok at sunset during the monsoon season on Sept. 18. The East Asian monsoon is a monsoonal flow that carries moist air from the Indian Ocean and Pacific Ocean to East Asia. It affects approximately one-third of the global population, influencing the climate of Japan, the Koreas, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Macau, and much of mainland China. (Nicolas Asfouri / AFP – Getty Images) Click image to zoom.
Your Portrait Poster-size? Everyday People Plastered all over Israel
Israeli artists paste large portraits on the side of a bridge near the city of Netanya, Israel, early Thursday. (Tara Todras-whitehill / AP) Continue reading »
English Vegetable Grower Claims Guinness World Record for 8 kg Onion
Gardener Peter Glazebrook poses for photographers with his world record breaking onion at The Harrogate Autumn Flower Show on September 16 in Harrogate, England. Peter Glazebrook from Newark, Nottinghamshire claimed a Guinness World Record with his giant onion weighing 8.150kg. (Christopher Furlong / Getty Images)
Photo of the Day: The Largest Collection of Stuffed Dogs in the World
The largest collection of stuffed dogs in the world, was created by the last owner of the Bitov Castle, Baron George Haas, who commited suicide in 1945 before deportation to Austria, at Bitov Castle in Bitov, South Moravia. The Baron had thousands of animals and around 200 dogs, of which 51 were stuffed after their death and are part of the Guinness World Record collection. (Radek Mica/AFP/Getty Images) Click image to zoom.
Lightning Illuminates the Sky Over Las Vegas
Lightning flashes over the Las Vegas Strip during a thunderstorm early on September 13 in Las Vegas, Nevada. Stormy weather is expected to continue through Thursday. (Ethan Miller / Getty Images)
Photo of the Day: Children Watch Revealing Lingerie Show
Underage spectators are simply too captivated. (chinaSMACK)
Dog Sets New World Record for Having Longest Ears
An eight-year-old coonhound from Boulder, Colorado, USA, gets the 2012 Guinness World Records title for “longest ears on a living dog.” The officials confirmed that the dog, Harbor, has ears measuring 12.25 inches in length on the left and 13.5 inches on the right. Continue reading »
Photo of the Day: Sitting in the English Garden
22-year-old Jana and her dog Rocco sit in the summer weather in the English Garden in Munich, southern Germany on September 6, 2011. Germany is experiencing a mix of sunny and rainy weather. (SVEN HOPPE/AFP/Getty Images)
The 25th Annual Bristol International Kite Festival
A giant monkey kite flies at the 25th annual Bristol International Kite Festival on the Ashton Court Estate in England. Following two attempts on the previous day, plans were abandoned to fly the world’s largest kite due to strong turbulence and damage caused the day before. (Leon Neal/AFP/Getty Images) Continue reading »
Photo of the Day: Inside the Afghan Barbershop
Photos of Indian movie stars adorn an Afghan barbershop at Forward Operating Base Bostick in the Kunar Province of northeastern Afghanistan. The area, a major infiltration route for Taliban fighters coming from Pakistan, has seen some of the heaviest fighting of the Afghan war. (John Moore/Getty Images) Click image to zoom.
Inside the Fukushima Exclusion Zone
The project by photographer Patrik Lundin is a 180-degree dissection of the radiated land areas surrounding the plant. Each view has been taken in five-degree increments, looking towards the failed reactor. In Lundin’s work, the common factor is that each image contains levels of unseen radiation.
View 29 – 0.4 microsievert / hour. Continue reading »
Photo of Holden Crater on Mars
Holden crater is 87 miles wide, filling the left side of the image, while to the right is the remaining part of Eberswalde crater, which has a diameter of about 40 miles. They are located in the southern highlands of Mars. (NASA)
Warning! Gastric Content! Kobayashi vs Furious Pete: Showdown in the Rain
Pizza chef and competitor Kris Cross sports a pizza tattoo as he prepares cheese pizzas for the competition. In torrential rain, super eaters Takeru Kobayashi and Canadian Furious Pete Czerwinski squared off again. (Toronto Star / Steve Russell – Staff Photographer) Continue reading »
Bird Imprints
An owl apparently crashed into the window of Sally Arnold’s home in Kendal, England, leaving this image. Experts said the silhouette was left by the bird’s “powder down” – a substance protecting growing feathers. Here is a selection of photos sent in by you of various bird imprints. (BBC News) Continue reading »
Hungry Polar Bear in Daredevil Climb
Tis starved bear was pushed to new limits as he dared to descend 300ft down a sheer cliff face to find food. The amazing images show the young male polar bear risking his life on a precarious precipice while scavenging for eggs. Stunned passengers on board an ice-strengthened boat watched on in awe as the bulky beast inched down the sprawling cliff-face in the search for a meal.
American photographer Dylan Coker, who was exploring the Novaya Zemlya archipelago in the Russian Arctic last month, captured the incredible snaps. Continue reading »
Photo of the Day: Run for Your Life
A crowd of Chinese tourists run away as a tidal bore breaks through the dam by the Qiangtang River in Haining, east China’s Zhejiang province on August 31, 2011. Visitors gather to experience the Qianjiang Tidal Bore from early morning, an annual tradition for the residents living nearby. (STR/AFP/Getty Images) Click image to zoom.
Waiting for the Passengers
A tuk tuk driver awaits passengers outside the art and culture centre, Bangkok.
