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Sea gypsies: the Samah who live in the Sulawesi Sea off Malaysia's state of Sabah
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(Above) Two boys from a community commonly known as sea gypsies paddle their boat close to their home.
The Samah are an indigenous ethnic group from Malaysia and the Philippines who live a sea-based lifestyle in the Sulawesi Sea off Malaysia's state of Sabah.
The Sabah are one of a number of groups collectively known as Bajau, or sea gypsies.
Although sea gypsies are Muslims, they also revere the gods of the sea and make offerings when a large catch is brought in.
Originally the sea gypsies lived a nomadic lifestyle in boats. Nowadays most live in small communities, building houses on stilts in the coastal shallows without fresh water or electricity.
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Heavy Heart. 11Mar08 photo. Brazilian Amazon: woman holds naked child, being pushed away from her home by heavily armed
Eviction
An woman holds her naked child while trying to resist the advance of Amazonas state policemen who were expelling the woman and some 200 other members of the Landless Movement from a privately-owned tract of land on the outskirts of Manaus, in the heart of the Brazilian Amazon March 11, 2008. The landless peasants tried in vain to resist the eviction with bows and arrows against police using tear gas and trained dogs.
Winner in General News Singles category, 2008 World Press Photo of the Year.
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Photos courtesy of Reuters/Luiz Vasconcelos-A Critica/AE (BRAZIL)
Original Source: Reuters
Rescue flight in blue sky. Guiding young whooping cranes to winter nesting grounds: birds follow ultralight plane
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It was the first Friday in December, 23 degrees at dawn and nearly windless. Everyone was looking up. Operation Migration’s four ultralight planes floated into view over some oak and maple trees, then passed over the small, white chapel. An ultralight is powered by a massive rear propeller. In the sky, it looks like a scaled-down Formula 1 car dangling under the wing of a hang glider. Because the little planes taxi on three wheels, pilots call them trikes.
At 200 feet, the first pilot, Chris Gullikson, was perfectly visible in his trike’s open cockpit. He was wearing his whooping-crane costume, a white hooded helmet and white gown that looked like a cross between a beekeeping suit and a Ku Klux Klan get-up. Gullikson and the other trike pilots were going to pick up the 14 juvenile whooping cranes that they were, little by little, leading south for the winter. Traditionally, and for many millenniums, cranes learned to migrate by following other cranes. But traditions have changed. Outside the church, a plucky, silver-haired woman named Liz Condie was explaining to the spectators why, exactly, her team has had to dress up and step in.
Nature's Wonder. Ox born ahead of Valentine's Day with heart-shaped birthmark, faithful geese couple, baby zebra & mother
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A pair of Andean geese, George and Mildred, smooching like young Valentines despite being together for eight years and rearing 40 goslings.
The ox 'Heart', having a heart-shaped marking on his forehead, relaxes at Yamakun Farm in Yokohama, Japan. Born in the year of the ox and ahead of Valentine's Day, the ox has drawn attention from around the country.
The baby Grant's zebra was born on Jan. 26 and is Peru's fourth ever born in captivity as part of a preservation program. The foal's name will be chosen in a special competition
08Feb2009 Photo. Family without a home. Sayed Abdul Karim, 80, sits with 9-yr-old granddaughter, Camina, in a camp
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Family without a home
Sayed Abdul Karim, 80, sits with his 9-year-old granddaughter, Camina, left, on Feb. 8 in a camp for displaced Afghans three hours from their village in Galochi district, bombed in a recent U.S. military raid on militants in Laghman, Afghanistan. The military operation destroyed 270 homes, driving hundreds of families out of their villages.
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Photos courtesy of Paula Bronstein / Getty Images
Original Source: MSNBC
World's newest republic maintains an unique century-old culture - Nepalese girl, 3, begins life as "living goddess"
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Nepal became the world's newest republic in 2006, and in May 2008 ended the country's 240-year monarchy. However, the centuries-old Hindu-Buddhist tradition of worshipping a young virgin as the living embodiment of a powerful goddess has survived, and the Nepalese president now receives blessings from the girl - “living goddess”.
The three-year-old daughter of a Nepalese watch repairer became a "living goddess" after being approved by the country's new atheist government. Despite Nepal being a Maoist republic after the monarchy was unseated in May, the centuries-old tradition of worshipping a young virgin as the living embodiment of a powerful Hindu goddess has survived. read more »
Once-in-a-century heatwave cripples S AU, buckles rail lines, cooks egg on court at Australia Open in 60C
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Above: players and fans at the Australian Open tennis tournament did their best to keep cool.
An egg cooked after ten minutes on an outside court where air temperatures reached 60C. The official temperature in the shade at 4.53 pm was 45.4C, the hottest since 1908.
A heatwave scorching southern Australia, causing transport chaos by buckling rail lines and leaving more than 140,000 homes without power, is a sign of climate change, the government said.
"It is the worst heatwave most will have lived through," senior forecaster Terry Ryan said in a front-page story headlined "Heat Wave Hell". But this lot looked like they were enjoying it.
Heatwave in Melbourne plays havoc with the Australian Open read more »