Pikkies

[imaufo]

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All present and accounted for . . . An animal carer offers a grasshopper to a Madagascan potto, sitting in a bowl on a kitchen scale, during the Berlin Zoo's annual inventory. Zoo keepers must measure all animals once a year to update their statistics. Photo: Reuters

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Stars in your eyes . . . The Advanced Camera for Surveys aboard NASA's Hubble Space Telescope has used a natural zoom lens in space to boost its view of the distant universe shown in this image of one of the most massive galaxy clusters known, called Abell 1689. The Advanced Camera's sharpness, combined with the behemoth lens, reveals remote galaxies previously beyond even Hubble's reach. Photo: AFP

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Routine maintenance . . . A Hindu woman massages the leg of an ascetic, or sadhu, on the bank of the Hooghly river in Calcutta. Hindu monks and pilgrims are making an annual trip to Sagar island, 150 kilometres south of Calcutta, for a holy dip at the confluence of the Ganges river and the Bay of Bengal for a one-day festival of 'Makar Sankranti' on January 14. Photo: Reuters



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Over it . . . A chimp rests in his cage in Berlin's zoo. The zoo has become embroiled in a row over plans to send its chimps into early retirement, attacked by animal rights groups for cruelly disposing of the aging apes because they have grown inactive. The five middle-aged chimps are to be sent to China after attempts failed to find a new home in Europe for the lethargic animals. Photo: Reuters


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Bleak working conditions . . . The Household Cavalry pass the Guards Memorial in central London during a recent snowfall. Photo: AFP

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A fortune to be made . . . Iraqi oil experts work at the Khabbaz productive site, north of Baghdad. Director General of the Syrian Al-Bayan Co., Mohammed Mohammed Saad, says his company is ready to enter into a joint venture with any Russian state firm that is currently working under the umbrella of the Al-Bayan company to develop the rich West-Qurna oil field; a contract awarded to Russian Lukoil Co. but annulled last month by Baghdad. Photo: AFP

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What fur coats were made for . . . Raika the tiger walks out in the snow at London Zoo at Regent's Park. Snow and freezing conditions continued to cause travel disruption across the UK throughout the week. Photo: Reuters

[Handy Harry]

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All creatures great and small . . . Street dogs gather around a fire to keep warm while a man warms his hands in Amritsar in Punjab state. A brutal cold spell in India has taken the lives of another 50 people in eastern Bihar state, bringing the toll there to 440 since mid-December. Photo:AFP


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Poetry in motion . . . Jeremy Weatherspoon of Canada competes in the men's 500m race at the ISU World Cup Speed Skating races in Kearns, Utah. Weatherspoon finished first with a time of 34.41. Photo: AFP

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This too shall pass . . . A mosque made from ice is lit up at the Ice Lantern Festival exhibition in Harbin. The festival in the capital city of northeast China's Heilongjiang Province is the main tourist attraction in the winter, as people come to view elaborate sculptures, illuminated at night from coloured bulbs placed in the ice. Some 30,000 cubic metres of ice were used for the exhibition in this year's festival. Photo: AFP

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Rain, hail or shine . . . Skaters and sailors take to the frozen Dutch Gouwzee at Monnickendam, north of Amsterdam, on what might be the last opportunity for a ride on the ice as forecasts predict rising temperatures. Photo: AFP


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Not shy but retiring . . . Models present creations of French fashion designer Pierre Cardin during a show in Florence marking his 50 year career. Photo: AFP

[Handy Harry]

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Into space …The space Shuttle Columbia blasts off from launch pad 39-A at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Columbia and its seven-person crew are scheduled to remain in space for 16 days and complete several life, space and physical science experiments. Photo: AFP


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Religious devotion … A man dressed as Shiva, the Hindu god of destruction, seeks alms from pilgrims during the Ganga Sargar festival on Sagar island, Bengal. Thousands of pilgrims gather on the island at the confluence of the Ganges river and the Bay of Bengal to bathe in the holy waters. Photo: AFP


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Winter in the woods … Mother and daughter walk through a fog blanket to join Posh Mela or winter festival in Dhaka, Bangladesh. Photo: AFP

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War on the horizon … An Israeli Arrow missile soars through the air shortly after its test launch from the Palmahim air force base south of Tel Aviv. Photo: AFP


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High in the sky … Cirque Du Soleil’s Wang Jingmin performs her trapeze routine, part of the Saltimbanco show at The Royal Albert Hall in London. Photo: AFP

[Handy Harry]

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Ringing in the new year ... Performers bang drums to ring in the new year at the opening ceremony of the Ditan Temple of Earth Park temple fair in Beijing. Photo: AFP


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In with the old ... A young Chinese boy stands in front of the various Lunar New Year decorative posters, many featuring late Chinese leader Mao Zedong, at a market in Jianli, in central China's Hubei province. Superstitious Chinese people are undecided whether the advent of the year of the goat in place of the horse will bring good fortune or prove a devil in disguise. Photo: AFP

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Light of the new year ... A young girl leaves a shop in Hong Kong with a Lunar New Year lantern. Hong Kong is gearing up for the Chinese New Year of the Goat with a four-day holiday of festivities and a fireworks display over Victoria Harbour. Photo: AFP

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Acting the goat ... A young girl enjoys a ride pulled by a goat at the Ditan Temple of Earth Park temple fair in Beijing. The annual tradition of temple fairs during Spring Festival, which begins on the first day of the lunar new year with the arrival of the Year of the Goat on February 1, dates back thousands of years across China. They were banned in Beijing during the Cultural Revolution, but resurfaced during the early 1980's as part of China's opening to the market economy. Photo: AFP

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On parade ... Border Security Force paramilitaries on camels parade in front of the Presidential Palace in New Delhi for Beating the Retreat. The ceremony is a culmination of Republic Day celebrations and dates back to the days when troops disengaged themselves from battle at sunset. Photo: AFP

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A wedding on the wire ... Bride, Tomomi Sato, and groom, Hirotomo Yoshikawa, both 27, smile as they hang from a seven metre-high wire during their wedding ceremony in a Tokyo shopping mall. The mall will promote the wedding ceremony in the air every Sunday until Valentine's Day to attract shoppers. Photo: AFP

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[Handy Harry]

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Firey festivities … Fireworks explode in front of the 70-storey Central Plaza, one of Hong Kong’s tallest building, to celebrate the Lunar New Year of the Goat. Photo: Reuters


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International tension … Cambodian children play in a Thai-owned hotel swimming pool after the hotel was looted during a riot in Phnom Penh. Photo: Reuters



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Attention to detail … Sculptor Rashid Sagadaev from Russia works on the finishing touches to an ice sculpture depicting a ballerina at the Ice Festival in St. Petersburg. Photo: Reuters

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Flower freezing weather … A flower vendor looks through her kiosk window covered with a thick layer of frost in the centre of St. Petersburg, Russia. Photo: Reuters

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Beautiful moon … The full moon rises over the Wetterhorn in the Berner Oberland. The Wetterhorn is one of the highest mountains in Switzerland. Photo: Reuters

[Handy Harry]

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Spectacular display … An Andalusian horsewoman bullfighter rides during the rehearsal of the World Bull Fair in Seville, Spain. Photo: Reuters

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[Handy Harry]

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Snowy setting … The towers of the Grossmuenster Cathedral and the statue of military leader Hans Waldmann appear to ride on the crest of a snow pile in Zurich. Photo: AFP


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Ice fishing … Battling the bitter frost, fishermen pitch plastic tents on the frozen Neva river in St.Petersburg, Russia. Photo: AFP


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Sneak peak … A boy looks through a wall to watch England play a World Cup cricket warm up match in Port Elizabeth, South Africa. Photo: Reuters

[imaufo]

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Winter passage … A Chinese couple ride through a railway crossing in Shanghai. Photo: AFP

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Looking the part … Two men dressed as robots pose in front of the new 77-storey Telekom building in Malaysia. Photo: AFP

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Enjoying the night sky … A man flies a kite at sunset in Pakistan’s eastern city of Lahor. Photo: AFP


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By the pale light of the moon … People make their way through tombs and mausoleums in Peru. Located in historical Barrios Altos, central Lima, the Plesbitero Matias Maestro cemetery was built in 1808 in the final years of Spanish rule. Photo: Reuters

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Glory and honour … Winner of the Komondorok breed competition on the opening morning of the 127th Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show at New York's Madison Square Garden. Photo: Reuters

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[imaufo]

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Animal keeper Thomas Land sticks his head in the mouth of the 34-year-old Beluga whale Ferdi in the Duisburg Zoo. Photo: AFP


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Baron, an Afghan Hound waits on the sidelines during the preliminary Showmanship competition at the 127th Westminster Kennel Club dog show at New York's Madison Square Garden. Photo: REUTERS

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[imaufo]

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This photo released by NASA shows a full-sky map of the oldest light in the universe. Colors indicate warmer red and cooler blue spots. NASA called the image the best ¿baby picture¿ of the Universe ever taken. The new cosmic portrait, capturing the afterglow of the Big Bang was captured by scientists using NASA s Wilkinson Microwave Anisotropy Probe WMAP during a sweeping 12-month observation of the entire sky. One of the biggest surprises revealed in the data is that the first generation of stars to shine in the Universe first ignited only 200 million years after the Big Bang, much earlier than many scientists had expected. In addition, the new portrait precisely pegs the age of the Universe at 13.7 billion years old, with a remarkably small one percent margin of error. Photo: AFP

[Handy Harry]

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The dramatic picture of a fire-bombing helicopter at work in Braemar is part of a photo essay of 12 images capturing searing moments in firefighting around Sydney in the past year that has won Herald photographer Nick Moir third place in the World Press Photo Competition's nature and environment stories section. Moir is also the current national Press Photographer of the Year.

His colleague, Tim Clayton, won second place in the world competition's sport category for Goalkeeper in Rain, a grainy shot of the Papua New Guinea national soccer team's goalkeeper, Tapas Posman, taken in pouring rain at sunset as Posman kicked the ball upfield during an Oceania Nations Cup game against New Zealand.

The winner of the 46th annual World Press Photo Competition was Los Angeles-based Armenian photographer Eric Grigorian.

In his black and white photograph, a young Iranian boy clings to his dead father's trousers as he squats by the grave where his father is about to be buried.

The picture was taken on June 23, 2002, after an earthquake measuring 6.3 on the Richter scale struck the Qazvin province of north-western Iran, killing more than 500 people.


Almost 400 professional photographers from 118 countries participated in this year's competition, the premier international competition in press photography.

The jury gave prizes in nine theme categories to 55 photographers of 20 nationalities.

[Handy Harry]

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Soaring sites … Security guards stand outside residential high rises in Hong Kong. Photo: AFP


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Light up … Sky lanterns fill the night sky to celebrate the traditional Chinese Lantern Festival on the first full moon of Lunar New Year, in Taipei. Photo: Reuters

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[Handy Harry]

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Sweet and sour . . . Preparations are underway for the 70th lemon festival in the southern French town of Menton. 120 tonnes of lemons and oranges, held together with 500 000 elastic bands, are used for the fantastic displays. The theme of the festival, which runs from February 21 to March 9, is 'Alice in Wonderland'. Photo: Reuters

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Hope for the future . . . Young Sri Lankan schoolgirls play on one of the many beaches in the capital Colombo's Galle Face. Sri Lanka will mark the first anniversary of a truce between the government and Tamil Tiger rebels on Saturday. Photo: Reuters


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Pure delight . . . Hippos Dania and Jaki receive a morning shower at Ragunan Zoo in Jakarta. Zoo keepers wash the hippos each morning before giving them fruit for breakfast. Photo: Reuters

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High times and a good cause . . . A member of the Imperatriz Leopoldinense samba school works to finish feathered and sequined costumes at a warehouse in Rio de Janeiro. For several months, carnival preparations provide temporary employment to hundreds of young workers otherwise without jobs. Photo: Reuters

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By whatever means necessary . . . A woman makes her way home from work on a pair of cross country skis during a blizzard in Somerville, Massachusetts. The blizzard is expected to leave Boston with one to two feet of snow by the time the storm is over. Photo: AFP

[imaufo]

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The Gai Waterhouse-trained How Funny at Flemington stables. Photo: VINCE CALIGIURI
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Body of work ... Visitors to Gunther von Hagens' Bodyworlds exhibition in Munich look at a plastinated cyclist. According to a court decision, the exhibition by the German anatomist will take place as scheduled, but not all objects may be shown. Photo: AFP

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Family values ... a poster in Ho Chi Minh City appeals to people to be vigilant and determined in the struggle against human trafficking. Thousands of Vietnamese women have been sold for prostitution in Cambodia, China and Taiwan in recent years. Photo: AFP

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Reconstruction ... an Afghan museum employee is hard at work in the newly built laboratory of the Kabul Museum. The British Institute has completed a project to rebuild an entire department of Kabul's war-devastated museum, allowing staff to begin restoration work on precious artefacts still intact after years of conflict. Photo: AFP

[imaufo]

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Faster than a human eye... A blue hummingbird seeks nectar in a flower in the Indian capital New Delhi. More than 2000 species of birds can be found across the sub-continent. Photo: Reuters

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MARDI GRAS

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[imaufo]

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Belarus actors perform during the premiere of the ballet La Fille Mal Gardee by German choreographer Dietmar Seyffert, at the National Bolshoi Ballet theatre of Belarus in Minsk. Photo: AFP

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A Malaysian Chinese boy plays with spiral joss sticks at a temple in Kuala Lumpur. Photo: REUTERS

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A member of the Sao Clemente samba school peers out from his costume as his group competes in the second division parade at the start of the carnival season in Rio de Janeiro. Photo: REUTERS

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Chinese People's Liberation Army soldiers erect a barricade to protect the Bahe bridge from collapsing under the rising waters, in Macheng, central China's Hubei province. Photo: AFP
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[imaufo]

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A winged monster... A B-52 Bomber arrives at RAF Fairford from Texas. The arrival was announced by British Defence Minister Geoff Hoon in Parliament. Photo: AFP

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Unkind...A carnival float in Dusseldorf shows a papier-mache figure of German conservative opposition leader Angela Merkel emerging from the buttocks of Uncle Sam. Merkel is a strong critic of the German government's opposition to an Anglo-American invasion of Iraq. Photo: Reuters

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Dangerous play... Palestinian children search through the shattered ruins of Al Noor mosque in Gaza's Rafah refugee camp. The Israeli army, which bulldozed the mosque and a house in Gaza City, claims the mosque was abandoned and used as cover for gunmen. Palestinians say 15 people have been left homeless by the latest demolitions. Photo: Reuters

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Brazilian samba dancer of Viaradouro samba school perform over a float during the traditional samba school parade at the Rio de Janeiro Sambodrome in Brazil. Photo: AFP

[Handy Harry]

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The two elderly women had come to see the Opera House. But when a small Chinese man stripped naked at the Man-O-War steps and climbed headfirst into a giant plastic bubble, Joern Utzon's masterpiece was temporarily forgotten.

The bubble was sealed and towed out onto the harbour by a water taxi. Even at a distance the naked figure was still visible; tumbling and turning inside the sphere like a hyperactive foetus in a giant womb.

For Beijing performance artist Zhu Ming, yesterday's voyage was the latest step in a remarkable journey. Since 1997, the 31-year-old has been inserting himself into these frail globes in locations as far flung as Hong Kong and Berlin.

The bubbles (he travels with two spares) are four metres in diameter and require 33 cubic metres of compressed air. Alone on the water, Ming propels them with the movement of his body.

The air supply is limited, so each performance lasts for just under an hour. Ming, an excellent swimmer, carries a small blade to cut himself free in an emergency.

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[Handy Harry]

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New born … A three-month old polar bear plays in an enclosure at his temporary home at the Metro Zoo in Toronto. Photo: Reuters

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In conversation … Two animatronic heads are part of Ken Feingold’s If/Then exhibition at the Corcoran Gallery of Art’s 47th Biennial in Washington, DC. Photo: AFP


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Hong Kong's tallest building, Two International Finance Centre, rises into clouds over the city's central business district. Photo: REUTERS

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A foreign journalist writes notes from the Kuwait's luxury sea resort hotel along the gulf area, while an oil tanker arrives in an oil port terminal near al-Ahmadi oilfield. Photo: AFP
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Japanese traditional theatre actor Kataoka Takataro performs a Kabuki called 'Hadareyuki Hakkotsujo', which means thin snow: the castle of whitened bones, during a rehearsal at the National Theatre of Japan in Tokyo. Photo: REUTERS
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Waiting in the wings … A dog waits for the competition to start at Crufts dog show in Birmingham. The 100th Crufts show, which was founded in 1891 by entrepreneur Charles Cruft, is expected to attract more than 170 breeds of dog who will compete for this year's best-in-show title. Photo: Reuters

[imaufo]

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Night sky … Fireworks illuminate the skies above the Kremlin in Moscow. Photo: Reuters


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Festival highlights … Costumed carnival revellers march with lighted lanterns and piccolo-flutes in Basel, part of the Swiss carnival. Photo: AFP

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Kids stuff … An army of baby dolls created a podium for Jean-Paul Gaultier's ready-to-wear fashion collection in Paris. Photo: Reuters

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World Cup fever … Children play cricket after school in one of the black township in Tsakane Brakpan, east of Johannesburg South Africa. Photo: Reuters


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Passion for fashion … One of Karl Lagerfeld's latest designs for Chanel at the ready-to-wear fashion shows in Paris. Photo: Reuters

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man on a mission … UN chief Kofi Annan leaves Dutch Queen Beatrix’s palace in The Hague with an aide to attend talks with Turkish Cypriot leader Rauf Denktash. Photo:
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Mother and baby … A newborn Indian antelope stands next to its mother at the Aurora Zoo in Guatemala City. Photo: AFP

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Only the brave … Spanish bullfighter Juan Alberto gives pass to a young bull in Valencia.

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Calm waters … An Indian houseboat owner steers his boat in the backwaters near Cochin, in the southern Indian state of Kerala. Photo: Reuters

[imaufo]

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Ghostly... A US tank conducts a night patrol in the Kuwaiti desert. Photo: AFP

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For a culturally sensitive invasion... US marines are taught basic Arabic words and etiquette at a camp in Kuwait. Photo: AFP

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Rooftop vantage... Afghans watch a religious procession from roof tops in Kabul. The tenth day of the first month, Moharam, of the Arabic lunar year, also known as Ashura, is observed with processions and prayers throughout Afghanistan. Photo: Reuters



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Record breaker... The Sesame Street character Cookie Monster poses in Tokyo with a Japanese television personality and a 1.2 tonne cookie. The cookie was commissioned as a promotion for a new Universal Studios Japan attraction in Osaka. Photo: Reuters


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Commemoration... Pakistani men beat their chests in ritual mourning during a procession on the streets of Islamabad. The tenth day of the first month, Moharam, of the Arabic lunar year - also known as Ashura - is observed with processions and prayers throughout South Asian Muslim countries. Photo: Reuters

[imaufo]

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Sun sets on a bygone era . . . Doric columns at the Athens temple in the ancient Turkish city of Assos in silhouette at the end of the day. Photo: AFP



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Birds of a feather . . . A flamingo rests his head in his feathers in Munich's zoo. Photo:

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Holy time . . . Shiite Muslims pray at the shrine of Imam Hussein in Karbala, Iraq. On the tenth day of the first month, Moharam, of the Arabic lunar year, Shiites commemorate the martyrdom of the prophet Mohammed?s grandson Imam Hussein bin Ali. Photo: AFP



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Fashion in the raw . . . Portuguese designer Fatima Lopes left little to the imagination in her ready-to-wear collection in Paris. Photo: Reuters


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Canine power . . . Two Alaskan huskies lead their team up a hill during the 45 kilometre race of the International Federation of Sleddog Sports (IFSS) dog sleigh World Championships in Bernau, Germany. Photo: Reuters

[imaufo]

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Anti-war protester and professional environmental activist David Burgess, 32. Photo: Edwina Pickles



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Anti-war protesters David Burgess, front, and Dr Will Saunders, rear. Photo: Edwina Pickles

[imaufo]

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Australian and US military members work at their computers during the night shift at the Joint Operation Centre in Qatar. The JOC is where the coalition forces conduct field operations at a US military base in Qatar

[imaufo]

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[Handy Harry]

Tanks steam to Baghdad; 14 troops die in crash
March 21 2003, 9:43 PM

· 60,000 troops launch invasion
· 12 killed in chopper crash
· 30 oil wells set ablaze
· Fireballs seen near Basra
· Explosions heard in Mosul
· Battle for Umm Qasr
· Baghdad bombed again
· Bush to consider major blitz
· Saddam and leaders: were they hit?
· Iraq unleashes missiles
· Bid to negotiate republican guard's surrender


US-led forces 'could be in Baghdad in 4 days'

As Sayliya Camp, Qatar: US and British forces advancing inside Iraq could be in Baghdad in three or four days, the main spokesman for the British forces headquarters in Qatar said today.

Asked when invading troops would be in the Iraqi capital, Group Captain Al Lockwood told reporters: "If I were a betting man, which I'm not - hopefully in the next three or four days."



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New day ... The sun rises over a mosque in Baghdad. Photo: Reuters


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A schoolgirl holds a banner reading during anti-war demonstration in Dhaka, Bangladesh. Photo: AFP

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An S-3 Viking assigned to the "Red Griffins" of Sea Control Squadron Three Eight is launched from the flight deck aboard the aircraft carrier USS Constellation during night flight operations in the Gulf, March 20. Photo: US Navy


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[Handy Harry]

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Iraqi Mustafa Mohammad, 13, plays with his sister at a trench beside their Baghdad home. AFP


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Members of the Iraqi police force march in Baghdad. Picture: Jason South


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Baghdad's al-Joumhouriya street before bombing began. AFP


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Iraqi suicide squad parades in Baghdad. Picture: Jason South


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Iraqi citizens light candles for peace at the bank of Tigris river in Baghdad. AFP

[Handy Harry]

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Bite size ... Frieda, a nine-month-old female octopus holds a jar, which contains her favourite seafood snacks between her tentacles in Munich's Hellabrunn Zoo. Photo: Reuters


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Crisp stroll ... A villager leads his reindeers through snow near Shapsha village in the Russia's Khanty-Mansyisk Siberian region. Photo: Reuters


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Look for the homeland ... An Iraqi
Kurdish woman with her daughter arrives at the check point for the Kurdish administered zone near the northern Iraqi town of Dohu. Photo: Reuters


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A street in Mildura is blanketed with dust after wild weather throughout Victoria. Photo: NICK MOIR



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Sweden's Crown Princess Victoria trains in medical evacuation at the Swedish international center in Sodertalje outside Stockholm, Sweden. The crown princess is taking part in a training course for non-military personnel to be able take part overseas peacekeeping/enforcing operations by the Swedish forces. Photo: AFP



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An Indian slum dweller enjoys a bath in Madras. Arsenic contamination of the water supply in India, Nepal and Bangladesh is afflicting more than 35 million people and if left unchecked, could reach catastrophic levels, a UN researcher has warned. Photo: AFP

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US marines from the 2nd battalion/8th MAR on firewatch guard tents at Camp Shoup in the north of Kuwait. Photo: AFP

[Handy Harry]

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A giant is born... The Queen Mary floats for the first time off Saint-Nazare in Brittany's Loire estuary. Built in the Alstom shipyards, the giant liner was transferred from a drydock to the Chantiers de l'Atlantique for eight months of fitout work. It will be delivered to Cunard. Photo: AFP

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Hindu king ... Sri Jayendra Saraswati tries on a golden crown handed to him by former Indian president R.Venkataraghavan during a function in Madras to celebrate the 50 years of Jayendra as the head of one of the major Hindu sects, Kanchi Sankaracharya Muth. Photo: AFP


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New home ... One of the two Panda bears that were sent from China for a series of medical tests sits on the ground of the Schoenbrunn zoo in Vienna. Photo: AFP



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Peace rainbow ... Citizens hold a big peace flag during an anti-war protest in central Rome. The protest continues for a third straight day across Italy. Thousands of youths marched toward a NATO base near Naples, gas pumps were damaged in Rome and a huge banner mocking Premier Silvio Berlusconi was strung between flagpoles on Italy's monument to the unknown soldier. Photo: AFP

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British Challenger tanks of the Royal Tank Regiment, part of the 7 Armoured Brigade, line up before action at an undisclosed location in Iraq. Photo: Pool (22/3/03)



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Iraq's ruling Baath party officials show journalists the Tikrit museum that was hit the night before by a US missile. Photo: AFP (22/3/03)



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US Marines Sgt Christopher Holaday (left) and his team from the 3rd Light Armoured Reconnaissance Batallion wears a mask next to a burning oil well at the al-Ratka oilfield in southern Iraq. Photo: AFP (22/3/03)


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[imaufo]

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Warm welcome … Brigitta, a brown bear from Slovenia, arrives at the Bear Zoo in Rhenen, the Netherlands. The Zoo in Rhenen treats neglected bears from all over Europe. Photo: AFP

[Handy Harry]

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Naked generosity ... a naked Russian girl holds a plastic bag which contains a cell phone at the Euroset mobile shop in Moscow. Euroset ran a promotion, giving mobile phones for free to people coming to their shop totally naked, in celebration of the annual day of humour. Photo: AFP


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All's quiet on the beach ... a hawker with a display of plastic toys on his bike, sits waiting for tourists on a beach at Sihanoukville, south of Phnom Penh. A killer pneumonia virus spreading around the globe and the US-led war against Iraq have caused a 20 percent fall-off in tourist arrivals to Cambodia. Photo: AFP


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[Handy Harry]

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[Handy Harry]

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Pictures from the NASA Hubble Space Telescope's Advanced Camera for Surveys shows a red star at the centre of the eyeball-like feature. The unusual erupting supergiant called V838 Monocerotis, is located about 20,000 light-years away in the winter constellation Monoceros (the Unicorn).

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US singer Linda Arie dances during a performance at the North Sea Jazz Festival (NSJF) in Cape Town, South Africa.
Photo: AFP


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A Dutch fan at the Hong Kong Rugby Sevens tournament drinks through a mask to protect against a killer pneumonia which has hit Hong Kong.
Photo: AFP


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Two-year old Hanna Astrom (2nd left) measures her hand against the paw of a yearling bear cub at Stockholm's Skansen Zoo.

[imaufo]

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Protection against SARS ... worker sprays disinfectant on surrounding foliage in a Beijing diplomatic compound. Photo: AFP

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A quick bite ... vendor displays scorpions which will be cooked in a restaurant and consumed by customers in Guangzhou. Photo: AFP


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Going home... residents return to their housing block in Hong Kong after a massive cleanup to eradicate SARS. Photo: AFP


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British soldiers carry a defaced portrait found in the grounds of a mansion that had been the residence of Saddam Hussein's cousin, Ali Hassan al Majid al Tikriti, near Basra in southern Iraq on Thursday, April 3. Photo: Pool


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A wounded Iraqi prisoner of war holds his intravenous fluid pack while US Army soldiers carry him to a US Army medical evacuation helicopter for transfer to a nearby US military field hospital for treatment on April 3. Photo: AFP


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Up in smoke ... An arms cache containing more than two hundred rocket propelled grenades discovered on the edge of Abu Al Khasib in southern Iraq, is blown up on April 3. Photo: Pool

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[imaufo]

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Close shave ... Dr Abdul Hussain shows where he says a tank shell entered his office while he was inside the hospital in AZ Zubaya near Basra, Southern Iraq, on April 3. Photo: Pool

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Razzaq Kazem al-Khafaj grieves over the bodies of his children in Hilla in the southern province of Babylon. Khafaj lost 15 members of his family (including six children) when his car was bombed by coalition helicopters. 1 April 2003. AFP

[imaufo]

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[imaufo]

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Special delivery . . . a couple transport chickens and doves on their tricycles in Beijing. Experts from the World Health Organisation, investigating SARS in China, speculate that the virus may have come from chickens. Photo: AFP

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All that glitters . . . Jain priests in Bhopal pour water on a statue of Lord Mahavira - founder of Jainism - on the occasion of his 2602nd birth anniversary, on one of the most important dates in the Jain calendar. Photo: AFP

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Double trouble . . . a golden-headed lion tamarin female carries its recently born twins at a zoo in Curitiba, Brazil. She has given birth to three pairs of twins, the zoo director says. Photo: AFP


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Strange bedfellows . . . US Army soldiers guard the entrance to Baghdad's main presidential palace, accompanied by a camel named Josephine. The camel fled from the Hussein family's private zoo. Photo: AFP



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Standing together . . . the flags of the European Union's 10 new members fly at an EU summit in Athens. Photo: AFP


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Outside intervention . . . a woman lights joss sticks at a temple in Hong Kong during a prayer for help in warding off the SARS virus. Photo: AFP



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Fresh water flows from the taps at the Al Qurna hospital on Sunday, on the second day the hospital has been open since being looted. Electricity and water are very sporadic as services are slowly coming back on line after looters ransacked the region. Photo: AFP

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A shoe sits on a decapitated head of a Saddam Hussein bronze statue in a Baghdad street yesterday. Photo: AFP

[Handy Harry]

http://www.theage.com.au/ffxImage/urlpicture_id_1051382077549_2003/05/02/surffrontbig,0.jpg
Australia's Trudy Todd prepares for one of the most dangerous sporting events in the world: the Billabong Pro surfing at Teahupoo, Tahiti.

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Eating up . . . Dolphins are fed by visitors at the Hakkeijima Sea Paradise aquarium in Yokohama, suburban Tokyo, at the newly constructed Dolphin Lagoon designed to attract vistors during Japan's one-week vacation 'Golden Week'. Photo: AFP

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Ticklish . . . Chinese artists demonstrate their body painting skills outside a shopping mall in the southern city of Shenzhen in an effort to attract shoppers. Photo: AFP


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Spot the difference . . . This image of the sun captured by NASA's Solar and Heliopheric Observatory (SOHO) shows sunspot 349 that stretches more than 10 Earth-diameters from end to end. The magnetic field of this active region is moderately tangled, which means it is a likely source of M-class solar flares. Photo: AFP

[imaufo]

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[imaufo]

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[imaufo]

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Giving thanks . . . Thai Brahman offer food to a royal ox during the annual royal ploughing ceremony in Bangkok. The ceremony is an ancient Brahminical rite which heralds the start of the new rice-growing season, and is undertaken to assure the successful planting and harvesting of the Kingdom's crop. Photo: AFP

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Strange bedfellows . . . Sai Mai, a 26-month-old tigress, plays with baby pigs at a zoo in Chonburi province, 80km east of Bangkok. The Royal Bengali tigress was born in captivity and breast-fed by a female pig for four months after her birth. Photo: Reuters

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Like mother, like daughter . . . Africa's first cloned cow named Fut, meaning 'replica' or 'repeat' in Zulu, is shown to the media in the small town of Brits, 65km northwest of Johannesburg. Born in April at a weight of 32kg, her markings are almost identical to those of the donor cow. Photo: AFP



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Kindred spirits . . . A South Korean novice monk sits together with other monks under rows of lanterns during Buddha's birthday celebrations at Jogye temple in Seoul. Photo: AFP

[Handy Harry]

What does Earth look like when viewed from Mars? At 13:00 GMT on 8 May 2003, the Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) Mars Orbiter Camera (MOC) had an opportunity to find out. In addition, a fortuitous alignment of Earth and Jupiter---the first planetary conjunction viewed from another planet---permitted the MOC to acquire an image of both of these bodies and their larger satellites. At the time, Mars and the orbiting camera were 139 million kilometers (86 million miles) from Earth and almost 1 billion kilometers (nearly 600 million miles) from Jupiter. The orbit diagram, above, shows the geometry at the time the images were obtained.


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Because Jupiter is over 5 times farther from the Sun than Earth, two different exposures were needed to image the two planets. Mosaiced together, the images are shown above (top picture). The composite has been highly contrast-enhanced and "colorized" to show both planets and their satellites. The MGS MOC high resolution camera only takes grayscale (black-and-white) images; the color was derived from Mariner 10 and Cassini pictures of Earth/Moon and Jupiter, respectively, as described in the note below.

Earth/Moon: This is the first image of Earth ever taken from another planet that actually shows our home as a planetary disk. Because Earth and the Moon are closer to the Sun than Mars, they exhibit phases, just as the Moon, Venus, and Mercury do when viewed from Earth. As seen from Mars by MGS on 8 May 2003 at 13:00 GMT (6:00 AM PDT), Earth and the Moon appeared in the evening sky. The MOC Earth/Moon image has been specially processed to allow both Earth (with an apparent magnitude of -2.5) and the much darker Moon (with an apparent magnitude of +0.9) to be visible together. The bright area at the top of the image of Earth is cloud cover over central and eastern North America. Below that, a darker area includes Central America and the Gulf of Mexico. The bright feature near the center-right of the crescent Earth consists of clouds over northern South America. The image also shows the Earth-facing hemisphere of the Moon, since the Moon was on the far side of Earth as viewed from Mars. The slightly lighter tone of the lower portion of the image of the Moon results from the large and conspicuous ray system associated with the crater Tycho.

Jupiter/Galilean Satellites: When Galileo first turned his telescope toward Jupiter four centuries ago, he saw that the giant planet had four large satellites, or moons. These, the largest of dozens of moons that orbit Jupiter, later became known as the Galilean satellites. The larger two, Callisto and Ganymede, are roughly the size of the planet Mercury; the smallest, Io and Europa, are approximately the size of Earth's Moon. This MGS MOC image, obtained from Mars orbit on 8 May 2003, shows Jupiter and three of the four Galilean satellites: Callisto, Ganymede, and Europa. At the time, Io was behind Jupiter as seen from Mars, and Jupiter's giant red spot had rotated out of view. This image has been specially processed to show both Jupiter and its satellites, since Jupiter, at an apparent magnitude of -1.8, was much brighter than the three satellites.


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[Handy Harry]

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[Handy Harry]

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Not drowning, waving . . . Baby elephant Califa enjoys bathing with her mother, Manari, in the pool of the Hanover Zoo. Elephants are able to swim right after their birth. Photo: AFP

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[imaufo]

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Pelican lunch time at the Sydney Fish Markets

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View from South Head

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Three Sisters, Katoomba at sunset



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Winter magnolias


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Bondi lifesavers in a storm

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Frosty morning at thr Royal Botanical Gardens, Sydney

[hobbes]

start a new thread as this one takes forever to load please.