A remarkable photo essay by AP photojournalist David Guttenfelder on the lives of American troops in Afghanistan gives a small insight into the fear and horror of the work, says W H Chong.
Photo galleries
A decade of Rove
Rove McManus shocked the nation (OK, a handful of viewers) last night by announcing his TV show would be coming to an abrupt end that night. TV Tonight looks back at 10 years of Rove’s hits and misses on commercial TV.
AUDIO SLIDESHOW: Forgotten Australians share their stories
Members of the Forgotten Generation tell their stories of abuse and mistreatment while orphans and wards of the state.
PHOTO GALLERY: Sporting triumphs and tragedies — as seen by the players
See eye-to-eye, toe-to-toe, fist-to-fist, and wheel-to-wheel with the world’s sportspeople as they experience the highs and lows of sporting glory.
PHOTO GALLERY: Bernie Madoff’s garage sale
Convicted Ponzi schemer Bernie Madoff’s personal affects are going on the auction block next week in an effort to repay his victims some of their financial losses. Check out the catalogue of crap you can bid on, including boogie boards, golf umbrellas and a life bouy.
PHOTO GALLERY: The Sea Shepherd’s new anti-whaling stealth boat
Forget rickety old ships manned by raggedy hippies, the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society’s new high-tech anti-whaling powerboat looks like it’s straight out of a Bond film. Go inside the latest weapon against Japanese whaling.
PHOTO GALLERY: A now and then peek at the East/West German border
Photographer Jürgen Ritter spent much of the eighties recording the East/West German border. Over 20 years on, he revisits the sites to compare how much they’ve changed, moving from death strips to kids’ soccer ovals.
PHOTO GALLERY: The world’s dirtiest events
All public events tend to make a bit of a mess, but some are worse than others. Newsweek looks at some of the biggest garbage-generating events on the planet, including NASCAR, Glastonbury and the Olympics.
media death watch The last days of Gourmet
The former associate art director of the now-defunct Gourmet magazine has put up this online photo gallery to document the final days in the publication’s now-empty offices. How thoroughly depressing.
PHOTO GALLERY: The drunks, the bogans and the freaks of the Melbourne Cup
It’s the inevitable photo gallery after every Melbourne Cup, rubbish everywhere, passed out sunburnt men and drunken girls being carried by friends. Australians are a classy lot.
PHOTO GALLERY: Sperm whale nibbles on a giant squid
That rarely seen creature of the sea, a giant squid, can be viewed hanging out the side of a sperm whale’s mouth, half eaten. Previously it could only be assumed that whales ate squids because of the sucker wounds left by tentacles.
PHOTO GALLERY: The green automobiles of the future
The next generation of eco-friendly autos was on display at the recent Tokyo Motor Show, featuring not just electric cars, but lean and green electric motorbikes, scooters and even unicycles.
Breakfast around the world
What’s on the table for breakfast in Botswana, Egypt, Sri Lanka and El Salvador? Not cornflakes and toast, that’s for sure. Fascinating breakfasts from around the globe to make your Weeties look a tad weak.
PHOTO GALLERY: The secret view of surfers: inside the wave
Just in case you were underestimating the power of the ocean, here’s an incredible collection of photos taken by surfers, some taken from inside breaking waves, others underwater after surfers have wiped out. Surfs up!
PHOTO GALLERY: Timor Sea oil spill
Shocking photos from a WWF visit research trip to survey the damage caused by a recent oil leak in the Timor Sea, an area containing some of the most iconic and threatened species in the ocean.
PHOTO GALLERY: The disturbing consequences of pollution in China
Contaminated rivers, open sewerage pipes in the sea and unexplained cancers: an award winning collection of photos by photographer Lu Guang on effects of pollution in China.
PHOTO GALLERY: Early 1900s Russia in full colour
Amazing images of Russia from 1909-1915 from by chemist and photographer, Sergei Mikhailovich Prokudin-Gorskii, who used his skills to create color photographs well before the rest of the photographic field.
PHOTO GALLERY: A spectacular Saturn at equinox
NASA’s Cassini spacecraft sent back some amazing photos of Saturn and its moons during equinox (when the sun crosses the celestial equator), including close ups of moon craters and Saturn’s famous rings.
The Dow 10,000: as told in headwear
In what evidently passes for “fun” on Wall St these days, traders have taken to wearing commemorative caps to celebrate each time the Dow cracks 10,000. The WSJ has a great gallery of the wacky funsters and their stockmarket silliness.
PHOTO GALLERY: Amazing solar powered houses
Teams from universities all over the world are competing to design and construct innovative new solar-powered, energy-efficient houses as part of the Solar Decathalon. Check out some of their amazing designs.
PHOTO GALLERY: World’s most momentous sites at risk
The World Monuments Fund has released a list of 93 sites, including the petroglyphs in Pakistan and Gaudi’s la Sagrada Familia in Barcelona, in need of cultural preservation.
PHOTO GALLERY: Countries billionaires could buy
It’s not news that some of the world’s richest people earn more money than entire countries — but just which countries? Microsoft’s Bill Gates could buy Costa Rica, while Michael Bloomberg can only afford Zambia.
awwwww PHOTO GALLERY: Pulling the strings over Berlin
In an amazing display of art, man power and pulleys, two giant puppets — Big Giant and the Little Giantess — walked Berlin’s streets as part of celebrations for the 20 year anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall.
PHOTO GALLERY: Asia’s abandoned architectural wonders
Some of Asia’s most spectacular ruins aren’t thousands of years old — they’re modern buildings, abandoned by business and governments. Web Urbanist looks at some of the most impressive.
PHOTO GALLERY: A peek inside Madeleine Albright’s jewellery box
Madeleine Albright was known for her sparkly brooches and the secret diplomatic messages they were sending out. Like, the snake pin she wore after the Iraqi media dubbed her a “serpent”. Here’s a glittering round up of the best.
