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Londoners enjoy a “Silent Night” as Big Ben falls silent, London, UK on August 21, 2017. Londoners snuggle up to enjoy the city's first silent night as Big Ben chimed its last for four years. As the sun set over London last night the city bid a temporary farewell to the chimes of its beloved Big Ben. Londoners were testing out the new quiet of the Southbank in an unusual fashion. A luxurious bed, courtesy of bed firm, Silentnight, complete with fluffy white duvet, plump pillows, a hot water bottle and a cuddly toy, emerged in the heart of the city, just in time for bed. It didn't take local residents and workers long to make the most of the peace and quiet with the city's tired workers climbing in for a nap. Rose Allerston from Clapham, London said “After a stressful day in the office, I couldn't think of anything better than going home and climbing into bed - but when I saw this bed opposite Big Ben I just couldn't resist getting in for a snuggle”. (Photo by Imagewise Ltd/Rex Features/Shutterstock)

Londoners enjoy a “Silent Night” as Big Ben falls silent, London, UK on August 21, 2017. ose Allerston from Clapham, London said “After a stressful day in the office, I couldn't think of anything better than going home and climbing into bed – but when I saw this bed opposite Big Ben I just couldn't resist getting in for a snuggle”. (Photo by Imagewise Ltd/Rex Features/Shutterstock)
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23 Aug 2017 08:44:00
Mohammad Ashgar, 65, an Indian rickshaw puller, poses for a photograph next to his rickshaw in Kolkata on April 21, 2018. A mainstay of 19 th century transportation options, the hand- pulled rickshaw survives in India only in Kolkata after being outlawed elsewhere. The local puller's union puts the number of pullers in the city at 3,000. The union has resisted all previous attempts to ban their livelihood, previously organising mass protests of their members against moves to stamp out the practice. (Photo by Dibyangshu Sarkar/AFP Photo)

Ahead of May Day, AFP' s video and photo teams spoke to men and women around the globe whose jobs are becoming increasingly rare, particularly as technology transforms societies. Here: Mohammad Ashgar, 65, an Indian rickshaw puller, poses for a photograph next to his rickshaw in Kolkata on April 21, 2018. (Photo by Dibyangshu Sarkar/AFP Photo)
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02 May 2018 00:01:00
Tattooing Pigs By Wim Delvoye

Wim Delvoye is a notorious tattoo artist, who became famous when he started tattooing live pigs. He first began in 1997 and after animal rights activists found out about what he was doing, he had to move to China to continue his business. There is nothing special about the tattoos that Wim Delvoye creates, they look mediocre at best, and the only reason why he’s famous is his acts of animal cruelty. Nevertheless, Wim states that the pigs feel just fine and are well fed and taken care off. Full anesthesia is used to ensure that the pig doesn’t feel pain during the course of the whole procedure. During this time three tattoo artists work on the tattoo simultaneously to complete it as quickly as possible. Skins of those pigs are then sold for as much as £50k a piece.
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02 Apr 2015 09:06:00
Nik Wallenda walks across a tightrope 200 feet above U.S. 41 on January 29, 2013 in Sarasota, Florida. (Photo by Tim Boyles/Getty Images)

The holder of half a dozen world records will walk across the Grand Canyon on a steel cable with nothing but the Little Colorado River 1,500 feet below on June 23. With no tethers or safety nets, the walk will be the highest tightrope attempt ever for the 34-year-old, at a height taller than the Empire State Building. Last year, Wallenda, a seventh-generation member of the “Flying Wallendas” family of acrobats, became the only person to walk a wire over the brink of Niagara Falls. Photo: Nik Wallenda walks across a tightrope 200 feet above U.S. 41 on January 29, 2013 in Sarasota, Florida. (Photo by Tim Boyles)
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18 Jun 2013 08:45:00
Face Painting by Elsa Rhae Pageler

There isn’t exactly a college out there for face painting so Elsa Rhae Pageler‘s talent is as raw as it comes. Perhaps what’s even more amazing is that the video editor and producer from Kansas City graduated with a degree in Film and Media Studies and only does face painting and airbrushing as a side job. An application may take anywhere from 1 to 3 hours and apart from outside gigs, she features video tutorials on her YouTube channel showing how she paints herself to recreate video game and fictional characters. Photo: “Face Palm”. (Photo by Elsa Rhae Pageler)
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19 Jun 2014 12:40:00
An Olympic Airways airplane stands on the premises of the former Athens International airport, Hellenikon June 16, 2014. (Photo by Yorgos Karahalis/Reuters)

An Olympic Airways airplane stands on the premises of the former Athens International airport, Hellenikon June 16, 2014. For about six decades Hellenikon was Athens' only airport but it closed down in 2001 to make way for a newer, more modern airport before the city hosted the 2004 Olympic Games. After languishing for years as a wasteland of crumbling terminals, Hellenikon is set for resurrection as a glitzy coastal resort. Lamda Development, controlled by Greece's powerful Latsis family and leading a consortium of Chinese and Abu-Dhabi based companies, has big dreams for the area since signing a 915 million euro deal for a 99-year lease in March 2014. (Photo by Yorgos Karahalis/Reuters)
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10 Jul 2014 12:29:00
A general view of Cheddar Gorge

“Cheddar Gorge is a limestone gorge in the Mendip Hills, near the village of Cheddar in Somerset, England. The gorge is the site of the Cheddar show caves, where Britain's oldest complete human skeleton, Cheddar Man, estimated to be 9,000 years old, was found in 1903. Older remains from the Upper Late Palaeolithic era (12,000–13,000 years ago) have been found. The caves, produced by the activity of an underground river, contain stalactites and stalagmites”. – Wikipedia

Photo: A general view of Cheddar Gorge is seen on March 22, 2012 in Cheddar, England. With only a few months to go until the opening ceremony of the London 2012 Olympic games, Britain's tourist industry is hoping to benefit from the influx of athletes, officials and visitors. (Photo by Matt Cardy/Getty Images)
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23 Mar 2012 11:34:00


“Snowflake (c. 1964 – November 24, 2003) was an albino gorilla. He was the only known albino gorilla so far, and the most popular resident of the Barcelona Zoo in Catalonia, Spain. Originally named Nfumu Ngui in Fang language ("white gorilla") by his captor, he was then nicknamed Floquet de Neu (Catalan for little snowflake) by his keeper Jordi Sabater Pi. On his arrival to Barcelona where he was given an official reception by the then Mayor of Barcelona, Josep Maria de Porcioles, in November 1966, he was called Blancanieves (“Snow White”) in the newspaper Tele/Exprés. But he became famous with the name given to him by Sabater when National Geographic Magazine featured him on the main page in March 1967, with the English name Snowflake. This name spread among the press (Stern, Life, Paris-Match) and was later translated to Spanish as Copito de Nieve. Sabater himself called the gorilla Floquet or Copi, and in the later years Nfumu. The asteroid 95962 Copito, discovered by Catalan astronomer J. Manteca, is named in his honour”.
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07 Mar 2011 15:50:00