CARRYING a fully grown goat on his back, this five-year-old boy is a child shepherd in the mountains of northern Ethiopia. Away from modern civilization, children living in the Simien Mountains spend their gruelling days herding, or carrying, animals and walking miles through the rocky terrain. From the age of five these children are responsible for goats and sheep in the highlands and when they do rest, the boys and girls are schooled in classrooms made from mud, rocks and wood. German photographer Mario Gerth trekked 3,000 metres up the Ethiopian mountain range to visit this group of Tigray people and their hardy children and witness their unorthodox lifestyle.
COURAGEOUS climbers descend 400 metres as they manoeuvre their way through thick walls of ice .
A BLIND man was battered with a brick in a sickening attack by two thugs .
Playing, splashing and generally messing around, these polar bears show they certainly have a soft spot for the water, and not just each other .
A quiet Himalayan mountain village springs to life for a colourful Buddhist festival designed to expel evil spirits and bring happiness .
A Canadian couple celebrated their engagement by recreating iconic moments from the film The Notebook .
An adorable orangutan named Pongo celebrates his first birthday at Zoo Atlanta, Georgia, America .
FROM the rolling hills of the Scottish highlands to looming chalk cliffs in Sussex, these stunning photographs capture the spectacular beauty of Great Britain .
YOU’VE heard of the northern lights now feast your eyes on the natural wonder of the SOUTHERN lights .
UNDERWATER and above-water seaside shots show the best of British beach-life .
SAT ON top of a Brazilian turtle’s head, this little ladybird looks content as he studies his environment from a new height .
A man who conned tax officials out of £34 million and funded a lavish lifestyle of luxury hotels and restaurants has been jailed for one of the longest sentences in British criminal fraud history .
PICKING up a tiny tea-pot with its paws, a little red squirrel struggles to prepare its morning tea .