It's often said that pets and their owners can start to look alike, but these adorable photographs take the old mantra to a new extreme. They are the work of Svetlana Valyiskaya (27), from St Petersburg, who snaps pets in everyday poses in her spare time from her job as a commercial photographer. The vibrant costumes and scenes, which Svetlana designs herself, have made the photos a hit in her native Russia – and it's not hard to see why. She said: “I really love animals, they are loyal, faithful and true and always interesting to work with – plus they never criticise the photographs afterwards”. (Photo by Svetlana Valyiskaya/Mercury)

Toyota's driver Nasser Al-Attiyah of Qatar (R) and his co-driver Mathieu Baumel of France compete during the prologue of the Dakar 2023 by the Red Sea in Yanbu, Saudi Arabia, on December 31, 2022. Swedish driver Mattias Ekstrom and his co-driver Emil Bergkvist of Sweden won the prologue ahead of French driver Sebastien Loeb and Belgian co-driver Fabian Lurquin. (Photo by Franck Fife/AFP Photo)

Folk dancers from Chile participate in a folk dance festival in Bitola, North Macedonia on July 26, 2023. (Photo by Ognen Teofilovski/Reuters)

Madison Chock and Evan Bates of the U.S. compete in the ice dance rhythm dance program at the Grand Prix of Figure Skating series competition in Tokyo, Japan, Friday, November 8, 2024. (Photo by Hiro Komae/AP Photo)

Costume details featuring Joao Candido, a black sailor who led a revolt against the physical punishment of Brazilian Navy soldiers at the beginning of the 20th century, lie inside the Paraíso do Tuiuti Samba school at the Samba City complex in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Tuesday, January 16, 2024. Samba schools are gearing up for this year's Carnival, scheduled from Feb. 9-17. (Photo by Bruna Prado/AP Photo)

A man photographs “Mount Recyclemore”, an artwork depicting the G7 leaders looking towards Carbis Bay, made from electronic waste by Joe Rush and Alex Wreckage, ahead of the G7 summit, at Hayle Towans in Cornwall, Britain, June 8, 2021. (Photo by Tom Nicholson/Reuters)

Football transfers are not cheap. To have a player strengthen their ranks, teams are willing to pay big money. The football transfer considered to be the most expensive in the sport's history was that of Gareth Bale leaving Tottenham to play at Real Madrid. The Spanish club paid not less than £86 million (about $133 million at today's exchange rates) to have the player among its own. But recent news suggest that this record might be broken this year. According to reports in the media, UK Premier League team Manchester United is willing to almost double that amount.

Afghan dogs fight during the weekly dog fight in Kabul, Afghanistan, 17 February 2017. Under the Taliban dog fighting was forbidden, but since their fall it has become a major source of entertainment for hundreds of Afghans, where bets can amount to thousands of dollars and the dogs, which must be over one year old, are well-cared for by their owners and fed milk, butter and meat. (Photo by Hedayatullah Amid/EPA)