Wanwisa, a Lao Yi Lai Heng Chinese opera performer waits backstage at the Plub Plachai temple on January 25, 2012 in Bangkok, Thailand. The traditional Chinese art form involving music, singing, martial arts and acting has a history of more than 500 years. There are about 30 members working with the group doing specials shows all week to celebrate the Chinese New year. The Chinese opera is popular in many parts of China, Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand and Macau. (Photo by Paula Bronstein/Getty Images)

“Most recently, the bushy beard’s masculinity has been turned off and instead adorned with flower power. A wacky new trend sees hipsters weave foliage into their facial hair. It’s emerging across boho America. Yes, men in Brooklyn, Portland and San Francisco are adorning their faces with blossoms, seemingly for the sole purpose of artistic portraits that have been taking over the social media with the hashtag #flowerbeards. It started gaining popularity on the social platform of Tumblr, when a blogger began “Will It Beard” project, and has since blossomed elsewhere around the Internet”. – Linda Sharkey via The Independent. (Photo by designsquish/Tumblr)

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.

Comic club member Michael Kenney pauses on South Broad Street to adjust his costume during the 116th annual Mummers Parade in Philadelphia on Friday, January 1, 2016. Outrageously costumed Mummers strutted their stuff Friday at the city's annual New Year's Day parade, a colorful celebration that features string bands, comic brigades, elaborate floats and plenty of feathers and sequins. (Photo by Joseph Kaczmarek/AP Photo)

Zhang Shifan's sixth-generation facekinis in Shandong Province, Qingdao, East China. A woman credited with inventing the bizarre swimwear known as the “facekini” has now proudly presented the sixth generation of the iconic beach clothing. The new facekini models are not only more comfortable, they also come in a wider variety of colours and patterns, bringing both style and practicality to beach-goers in Qingdao City, in East China's Shandong Province, who fear tan lines. (Photo by CEN)

An elephant sprays tourists with water in celebration of the Songkran Water Festival in Ayutthaya province, north of Bangkok, Thailand April 11, 2017. Trained elephants sprayed motorists and passers-by with water in Thailand's old capital city of Ayutthaya on Tuesday to welcome in the Buddhist New Year, known as “Songkran”. (Photo by Chaiwat Subprasom/Reuters)

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)

Dancers attend a dress rehearsal for the new grand show “THE WYLD” at Friedrichstadt-Palast in Berlin October 2, 2014. Ten choreographers are working with 60 dancers from the world's largest show ballet company to create the flamboyant stage spectacle. The show's name, “THE WYLD”, represents human nature in its diversity and the wilderness of the big city – in this case, Berlin. The premiere of the 10.6 million euro ($13.5 million) show, the largest production budget in the 95-year history of Friedrichstadt-Palast, is on October 23, 2014. (Photo by Hannibal Hanschke/Reuters)