In Jukkasjärvi, a village a few miles east of Kiruna, the proprietors of one hotel begin planning for a winter ice festival in March. That’s when they begin collecting some 5,000 tons of ice from the River Torne in order to prepare the Icehotel, the world’s coolest place to stay. Options for overnight stay include snow rooms, ice rooms, art suites, and the Northern Lights room, all of which range from about $300 to $900 per night. But the deluxe suite’s the only way to go. These rooms come with a critical amenity: heated ensuite bathrooms and saunas. Here: A man walks into a room in the Ice hotel in Jukkasjarvi, Sweden, December 16, 2015. (Photo by Ints Kalnins/Reuters)

A Filipino fan lines up for the One Direction concert Saturday, March 21, 2015 in the suburban Pasay city south of Manila, Philippines. One Direction's “On the Road Again” tour will continue with upcoming performances in Manila, Philippines, and Jakarta, Indonesia, despite the absence of one of its members Zayn Malik, who flew back to London due to “stress”. (Photo by Bullit Marquez/AP Photo)

Vickie Leuenberger (L) practices with a mermaid tail with AquaMermaid founder Marielle Chartier Henault in a pool in Montreal, February 19, 2015. The school teaches kids and adults how to swim wearing mermaid tails, and offers mermaid-themed parties. (Photo by Christinne Muschi/Reuters)

An artist has gone to incredible lengths to paint several iconic album covers on her own face. London-based artist Natalie Sharp wanted to celebrate Record Store Day in a unique way, and asked her Facebook friends for suggestions about which album covers to paint. She was overwhelmed with responses, and as a result painted 40 different album covers on her face, including Nirvana's “Nevermind”, King Crimson's “The Court of the Crimson King”, and “Melt” by Peter Gabriel. Here: King Crimson album. “In fact, I barely used by brushes for King Crimson; I would just keep smudging it with my fingers”. (Photo by Natalie Sharp/Caters News)

A member of a female grappling team from Qinghai Province armed police undergoes dagger exercise on August 8, 2006 in Xining of Qinghai Province, China. The female grappling team, established in May 2006, has 40 women soldiers aged 18 to 21. The training program includes grappling, boxing, dagger exercise and shooting. (Photo by China Photos). P.S. All pictures are presented in high resolution.

A wounded member of the Afghan police reaction force waits for treatment in Alingar, Laghman province, on April 30, 2012. A bomb exploded next to opium poppy fields during a poppy eradication campaign in, wounding two Afghan policemen, police officials said. (AP Photo/Rahmat Gul)

China has sent its first woman into space on a mission to dock with an orbiting station, the latest step in an ambitious programme to go to the moon and on to Mars.

Photo: China's first female astronaut Liu Yang, waves during a sending off ceremony before she departs for the Shenzhou 9 spacecraft rocket launch pad at the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in Jiuquan, China, Saturday, June 16, 2012. China will send its first woman and two other astronauts into space Saturday to work on a temporary space station for about a week, in a key step toward becoming only the third nation to set up a permanent base in orbit. (Photo by Ng Han Guan/AP Photo)