A woman has her hair blown by the wind during a snowstorm in Quebec City, on December 22, 2013. (Photo by Mathieu Belanger/Reuters)

Children sit under a crocodile based table, as they pose for photographers during a press preview of a themed auction that features the animal as artistic inspiration, entitled “Creatures Great and Small”, in London, Monday, December 15, 2014. The sale scheduled for December 17, 2014, explores animals across a diverse range of mediums and styles, from intricate carving details in 19th century furniture through to contemporary sculpture, according to Christie’s auction house. (Photo by Lefteris Pitarakis/AP Photo)

A long skater speeds away on the rain-wet ice on lake Orlangen, South of Stockholm on December 15, 2013. Meteorologists forecast temperatures around 5 degrees for southern Sweden. (Photo by Tobias Rostlund/AFP Photo)

P.S. All pictures, as usual, are presented in high resolution. To see Hi-Res images – just TWICE click on any picture. In other words, click small picture – opens the BIG picture. Click BIG picture – opens VERY BIG picture (if available; this principle works anywhere on the site AvaxNews).

A mahout (elephant driver) walks a baby elephant across the city streets at night September 27, 2008 in Bangkok, Thailand. (Photo Paula Bronstein/Getty Images)

Darth Vader balloon above Clifton Suspension Bridge during the hot air balloons mass ascent at sunrise on the first day of the Bristol International Balloon Fiesta on August 8, 2019 in Bristol, England. The Bristol International Balloon Fiesta is Europe's largest annual meeting of hot air balloons, attracting over 130 hot air balloons from across the globe. (Photo by Finnbarr Webster/Getty Images)

Cars are piled up as flooding affects the area after heavy rains in Ensival, Verviers, Belgium, 15 July 2021. Heavy rains have caused widespread damage and flooding in parts of Belgium. (Photo by Stephanie Lecocq/EPA/EFE/Rex Features/Shutterstock)

Elephants munch on Christmas trees in their enclosure at Berlin's Zoologischer Garten Zoo on January 4, 2013 in Berlin, Germany. Traditionally, the animals get in the first week of the year leftover Christmas trees. (Photo by Andreas Rentz)

Travel photographer Amos Chapple recently crossed into Turkmenistan on a three-day transit visa and was able to photograph many of the sights and monuments in Ashgabat, the capital and largest city. Turkmenistan is a single-party country, a former Soviet state, run by a president at the center of a cult of personality.

Photo: A young couple leave the Alem Entertainment Center in Ashgabat. The current president has a history of breaking obscure records. In 2012 the wheel atop this complex was entered into the Guinness Book of World Records as the world's largest enclosed Ferris wheel. The structure was built at a cost of $90m. (Photo by Amos Chapple via The Atlantic)