From stuffed elephants to picnics under power lines, Leipzig-born photographer Frank Herfort coaxes magical, colour-saturated tableaux from intriguing slices of everyday Russian life. Here: A lonely dog watches the mailboxes in a typical Moscow residential block. (Photo by by Frank Herfort/The Guardian)

A muddied family photograph sits on a hallway stairwell in an apartment block on March 17, 2011 in Kensennuma, Japan. Residents were allowed back to their homes today and began the massive cleanup operation caused by a 9.0 magnitude strong earthquake that struck on March 11 off the coast of north-eastern Japan. The quake triggered a tsunami wave of up to 10 metres which engulfed large parts of north-eastern Japan. The death toll has risen past 5000 with at least 8600 people still missing. (Photo by Chris McGrath/Getty Images)

Devotees bow to a passingTibetan Buddhist monk on his way to take part in a special prayer during Monlam or the Great Prayer rituals on March 5, 2015 at the Labrang Monastery, Xiahe County, Amdo, Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture, Gansu Province, China. Labrang Monastery is one of the six great monasteries of the Gelug school of Tibetan Buddhism and one of the largest outside of the Tibetan Autonomous Region. Monlam, the most important prayer event for many Tibetans was banned during the Cultural Revolution in China but once again in recent years it is celebrated in many areas. (Photo by Kevin Frayer/Getty Images)

Burlesque dancer and Lucha VaVoom co-founder Rita D'Albert gets dressed before the Lucha VaVoom “Night of the Vampire” performance in Los Angeles, California October 29, 2014. (Photo by Patrick T. Fallon/Reuters)

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).

“The nuclear football (also known as the atomic football, the president's emergency satchel, the button, the black box, or just the football) is a briefcase, the contents of which are to be used by the President of the United States of America to authorize a nuclear attack while away from fixed command centers, such as the White House Situation Room. It functions as a mobile hub in the strategic defense system of the United States. It is a metallic Zero Halliburton briefcase carried in a black leather “jacket”. The package weighs around 45 pounds (20 kilograms). A small antenna protrudes from the bag near the handle”. – Wikipedia

Photo: A U.S. Military officer carries the “football”, which carries nuclear launch codes, on South Lawn after returning with U.S. President George W. Bush to the White House January 7, 2002 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Mark Wilson/Getty Images)

Inger Utke, left, takes a selfie with Edwin Galarza, dressed as a “Star Wars” themed dinosaur, during Preview Night at Comic-Con International held at the San Diego Convention Center, Wednesday, July 20, 2016, in San Diego. (Photo by Denis Poroy/Invision/AP Photo)

People jump over the fire wearing traditional Russian village-style clothes as they celebrate the summer solstice with a bonfire in the village of Okunevo, about 200 kilometers (125 miles) northeast of the Siberian city of Omsk, Russia, in Okunevo, Russia, late Thursday, June 20, 2024. (Photo by Evgeniy Sofiychuk/AP Photo)